|
|
December 1, 2002 Dear Co-Laborers in Christ, Joyeux
Noël et Bonne Année!
We are making preparations for a grand re-opening of the Church here in
Gatineau.
As you know, we recently took over this mission work.
The number of people attending the church had dwindled.
Our task is like starting over. We
are planning promotions building up to a week of evangelistic meetings and a
successful re-opening Sunday. This week of evangelistic meetings will start Wednesday,
September 3 thru Sunday, September 7, 2003.
We need to start preparing now. We
are establishing deadlines running backwards from the week of meeting.
We are also establishing a budget for re-starting this church.
There are several reasons for the need to make the dates in
September. One of the most
difficult things a church planter faces is getting known in the community.
If no one knows him, or the church, there is little chance anyone will
come to the church services. We
must design a program for this community that fulfills the goal of having
everyone know the new church is starting (or re-starting).
We have several goals for promotion leading up to this
grand re-opening of l’Église Biblique Baptiste de l’Outaouais. One
goal is that we want to distribute approximately 40,000
John and Romans booklets along with inserts advertising the
week of meetings. The
advantages are: people are less likely to throw away Scriptures; the plan of
salvation is included; they will read the advertising more carefully since they
received something of value. The
city of Gatineau has a population of 250,000, and distributing
40,000 John & Romans would reach approximately 120,000
people with an average of 3 people per household.
We would need to pay to have part of the John & Romans distributed by
Publi-sac. Also, two of our
supporting churches’ youth groups are planning mission trips here
to Gatineau this coming summer: New Hope Baptist
Church, of Hutchison, Kansas, and First Baptist
Church, of Canton, Michigan. They will be exposed to the French-Quebec culture and need
here as well as be able to help in some of the distribution of the John
and Romans among other ministries.
Amen! We have
had some visitors to our services. Recently,
an older woman named Lucille, and her son Guy have begun attending our services
regularly. We are also planning a
Christmas dinner on Dec. 21. I will be giving a Chalk talk with a gospel
message. Please be in prayer for this. · Pray for the preparations now and leading up to the week of evangelistic meetings September 3-7. ·
We ask you to PLEASE PRAY
concerning a special
gift towards the 40,000 John
& Romans as well as other publicity, such as brochures, radio, newspaper,
posters, mobile signs, etc. Debby and I together want to express our
appreciation for your prayers and support for this ministry.
Co-Laborers together with you in the Great Commission,
David, Debby, Sarah, Rebekah & Joshua |
|