November 2019 Lithuania, Australia, Ireland, App
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
Helps for the Bible Companion readings this week:
Nehemiah http://n-e-v.info/NEVNehemiah.pdf
Amos http://n-e-v.info/amosnevcom.pdf
2 Timothy http://n-e-v.info/NEV2TimothyCommentary.pdf
LITHUANIA
Thanks to the power of the internet and God's working through it, three men gave their lives to the Lord Jesus in baptism in a small town in Lithuania this week: ROMAS, EIGIDIJUS and DARIUS. All of them had lived and worked in the West and spoke good English. But, they'd each returned home to Lithuania... unblinded by the bright lights of the West. They met each other and started trying to study the Bible together in their small town, unimpressed by standard religion. And so over a long period of correspondence they came to grasp the Truth, and what a wonderful day we spent together. After a long chat in the flat of one brother, we crossed the street to the flat of another and performed the baptisms in his bath tub. And thence to the little town's hotel for a coffee together and more fellowship. What a truly wonderful day. In the UK and Western Europe, you often encounter young men from Lithuania and the Baltics, eagerly working and trying to get up the ladder. And what happens to them after, say, 5 or 10 years? Some remain, but many return home. After all, life on minimum wage in London isn't really that great, as one of them pointed out. Might as well be back in your homeland. And it kind of makes sense that once home, now with life experience behind them, such folks start asking questions which only really have an answer in the Bible and the Lord Jesus. And they are going to forge an easy bond with others who have made the same journey. So this delightful little group are really a triumph for the true Gospel.
IRELAND / Bible Companion App
Steve Gretton has designed business cards to advertise the Bible Companion App. If you live in UK, he will send you some. They come in boxes of 250. Donations are invited to Carelinks of about 12Pound a box to cover costs postage. Contact him at shgospel@gmail.com. They are great for leaving around in doctors' waiting rooms, cafe's and anywhere where you find people waiting and tables with magazines.
Outside UK, it is better to arrange to have your own printed. They are standard size double sided and could be printed wherever you are. The artwork is at
www.n-e-v.info/publicity/BCFront.jpg
and www.n-e-v.info/publicity/BCReverse.jpg
Brother Edward in Dublin.
Brother Edward, whom we baptized in Ireland some years ago after he came across Bible Basics, does not enjoy good health; which sadly means he is often found waiting in hospital out-patients. He noticed that there was a large bookcase where books could be left for others to borrow or take and read. He took the initiative on one of his visits to take some NEV Bibles, New Testaments, Bible Basics and some of the new business cards. He also had some of bro Marcus's 2020 Calendars which he put out on display:
Brother Edward writes:
"One calendar and one New Testament was taken as I watched. I left also cards and calendars in the Emergency Department waiting area. I am still in St James's Hospital... everything was taken by patients ...only one green NEV Bible left .. All books ..cards and calendars gone. I know one thing ...when you are in Hospital and feel hopeless and helpless ...only Hope is GOD ....besides GOD there is not any hope in this world ..I know this from my personal experience..from my life..this is why Hospital is a good place to leave all these books and Bibles. Next week Wednesday I'm all day in another hospital and will leave the rest of the Calendars and cards there. Hope my effort brings people to our Lord Jesus Christ..I'm just a humble servant to His glory."
And between us all worldwide, along with those now sponsoring advertising the app on Google, we have well over 30,000 downloads worldwide. We are getting plenty of further response from folks who are using it including requests for hard copy Bibles- including one from the Faroe Islands! We were able to locate the address on Google Maps- not even on the mainland but on a smaller island there, apparently with a boat house attached to it. The reach of the Gospel is amazing. It seems now over 1,000 / day are being downloaded. With about 70% retaining the app [on average, 80% of free apps are deleted soon after being downloaded]. So do keep sharing the app and supporting... and do leave a good rating and encouraging comment in the app stores afterwards. And we do appreciate your donations so we can meet the large postage bills which arise from sending Bibles and Bible Basics to those who have used the app but ask for a hard copy of the material. Postage and packing for just one Bible internationally can be 10 GBP. We feel we should send them the literature as they have a proven interest. You may find this graph of the app downloads interesting and encouraging:
We are now working on a Russian version of the app and appreciate your prayers for wisdom and endurance as we try to assemble the material.
AUSTRALIA
Brother John Thatcher has sent out the 2020 Creation Calendars to various prisons in Australia, and received this response, hand written by a chaplain [possibly a volunteer] at a prison in rural NSW. He asks also for our Bibles for distribution, as well as in Spanish and Farsi for his inmates from Iran and Spanish speaking areas. So, the Gospel is again being taken to all men and women through this initiative.
PRAYER POINTS
- For those recently baptized
- For all the efforts to share the Gospel through the app and to prisons worldwide
- For our efforts to produce a Russian version of the app
- For a group of Africans in Austria whom we hope to visit soon GW, having been in touch some years
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks