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TOM and PATTI WHEELER
WBF Missionaries to
WALES
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
30 July 2004
Dear prayer partners and faithful supporters,
Things have been hectic around here the last few months.
In May we took the AWANA kids to the AWANA Olympics. It proved to be “one
of those days.” One the participating churches was from a military
installation that had undergone a “lockdown” the morning of the Olympics,
meaning no one got on or off the base. That meant one large club didn’t show
up, but a bit of rearranging and everyone got to participate in the games and
the Bible quiz. Our youngsters did quite well and some even maxed out on quiz
points (sometimes we wonder, but they actually are learning some Bible truth).
The return trip was the “fun” part. We lost track of how many times we
heard, “I need to use the toilet.” Then we heard, “Miss Patti, I don’t feel
very well,” but before we could pull over to the shoulder of the motorway, one
of the little twins made a deposit into his hands and right onto Patti’s
purse. Then, as I was trying to help him out of the van, what was on his hands
was slung on me. We cleaned up as best we could, got back in the van, and
immediately the motor began losing power. By the time we got back home we
could barely make it up our hill to the house. After a long illness the old
workhorse was about to pack it in.
The question was, “How were we going to replace the van?” The going prices
were more than we could afford. Finally, after more than a month, the son of
one of our ladies knew a man who was selling a used van. He let it go for
about ₤450 less than it was worth. It is nine years old, but sure beats the
seventeen year old van that just died, and has three extra seats - just what
we need for camp!
The next week Robert Lewis came and challenged us to support the church
plant in Baghdad. He did a marvellous job and our people responded well; it
made for a good run up to our first mission conference.
Behind Bro. Lewis came a visit from Jack and Ute Hardy, who are following
the Lord’s leading to come and work in Wales. We had Bro. Jack preach a couple
of times, getting his feet wet here in Wales. We certainly look forward to
them finishing the deputation process and working along with us here.
At the end of June our pastor, Lyndel Lee, and his dear wife Donna came to
be with us for our first mission conference here in Bassaleg. As with so many
new things we try, we got some puzzled looks when we spoke of having a mission
conference; but Bro. Lee did an outstanding job with our folks, and our
mission giving is up since the conference. The faith promise commitment went
up 7%, and giving has actually been above that so far. Our people voted to
support the work in Baghdad and Bro. Alan Fearnhead (an English pastor who was
also with us at the conference), who has recently started a new work in the
town of Camp will be on us before we know it (August 9-13). We’ll be taking a
different crew this year (only two campers returning). We’re going from a
large overcrowded camp to a smaller camp over in East Anglia, which will have
its plusses and minuses. The big plus for us is having Rick and Megan Washburn
coming in for camp. Those of you who know him know that Rick will be excellent
with those kids. Pray with us that every young person will get exactly what he
or she needs out of camp this year.
With Christ’s enabling power we’ll continue
Lifting up His glorious Name this side of the pond,
Tom and Patti Wheeler
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