Psalms 118:1 "O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever."
Greetings fellow servants of the Lord, friends and supporters, we trust this letter finds you well, safe and healthy in these uncertain times.
-God's provisions
As we shared in our previous letter, the Covid pandemic has prevented us from meeting with new churches and presenting our ministry to potential supporting churches. As many of you know, this is not only how we raise our support but also much of how we financially subsist. Needless to say, that for any missionary on deputation 3 months without meetings is truly a test of faith. But God was not surprised by all of this, and He prepared the way for us ahead of time. He provided us with a group of supporting churches that truly have a burden for missions and missionaries, and we did not have any unmet need unlike many others. Our home Church, Canton Baptist Temple was particularly attentive to our situation and provided us with the means necessary to move through this pandemic.
We thank God for each one of you, for each church and for our home church, for your love towards us and for your prayers and care.
In addition to all the many blessings God poured out on us, we were blessed with the great news of 3 additional churches partnering with us. These were churches we had visited and we were thrilled to see God add to our team, with these additions, we estimate our support level to be at 38%, and we praise the Lord for this great start in our deputation.
Pray that this would continue as we move forward.
-Ministering during Covid
In the midst of the Covid crisis, we tried to see how we could continue ministering while obeying our local authorities, and God provided those opportunities. We were able to present our ministry in our home church via live stream, as well as present and preach at a drive in service in Wisconsin, both opportunities were exciting times were we got to serve God in new ways. In addition, per the request of a few churches, we provided recorded sermons to help out these local ministries and relieve some of the burden pastors had to deal with. In addition to this, God provided another ministry opportunity for us in France via internet. My father as you may know, is a missionary there, and had to be hospitalized due to health issues. During this time, I was able to record two sermons in French and thus cover for him during his illness in the midst of the Covid lock down.This was a true blessing for us, as we were able to serve Him there, which is what we long for. The feed back from the people was positive and we are even more determined to get there to serve and disciple those who believe and reach those who don't.
Pray that God would continue to grow His work in France, as for my father, please pray that he would fully recover as he is back home and on the right track to recovery.
While the Covid pandemic isn't over, we are confident that we will be able to resume our travelling shortly, we want to assure you of our prayers for you as we know that you face challenges too. If we can be of any help, please let us know, we still have those recorded sermons for those of you who are still on a lock down. If there are any prayer requests we can bring before God for you, please let us know and be assured we will lift them up.
God Bless you.
Jonathan and Priscilla Laase