New Chapter

If our lives were a book, tomorrow would be a new chapter for us.

 

We've had some very interesting chapters: 10 years in Grenada - church planting, children's ministries, and Bible school.  By the time we left Grenada all six of our daughters were born and helping us in the Gospel ministry. 

 

Next were the Singapore chapters: helping with a new Bible college, being members and helpers at Emmanuel Baptist Fellowship, making tons of memories and friends, and the girls growing up into young ladies. 

 

Our India chapters began with both Hannah and Mary being off at Bob Jones University, and then like dominoes they all kept leaving until now we have an empty nest!  In India we had some great years at Bharat Bible College and then later "free-lancing" in the city of Hyderabad: teaching pastors, conducting women's meetings, helping in schools, and helping in new church plants.

 

Tomorrow's new chapter begins with our giving us our home in India and going to the states.  But I didn't say moving to the states, because technically we would not be living anywhere.  It is now time to think about our own parents.

We hope to make three or four trips overseas each year, to the same countries in which it has been our ongoing privilege to conduct the Gospel ministry (particularly India, Singapore, Philippines and Togo). We still want to make a difference overseas for the sake of the Gospel.

During our "in-between" times in the USA, we can give more assistance and comfort to our beloved, aging parents, as as to join in Gospel ministry opportunities which the Lord may open to us, including making periodic missionary reports and participating in missionary conferences.

  

We covet your prayers, emails, words of encouragement and your friendships.

Sept 2016

Hi!  The Lord has been giving us strength for many things since the last blog entry. Thank Him!  After weeks of happily continuing our usual Gospel ministry program in India, Ruth went to Togo in early August, when our daughter Mary had delivered her third baby, a girl, Alethia Eve Ward. 

Soon after that, Stephen went to Pune, India, to teach in the School of Missions there.  He covered the Life of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Pentateuch, and Jesus as our prophet, priest and king.  This involved about 30 hours of teaching time over eight consecutive days, til he went to join his dear wife, and the Wards, with their new baby in Togo. 

There, the folk were gracious to allow Stephen to teach Pastoral Theology to the senior students in their Bible school, for a good 48 hours of classroom time, over a two week period.  Now that that’s finished, he’s trying to recover his strength!!  It’s been mostly rainy and warm here in Togo.  Rainier, at least, than it usually is in our part of India.  As Manny and Cyrus are active little grandsons, they are eager to take the grandparents out for walks, and they like to throw grass, sticks and rocks into the stream. 

May they, and we all, grow up in the Lord Jesus, to think of Him and talk of Him continually forever.  Then the Father will be pleased with us, as He is with His Son.  Soon, in our Lord Jesus kindness and grace, we would be headed back to India, as scheduled, for eight solid weeks of gospel ministry before heading off to the USA for the holiday season.  This would be our third Thanksgiving and Christmas in the USA since 1988.  God is love.

prayerletterJuly2016

         

                

                                                July 20, 2016

Dear Praying Friends,

Thank you so much for all your support in prayer to our Father.  So far, 2016 has been just about as busy as ever for us, by the kindness of our Lord.  Thanks for being patient with us, too, as it has been a few extra months since our last newsletter.

This year, it has been our great privilege to teach students preparing for Gospel ministry to the slums of India, at Pune, where I gave introductions to the subjects of The Book of Psalms, The Holy Spirit, and The Doctrine of Salvation.

I spoke in Sunday assemblies on The Love of God (I Jn 4.7-14), The Burnt Offering (Lev 1), Day of Atonement (Lev 16), For Me To Live Is Christ (Phil 1.21), The Glory of our Lord (Jn 1.14), Christian Fellowship (Ro 15.7), The Image of God (Ge 1.26-28) and Jesus, Our Prophet, Priest and King (I Ti 2.5).

Several disciples of our Lord Jesus came to our home so I could teach them regarding Bibliology, “What is the Gospel and How are we to preach it?”, The Grammatical-Historical Principle/Interpretation of Figures of Speech, Interpreting prophecies like Hosea 11.1, ‘Biblical Criticism and Theology, from 1700 to the present”, The Departments of Theology, Dispensationalism, “Jesus our Prophet, Priest and King,” A Marriage Seminar, “The Biblical Means of Grace,” An Overview of Church History, and The Holy Spirit.  Also in our home, Ruth taught two seminars on “Conducting Children’s Gospel Ministries.”

In a gathering of believers who came together for two days’ seminars I taught five hours on The Doctrine of Salvation, and 2.5 hours on What Is The Gospel And How Are We To Preach It?

Spoke in two separate pastors’ fellowship meetings, for about two hours, each, on Lessons For Pastors Drawn From I Timothy, and on Jesus, our Prophet, Priest and King.

