November 2020 App Appeal, Latvia
We strongly recommend you download the
"Bible Companion" app, from where you can access
Carelinks messages, daily Bible readings,
Bible Basics, commentary on every verse of the Bible and audio exhortations on every chapter of the Bible.
For Android / Google Play at
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.carelinks.bc and on the App Store for Apple / iOS at
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bible-companion/id1475914490 You can break bread live online as follows:
Sunday mornings GMT on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/69292278377 Sundays at 3:00 PM New Zealand time. That's 1 PM in Sydney Australia; 10 PM in New York, USA on Saturday evening [run by Br John Aldersley in New Zealand]
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87515766908 Meeting ID: 875 1576 6908
Sundays at 10am North American Eastern Time [3 PM UK GMT time, 11 PM Sydney Australia time]. Run by Br Jim Barton in Canada.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9123758179 Meeting ID: 912 375 8179
APP APPEAL You will probably be aware of the huge blessing the Lord has given the
Bible Companion app. In His greater plan, it was launched and established online just at the time the pandemic broke out. There have been well over 200 baptisms related to the app, and it's been a huge help to so many contacts and isolated believers worldwide, especially with physical meetings being so difficult during the pandemic. People from almost every country on earth apart from North Korea have downloaded the app [it's also in Persian / Farsi, Russian, French and Spanish]. The app has everything one needs to know the Lord in spirit and truth- the
NEV Bible, commentary on every verse, audio, audio for young folks on every chapter, the Bible Basics course etc. Whether or not all these people come to us to be baptized, without doubt God's Truth has spread very widely through this. From the smallest islands of the Pacific to inner cities to Greenland to Antarctica, people have downloaded it and are using it. Over 640,000 downloads, and over 200,000 active users. And many of those users are using it more than once / day. Every few seconds, somebody boots up the app. 24/7. All over the planet. This is without doubt the greatest single outreach for God's Truth that there has been in recent times.
We are appealing for your help in improving and extending the app. We have the app in both Android and Apple [iOS] in English, but only in Android for Russian, Persian, French and Spanish. We would like to produce the app for Apple [iOS], i.e. for iPhones and iPads, in the other languages. We'd also like to add more material and make improvements- some of which are required by the App Store in any case. We'd like to add a 'Dark Mode' for reading in darkness; and also add in the opportunity to conveniently access videos of breaking of bread meetings based around the day's NT readings from the
Bible Companion, one for every day of the year. And also a series of brief 3 minute devotional videos, again there is one for every day. The material is all done- we just need to adapt the app. There will also be links to live online breaking of bread services and Bible classes. We've been in dialogue with the developers and worked out a quote of around 13,000 Euros. It will take them until mid January to make the changes and additions. Anything over we will use for advertising the app, anything more required- we'll come to you again. We realize this is no small amount of money. But we come to you prayerfully and in confidence that this is the most optimal way in which to further spread the Gospel. Especially at this unprecedented time of difficulty, and yet also of huge opportunity. Never before has the world been so online, and never before have men's hearts been failing them for fear about what is coming upon the earth. And clearly some are looking to God and His word and His Son. So please do consider seriously supporting this appeal.
Advertising the app is easy- just click "Share". So, it's become a great way for folks to preach, just from their screens. The braver ones like brother Tim Anderson in Virginia USA have also been able to publically advertise it [this was snapped in the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia this week]:
You may also like to consider funding a Google Ads campaign. For example, in Israel, or some area of particular interest to you. This is without doubt a way to get the message into people's most private space- their phone or tablet- and Google Ads allows you to focus on specific geographical areas.
LATVIA
We continue taking out food, clothing and other supplies to those living rough at this time. This actually takes a lot more time and resource than just feeding folks in one place, but we are able to more accurately engage with the actual needs of individuals by doing so. People can only be in the night shelter system for around 300 days / year, so some have to spend 2 or 3 months living rough.
And many of these people are elderly or with major health problems, in the situation they are in because of the social dysfunction which is common in the ex-USSR. We continue helping Luba and the brethren assisting her. She is in a wheelchair, can hardly walk, and in her 70s. She spends a lot of time hanging out at the shopping mall, where there is at least some warmth and the possibility to get into the toilet- although all toilets require a coin, and the security staff are not exactly welcoming to people like her. The brothers push her there in the morning and then push her back to the shed she lives in every evening. Living rough in a cold climate requires not only warmth from firewood, but also some way of being able to wash and get clean water. We did our best this week, boiling up urns of water at the hall and taking it out to them so they could wash Luba, and themselves. We also provided soap, sponges etc., as well as food and more clothing. Brother Robert [himself a convert baptized from seeing the Bible app advertised] gave Luba a warm coat, and we continue responding to his scouting out of specific needs.
He puts his bicycle to good use getting out there to where the needs are. We're really so grateful, and so are they, for the help provided. You can see a video of our work, including Robert giving Luba a nice coat, the children making up the food packages, the hot water from the urns being poured into a small bath tub in the open air etc. at
https://youtu.be/ZUYeXvaR0rs
It is quite raw viewing, and we've included bits of chit chat so you can as far as possible "virtually" join us. If it were not for the pandemic, we'd be urging folks to "come over and help us" but that's just not realistic at this point.
PRAYER POINTS
- For those recently baptized
- For the app work
- For wisdom in how to help those cold and hungry at this time in Eastern Europe
- For the many in Iran and Afghanistan who are counting the cost and deciding for or against conversion to the Lord Jesus
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks