Feb 28
A great Report from GRACE CHRISTIAN OUTREACH MINISTRIES, The Rosendahls
Dear Friends,
God bless all of you!
I recently got back from an incredible ministry trip to central Mexico where God touched many, many lives and many hundreds of people gave their lives to Christ! Thanks for praying for this ministry trip and for your donations to help us accomplish it. We never cease to be amazed at what God does to impact lives on these ministry trips! God is so good!
Prior to heading to central Mexico, I worked to get our ministry van fixed from various mechanical problems replacing the alternator, starter and IPR Valve and servicing the transmission and rear differential. On Feb. 7th David, Marty, Pedro and I headed out to San Luis Potosi, a city of over a million people eight hours from Nuevo Laredo. While there, we did four family outreaches. One was in a needy part of San Luis Potosi and three were in rural villages 45 minutes to an hour and a half from San Luis. An outreach in San Juan with many people coming to hear about Jesus. Praise God!
Our second outreach was in a village where we had ministered in December. When we ministered there in December this was the first public service that had ever been in this village and we were able to use a huge community center for the outreach. We ministered to 150 people and over 40 people came to Christ. When we ministered there this time, we were happy to see that a church had been started from the Dec. outreach, they were still able to use the large community center for the service and there was one hundred people at the service. Many of these people were new people and many of them gave their lives to the Lord while some of them were people who had been faithfully attending the weekly services. Please pray that this church continues to grow and that the people become strong disciples of Jesus Christ!
Our third and fourth outreaches were both in villages where there was no church. 300 people attended these two outreaches and over 220 people prayed to give their lives to Christ. One of the outreaches was in a barn that was loaned for the outreach and another was in a garage. It is so exciting to be a part of bringing the Gospel to unreached villages and we are working with a large church in San Luis to put churches in these villages. Please pray for God to send the right person or persons to pastor in these villages.
We also had a pastor’s conference in the rural villages and shared ways that GCOM could help their ministries. Eight pastors attended and all of them received a large amount of literature: End times flyers, booklets, books of John, New Testaments, tracts and Bibles. In these rural villages there is very little access to literature and so they were really blessed! Through these pastors distributing the literature, God’s Word will spread throughout many more unreached villages! Several churches are interested in starting video Bible Colleges and we are looking to help several churches with doors and windows for their church construction projects.
From San Luis Potosi we headed two hours down the road to San Juan. San Juan has festivals in February and August where 8 million + people fill the streets and ask false gods to bless their city. We distributed many thousands of books of Romans and Gospel tracts throughout the city. We also did a family outreach where 20 people of all ages came forward to put their trust in Christ.
Our last stop was the city of Guadalajara where we again did a pastor’s conference which twelve pastors attended and again all of them received several boxes of literature, a water purification kit, reading glasses if needed and we discussed ways we could work together to spread the Gospel in Mexico’s 2nd largest city.
We also ministered at a rehab center where 60 people gave their lives to Christ and where God ministered powerfully to each person as we prayed over them. I was also given the chance to visit a pastor whose husband was killed several months ago by his nephew over an inheritance. Though still grieving, she and her son and daughter- in- law are continuing with the church. This church building has no roof just thin fabric attempting to keep out the elements. We would like to help them put a roof on the church and help them with financial support as God allows.
Our last outreach was near the largest lake in Latin America, Lago Chapala. At this outreach we ministered to close to a hundred people and saw forty people put their trust in Christ. Thanks for your prayers for this ministry trip! God touched so many lives for His glory! We are needing to repair the front wheel bearings and u- joints on our ministry van before the next trip to the mountains of San Luis Potosi in central Mexico. The cost for these repairs will be approximately $1000 if you would like to donate towards this repair. This trip will again be to a very unreached area where very few people have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Please pray for God to do mighty things on this upcoming trip which will be in mid- March. Thanks for your partnership in spreading the Gospel in Mexico and around the world! None of this would be possible without you! May God bless you and your family in a mighty way in every area of your lives!
Serving Christ,
Rev. Kevin Rosendahl
Ministry Needs – We are in need of a forklift to use to unload ministry supplies at our warehouse in Laredo, TX
– The ministry that prints the majority of our Gospel literature is also in need of a forklift to load and unload literature
– For repair of the van bearings and u -joints on our ministry van (cost -$1000 )
Prayer Needs
-For safe travels and the van to run well on the ministry trip
– For God to prepare the hearts of the people in the mountains of San Luis Potosi to receive Christ and the Gospel as we share the Gospel there in March
– For the church that recently started in the village near San Luis to grow rapidly and to bring many people to the Lord
– For God to send or raise up the right pastor to pastor those who came to Christ in the unreached villages this last trip
– For abundant finances to do all that God has called us to do in the ministry – For the Lord’s protection as we minister in Mexico
– For God to guide Joshua clearly as he helps the ministry in the area of technology and in regards to his schooling.
– For good health for all of us
– For God’s help in getting the ministry registered in Mexico legally as a “Religious Association”
– For God to bless all the ministries that are affiliated with GCOM in Mexico and other parts of the world
– For the Mafia to come to Christ and for the drug and human trafficking to be stopped
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Feb 14
God Moving us Forward, Chris and Larena Johnston, Ireland
Goals Accomplished, God Moving us Forward in the Power of His Giftings.
Greetings from Galway!
January was another amazing month. It was extra special, because it marked the official date of Chris’ graduation from the Advanced Leadership Training program through Christian Churches Ireland (AGIreland). It was also the month we had to say goodbye to our family & friends after a wonderful 2 months back refreshing & renewing. Not to mention, God has really already renewed our passion & drive for the work He has spoken to us for the past many years.
This is our 7th year in Ireland (In August it makes 8 years!). Can you believe it? In the past 7 years we’ve seen God do so much! He has provided for all of our needs, & we’ve shared stories in the past how He has come through. It never, ever gets old. We have seen many hearts come to know Jesus, & we have watched countless youth come up through the Torch youth program. We have baptized numerous youth & young adults, watched them grow in their faith, & in turn go out & reach others for Jesus. It’s been a very, very fulfilling 7 years.
But we want more! We want to see more people come to know Jesus. We want to see strongholds break in the city center, we want to see the lost be found, & the blind see. We want to see the miracles & we want to see even more than what Jesus did on the earth, as He has promised us. We want to continue to live out this verse in our lives: “Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” Matthew 28:19-20
Our prayer is also this: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” We want bolder prayers for bigger victories!
I’d like to share a new anointing that I’ve seen on my husband these past few months. He has really become more confident in who God has called him to be here in Ireland, & I’ve seen him really grow in his ability to preach & speak into people’s lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. If any of you heard him speak while we were back home for a visit, you too might have noticed it. This has all come from the confidence that the courses he took. Even though it was very challenging for us as a family for him to be driving to Dublin every day, working a full work week, & doing papers, preaching & juggling being a daddy & husband, it was worth it. Because he has truly broken through to the other side!
A dear friend of ours has written a book, & in the front page he signed his name, & also said, “Thanks for not growing weary in well doing.” Galatians 6:9. I have to be honest, we were growing wearing in well doing. The visit back stateside gave us the rest we needed to gain our strength back & to also understand new giftings that the Holy Spirit has given to us to work in. Chris has been empowered to share the Gospel by the leading of the Spirit with complete strangers. And I’m proud & amazed to say that God used him to lead a waitress from Texas Road House to Jesus, & a lad that he shared a few video games with online to Jesus. Two strangers lives are now changed because of this new anointing that God has placed on his life! Praise God!
God has also started using me in words of knowledge & encouragement. It’s grown my faith in these past few months by leaps & bounds, because I’ve often struggled with believing that I am hearing from God sometimes. But recently He has spoken many words to me for other people in my prayer times, & even to a couple strangers. Each time I’ve shared what I’ve felt the Holy Spirit has spoken to me, it’s been a blessing to me to see that it’s right on target for that person’s life. It’s been such an encouragement, & I am thankful God has given me this new gift to work in. I am just beginning to explore it really, but I’ve been amazed to see what He has done already!
I say all this because I know we are in a new season. I’ve felt better in the past few months than I have for the past 2 years. I know that God is doing something big that is going to take a long time to accomplish here, & it thrills both of us. We deeply long to reach out to the community of Galway. We want to reach out to the homeless, the broken, the oppressed, the suicidal, the rich, the poor, the hungry. We literally want to reach out to everyone who doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus. We hope to make a difference by doing the verse that God has put on my heart for this year. “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” Acts 20:24. This is our goal now for 2020.
Thank you to every single one of you for the love and support you have given to us over the past 7 years. Your prayers, your investments of time, & your generosity has made all of this possible. We know God has put us on your hearts to help us continue this work and we are so thankful for all He is going to do in the future. Thank you for standing with us. Thank you for being a part of this journey! All our love from Galway! ~Larena
Prayer Requests
We would be honored if you would pray with us concerning:
Please pray for the new gifings that God has given us to work in recently. Pray that they develop so we can be even more useful on the missions field.
Please pray for the drop in center, and for the transition that we feel God is puttng on our hearts from youth work to pastoral work city center.
Please pray for God to send a leader who would be accepted by the Elders of GCF to take over Torch and lead it.
Please pray for us as a family, for the provisions and protection that is so needed as we continue plowing through the darkness to establish the light of Christ in Ireland!
Support Information
If you would like to team up & contribute to this important mission, please make checks out to:
Hope Ireland Missions
229 W. Exchange St
Crete, IL 60417 (Chris & Larena Johnston on the memo line)
FOR ONLINE GIVING
Simply go to: www.hopeirelandmissions.com & click on “partner.”
Jan 28
Report on Imelda’s Health–Mission to the Children
Mission to the Children
“Changing our World One Life at a Time”
First, I want to thank you all for your prayers and give you an update on Imelda.
For those of you who may not be aware of Imelda’s sickness, she has been very sick since right after Thanksgiving. She is very yellow and her gall bladder and liver are swollen. We have been to several doctors, had a lot of scans, and they have sent her several labs. They have been trying to fix Imelda’s sickness with Medication, but her improvements are only minimal.
We will go for new labs on this Wednesday to check if her current meds are helping. Imelda is having trouble eating and drinking, and she is in constant pain. She is very sick and extremely weak. Please continue to pray for us. Our faith is strong and we still hold to our promised victory.
Sam came home for Christmas and preached several times for me. His preaching is really good, and he is growing a lot spiritually. We are proud of him. Josh has been working hard to help take care of Imelda. He has been cooking and preparing most of Imelda’s meal. I am proud that he is helping his mother so much.
Our number at church are down a little bit, and I plan to evangelize more. In February we are going to start a couple’s bible study to try to reach more people. Hopefully in February, Alex, a volunteer from the state of Chiapas, will be with us. Taking care of Imelda does not allow me enough time to take care of a volunteer. In spite of the rough start I am feeling 2020 will be a great year for our ministries.
Thank you for the all the incredible ways you support our ministries. Your prayers, words of encouragement, and your friendships have a huge impact on our lives. Thank you.
Please make Checks to: Mission to the Children PO BX 211322 Bedford, TX 76095 or Go to http://paypal.me/missiontothechildren
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