We traveled to Singapore at the invitation to a church’s annual family camp.  I spoke a total of eleven times in eight days.  The camp theme was Decision-Making.

 

Please Pray:

·         That our Lord Jesus would be glorified, and His Gospel clearly explained, every time we open our mouths in the many opportunities He’s given to us.

·         For Ruth and me to be sustained in health and strength, physically and, especially, spiritually.

Chit-chat:          We’re grateful for the opportunity to visit some of you, as well as a lot of our loved ones, in the USA, during part of March, April and May.                 During those weeks, we were able to visit 16 churches, and in seven of these we came to make our overseas missionary reports.                 Back here in India, Ruth continues to contribute time and effort in a local Christian school near to our home.  She’s increased her involvement from two days per week last academic year to three days per week since we got settled here again.                               As a result of the contacts I made during the last ten days of June, it now appears that my ministry calendar is going to be about as full as my body would allow during July through October.  Thank the Lord!!

“Serving with the International Gospel Missions” 

990 Calkins Road,  Rochester, NY  14623      Phone:  585-334-9048

 

30 years

25^th February:

Today makes thirty years since the day Independent Gospel Missions, of New Castle, PA, accepted us as missionary appointees to Grenada, West Indies. A lot has happened since then. Our overseas service has taken us from Grenada, through Singapore, and, for the past twelve years, to India. All our six children grew up and, one by one, left us to university in the USA, so that Ruth and I have been “empty-nesters” for the past year and a half. We've been grandparents for the past 8+ years. And Among the many changes through the years, even our mission agency has been removed to Rochester, NY, and its name has been altered to International Gospel Missions.

IGM was founded in 1968 under the leadership of Dr. David L. Bovard who was one of those who had, way back in in the late '70s encouraged us to consider overseas missionary service. Through the years, the mission's main focus has been to help and to serve various local pastors in many countries of the world. Ruth and I are very grateful to our Lord for the blessing IGM has been to us, too, and with the Lord's help, hope to continue with the mission for as many years as we are able.

“To the Regions Beyond. . .”

prayerletterJan2016

                                                January 28, 2016

Dear Praying Friends,

Ruth and I are very grateful for your prayers to our Father, as the last three months or so have been packed tight with travel and Gospel ministry opportunities.

First, October went quite well as I continued to conduct my usual seminars for pastors in the rural parts of Telangana State.    Additionally, Ruth went with me to Pune to teach the students in the School of Missions for five days.  Around Hyderabad, I spoke twice in a regular young peoples' meeting, on “How we know the Bible is Word of God” and “What It Means For Man To Be Made in God's Image”.

We traveled to Togo, West Africa, for a couple of weeks in November, where I was allowed to teach pastors in the capitol, Lome, for 13 hrs in three days.  Then, for 28 hours over five days, I taught “Christology” to another group of young men who are already pastors, or else training to become pastors.

Ruth and I spent most of December in Singapore.  But almost immediately upon arriving in Singapore, we flew to Cebu, Philippines, to teach about 20 students in the Bible school there.  I taught “The 16^th-Century Reformation”.  Ruth spoke to the female students on the topic “Remember Lot's Wife”.

For the final quarter of 2015, I was privileged to speak in 7 Christian assemblies 18 times, in 3 countries.

Please Pray:

• For our health and safety.
• That the Lord would enable us to fill up the calendar with good Gospel ministry opportunities.
• That Ruth and I would be a huge blessing to our friends in Pune about three weeks from now, as we plan to teach in the School of Missions there.
• For all the arrangements which we must make regarding travels for the first six months of 2016, including a visit to the USA starting in the month of March.
• For us to glorify our Lord Jesus in all things.

Chit-chat:                   In December, we had over a dozen appointments with doctors, clinics, and hospitals, in Singapore, including two trips to operating rooms for Ruth.  By our Lord's grace and kindness, we both seem to be doing ok now.  Thank Him!                                         It appears the ministry opportunities I'd have in India this year would be closer to Hyderabad than has been the case in the past two years.  I was very glad to teach pastors so many times in every corner of our state.  But friends of ours around the city seem to be eager to put us to work beside them at present, for the Lord's sake.  Ruth is helping more in a local Christian school, and I'm giving training and doing other local ministry wherever possible.                           As I review the past few months, I can see why I was feeling so tired!  There is a lot on our plate, already, for 2016, but I'm thankful to our Lord Jesus that He's given us a lot of our strength back.                    Our daughter, Elizabeth Heffernan, is expecting to deliver a baby in late March.  Just prior to that, it seems Ruth is being required to show up in Miami for jury duty, of all things.  Lord willing, everything will go well, including visits to some of you, our dear friends and supporters.

 “Serving with the International Gospel Missions”