Notes and request for prayer: 28 December 2009

The Lord was gracious to us yesterday, bringing to the morning service a faithful group of neighborhood people and giving good opportunity to preach the gospel. All showed initiative either to come alone or (in one case) to call for a ride. This was not our last time to participate, but we do have the sense that we are turning a corner of transition.

The next three Sundays we plan to visit churches in coastal South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. On January 13 we will present the work in Uruguay to our home church.

Please pray for adequate preparation for our trip to Uruguay in February and for a profitable time there.

Notes and requests for prayer: 13 December 2009

Returned to Iglesia Bautista Monte Calvario this morning after several weeks away. Good attendance. Preached from Luke's account of Gabriel's annunciation to Mary: God kept His promises to David, to David's house, to Zechariah and Elizabeth, to Mary. He will keep His promise to those who take refuge in His Son, the King (Luke 1; 2 Samuel 7; Isaiah 7; Psalm 2).

Met a Uruguayan man from Maldonado tonight. He and his girlfriend have been attending Morningside (English service) for a couple of months. Apparently unsaved. Please pray.

Jonatán will begin his next round of chemotherapy at the end of the week, after his first semester exams.

Good opportunity this past week for a few words of the gospel with a man with whom I spend a lot of time at work.

Fall Report 2009

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits (Ps 103:2).

Dear Friends,

We trust that God continues to cause everything that touches your life to conform you into the image of His Son!

Our pastor has encouraged us to list God’s specific “benefits,” and we have chosen such a format for this report. We acknowledge these to be God’s work. (Ultimately we would not want to report on the work of anyone else.)

In September we made a brief trip to Ohio for our first two meetings. Since then God has continued to bless us with several encouraging services in churches here in the Carolinas. We sense in every case that these churches have given to us their commendation and that the Lord’s people desire to see us serving in Uruguay. This is a direct answer to prayer (Acts 13:1-4; Romans 10:15). We are thankful for this privilege of taking part in local church ministry and of sharing information about the ministry in Uruguay.

In October God graciously spared the life of Felipe, who survived a nearly fatal gunshot wound. He and María appear to be close to receiving the Lord Jesus. This family (with their young daughter, Brandy) regularly attend the Sunday morning Spanish service at Mount Calvary Baptist Church.

The Guatemalan family that we mentioned in our summer report continues periodically to attend.

God gave strength to Jonatán to undergo the first stage of chemotherapy this fall. He answered prayer this past week for successful surgery to remove the tumor and to partially replace the bone and shoulder.

Grandma Saberniak’s homegoing and Jonatán’s surgery provided extra time with our parents as they visited from Carriacou (Harbour Light of the Windwards) and Uruguay (church-planting in Pando).

The Lord has given us opportunity to begin short-term ministry in Uruguay during the month of February 2010. I will be preaching and teaching in the summer family camp and the EMU workers’ conference. We also hope to use this time to make as many preparations as possible for our upcoming permanent move.

We expect a year full of travel and of time spent with churches here in the United States and Canada. We thank the Lord for upcoming meetings scheduled and for those yet to be scheduled.

We continue our jobs in Greenville and are thankful for our employers. We look forward to the upcoming transition to full-time deputation and to ministry in Uruguay.

These blessings imply our need for God’s continued work. We thank Him (and you) in advance for your prayers! Please let us know how we might pray for you.

Assisting Uruguayan churches in evangelism and ministry training,

John Mark, Deborah, and Elizabeth Steel

Request for prayer: Jonatán

Jonatán’s surgery to remove the tumor is this morning (Tuesday) at 11 a.m. It is expected to last five hours. Please pray for successful surgery (if necessary, for God could heal him without it!), for complete healing from the surgery, and for no recurrence of the cancer.

Requests for prayer: 14 November 2009

Today we drive to Linville, NC, to spend time with Faith Baptist Church; we will return tomorrow evening.

Uruguay's run-off elections are scheduled for the last Sunday of this month (29th).

Jonatán's surgery is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, 24 November; his grandparents, Don and Pat Garwood, are visiting him from Uruguay. (You can read the latest update on Jonatán here.)

Effective ministry of Harbour Light of the Windwards and of Windward Bible Church.

Love for God with an undivided heart!

Requests for prayer: 24 October 2009

As you pray for your own services tomorrow, please remember several other things:

Evangelistic services at Iglesia Bautista Nuevo Amanecer (Greenville, SC) (with Roberto Nieto), which end tomorrow morning. We will have opportunity to present the work in Uruguay as well.

The morning service at Iglesia Bautista Monte Calvario (Greenville, SC).

Services at Windward Bible Church (Carriacou, Grenada).

Services at Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha (Pando, Canelones, Uruguay).

Elections are held tomorrow (Sunday, 25 October) in Uruguay. The Latin American trend to the left may continue, but all authority in heaven and earth will remain with Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18). Please pray for the furtherance of His kingdom as a result of Uruguay’s elections.

Our nephew Jonatán is in the hospital this weekend for his next round of chemotherapy.

Request for prayer: Felipe

Felipe and María are a Guatemalan couple who have often come to Iglesia Bautista Monte Calvario (our church’s Sunday morning Spanish service). Felipe and a companion were shot when two men attempted to rob them this past weekend. We understand that Felipe is stable but has lost an eye. He is fortunate to be alive. Please pray that the Lord would continue to use this to expand the preaching of His Word. We don’t know whether Felipe and María have fully understood the gospel.

A picnic planned for this coming Saturday evening (17 October) will undoubtedly give opportunity for conversation with many.