January 2009 Report

Dear Christian Friend,

December is always a time of transition – closing out the old year and getting ready for the new. Clearing the staff’s large planning calendar brings a sense of things accomplished, but a check of our past monthly reports paints more details. 2008 was an incredible year in many ways.

The year began quietly with business as usual – recording radio and television programs for broadcast, printing Gospel literature to ship, studying with Bible correspondence course students around the world.

The year ended with John Grubb’s campaign to Malaysia. In the Gospel meeting and public classes at Kuala Lumpur and Fraser Hill John preached in English. In the private home studies he taught in Chinese. But in the city of Melaka he taught in both languages at the same time. The brethren there played a series of his Chinese DVD lessons so John literally translated for himself.

In between the staff dealt with mechanical failures, postage hikes, material shortages, Gospel meetings, cyberspace crashes, foreign campaigns, construction annoyances, work trips, new equipment headaches, Mission Forum hosting, financial worries, personnel shortages, family disasters, serious health issues, mail from around the world, and more.

Some of these were good, and some were not. But through them all the work of spreading the Gospel to lost souls continued.

Now the staff calendar in the hallway has been wiped clean, ready for a new year. We are starting fresh and expect great things for 2009. New campaigns and Gospel meetings are being planned. New contacts are being sought. New ideas are being discussed. And, as always, the staff is seeking to stretch the funds we have available to reach the most souls possible. Thank you for being a vital part of this work.

Staff of Truth for the World