July 2021 Colombia, Gabon, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, 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:
Sunday mornings 08:00 a.m. GMT on the Facebook "
Carelinks Ministries" page; and 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
COLOMBIA The Spanish app continues to have many downloads and dedicated users throughout the Hispanic world. This week we were able to baptize one of them, LEON, from Venezuela but living for now in Colombia. Many thanks to brothers Pedro and Ben for their tireless work with the contacts and those already baptized:
GABON This week, ESTHER, a French app contact, was baptized online- with newly baptized sister Saida from London UK present as well.
We have a stream of good contacts from app users in Francophone Africa. Here's an email just received, from a man who has decided to quit the Catholic church because of his Bible study and app usage- despite his family being generations Catholic:
Subject: Je veux quitter l'église catholique
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2021 18:55:13 +0200
From: John [EMAIL REMOVED]
To: info@carelinks.net
Bonjour. Je m'appelle John. J'habite en République démocratique du Congo. Au fait, je viens d'une famille catholique depuis de générations. Cependant, en lisant la bible et en faisant des recherches depuis quelques années déjà , je suis arrivé à la conclusion selon laquelle JE NE VAIS PAS ETRE LIMITÉ DANS MA FOI. Je suis tombé par hasard sur votre application BIBLE ET COMMENTAIRES, du coup je suis convaincu que vous pouvez me guider dans la foi.
Merci du temps accordé à la lecture de mon message.
UNITED KINGDOM Last message, we mentioned the baptism of PAULINE, an elderly lady living on a farm down a windy, dead end lane in Sussex. It was over 10 years ago that we placed adverts for
Bible Basics in the Argus group of newspapers in the UK. Pauline replied, Marcus sent her the book, and had on and off correspondence with her all these years. She is an animal lover living in a centuries old farmhouse in deep British countryside. She had repeatedly requested baptism by snail mail letters as she doesn't do email and doesn't get to her phone. We went there and eventually found her place- with a locked gate and repeated warnings that aggressive dogs were on patrol:
She eventually opened up for us, having locked up the dogs... and entering her farmhouse was like going into a time warp. Centuries old beams and wooden floors, and a wonderful lady within who is still "back there", the very best of old England. And who has devoted her life to animals, saving horses, dogs etc., and whose home is shared with all manner of creatures. Including very noisy parrots. She has a large mural of Noah's ark on the wall:
She has read
Bible Basics several times and reads a page every night before praying, with her Bible next to the book:
She totally understands the truths of the Gospel. Centuries ago, some people were hung there and are buried somewhere in the garden- but she said that now she understands there is no immortal soul, ghosts nor demons, she is totally at peace with that. She has made her own wicker coffin for if and when she falls asleep, and suspended it from the beams because of the various beetles and rodents who were gnawing at it. And of course we made the comment, that through baptism into the Lord's death and resurrection, she will get out of it should she go into it. Because He lives, we shall live also:
Very frail, we called up Russell and Dawn to drive over and assist in helping her up the stairs to a bath tub, which she never uses, and with difficulty the three of us helped her to be baptized in it:
She and her home are totally fascinating- you wouldn't think that someone lives like this in the modern UK. The video of her story and the baptism is really totally worth watching, as a testimony to God's work in calling His people, and also, frankly, for its huge human interest, a peek as it were back in time to how things were in rural England in previous generations.
You can see the video at
https://youtu.be/jUc8XpbtpU4 It's also a huge encouragement for Marcus, that his continued labours in the face of many health issues are still producing fruit to the Lord's glory.
There's been a lot of follow up from last week's activities. Marcus managed to get to the Post Office [despite his huge health issues] and somehow post a heavy box of fliers to the McIntosh family in South Wales- doing it even before Duncan had returned to London from Wales. And they and their children were out straight away distributing them on the terraced streets of the Aberdare area:
And we joined our newly baptized sisters from Clapham, South London, in distributing
NEV New Testaments and
Bible Basics outside Brixton underground station. We took a break from distributing in order to join our Australian brethren for the online baptism of JAVED,an app user in Sri Lanka- such is the wonder of modern technology:
We had such a really great time distributing those
NEV Bibles,
Bible Basics and, especially, chatting with people in Brixton- so many disillusioned with Churchianity but looking for Jesus. Video of the work at
https://youtu.be/1j-1gkZ_bpU . Please pray for the increase. Sister Saida is such a star preacher. But even she needs the Lord to give the increase.
If any are in the Brighton / Worthing area on Monday afternoon, God willing, do come along to some more baptisms planned there, again of South Londoners. Contact us for more details. And the week's work came to a close with another visit to central London. We met a brother baptized a year ago online in Iran, who has now made it to the UK [via the English Channel in a dinghy]. His faith and conversion are absolutely genuine- a great encouragement as to the legitimacy of the online baptisms. In areas like Iran, there's really little option. We also baptized MOHAMMAD and REYA, app users who also have hard copies of
Farsi Bible Basics. Each with their tales of trauma which led them to seek refuge in the UK.
ZAMBIA For some time, SIMON and his wife SYLVIA have been using the app, and reading through with interest all our doctrines. They were especially interested in our position on Satan and the nature of the Lord Jesus. They were so very happy to be baptized- so much joy and sober realization that this really is "the Truth", well expressed by brother Jesse [from Australia] in his closing prayer:
And they have been sharing the app with other folks; and so later in the week, we were able to baptize their nephew and niece BLESSING and LILIAN.
So in rural Zambia, yet another group of believers is developing. They wrote: "We have been going through the
Bible Basics they are very good, we pray that in the near future we start teaching especially those who don't have smart phones. We need your support in this because these are good words many people have gone astray and this is our time to tell them the truth about the kingdom of God, Jesus, Satan and devil, many things, thanks, my nieces and nephew will be baptized and taught these things . We are enjoying reading the
Bible Basics, we are together with my family".
PRAYER POINTS - For those recently baptized
- For those like John who are leaving Catholicism, Islam or other religions held to by generations of their ancestors
- For blessing on the emerging group of baptized believers and contacts in South London, UK
- Thanks to God for the wonderful harvest which He is giving
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks