Changes

Dear brethren,

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I know many of you have been ill and down with various things but it is my prayer for you that you are much better and doing well.

In the last newsletter I wrote of my planned travels. Well, I still plan on doing some traveling this year, however, some of the destinations have drastically changed.

For instance, brother William Howard and I had been invited to speak on a lectureship in Australia in the Spring. We planned on speaking on the lectureship and visiting with other brethren and working there in edifying and evangelizing. (I have never been to Australia and always wanted to go and this would have been a great opportunity to be involved in the Lord’s work and fulfill one of my life’s goals.) But, brothers Howard and Charles Franks returned from Iceland in January. There they met a group of brethren (six, perhaps seven) who are in desperate need of the basic teachings of the New Testament so that they may be grounded in the faith. As a result of their initial visit and the much needed edification of the brethren, brothers Howard and Franks want to make several visits in the future in hopes to get the Lord’s body in Iceland prepared to evangelize that island nation. At this time, trips will be planned for the express purpose of evangelizing Iceland. My wife, Linda and I have been invited to go to Iceland on April 16, 2009 and help in this work. The expense of the trip will be about $3,100.00. If you would help us with this expense, it would be truly appreciated.

(By the way, the brethren in Australia understand the need in Iceland and wished us well in this good effort for our Lord.)

Also, brother Yaw Boateng and I had spoken of going to once again to Ghana, West Africa and working with the brethren there in July 2009. However, brother Boateng and I have discovered that there are many Ghanaian churches of Christ spread throughout Europe (especially in the United Kingdom) that need help in the areas of being self-propagating and self-governing. We are currently making contact with the Ghanaian brethren in Europe and are planning Gospel efforts there this year. I will keep you informed of this much-needed work as our plans solidify.

I still plan on going to Malawi in October of this year.

I do want to thank each of you who support Linda and me in our work at Truth for the World. I realize, especially in these difficult economic times, the sacrifices made by you. My salary is down $1,200.00 a month and I am earnestly seeking more funds for our work. Satan is using the downed economy as a weapon against the people of God and their work of saving lost souls. However, remember what the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” The work of our Lord must - and will - go on. Thank you once again.

If you would like to contribute monthly to the Hill Mission Fund or to the Iceland, European- Ghanaian, or Malawi efforts, please send your checks to Truth for the World, Post Office Box 5048, Duluth, Georgia 30096-00655 and mark them Hill Mission Fund and please designate which fund you are supporting.

May our God bless you and grant you peace, happiness, and success in all of your Gospel endeavors according to His good will.

In Christ Who Saves,
Jimmie

Greetings from Georgia!

Just when I think that I couldn’t get any busier – 2009 comes along. A few of the “extras” I have done so far this year at home and office include:

• Reformatting Tracts – Since the 8-page booklet is no longer a postal requirement on our tracts, we are returning to the single-tract setup and adding graphics. I already had this format for our teachers, but with the Riso now used in Printing everything has to be in digital form so - “start from scratch” with the graphics again. I have 49 out of the 66 ready to go.
• Printing – William Howard has returned to working with our Internet so most of our printing jobs are going to the Riso via my computer now. Walking to the print room 25 times a day to feed the machine or clear paper jams is the biggest hassle with this new arrangement, but at least the materials are finding their way to the shelves. I’ve printed more than 100,000 sheets since beginning this in mid-January – so I’m getting more exercise!
• Writing – Jimmie asked me to rework a fundraiser booklet I had put together for Truth for the World so that it could be used as February’s Update. Cool!
• Studying Icelandic – I have been asked to teach ladies’ classes on the campaign to Iceland with Jimmie, William and Katrece Howard, and possibly others. I want to be able to converse at least a little with sisters who do not speak English so I got online and found a language course. My American tongue simply refuses to make some of these sounds, but I’m still trying, takk fyrir!
• Reformatting our postal newsletter – You may have noticed this one is smaller – and in color. The two-page stapled variety was a LOT of work because all of the folding had to be done by hand. By making this easier to produce we hope we can produce it a bit more frequently. And the color Riso is actually cheaper than our B & W copier.
• Updating our Blog – Jimmie has published many articles over the years so I asked him about posting some on our Hill Mission page. I had not anticipated that would entail me typing them, but for most he only has the published hardcopy. His “The Little Faithful Christian” has long been one of my favorites. Now you can go to our blog and read it.
• Clearing rooms – We finally have floors! (See our blog for photos.) But the strange thing about replacing flooring is that there can be nothing on it while the work is done. At this moment everything from our kitchen, pantry, dining and laundry rooms is still piled helter-skelter in our living room because it made more sense to finish the wall repairs and painting while these areas were empty. So, I guess that means I don’t have to cook again today!

I hope you have a wonderful March.

In Christian Love,

Linda