Trip to Turkey

God used a  trip to Turkey in November to impact the lives of myself and others.  Rose and I were praying as it related to this trip or going to another country.  The Lord opened up Turkey for me to go and seek Him as it relates to His purposes for further ministry.  I was also able to renew my visa early so I did not have to work with that during the birth of the baby (my visa would have expired on December 30th).  Praise the Lord, I was given another three months to continue the work we are doing here in Israel.

While in Turkey, the Lord gave me the opportunity to minister to a Jewish man who was injured in the first Lebanon war.  Since that time he has been emailing me.  Here is a quote from one of Rami's emails, "this is way i love you in the first time i see you i told your wife that you are 100% person and she tell me how mouch they love you i soory if i have mistake with the words." Rami had a conversation with Rose on the telephone and said, "I knew that your husband is genuine."  It is a blessing to know that God is working through our family to touch a hurting world with the message of Jesus Christ.  Rami knew something was different about me. After four days, and just sharing life with him, He saw Jesus at work in my life.  I am excited to see Rami again in the near future.

While in Turkey I also asked the Lord where He wants us to go and minister.  In addition to Israel, I heard the Lord speak the countries of Denmark, Ireland, and England.  We are currently praying for God to bring confirmation of this word.  The next day, in the lobby of the hotel in Turkey, I met a lady from Denmark and her friend. Today, God brought another person to our home who is from Denmark.  It is quite apparent to us that Denmark is on our hearts and we need to seek God for what He may have us do in that country. 

Harvest School:

We currently have four Harvest Schools sponsored at $300.00 each and have openings for 6 more.  We have been blessed to receive funding and purchase of equipment to facilitate in the translation work.  We will receive this equipment in early January.

The Harvest School of Evangelism uses the Bible as its text to help new believers learn how to share their faith from the beginning of their discipleship.  Most believers, when they come to know the Lord in this region of the world, learn to receive Jesus and then hide.  This schooling allows disciples to be grounded in what they believe Biblically and taught how to share their faith. 

The first schools we are implementing are in Russian and Hebrew.  Additional languages to follow are Arabic and Amharic. 

Some of the classes that are in this schooling are:

Children's Corner

Josiah and Abigail continue to do wonderful in their schooling environment.  We hear Hebrew words more and more around the house.  Josiah preached his first message at our small house congregation.  The title of his message was, "Jesus, Paul, and Mary.  Abigail loves to sing and did a solo last week of Jesus Loves Me. Josiah and Abigail sang for the guests that were here at Thanksgiving.  They learned the song "We bring the Sacrifice of Praise."  For December 25th they are learning a song titled "I'll Give Him My Heart."

Baby Update

The baby is now almost 38 weeks along and we are expecting the birth of our fourth child any day now. We are trusting God for the needed resources to pay the hospital bill for the arrival of this child.  If we were still in America the child would cost around $6,000.00 since all insurance companies considered us uninsurable (pregnancy is a pre-existing condition).  Because we are self-employed we can only obtain insurance after the baby is born.  The baby will cost between $500.00 - $1000.00 USD here in Israel.  We won't know for sure until the baby is born.  We know that God placed us here in Israel and He will provide.

Prayer & Praise Reports

Rose and I had a beautiful time of  praying for a woman in our home the other day.  We all sensed the presence of the Lord with us.  After praying and really feeling the presence of being with the Lord, the lady went back to Jerusalem.  We got an email the next day that stated she was healed instantly and the pain was gone. We thank God for His healing power. Mark 16:18 says, "They will lay their hands on the sick and they will get well."         

Praise Reports

• Safe trip to Turkey
• Renewed three month visa
• Ability to visit the hospital for the birth of the baby
• Health of the family
• Healing in individuals lives
• Martha having the opportunity to share her faith
• Ericka's safe return back to America

Prayer Requests:

• Life coaching via phone of individuals in the US.  We are currently praying and working alongside two individuals.
• Operating budget
• Safety and health of Rose and the baby
• Harvest School of Evangelism Ministry Opportunities (Here and in other countries)

Ericka had been to our home for a week back in October.  She arrived back in the US recently following 10 1/2 months of travel around the world.  Just the other day she sent us this report,  "One time when I was in Israel, on a boat on the Sea of Galilee I felt like God impressed on my heart, "Ericka, you never have to worry about ANYTHING." Wow. that's huge"  We thank God for what He showed Ericka during her time in the land.

We were able to assist a family in financial need this past month.  This family has been in Israel for several years and is in a place of need.  I thank God for the opportunity we have to bless others.  TBGM gives 10% of its resources to the needs of other people and ministries as God directs.