February 2022 Afghanistan, Gabon, Pakistan, Turkey, UK
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:
Saturday mornings 09:00 a.m.UK time; on Zoom
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6697401754?pwd=K0VWNDlScGwzaThPM2tiU0didmNyUT09 Meeting ID: 669 740 1754 Passcode: XPb9Sz.
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] on
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81015280780?pwd=LzAwNDRTTzhNcFpiRGlmaGx6YUpvZz09
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 . Also, Bible class on Wednesdays at 7 PM North American Eastern Time
Our New Zealand brethren are again engaging Aharon in Israel to give a virtual tour of Masada, on 13 February God willing. You can see more info at www.carelinks.net/files/masada.pdf
Note: The photos of brethren from Muslim countries don't appear on our web version of these messages; please don't forward the photos nor put them online yourselves.
AFGHANISTAN
Our regular meetings online continue with Afghani folks using the Farsi language app. This week we were happy to baptize ALI.
GABON
This week we were able to baptize another user of the French app, in the West African country of Gabon. She was really so sincere, wearing her best clothes for the baptism, brother Herve helping out as well:
PAKISTAN
MIRZA converted to Christianity in Afghanistan a few years ago, but through studying with the app came to see a lot of things more clearly, and saw the need for baptism. Our brother fled Afghanistan by walking through the snow covered mountains into Pakistan, where he's currently located. Here's a picture of him on the journey. So it was with much joy that we witnessed his baptism into the Lord Jesus online. Afghani refugees have a hard time in Muslim Pakistan, so again, he like so many, needs our prayers. He expressed great joy after his baptism as you can see from the messages.
TURKEY
This week we visited contacts in Turkey, resulting in the baptisms of NAZAN and CELIL; it was the usual wide catch of the Gospel net- a PhD physics student and a musician. And wonderful to reconnect with brother Gulhan, baptized 12 years ago and faithfully witnessing still. Again Turkish Bible Basics was a great help in teaching the Truth to these dear folks. Being in Adana recalled memories from over 25 years ago and God's grace, sending forth His Angels to support and save His people in response to prayer. Duncan reminisced a bit about it all at
https://youtu.be/Zb2uQRVQj4w
UK
After watching one of the videos of the baptisms in Mountain Ash at Edd and Steph's home in South Wales, JACKIE who lives nearby to them was inspired that she too could baptize herself, having left church 30 years ago because of issues with "church", but now wanting to come fully to God and the Lord Jesus. She says she is now talking unashamedly to former atheist friends and feels such a huge spiritual transformation after baptizing herself in a jacuzzi bath. You can probably meet her and many others like her at our online Zoom meetings on Saturday mornings. This last Saturday she attended our Zoom meeting and gave an amazing testimony, see
https://youtu.be/f3vy_UVmaAo
She describes how she left church after a Sunday School upbringing 30 years ago, due to disillusion with "church", and then spent decades in atheism, humanism etc., vainly believing that science and humanity could improve the world. But the current world situation forced her to give up any hope in that- and she returned wholeheartedly to the Bible, to God and the Lord Jesus- and therefore baptized herself. Her sister Priscilla lives in Canada and stayed up all night to watch and be involved.Most encouraging.
Our Saturday morning meetings are growing weekly... do come along and meet sincere, on fire brothers and sisters from literally all over the world. You can view this last Saturday's meeting, with Jackie's testimony at the end, at
https://youtu.be/lEXYQt5Lwug
And that's not all from South Wales. Edd and Steph noticed a man living opposite them in their street, an ex heroin addict now well and truly clean already many years, who lived alone and quite poor. So they started taking him food, and chatting with him when they met him in town. Steph then gave him an NEV Bible along with his food. He said he had been praying deeply and really wanted to find God. And so started many chats; here you can see him with Edd and Caleb having food and a Bible talk:
His interest became really strong, and Steph and Edd explained the Truth to him. The most powerful thing he found was the rejection of an orthodox Devil and demons, and accepting full responsibility for past sins and actions. It was this which seamlessly brought him to want to identify with the Lord Jesus in baptism, the bearer of our nature, our representative, who overcame sin. And so he knocked on their door this week and asked to be baptized. And so this Sunday we had yet another happy gathering at Edd and Steph's place to baptize JASON, followed by a brief breaking of bread service with him. The video is at
https://youtu.be/UKUUpyxXB5Q
it's nearly 30 minutes, but you can get into the spirit of our chats, the baptism, the laments about his faded tatoos, and again see the triumph of God's Truth in the Lord Jesus in the life of yet another ordinary Welshman. We also see how again the Gospel is spread in connection with food and homes, just as in the Gospels. And how simply 'do gooding' alone will not bring anyone to Christ, unless it is backing up a conscious preaching of the Gospel to the recipients. But when the two are meshed together, it is a very powerful outreach for the Gospel. And all respect to Edd for really being the saviour of this dear man, through the Lord Jesus. His witnessing to everybody is truly an example to us all.
PRAYER POINTS
- For those recently baptized
- For the guidance of the rapidly expanding group of believers in South Wales
- For the Afghan brethren who are now refugees in the surrounding countries
- For our dear ones in Ukraine, whom we meet weekly at the Russian Zoom meeting; they live in a society crippled with fear about the possible future at this time.
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks