July
15, 2002
Aveiro, Portugal
Dear
Praying Friends,
We praise the Lord for your interest in
the people of Portugal. We pray that you are enjoying the blessings of
our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Thank you for your faithfulness in
praying for us as representatives of the Gospel in the country of
Portugal.
May and June were very busy months for us
as we saw the end of another basketball season and the onslaught of the
summer months. We are very thankful for the group of people the Lord
brought to us during these last ten months. We saw a good number of
decisions among the players and their families. We were also able to
assist the birth of two beautiful young ladies last November. We also
saw a number of people start to take more interest in the Portuguese
services. During the spring months, we received in our group several
visitors and began visiting with two families that contacted us in
response to our tract distribution. José and Amélia need our prayers
as she struggles with some physical problems and he needs to be saved.
So far we are just meeting with them in the home but they want very much
to come to services. Jorge and his mother Laura need our prayers also as
they try to understand the Gospel.
We do not have anything new to report
about most of the other people that we have asked prayer for except that
they need to be saved. Sonia Coutinho, however, is coming a lot closer
to understanding the Gospel. This is the teacher that we arranged to
help Dave and Julie in their language study. Please continue to pray for
her; we believe that she is close to trusting Christ as her Saviour.
During the first two weeks of July, we
have seen ten first time visitors
in morning Portuguese services. Paula, who Dave and Julie brought, has
been coming fairly regularly and she brought her nephew. Also another
couple and her mother came in the morning. Isabel and her mother Dina
give testimony of being saved but Isabel’s husband, Ernesto is not.
Please pray for his salvation.
Please continue to pray for the
literature distribution. Although it seems that the fruit from this work
is slow in coming, it is coming in!! For this we are thankful to our
God. We have distributed over 9,000 tracts this year bringing the total
since returning last September to 15,000. Since the first of the year we
have had more than 25 requests for literature plus, of course, the
people that have contacted us about attending services. We are praying
that many more will respond to this appeal. We have finished two entire
towns in the last four months, reaching the homes of thousands of
people.
Several of the players that attend
services are coming back to the Aveiro area in August to begin training
for next season. We would like specifically to ask you to pray for
Matt’s salvation. We had a great opportunity to witness to him this
year and he has made progress but is still unsaved. Please pray also for
Herman and Heshimu for salvation. Scott Stewart, who was injured on the
court, is fully recovered and looking to come back also. His wife
Margaret is expecting their second child and needs our prayers. Please
continue to pray that the outreach to both the Portuguese people and the
players will be fruitful. We thank you for your prayers that help us to
remain on the field, preaching the Gospel in this sin-darkened land. We
are yours for souls in Portugal,
Alan
& Kathy Hart
Please
Pray for the Harts and for the people of Portugal
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