January 14, 2009
"So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls." Acts 2:41
Dear Friends,
If you will allow me, I need to give you an update of what the Lord did in 2008 & (1973-2008)
Number of churches receiving teams 1,919 (18,482)
Participants from USA 610 (16,716)
Participants from other countries 2,962 (36,279)
Total Participants 3,572 (52,995)
People Indicating they prayed to receive Christ
Projects 469,429 (3,375,336)
Operation Andrews--church members only 11,408 (1,507,623)
Total Decisions indicated for Christ 480,837 (4,882,959)
Is that not just a wonderful update to what I had reported earlier? All the reports had not yet been received when last I wrote, but they are here now. And we give Him all the glory and honor and praise.
The first project of 2009 goes out the door tomorrow, January 15th. We have 15 Americans headed to Mbabane, Swaziland. As the Lord leads you, pray for them and the people with whom they will be sharing the Good News.
Speaking of February, the tickets have been purchased for the Sierra Leone project and another project. Lord willing, I will purchase the tickets for the Nicaragua project on Friday.
All of those projects will take place after our Staff Retreat scheduled for the first week of February. Pray for us as we gather together to praise and worship together and learn to do our jobs better.
Up on the hill in Rhome, the Lord had Sherry and me working along the same lines at Christmas. Her gift to me was having our shower repaired so it would not fall through the floor of our home, and I was giving her new bath towels and rugs for the bathroom. My gift came the Monday before Christmas and had me working from home for two days so someone would be there while the men were working. Then there were the two days the next week while they finished. It was nice not having to drive to the office those days, but it is even nicer knowing that I won't be taking a shower in a basement that we don't have.
April and Jamee went to Rockin' C Ranch for New Year's Eve. Jamee drove them to Lindale. This was her first long distance trip without one of us adults in the car with her. A prayer request was sent out, and the Lord answered with their safe return home.
Sherry and I took April back to East Texas Baptist University in Marshall last Saturday so she could begin her classes on Monday. She finished the Fall 2008 semester still on the dean's list with honors with a 3.63 GPA for the semester and a 3.57 GPA overall. We are so proud of her.
Also, up on the hill in Rhome in the "driveway" sits the red and dead 1998 Kia Sephia with 240,180 miles. It died Thursday, December 11, 2008. Neither the air conditioner nor the heater worked. The emergency brake was broken. It was a ramblin' wreck, but now it's just a mess. So as the Lord allows you and leads you, please pray for a low mileage, fuel efficient, low priced, mid-size car that we might purchase. In advance and always, we thank you for your prayers and your love and support.
Well, I thought Miss Kitty had something to say, but it turned out to be a hairball. So, I guess I'll let you go for now and pray the Lord gives me the chance to write you in February about the Swaziland project and what He did there and at the staff retreat. And don't forget to let us know how we can pray for you. We love doing that because we love you.
May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His Light to shine upon you and give you His peace.
In His love, Reyburn
