Dear Family and Friends,
Greetings from Portugal.
As Spring heralds in new life, we are rejoicing in the return to active ministry to the nations. As you know, last year’s plans were interrupted by the arrival of prostrate cancer. I was operated on in December and all the cancer was removed. Yesterday, I received confirmation from the surgeon that I am free and will not need any radiation treatments. Praise the Lord! During this time, God had given me a Word, (Surrounded), and I held on to this. God usually speaks to me in one-word sentences. To me, this Word meant that He had surrounded the cancer and that it would be taken out. God gave me several verses in the Bible to confirm this, but the principle one was in II Kings 6 where Elisha had been persecuted by the king of Aram and one night his army surrounded the city where Elisha was staying. Elisha’s servant was afraid at the sight of this great host surrounding them, but then Elisha prayed that his eyes would be opened to the spiritual reality of the situation. He then saw that the army of Heaven had surrounded the enemy and they were easily led away from the city. This is what happened to me. Thank you for all your support and prayers.
During my recovery time, I dedicated to writing booklets on Church life. I have finished ten so far, (two more to go in this series). I also have three devotional books in Portuguese printed. I have had some great feedback on these teachings and am developing seminars to go along with each subject. Next week we will be going to Germany, where I will teach on the content of two of them. Helen and I were in Mozambique for three weeks last month and have been challenged to get our teaching into podcasts and video format so that can reach the more isolated areas in the North of the country. There is a great need for the training up of leaders in this Muslim dominated region. I am praying for the equipment and/or studio needed to begin this project. The Bible school we established there is doing great and soon the first students will be graduating. Already, one church has been planted as a result of the school.
Our churches in Angola want us to begin another Bible Mission School there and so these video classes will be essential in getting teaching to the various rural areas where it is most needed. My goal is to train the indigenous leaders to do the work, rather than do it for them. They need to be adequately equipped with the Word of God to excel in every good work. (II Timothy 3:16-17) Too often, missionaries have created a dependency on foreign help, rather than stimulate faith. It is time for a change. While in Mozambique there was a severe natural disaster. Although Maputo was not affected, the central region of Beira was devastated. We were able to send generators and other humanitarian help, but so much more is needed. We want to thank those of you who responded. So many churches have been leveled by this cyclone and it will take years to build everything back up. We have a charitable organization in Mozambique that we are channeling money to and if you desire to continue to sow into this area, you can do so via SIM.
On this last trip, we were able to visit Helen’s home country of Eswatini, (former Swaziland). We ministered at the Homecoming celebration of New Hope Centre, an orphanage that has been a blessing to so many abandoned children. Elizabeth Hynd is an amazing woman of God. She began this home 15 years ago in response to the AIDS pandemic that had left thousands of children without family. It was an honor to give a gift from our SIM partners to help in the work of this orphanage and also to minister to these dear children and young adults. Elizabeth not only gave them a home, but restored their destiny. A number of those who are now adults are in university, secular professions and ministry. They are real nation-changers.
The rest of the year will be quite busy as we are back on the road. We will be in a number of countries of Europe, North Africa, Angola and then to end the year we will be in America. Helen will be with me most of the time. In July, I will be in Angola for three weeks and she will stay home on this trip. She is painting a series of portraits she has called Ethnic Beauties and will be dedicating these three weeks to this project. You can see them on her site: fineartbyhelenreimer.com. She has a desire to instill in people the desire to see beauty in all the nations and to motivate them to missions.
Please do keep in touch. We do email, Instagram, Whatsapp and Messenger, (no longer Facebook). We try to keep our calendar updated on our site: www.simissions.org. Follow us in prayer.
Big hugs,
Jim and Helen