I just wanted to pass some information on to you from Brother Ralph. As you know, it's been on his heart this past year to get back into Turkey. The Turkish Bible is pretty much finished. This year he wants to focus on printing as many as we can and getting every church member a New Testament. (He still wants us to print the Bibles ourselves, not a mass printing.) Last year we were able to get every church member a hymn book; this year we'll work on printing Bibles.
In April Brother Ralph made his first trip into Turkey in over twenty years. The missionaries made several other group trips. If the Lord opens the door, we plan on making more. For now, though, let me tell you what Brother Ralph is thinking:
The gospel went from Jerusalem up to Antioch (in Turkey) and then westward (through Turkey) into Macedonia, Achaia, Rome, etc. (Europe). In the last two thousand years the gospel has been preached around the world. Before the Lord returns, Brother Ralph believes that the gospel will return to Israel, but through Turkey.
We want to spread the gospel in Turkey to as many as would receive it. (In our first visit down there, the Lord led us to a woman who was thrilled to meet Christian missionaries. Later we returned and gave her a Bible, which she received joyfully).
Unbeknownst to Brother Ralph, Turkey has been developing their ancient sites for tourism. This includes excavations of Biblical sites. We have seen these sites and believe that American Christians would love to see them, too. The time is ready to learn about Turkey, the second holy land.
Our desire is to show these sites to American pastors and other Christian workers who are able to help us in the mission work. On a two week trip, we would show them the Biblical sites where the Lord worked mightily in the 1st century, and then show them Bulgaria where the Lord is working in the 21st century.
Our goal is to raise support for the work in Bulgaria/Romania. We're ready for any pastor willing to help us in the mission work (as well as paying his own personal expenses on the trip). The national pastors preaching in Bulgaria/Romania are doing a great work, and they are in dire need of support. This would be a great opportunity for American pastors to meet and work with our national pastors.
Our work has always been through Brookside, and we want you to be the first to experience such a missionary journey. Please pray about this work. We love you all and look forward to seeing the Lord work again in 2014.
Zach LeFevre
No comments:
Post a Comment