BAUMAN, PHIL & ANDREA (Canada, International roles with SIM) PRAISE: That Phil had a chance to see several colleagues in person while in Texas. For good connections at the North American missions conference he attended. That we have the opportunity to travel to visit colleagues in the Middle East. That Cara has had a good, although busy, start to her co-op job. PRAY: That our travels would go smoothly despite the added complications that COVID creates. For Andrea to have good in person connections with colleagues, some she hasn't seen for two years and some she has never met in person. For wisdom for Phil as he continues with much of his regular work as we travel.
Ray & Carol Jones
Dear saints in Wallenstein,
We hope you and yours are well and surviving these strange times?
We're doing OK. Carol continues to deal well with health issues but they are still a trial to her. I'm very busy with speaking engagements, GBCC, etc., and thankfully getting good opportunities to witness. Last Sunday and this Sunday I am speaking in Windsor - at different assemblies. It's a long drive so I go down on Saturdays. I turned 80 last month so I do get a bit tired but very, very thankful for the opportunity to continue serving the Lord. It is now seven years since I had cancer surgery. Recently I had health tests that were very positive so we press on by the Lord's grace.
Thank you so very much for your faithful and practical support; we sure do appreciate the help and encouragement.
I enjoy joining the believers in praying with Paul's group and look forward to being with you in person sometime.
May the Lord richly bless you all as you serve Him there.
Ray and Carol
Robert & Susan Martin - Kingston
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us." II Cor. 4:7
We are simply humble jars of clay but the message of the gospel we have and carry to the world is the greatest of treasures.
It’s been a while since we have been in touch.
We’ve had a summer busy with different responsibilities than usual. We continue with the ongoing assisted living for Susan’s parents. Her dad’s health is declining and we are endeavouring to keep him comfortable and cared for in his own home.
We also decided that it was time to relocate. We put our house on the market, sold it the first of the summer and moved back to Kingston.
A couple of weeks ago we had the privilege and fun of being involved in helping with an outdoor wedding.
Most of all we wanted to let you know that once again we are beginning to return to the prisons for “in person” ministry. As of September Robert has been back inside the institutions and it has been great to see the men face-to-face again. Beginning in the month of October we will resume Sunday evening chapel services in four institutions as well as one on one visits during the week. We praise God for these recent opportunities and truly hope they will be able to continue. Letter writing and phone calls have kept us somewhat in contact with these men but what a joy to return and see them.
God’s Spirit reaches where we cannot go and we have been humbled to realize how the Holy Spirit is able to keep these men growing in grace and faithful in their walk with Him without our presence. God doesn't need anyone of us. He will get it done; He just gives us the privilege of being a part of it.
They have the same “treasure” in their jars of clay!
Please continue to pray for us and the men we minister to inside prison walls.
Serving our Lord and Saviour together,
Robert and Susan
Our mailing address is:
Prison Minstry, Kingston
PO Box 20051
Kingston, ON K7P 2T6
Gord Martin & Doug Loveday
Good afternoon,
God willing, Doug Loveday and myself are headed for Kenya next Tuesday, the 5th till the 19th. We will be teaching in two of the five locations of Vision Ministries Kenya, four days each. We also plan to spend significant time with the board of VMK.
Its their 10th anniversary. To see what has happened in 10 years, click here https://vision-ministries.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/10-Year-Celebration-Report.pdf
Would you pray for us?
We were hoping to take 5 used laptops with us, so far we have none. Know of any?
Travelling is tedious in these days of Covid! Pray we’ll cover all of our bases, going and coming
Safety
Powerful impact, spiritually and relationally
We are hoping to raise the entire annual budget for VMK. Pray about that too. If you’d like more info or if you’d like to contribute, go https://vision-ministries.org/donate/
Gord Martin
Vision Ministries Canada
145 Lincoln Road, Waterloo, ON
519-501-5933 cell
Raul & Jessenia Espinoza
Dear Wallenstein family,
There are exciting things happening at church these days. We wish you could be here and see and feel how it is at church on Sundays. It feels like the church is bursting at the seams. The last few Sundays we have filled our church to its limits and taxed social distancing as much as possible. It’s a good problem to have, right?
Carlos and Felipe (the elders at our church) have been doing Bible studies twice a week in a gated community close to Bastion where they meet with a group of Venezuelans who are hungry to learn about the word of God. A good group of them have also been coming out Sunday mornings and it is such a pleasure to have them with us.
We feel like youth group has caught a second wind again as well. Our youth leaders are excited and we have been planning more complex events- for example, “The Olympics”, where the youth had to compete with a series of games and the winners received “golden” medals (actually chocolate).
In a couple of weeks, Lord willing, many of our youth will be headed off to camp. This is to make up for the camp that was canceled in March because of Covid. Please pray for health and safety for campers and staff, and more than anything for hearts that are open to God’s word. We would love to have a group of youth come back who want to make their walk with Jesus real and who would be open to discipleship.
Personally, things have been a little difficult for our little family. Tiago got some sort of bacteria and we had to take him to the hospital for 5 days where he was treated for diarrhea and vomiting. Though it was stressful for us as parents, we were so thankful to see Tiago with a good attitude there. He laughed and played and ran around his crib as much as his IV would let him. Thankfully, he is back home now and acts like that whole ordeal never even happened.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support for our family and the ministry here. Sometimes we feel very far away, but we are grateful for technology to keep in contact with praying friends back home.
Kept in Him,
Raul, Jessenia and Tiago
