Dear A-Team China & Ping
What a full year it has been! Ministry doors have been opened wide to Ethiopia, China, Auburn and Clemson. My trip to China was especially meaningful for the LORD not only gave me several evangelistic opportunities but also allowed me to follow-up on one of the scholars I discipled while he was studying at Clemson. He is now a professor at a prominent university in communist China. Even though he has been a Christian for only three years he has twenty-five students he is training in the Word of God. He is also a leader in his local church. Pray for Ping, because the government is increasing its persecution of Christians in its "preparation" for the 2008 Olympics.
Clemson, Chess & Creation
One of the greatest obstacles our international students have in understanding the gospel is the evolutionary brainwashing they have received in their undergraduate education. This is one of the reasons we were overjoyed to be able to invite and host Dr. Jonathan Sarfati this fall at Clemson. Thanks to the contacts and great support of the Greenville Creation Study Group we utilized the many gifts God has given Dr. Sarfati. He is not only a world renown creation scientist but he is also a three time national chess champion. We invited the greater Clemson community and students to challenge him. He played over fifteen at a time and beat them all. We also had two seminars for Clemson faculty members. Our large meeting in the Brooks Performing Arts Center attracted over five hundred. The LORD used this to give us many opportunities to give the gospel to American and international students. Pray for our follow-up, for many questions have been asked that relate directly to the good news that is only in Jesus Christ, the maker and sustainer of heaven and earth.
Auburn & Classical Christian School
Working with Dr. Peter Doyle has been a real treat for me this year. Here is a man who is 75 (+) going on 17 in his zeal for the LORD, yet having the wisdom and maturity of a tested warrior for Christ. This year he retired from pastoring Trinity Presbyterian Church and is now a full time missionary with RMI. Thus, he has even more time to invest in the lives of student leaders at Auburn University. What a joy it has been to meet many of these young men and women he is discipling and assist him in this blessed work.
I had the privilege to preach several times in the chapel services of the classical Christian school that his church operates and this year they have adopted the Christian Discipleship Castle as their Bible program for their 5th grade. This fulfills one of the goals of our discipleship training, to be flexible enough to teach Biblical truths to graduate level university students and elementary students, at their appropriate level. Please pray the LORD would continue to open doors for this training program to help followers of Christ obey the Great Commission and fulfill the Cultural Mandate.
Ethiopia & Sudan
I have been invited to return to Ethiopia with the same medical group I traveled with last year (Christian Medical and Dental Association - www.cmda.org). We are planning to work again with Damtew, the godly Ethiopian pastor who headed up our mission last year. According to Damtew, we will be going to a different location (Arba Minch) that may attract even more pastors than we trained last year (140 pastors). It will still take us four days to get there from Clemson, so please pray we could redeem the time and all our bags would arrive with us.
Another Christian brother in the Clemson area has asked me to consider accompanying him to the Sudan next year. The mission group he is a board member of has been given a large tract of land by the government of Sudan. They are planning to build medical and educational facilities on this property to help the people of southern Sudan and to train their pastors. As with all of my overseas trips, I can go only if the money is there to fully cover the expenses. So please pray that all the funds would come in if this is God's will. The opportunities for Kingdom expansion really look amazing.
". . . On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.
Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."
2 Corinthians 1:10b-11
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