A Mighty Wind - Final

The Lord has even been working here in the United States in a powerful way. He has empowered the World Missions Committee to be world wide witnesses.

Finances
Several years ago the World Missions Committee had to make some hard decisions financially. They could no longer afford a full time director so they cut back to a part time director for almost four years. They also had to cut back funding to the fields. During these years God has blessed World Missions and we now can press on with new vigor.

Purpose
The Committee has defined their purpose so that we know where we are going and can reach out to the world with Jesus.

Opportunities and Workers
We are constantly receiving reports of people who are preparing for missions and opportunities for them to serve. New groups of students are expressing God’s call to serve as missionaries.

A Mighty Wind - Part 5

We are turning a new page in AFLC World Missions as we send a missionary family to Africa. The Nate Jore’s are in the final stage of preparing to go to Uganda.

Reports from Uganda are very encouraging. Pastor Kevin Olson traveled to Uganda in 2005 to ordain several men who had been trained for the ministry.

These men have now formed an evangelism committee. Now that they are ordained, they report of God working in new ways:
• The public now identifies them as servants of God.
• Many people now approach them about spiritual matters.

These new pastors plan to reach out and start Bible studies in new areas this year. As soon as there is a group of believers in the new area they will start a congregation.

God is working even before the Jore’s arrive.

A Mighty Wind - Part 4

Jesus said,. “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Children are the example of being receptive to the grace of God. That’s why the kids clubs are so successful in Jerez.

A kid’s club had just been started in January, but the lady who started it in her home was out of town the next week. We didn’t know if anyone would show up, because her kids went with her. God was working and as we played a game, children kept wandering in from the community. Soon the carport in which we met in was overflowing with children. They heard about Jesus in an amazing way, through AFLC Ambassador Sunday School material translated into Spanish.

Our missionaries in Mexico have been translating the Sunday School material into Spanish. It’s then made available to Spanish speaking people all over the world through the internet. Mexico really is the gateway to Spanish speaking people throughout the world.

A Mighty Wind - Part 3

The AFLC work in India is a light shining in a dark place. Only two percent of the people in India are Christian, but there is a glimmer of light coming from our work there.

Pastor Luke had been working with a group of teenage boys. One of them, Ramesh was encouraged to attend Gospel meetings. There he came face to face with his sin and the promise of the Savior. The Word of God changed his life. He confessed his sin and trusted Jesus as his Savior.

His life changed, and Ramesh decided to serve Jesus. He began to study the Bible and after he married he began serving the church at Gandhinagar. He still needs more training to be an effective shepherd, but we’re helping him. Along with pastoral training in India, we support pastors and Bible women. We build churches and provide relief in the form of food and medical care. A number of children have no parents, so we take them in and introduce them to the Heavenly Father.

A Mighty Wind - Part 2

Recently the AFLC celebrated forty years of ministry in Brazil. In the northern hemisphere, the North Star gives faithful guidance to disoriented sojourners. The Southern Cross constellation serves the same purpose in the southern hemisphere. It’s a joy to realize that in Brazil the Association has been pointing people to the Cross of Christ for forty years. This direction has been given so that they will arrive at their eternal destination safely.

Over those forty years many lives have been changed. One of them was a young boy whose father was convicted of murder. He lived about three blocks from one of our churches. One day when he heard music, he went into the church and the pastor shared Jesus with him. It wasn’t very long until he and his mother became Christians.

Today this young boy is a man with a wife and family of his own. He is a lay leader in his church and attends our seminary part time. He’s being trained to share the Savior who was shared with him.

A Mighty Wind - Part 1

Jesus’ last sentence here on earth was a promise and a mission. He said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

The Holy Spirit came upon believers and they received this power to witness to the world on the Day of Pentecost. His arrival was described as a sound like the blowing of a violent wind from heaven. The believers were empowered to declare the wonders of God to people from every nation under heaven.

That mighty wind is still blowing today. The Holy Spirit is calling people to share the life giving message of Jesus to a lost and hungry world. It’s exciting to see how God is at work even through the ministries of AFLC World Missions. Let us share what you’re doing in places around the world.

Watch for upcoming installments of, "A Mighty Wind."

Pray for Partners in Missions

Pray for the Partners in Missions team. They are on a short term missions trip to Obregon Mexico. They will be gone until March 3.

We believe that they flew this time rather than taking their bus.

Snipstead and Dyrud in India

Dr. Steven Snipstead and Rev. Connely Dyrud are now in India for two weeks of pastoral training. Most of the pastors of the AFLC India are laypastors. Yearly we send pastors from the United States to encourage them, observe the work and teach them. The goal is that they would become effective and doctrinally sound shepherds.

The Work Goes on At Campo Largo

Hi! It's time for another note from Becky. We just got back from church. Had a nice Bible Study with a full church in Campo Largo. Everyone is excited there as we continue to work on building the church building and the church body. Saturday we had a great volunteer work day with about 30 men mixing and pouring concrete floors, spreading out dirt in the church yard, and destroying the wall in front of the property. Things really happen fast when you have such a crew! The ladies had a Dorcas clothing sale and kept the men fed and watered. It was a wonderful day of work and fellowship and we're getting closer to our goal of moving out of our rented quarters. We're so thankful for the funds that have come our way to continue this project. We're out of money for the building again for the time being but trust that the Lord will provide at the right time.

What's Going on in Jerez?

MTI Intern
Our MTI intern, Courtney Jacobi, will be arriving on Monday, February 6^th. Pray for her as she makes connections in Mexico City on her way to Zacatecas and for her three months here. Courtney will be staying with Abril’s (ahBREEL) family. In the attached picture of our youth group Abril is in the top left-hand corner next to our daughter, Rachel.

Giles
Dan and Debbie Giles left today for the graduation of their son, Danny, from bootcamp with the Marines in San Diego and also for the birth of their first grandchild. There are lots of details that we are praying about for them and I know they would appreciate your prayers as well.

Youth Group
Please pray for the kids in our youth group (see attached photo). Several of the kids come from homes we are trying to reach out to with God’s Word. The kids put on several puppet skits during our Christmas outreach dinner that went over very well so they are excited to continue with puppet ministry.

Christmas Outreach
We praise God for a great Christmas dinner outreach. The program went very well with about 150 in attendance. The Sunday School kids were precious, the Kid’s Club kids came and joyfully participated as well. Numerous Kid’s Club parents came as well. Several hands went up after Dan gave a Gospel invitation at the end of the dinner so we are grateful for God’s work in people’s hearts as a result of this event. And we gave away almost 60 quilts as well. Thank you quilters! Two weeks ago it was down to 17 degrees so those quilts were much appreciated.

Digital Camera
Thank you as well for your prayers and thank you Terry for the digital camera! A picture should be a new regular feature of these updates.