Jesus in Action
Dear brothers and sisters,
Greetings to you in the name of Our Lord, the only one who saves, JESUS!
A few weeks ago I decided I needed a break. My wife agreed. After a divine action, Gine and I decided that it should be in Tucson, AZ with my good friend Patrick Yager, whom I have not seen in 14 years. Patrick graciously agreed. Last Tuesday I boarded the plane in Port-au-Prince heading to Arizona. Everything went smoothly until we were about half an hour away from Fort-Lauderdale, then the captain announced that we will have to land in Nassau because there was an issue to solve. We never knew what the issue was, even as I am writing this newsletter in my friend Patrick’s home. We spent 5 hours sitting in the plane in Nassau, only receiving conflicting decisions.
Being usually tired prior to my trips, I often don’t talk much with my seatmates when I am in an airplane. I usually sleep. Nothing was different in this trip until the unwelcome announcement that we have to do an emergency landing in Nassau.
Then a sister in Christ who sat in the same row with me started a conversation about a book I had with me. Then one conversation after another. I don’t really remember how it all started, but the gentleman who sat between me and Deedee started to dump on us “pluralism”, everyone is okay-type theology. Muslims’ God is the same as the Christian God and all kinds of polytheistic gibberish.
The evangelist inside of Deedee came out with passion and compassion to the point she was in tears. Since we were stuck in the plane for 5 hours we started to put pieces together. We finally discovered that he was a religious leader, a brand of Christianity, and was really preaching the gospel Paul referred to in Galatians as “another gospel” [GAL 1:6-9]. This one cannot save.
Then I said to myself, now Deedee’s tears have their place even more, because he would be better off not knowing anything about the Christ who sets free. I saw Jesus in action through our conversations because people several rows in all four directions were listening to the proclamation of the gospel. I thank God for my sister and friend, Deedee, who was not afraid to be a witness for Christ, even when other Christians were trying to shut her up.
Christ continues to be at work at Living Water. Our lowest attendance since the inauguration of the new church building has been about 870. We range from 870 thru 1200 plus since December 27, the Sunday following the inauguration. The Children’s Church looks amazingly beautiful with probably the nicest roof in town, thanks to the men from Kenai. But it is already too small and there has already been talk analyzing how they are going to enlarge it. They had close to 300 kids a couple Sunday ago. Last Sunday we had combined services.
This past month I had one of my rarest privileges. My son James Benjy was baptized into Christ and he wanted me to be the one doing it. I was humbled. Christ is in action in him. Pray for the young man to follow Jesus the rest of his life. I would be grateful to God to see all my children serving the Lord in any capacity that He wants.
Last month Jesus was in action thru many people, including an Oklahoma team under the leadership of brother Cody McDaniels. There was also a trio from Illinois: John and Bonnie Furniss and Jeff Heberlein. John preached and did all kinds of things. Bonnie taught sewing to two groups of ladies and Jeff preached, did agricultural work, painting and other things.
Jesus is at work thru the youth group of the church. They have just had a new leadership team. They have a wonderful program which balances spiritual, social, and economical activities. We thank God for them.
The vocational school main classroom has just been refurbished. They now have an air-conditioned room, new furniture (chairs), and new floor tiles. We praise God for using brother John Mitchel so that those kinds of great changes could happen.
Jesus is also in action in the kindergarten. Of course they make me jealous. I would love to be in kindergarten. They have no stress and all fun: singing, dancing, playing, and other fun activities. Yet in all of that Jesus is at work in them.
We are facing a challenging year with a lot of things which need to be done. We pray that we will continue to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus so He can continue to be in action without us interfering with His plan.
Please be in prayer for my friends Don and Caroline Herron, for our fellow workers Bob and Nell Stacy and for God’s servants John and Helen Meyer. Pray for Haiti as we are at a political crossroads, not knowing which way to turn. Pray for the United States of America as we are in an important year of election. Pray that the USAcountry can know a godly, godfearing leader/president so that USA may know better days.
May God bless you all.
Yours in Christ,
Salonique Adolphe and team