Ministry News —  Reaching the Nations!

by Cindy

Dear Family & Friends,

Fall has finally arrived to Southern California! The weather is cooler at night and pleasant during the day time.  With fall comes a time to reflect on all that God is doing in our lives.

I am thankful for the many ways I am still connected to missionaries through Saving Grace World Missions.  I get the joy and privilege of working from home and sending out all the updates, prayer requests and news articles of Saving Grace World Missions.

One of the heart beats of SGWM is helping native missionaries who don’t normally have all the resources or support in their own country because of their belief in God.  We have two native missionaries who are serving the LORD by reaching their fellow country men and women with the gospel. To see all the missionaries and ministries of SGWM please go to www.sgwm.com

This month Pastor Trent Douglass and Pastor Mike Thiemann have the privilege to encourage and support our native missionaries, one of whom is Pratim Masih.  Pratim lives in Mussoorie, India and travels by foot into the hills to share the gospel with village people who have never heard about Jesus before.  Below is a brief update from their trip. Please pray for these people who have never heard the gospel to learn and see who Jesus is.

“Greetings,

After three days of travel we are finally here in Mussoorie with the Masih Family. The drive up the mountain was quite an adventure with a cliff on one side and a wall on the other. Pratim drove like an expert avoiding the cows, the people and all the other cars coming head on towards us.

This country here is breathtaking. We are high up in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains. It is amazing to me how many villages are scattered on the hillsides (they are more like cliffs than hills). This is truly an unreached area. Pastor Trent and I just stood on Pratim’s porch and prayed over these villages.

Tomorrow we are traveling into a village that Pratim has been working in and up until recently had not one single believer (now there are seven). We will be spending the night there fellowshipping with the believers. Please pray that the Lord would give us a timely word to speak into their lives.

- Pastor Mike Thiemann”

Thank You for allowing me to continue to serve the LORD even though I am a mom!

From the heart: The Valley of Uncertainty  by Chris

After raising support now for months we are at 33% of our total goal. Our deadline is rapidly approaching but I want to share with each of you what I believe the Lord has been doing in our hearts in the past few months in raising support to serve with Campus Crusade for Christ at Cal Poly Pomona Campus.

I felt led in prayer today to examine a familiar phrase in American Christendom. That phrase is “Where God guides He provides.” In my prayer and study I believe the Holy Spirit has revealed to me something profound and crucial which I feel I need to share here.

The first place the Lord took me in meditation was the cross. He took me to Gethsemane where Christ prayed, “Father if you will let this cup pass from me, never the less Thy will be done.” I don’t particularly think of Gethsemane when I think of God’s daily provision for my life. I think of “Ask and you will receive”. I think of “The faith of a mustard seed.” I think of “When you ask you ask amiss.” I do not think Father if you will let this cup pass from me, never the less Thy will be done.” But that is the place our God has led us. He has called us to Moriah to sacrifice our Isaac. Like Abraham we cannot see the end of the story. We Christians take that part of the story for granted often. But we have been called and we are going. We may return with a dead “son” But we will return victorious because we relied upon the leading of our God, because we sacrificed our pride and because we did what His word says. We obeyed him.

I have often asked in my heart, “Does God actually lead men to places of defeat, to places of death, to places of uncertainty? The answer emphatically is YES! Yes, God in his goodness leads us to these places, these valleys of desolation.

The Father divinely led his son to the cross to be crucified. He made him a public spectacle for those watching, ultimately for those He would save. He led Daniel to a den of lions, Joseph to a prison, and Israel to a wilderness. The Bible is full of such testimonials of God’s strange leading.  In the grand end they were all blessed. But they were often not all blessed in the timing they preferred or in the way that they asked.

As I have sought the Lord He has impressed upon my heart one loud and constant truth. He did in fact lead Cindy and me to the place of raising support to serve at Campus Crusade for Christ. And He may not provide for us to actually go in the end. But that is not the point. The point is not will he or won’t he provide? The question is will we trust Him in the uncertainty of it all or not? Will we walk with him, love him, praise him, and testify of his goodness even if we don’t see it in our own life necessarily? Will we deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him even if we can’t see where he’s leading us?

Will we see this thing to the end in confidence not of the end or the answer, but in His leading? Will we worship Him in Spirit and in truth? Cindy and I would like to answer an emphatic yes we will. We will go and not look back.

We love each of you and value your prayers love and support. We both covet your prayers and friendship. Thank you for being part of this journey with us!

In Christ,

Chris, Cindy & Josiah

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for us as we continue to raise support.  Pray that we trust in Him whether or not He provides and we would wait on Him to show us where He wants us to go.
• Please pray for our marriage. That we would love one another as Christ calls us to and that Christ would be at the center!
• Our walks with the LORD that they would be rich and full.
• Pray that we would continue to trust the LORD for all our financial needs.
• Pray for the health and protection of our family.
• Pray for Cindy as she balances working from home and raising our son.
• Pray for Josiah as he is cutting teeth.

Josiah’s Corner

My firsts

• My first two teeth came in two days apart in the last part of Oct! More teeth are coming!
• I scoot and rock on all fours and get frustrated cause I can’t crawl!
• I sit up all by myself.
• I eat soft foods and my favorite are Apple Strawberry Puffs!