Field address: Tom Wheeler 52 Penylan Close Bassaleg NP10 8NW Wales, UK

E-mail address: prediger61@hotmail.com

Sent by: Tabernacle Baptist Church P.O. Box 252 Crane, TX 79731

12 April 2004

Dear praying friends,

Many of our prayer letters are filled with reports from the field. This one is going to be a bona fide prayer letter.

2004 is turning out to be one of those two steps forward and three steps back type of years. The children’s work (AWANAs and our Sunday Junior Worship) and the youth are beset by on-again off-again attitudes in the young ones. Families undermine what we try to encourage, and if it weren’t for our Lord’s goodness to us in the faithfulness of some of the kiddoes, the old Tempter would be having a field day. We’re in the process of rearranging our teaching programme, and are enlisting the help of another teacher in our children’s Bible classes. Pray with us that God would greatly bless our re-vamped Sunday school programme.

On Friday of this week there is going to be a big youth rally held in the Midlands of England. We’re planning to take about a dozen kids with us, and there will likely be more than a hundred kids from several places in England and Wales present. I’ve been asked to deliver the message that evening. Those of you who receive this letter before then, please pray that God will work mightily in those kid’s hearts. There will be kids there that have probably never heard a gospel message before. So pray for me as the Lord’s messenger to them.

Next month we’re going with our kids to the AWANA Olympics near London. The children have never participated in this type of Bible quiz so this is a challenge to try and get them ready.

The following week we’re having a missionary to Iraq coming in to speak to us about the church planting going on there. We’re making our faith promise commitment this year, but need an increase in mission giving from our people to help this dear brother out. Please pray with us about that.

Camp is coming up on us quick. With the approval of the plans for our disabled-friendly toilets, we will be making the large expenditure and won’t have the funds available for camp this year that we had last year. Therefore we’ll be taking our kids to a less expensive camp that is just starting this year. We’ll be much more involved in the operation of this camp than we have been in previous camps, so pray for us as we’re moving into uncharted territory. Our youth are in desperate need of a good camp week.

As many of you are aware, the U.S. dollar is taking a hammering on the foreign exchange rates like it has not seen in several years. This has made things about 30-35% more expensive - without inflation being added in. That would be another 5% or so over the last two years. Pray that our Lord would give us some relief and lead some of the churches that we were with in 2002 to add us to their mission family as soon as possible.

Pray for:

1. Children’s work - AWANAs (including Olympics); Junior worship; Sunday school (re-arranged schedule;

new teachers and workers); home life of some children; parents who need the Lord

2. Youth work - camp in August (but start praying now for planning, expenses, a good spirit, hearts getting

right)

3. Youth rally in Staffordshire

4. Mission vision - the first mission conference here in Bassaleg at end of June; ability to help the work in Iraq

5. Workers - more of them to share the load

6. Finances - stronger dollar and/or additional supporting churches

We are confident that all our needs will be met, because we have a need-meeting God (He is still Jehovah-Jireh), and we have so many of you interceding on our behalf. God bless you all.

Fishin’ this side of the pond,

Tom and Patti Wheeler

Gratefully received for the ministry January-March $____________________