February 2022 Afghanistan, Israel, Latvia, Tanzania, Ukraine, Zambia
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
AFGHANISTAN
We were delighted this week to baptize AHMED and FIROZ after much communication and using the Bible app. They obtained an old bath tub and set it up in a room, putting carpets on the windows so nobody could look in and see them. We held a baptism service online with them and they immersed themselves. Under the noses of the Taliban.
Do pray for our new brothers and many others like them; and also those like this contact below who cannot find a place for baptism as they would wish:
ISRAEL
We have spent some days this week with our African migrant worker brothers and sisters in Israel. Since the mass baptisms of them in October, they have continued attending our Saturday morning Zoom breaking of bread meetings. They were subsequently split up to work in various farms in northern Israel, and this has resulted in the furtherance of the Gospel. Above all, there is so much evidence of spiritual growth. Many of them are daily users of the app, have the NEV hard copy Bibles, and have grown hugely through this. They work long hours often for very low take home pay, have no time off apart from Sabbath, when there is no public transport. So we drove many hundreds of kilometers visiting them on their farms and having some wonderful fellowship. Many of the men are housed in large metal containers, sometimes with up to 3 levels of bunks. Some work shifts in the food processing factories on the farms, and one brother showed us no fewer than 22 men housed in his container. Life is not pleasant for them, often working over 12 hours / day. We took some of them out in the evenings and then gathered them together for some fellowship and more baptisms at a site where the Jordan River flows out of the Sea of Galilee. Another four were baptized. Here's one of the after work gatherings; and another pic of a sister's NEV Bible with much underlining, sticky notes inserted in it etc., and in the video you can see her taking notes on the talk [she too is wearing one of the warm jackets sent to them]:
One baptized was Winston, a regular attender at our Zoom meetings. He attended our Friday evening Bible study, then had to work a night shift over Friday night [see photo- he's wearing one of the warm jackets you kindly funded that were sent to them], and then walked an hour to our meeting place on the Saturday morning- and was baptized [see photo]. He earlier explained the difficulty in meeting at his container:
We met some who look over the shoulders of those who participate at the Zoom meetings with us, peering into the other person's phone. So we gave a laptop to brother Joseph so that at least the group at his farm can have a better experience of our meetings:
All up we spent around 350 GB Pounds in welfare support- possible because of your donations for our general usage. It really is appreciated and you can see in these converts how welfare support when meshed with teaching the Gospel, produces great results. There is great sincerity here. We plan another visit in May, Lord willing, when Mark Lisa Hawkins hope to be in Europe.
You can see a video of our meeting outdoors, hymn singing, baptism service and the immersions in the Jordan at
https://youtu.be/NZPnT_xh8aE
Our usual Zoom group gathered to watch online as well.Do watch and share the great joy and sincerity in seeking to know the Lord Jesus and make Him known.
LATVIA
This is a brutal Winter in Eastern Europe, and the economic situation made so much harder by inflation, Covid, and the fears concerning Russia at this time. We have been paying for firewood to be delivered to some, but this week we are taking it out to the brethren and contacts living in the abandoned sheds and summer houses near the Daugava River in Latvia. It's been down to -20 C so the ice is treacherous. Our car got stuck several times. And the kids soon figured it's easier to drag the packets of firewood on the ice, than carry them. But for older folks, the ice is so dangerous and hazardous. You can see a video of our work at
https://youtu.be/f82jDwkoWpk
and hear some chit chat and quite involuntary prayers of the children as we got stuck on the ice. The sheds often burn down, due to them not being designed for burning wood for heat; and one such shed where our folks had been staying had burnt down although they managed to save bits of furniture out of it. It's also noticeable this Winter how many trees in that area have been cut down for firewood. It really is a sad situation and we can only attempt to provide at least some alleviation. Here you can see brother Aigars standing near the outhouse which was burnt down, with the bits of furniture they salvaged:
We also visited folks in Eastern Latvia, driving several hundred kilometers on very slippery roads. Highlight was meeting and baptizing AIJA, a regular attender at our Zoom meetings, and in fact one of the first people to download the app when it was first released in October 2019. And she is indeed such a wonderful example of a convert to the Lord Jesus in spirit and Truth.
TANZANIA
This week we online baptized BOAZ, again from the Bible Companion app
UKRAINE
We really need to pray for our dear ones in Ukraine. We are in touch with most of them and they still attend our Russian language Zoom breaking of bread meetings, also attended by our brethren in Russia. The country is being bled to death economically, and it currently loooks as if Russia may invade. And yet people are turning to God as always happens in these situations. Kiev, Ukraine is number three of all cities in the world for intensity of users of our app; at any one time there are over 20 people in Kiev alone using the app. This isn't due to any special advertising there- it just is simple evidence that man turns to God in times of fear, change and uncertainty . And we received a message [see photo] from our ecclesia in Western Ukraine that they are all well and have more people attending. But things are obviously so very difficult, with many able bodied men and women up to 65 years old being asked to train in weapons usage- you will have seen images like this in the media of men and women in their 50s and 60s being given cardboard or wooden guns to train with outside their apartment blocks. This is all so so difficult for our dear ones there. Please do pray for them. We are sending material assistance but if actual war breaks out we may need to stand ready to help on a major scale.
ZAMBIA
This week we baptized SEBASTIEN, a French speaker from Congo. You will see from his messages that he felt not ready for baptism when asked some time ago; but then, he messaged that he felt ready. So again we see that baptism usually involves a period of usage of the app, going through Bible Basics, before deciding for baptism.
PRAYER POINTS
- For those recently baptized
- For our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and Russia and all affected by the current crisis
- For our brothers and sisters being abused by manipulative work contracts
- For those coping with the cold in Eastern Europe at this time
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks