Thursday, December 17, 2009

December Report

Dear Christian Friend,


Why is it that things often come in threes . . . for instance, our news this month?

The Good News – Our Mission Forum went well with good attendance and even better mission reports. Plans are already being formed for next year’s event so we hope you will plan to be here the second weekend of November.

The Better News – For the third month in a row we had an increase in our nation count. Reunion, a small Island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, is an overseas region of France. Most people speak Creole Reunionnais there, but French is the official language. The predominant religion is Catholic with Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism also taught. These 800,000+ souls certainly need the Gospel of Christ, so we pray that the one soul who came to our website will continue to learn there.

The Best NewsJimmie Hill, Director of Publications, is now officially cancer-free! It is such a blessing to have him and Ellen Mills both now free of this disease. We greatly appreciate the prayers said on their behalf.

As the year is winding down to its last days, the Truth for the World staff wants you to know how much your loyal support means to us. We really could not do this work without you. And as our thoughts turn to next year we hope we can count on you again. We will still be about the mission of saving souls from sin in 2010.

May the Lord bless you with health and happiness during this Holiday Season and all through the New Year.

With love from our family to yours,

Phillip Gray, John Grubb, Jimmie & Linda Hill
William & Katrece Howard, Dave Komisak, Ellen Mills,
Benjamin Richardson and Kristen Underwood

Staff at Truth for the World

Thank you for your support in 2009!

Dear brethren,
Linda and I want to thank you most sincerely for your support of our work together for the Lord in 2009. Our Lord and Savior stated, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (Matthew 22:37) and it is evident from your ongoing support (in spite of the economy) and even, in some cases, an increase in the amount of your support from the previous years, that you truly love the Lord our God with all your heart, soul, and mind.


When someone purposes to support a work in a very generous and continuous way, what does this say about their spiritual heart? Jesus said, "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart" (Matthew 15:18). The things that come out of the mouth originate in the heart, and if they are evil it indicates an impure and defiled heart but "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things" (Matthew 12:35). Our supporters give from the good treasures of their hearts and thereby teach many good things. What can we learn from such goodness?

• A good heart is a thinking heart and will think on good things (Philippians 4:8).

• A good heart is wise and understanding and will strive to obey our God (Psalm 111:10).

• A good heart is one that knows God and that He will reward it’s diligent effort (Hebrews 11:6).

• A good heart is one that believes in the peace that God offers and that it passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

• A good heart is one that purposes to do right, reasons, has spiritual aspirations and desires, one that repents and moves forward, does not presume evil but shows agape love for all others, feels grief, sorrow, and compassion for all others, and that will live forever. And this list could go on and on.

Now how do we know that our supporters possess such heart? The heart is the soil of the soul and when the Word of God, "the seed" (Luke 8:10), is sown in the heart and takes sufficient root, it produces these (and many more) characteristics seen in a Christian’s life. A good heart realizes that the only way to open the human heart of man is by teaching him the Gospel of Christ. Since you sow the seed of the Gospel through our work together with Truth for the World (and we are sure through many other good works), you are exposing your heart. When others see this, they see Christ in you. Since Christ is "meek and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29) and you are like Christ (a Christian), others know of your good heart.


Brethren, we do not know what 2010 will bring. Things happen that cause change and those who love the Lord and His Word must never compromise the Word but make changes in their lives to accommodate such things. It is our prayerful hope and utmost desire that all will obey and please our God. It is also our prayer that our godly supporters will stay with us in 2010 and beyond and all this for the glory of God.

Thank you once again and may our God bless all your Gospel endeavors according to His good will. Happy Holidays?

(In 2010, would you please make all your checks out to the Hill Mission Fund and mark them for Jimmie Hill. This will help us in our bookkeeping and bank deposits.)

In Christ Who Saves,
Jimmie B. Hill




Greetings from Georgia!


Naturally, the really big news of the month is . . . Jimmie is cancer-free!! After almost 2 years of disastrous health issues it was a wonderful relief to hear that. Thank you again for all of your prayers and concern. You have been a blessing to us during a very difficult time.

Speaking of difficult times, I just marked my 10th year with Truth for the World. I started part-time in 1999 just after we learned that our sponsoring congregation had asked us to find a new home and that home turned out to be in another state. I went full-time when we moved the office to Georgia that November and have felt like I was in the midst of a whirlwind ever since. I have been repeatedly startled by some of the problems we have faced with this mission work, but always thrilled by the news of the souls we have touched. In the 11 years since Jimmie took on the work with the correspondence courses more than -

• 700,000 new students have enrolled

• 225 new congregations have been established

• 14,000 lost souls have been baptized

It’s stats like this that keep us hanging on in the whirlwind.

One of those winds blowing me this month is the computer switch the secretaries are making. Our eMacs have been great for years, but they are dying from old age. They have also fallen so far off the grid that updating ideas were quickly dropped. Therefore, the secretaries are switching to PCs to be compatible with the rest of the staff, and because replacement cost was 50% less. My big challenge now is re-creating ALL of the MANY databases kept here in MS Acess and getting our previous Filemaker info to flow into them. If I can I will save TFTW about $1,000 now and more down the road, so wish me luck!

And I wish you a very Happy Holiday!

In Christian Love,
Linda Hill

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Caribbean Cruise

We enjoyed a wonderful break in October - our first ever cruise! Our destination was the Western Caribbean - Grand Cayman (Cayman Islands), Roatan (Honduras), Belize and Cozumel (Mexico). The weather was great, and the company was better since we had a small group from our home congregation who went.

Leaving Miami - standing on deck 9 to get that windswept look















A "friendly" pirate on Cayman Islands









The Turtle Farm at Cayman had turles of all sizes from BIG



to little.








The little version is MUCH cuter!


a lava-encrusted beach on Grand Cayman










and a lava field the locals have named Hell.





School children in Belize









A ship-wreck along the coast of Roatan


Some Roatan dancers re-enacting how they beat the French army many years ago - the warriors traded clothing with their women to fool the soldiers.






One of the many towel critters who greeted us nightly in our stateroom.






Wednesday, October 7, 2009

October 2009 Report

Dear Christian Friend,

School is back in session so it’s time for a pop quiz -
  • Did you notice that our nation count went up? Greenland makes 222! This ice-capped land of 57,600 souls is about 3 times the size of Texas and thus the world’s largest island. Located in the Arctic Circle north of Canada it has a harsh climate mixed with spectacular beauty. Greenlanders are mostly Lutheran and speak East Inuit as their official language. Most are also Internet savvy so please pray that this open door will lead to the Lord’s church being planted here.
  • Did you hear about the floods in the Atlanta area? Well, they swept across Gwinnett County as well, and right into our building. Ellen Mills was forced to evacuate her office during the deluge so it was a scramble to empty a spot and move her to dry ground. The carpet has been ripped up and repairs are underway, so hopefully we can get her out of that storage room soon.
  • Did you read our newest stats? Our teachers have reported that at least 275 new congregations of the Lord’s church have begun because of our work together – 50 of them in 2009!
  • Did you know that two of our staff members have cancer? Ellen Mills, receptionist, had surgery in September but the pathology determined they did not remove all of it. She will be returning to the hospital on October 15th for more extensive surgery. Jimmie Hill, Director of Publications, had surgery last year for thyroid cancer and has been taking medicinal treatment since. He returns at the end of October for testing. Please keep both of them in your prayers for complete recoveries.
  • Did you remember that the Truth for the World Mission Forum is November 13-15? That’s just a few blinks away so we hope you are making plans to attend. You will find a personal invitation enclosed in this receipt. We would love to see you here!
  • Did you know that we appreciate you? Of course, you did!

Staff of Truth for the World

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Zambia 2009 Pictures - Here and There

The white cloud just above the trees is mist from the Mosi-O-Tunya (The Mist That Thunders) as it is called locally - Victoria Falls - as seen from the Zambia School of Biblical Studies campus. It is also about as close as Jimmie got to this incredible wonder of the world. He had seen it so saw no reason to see it again.








A Typical bush house










Rock formations
Zambian roads













Charcoal sellers along the road to Siamafumba


His & Hers chimbuzi





Lunch at Kalomo










Trees and countryside













And spectacular sunsets
















Finally, on the way home - the airport at Livingstone
















Monday, September 7, 2009

Zambia 2009 Pictures - Siamafumba

The travel-weary wheels that got Jimmie and Ron into the bush. Keeping it together was the trick.











Webby (with a little help from Jimmie) had to repair the universal joint before leaving for Siamafumba . . .

then stop on the road to replace the rubber gromet around it using a seat belt he cut from inside the truck and some bailing wire. Being able to improvise is an important skill in the bush.

But they reached Siamafumba safely.











Siamafumba School of Biblical Studies


Jimmie's sleeping quarters during this 4-day meeting.

Jimmie didn't have a pillow so at night he would put his carry-on bag under the mattress to give some height. The first night he was awakened by a critter investigating this bag just under his head, and then a bag beside him. Jimmie waited until the critter noises were coming from the other side of the room before groping for the flashlight by his bed. (Black mambas and cobras - 2 very deadly snakes - are both common in the the area.) Fortunately, this critter turned out to be a very LARGE mouse. It quickly scurried back to the nest it had made inside the door of the room, while Jimmie went back to sleep, relieved that it was a mouse rather than a snake. The next day the brethren removed the door and took it outside.

Cooking stations













and scenes around the meeting area



The brush building built just for this gospel meeting.





Notice that the brush structures are really not very tall. The church building was actually shorter than Jimmie. Fortunately, there was depression behind the pulpit he could stand in to preach.

Imagine sitting on these pews hour after hour.















Ron trying to get warm at one of the tea stations.











Preaching at night.
There was no electricity or running water at Siamafumba, only a generator that produced enough power to illuminate 4 light bulbs. The one over the pulpit shed enough light to read sermon notes, but the crowd of almost 2,000 souls listened in total darkness.


One other exciting thing about Siamafumba was that 5 of Ron's students in the International College of the Bible graduated with a BA in Bible. Jimmie said it was amazing to have a cap and gown graduation out in the bush.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Zambia 2009 Pictures - Misika. .

When Jimmie described Misika as out in the bush he meant it literally. The "buildings" pictured here were constructed from brush just for this 3-day Gospel meeting.


But children get curious and excited everywhere, and always seem to find a way to have fun.





Ron Gilbert makes annual trips and the kids remember, so they wanted to greet him.








The church building at Misika - too small to hold the crowd of almost 1,000 so it became sleeping quarters for many of the visitors, including Jimmie and Ron. That's a stack of mattresses leaning against the back wall.


Taking a lunch break. A typical meal every day in Zambia was enshima and collards, or enshima and beans, or enshima and soup. The side "relish" varied but enshima is a staple. It is made from ground corn rather like finely ground, thick grits for us Southern folks.


The brush arbor used for the lessons.
Brush buildings are easy to construct with materials readily available, so this is typical for large meetings in Zambia. Unfortunately, they come with all the dust and bugs that were already present.
Notice the PA system - a bull horn.

Jimmie preaching at Misika.












One of the baptisms.