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John
and Neila Yelle January 23, 2003
Dear Praying Friends, Our year
got of to a blessed start, with the baptisms of Rosilaine and Jamile (mother
and daughter) on the first of January. We
had a really good crowd that night too. In
fact, our evening services are still being well attended.
We’ve even reached all time highs since our last letter. Our
Christmas program was blessed with reaching a first time high of 64 present!
We were quite ‘sardined’ that night, but everything went very well.
We thought it would be a while before we’d see that number again.
The Lord proved us wrong however.
On Wednesday evening, January 15, we were blessed with 65.
Our maximum comfort zone in number is around 50.
Being summer here in the southern hemisphere, it was hot and stuffy in
the room, but Neila and I sure didn’t complain.
Also, after noticing that a handful of regulars were not there, we
realize we could have reached a high of 70.
We are definitely busting at the seams. We still
await the chance to secure the loan for finishing the much needed building
construction. We thank those who
have given special offerings towards this goal. The fund is lacking only about
$2,000.00. Please pray for this
need. In our
last letter we mentioned a couple of our needy church families.
The Lord has opened a door for us to help our families, enabling them
to maintain their dignity at the same time.
A wholesale store much like Sam’s Club and Cosco has opened up close
to our house. Through us they are
able to purchase staple foods (such as flour, sugar, rice and beans) and basic
necessity items at bulk rate, enabling them to save up to 30% on part of their
grocery bill. A benefit for us
also is that we too are saving on our food bill! Regarding
the camp project, the work is progressing.
We are working towards being able to hold a small retreat during
carnival at the beginning of March. The
basic bathroom structure is nearly complete, but we lack a floor and all the
finishings. Within the next two
weeks we should be able to begin constructing two dormitories.
Please pray with us that the funds will be available to finish the
project at least to this point. This last
weekend was a sad one for us. On
Saturday our dog Shadow was stolen. But
the Lord soon answered our prayers, and used our neighbor to find her.
On Monday evening God put Sergio in the right place at the right time,
enabling him to spot Shadow. After
playing the detective, he called John and together they got her back with no
evident complications. We thank
the Lord for the good neighbors the Lord has provided us. Your prayers are important to
us, and we thank you for them. We
also thank you for your financial help for our ministry.
Please continue in prayer for us and the congregation, especially for
those who have recently made professions of faith, and also for John as he is
in the process of beginning a special discipleship training program for two
faithful men. Awaiting our Savior’s return, John & Neila and girls
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