November 2023 Australia, Italy, UK
AUSTRALIA We're so happy to hear of the baptism of JESSE-GRACE in Perth WA. Brother Mark reports:
"By the grace of God, the spirit of our Lord Jesus has found root in Jessie-Grace. Speaking with Jessie, one can sense a sincere heart for the Lord and God has opened a doorway by which she can come into the covenant of many promises, by baptism into Christ Jesus our Lord. Jessie-Grace is a witness to the fact that God is still calling people into covenant with Himself and people are willing to respond. May God's salvation of her resonate throughout all the ages, to His praise. Jessie-Grace is a 'carer', she 'cares' for the aged and those with dementia and it is little wonder that she truly appreciates the care and forgiveness that is found "In Christ Jesus"."
Do see the video of her confession of faith and discussion at
https://youtu.be/eK_boufS800 And there are others showing interest in baptism not only in Perth but in other parts of WA. Let's do what we can to prayerfully support Mark in this great work.
And in other news from Australia, we're delighted to report the arrival of our dear brother Arash in Australia, having spent so long as refugee in Belarus and Turkey. As you can see from the photo of his arrival in Adelaide, he's in good hands, and we thank the Lord for His work:
ITALY As mentioned last week, LUISA has been attending our online meetings on Zoom and spent 8 years reading the Bible and coming to quit totally with the Catholic church. Catholicism is an incredibly controlling systemic force in Italy. For a middle aged Italian woman in small town Italy to step alone... is very brave. And only motivated by her love of Jesus, and experience that the Truth makes free. And if the Son makes you free, you are free indeed. So it was a very special moment when on the beach of the small coastal town where she lives, on a sunny day but with the Mediterranean very cold, she was baptized into the Lord and Saviour whom she has come to personally know- in one lovely word, Jesus. She had a panic attack the night before, as she considered the huge dimensions of what she was doing, totally surrendering herself to Him. Our sister is very, very serious about her faith. In the photo you can see her with her
NEV Bible and Italian "
Bible Basics".
We had a truly lovely time together, and no doubt where the three or four of us were gathered together... there our Lord was in the midst of us. After the baptism we went for a coffee and recorded some video of her testimony. You can see the video and some of her testimony in English
at
https://youtu.be/cb-BK4FLtVg and then her far more animated testimony in her native Italian at
https://youtu.be/wlNsQwTsToc Do share it with others whom you think may be interested in quitting Catholicism, especially if they're Italian speakers. Again it was great to have sisters Lois and Evia on the trip, Luisa took them for a tour around the area afterwards.
It's amazing what some people go through... and how through relationship with the Lord, they somehow come through.
UK
On Monday we had another great evening, baptizing BETTY, who came all the way from Hackney to Croydon to be baptized. Getting on 2 hours by public transport. Like so many, churchianity had been a stumbling block for her but she is totally committed to personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. Such a joy. Great to have sister Lois with us helping out.
Duncan comments further: "And I had to reflect... that on this day 40 years ago I was baptized, almost to the hour when I baptized Betty in my dad's bathtub this evening. I often say that Israel were baptized in the Red Sea and had to walk 40 years in the desert afterwards. Well I've done my 40 years.... So I want to just pause and thank God and the Lord Jesus for their patient work with me, they never left me, always led me... and I know the best is ahead. I just want to salute them for their amazing grace to me".
And we're totally heartbroken to tell you as we go to press that we've just heard that Bill has fallen asleep in the Lord at 83, having had a heart attack at home as he did the washing up. We snapped this photo of him just days ago, as Cindy helped him with the crossword after service at the pub [prize crossword in the Sunday newspaper!]. What a lovely man, a very regular attender at our meetings, always first to arrive and last to leave, ordered a pot of tea for him and Janice and made it last a few hours, a bit of old England, from the old school of faith and Christian living in practice. We obviously need to pray and care for dear Janice [you can see the back of her head on the photo] at this very hard time. Bill gave himself to the Lord Jesus as his saviour and is secure in Him. What a priceless comfort.
PRAYER POINTS
- For those recently baptized
- For those breaking with Catholicism and other such systems with all the sacrifice of relationships that involves
- For brother Mark's work and contacts in Perth, Western Australia
- For all our asylum seeker brethren in process to get to a safer place
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks