March 2025 Australia, Mexico, UK
AUSTRALIA Brother Mark reports the baptism of a former Sunday School scholar, MARK FRYER,
video at
https://youtu.be/IwdLIk03M_s He reports the providential backdown: "MICAH grew up in a Christadelphian family and Sunday school and has always been a believer in God, Jesus Christ and the coming kingdom. But as is the case for soo many people who believe, other life matters press in and before you know it, 25 years has slipped by and you just never got around to being baptized into Jesus Christ. But the spirit of God (the spirit of grace, patience and prompting unto eternal life), tried many and various avenues to have Micah seize hold of the life 'in Christ'. It just so happened that the spirit of God and Jesus tried another avenue and through sister Danielle, Micah her son was given a copy of the NEV Bible and brother Duncan�s commentaries. Micah (now brother Micah) was blown away by the clear explanations of Gods word and particularly, God's passion in Jesus Christ to save weak people like me and Micah. For about a year Micah has wanted baptism, but could only see a lot of complications for baptism through churches / ecclesias. We were happy to be on hand to forward Gods counsel to Micah and have him baptized into Jesus His son.
Sometimes you get a confirmation from God that you're on the right track; that your work for God and Jesus is on the right track. You do not always have these confirmations, for the work for the gospel of Jesus Christ is all built on 'trust/faith'; trust/faith on the part of one doing preaching and baptizing for the Lord, therefore you do not always have confirmations that you're on the right track. But sometimes you do and that confirmation was clearly evident in the baptism of Micha.
*It just so happened* that early this Sunday morning I was helping my son mow and whipper-snip his yard in preparation for a rent inspection. And *it just so happened* the whipper-snipper broke. Disappointment that we couldn't finish the yard cleanup. It was now 10am and rather than go home, I decided to go to Yokine ecclesia for the memorial meeting. I haven't been to Yokine for a year or so; this visit was a random and unexpected opportunity.
And *it just so happened* that sister Danielle was also visiting Yokine; one of her rare visits as she lives a long long way from Yokine. Before the memorial meeting started, sister Danielle had urged me to visit Micah after the meeting and baptize him. To which I agreed. The exhortation was by a visiting speaker from the UK and *it just so happened*, that the exhortation was the will of God and Jesus that would have us progress from discipleship to apostleship; from learning to preaching.
*It just so happened* that the second hymn of the morning had a chorus which included the line 'we are called to preach and baptize'; the whole audience were singing that we are called to preach AND BAPTIZE. And *it just so happened* that that was exactly what God led Danielle and myself to do for Him, with Micah. Sometimes the confirmations are clear".
Let's pray more former Sunday School kids follow Micah's example. We're so eager to help anyone be baptized into the Lord Jesus.
MEXICO
Our Spanish language group continues to grow and they hold many meetings every week. Brothers Pedro and Joseph work tirelessly for the Lord in this way. So we were delighted to gather together online to witness the baptism of ANI in Meixco City, the fruit of so much hard work. Video in Spanish at
https://youtu.be/PmeWDxhf35c
UK
Last Sunday was a long day at Croydon Church in a Pub. Great attendance and a good time going through Ephesians 6, the spiritual armour we have in Christ, until the meeting was endlessly interrupted with blasphemy and ended... the person has a red card for our meetings. Despite the bad taste left we were blessed with two baptisms that day. ANGELA had been chatting online with us for some months after seeing our videos, and she drove to Croydon. A happy group came back afterwards for her baptism. And then later that evening... it was a big day for brother Spiro and his brother in law TONY, whom we baptized in the much used bath tub. Tony's marriage of 49 years has come to an end and the poor guy was truly feeling "lost" but took comfort in the parables of Luke 15 about the lost... and so all Spiro's witnessing to him for so many years came to wonderful fruition that happy evening in that bath tub in a house in Croydon. Truly we thank God and share the joy of Heaven here on earth. Video of both baptisms
at https://youtu.be/vHf_PYy81-c
Oh what a joy it is to chat with secular folks for over a year as they go through Bible teaching doctrine by doctrine, really getting into the Bible, and then receive a message from them requesting baptism! And then to meet such a lovely, humble married couple, JEREMY and his Portuguese wife CATYA, in their very quaint cottage in the middle of nowhere near Liskeard, Cornwall. Great to be with a couple who clearly so love each other and have been through much together over the years. Sometimes in this world it seems such upright Godly people are in short supply. But they are out there, here and there, and the Lord knows His people and draws us together. They have a van from which they offer free Bibles at car boot sales so we're sending them NEV Bibles in bulk for their efforts. We long for the day when the Lord shall make up His jewels and we shall all be eternally united in His service. The baptism was lovely, the bath tub was of a rather strange shape that was the most ideal for an immersion, and they were so happy together afterwards.
Video at https://youtu.be/2bAatrikCcI
As this email goes out, our weekend retreat is in full swing and going amazingly well with lots of interest in the talks, being given by Brother Wacek from Erith ecclesia and brother Charles Abel from Hookwood ecclesia along with Duncan. And the catering team from Hookwood ecclesia serving up food and much appreciated. The gathering is totally booked with a waiting list and some commuting from home or staying in hotels. So far there have been four baptisms in the on site swimming pool , of IAN, SAMANTHA, BRENDA and CELESTE, video of the baptisms and baptism service
at https://youtu.be/UuL-H1_D6q4
More news next week, Lord willing. This makes a total of eight baptisms this week in the UK alone... the interest in the Gospel in the UK is astounding. We pray for wisdom in engaging further with it.
PRAYER REQUESTS
- For those recently baptized
- For more former Sunday School students to reconnect and be baptized
- For wisdom in engaging with the continued amazing response in the UK
- For the ongoing issues in Ukraine
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks
