Dear friends,
Greetings from America
Yes, America, not Portugal. Helen and I have been here in the States visiting family for the last few weeks. We will be able to see almost all of our family in these three weeks that we are here. So great to be with the grandchildren, seeing that they are growing up so fast and many are now in University and choosing their life careers. What encourages us so much is their commitment to the Lord and following His leading in the choices they make.
This has been a recharging time for us and we will need it because as soon as we get back home, we are off to Morocco. This is our annual prayer trip and we will also be meeting with key leaders of the Moroccan underground churches. I will return in June to minister at a pastor’s retreat of local leaders. This country is experiencing more and more openness to the Gospel and our investment there is crucial.
Just to quickly let you know what is coming up for us this summer. In July, we will be going to Angola to minister in local churches as well as speak at two Bible school graduations. Angola is like a second home to us. We have been ministering there yearly since the mid 90’s. There has been much church growth, but in recent years the government is placing some crazy restrictions on church registration and pastor qualifications. Many churches have been shut down because they were not able to meet these restrictions. The persecution has been sporadic and it seems that some authorities are just expecting some “under-the-table” pay offs from the pastors to be able to keep their doors open.
From Angola, Helen and I, as well as our son Seth and his family, will go to South Africa where we are sponsoring a retreat for Mozambican and Swazi pastors in Nelspruit, South Africa. We are excited about this time of giving input into a new generation of African leaders. Pray for all the logistics and safe arrival of all whom we have invited. More and more, I believe this will be the strategy we will be using in ministering in the nations: concentrating on leadership development rather than church planting. My desire is to make the church plants as indigenous as possible, from the very beginning, rather than the promoting of a “brand” or denomination or network expansion. Having spent most of my life in missions I have seen the problems caused by mission “colonization” by foreign agencies rather than the equipping of local believers to do the work. (ooops…this may need a lot more explaining)
I will communicate more as we continue on our journey and share with you all the experiences we will have with these dear brothers and sisters. Pray for our strength and health. Helen is needing to have an ablation procedure on her heart. We are just waiting for the health service in Portugal to set a time. She needs to go slower than usual but is a champ.
Thank you for your friendship and prayers.
Jim and Helen