November Work Report

Praise God for peacefully bringing us through another month. Thank you for your care for me and my family.

November is a month of thanksgiving. Many things happened this month that must be given thanks for. I brought my wife and son to “Maple Grove.” This is the first time we went to see nature together. We went for two days (Friday and Saturday). The whole time was a great chance to spend more time talking with my wife and son, and getting to know my wife’s views on some things. She had hoped that I would take them out more to spend time together but because of my neglect she had given up on that hope. This time’s trip encouraged and comforted her a lot. In this quiet place together we also drew close to God.

This month I studied Philemon and Titus in preparation for next month’s preaching. We will finish Mark in December and are planning on going through Philemon first and then Titus. Once we’re done with that we plan on teaching from the OT book of Jonah. I cried while studying Philemon. I saw Paul’s love for Onesimus and his friendship with Philemon. I envied both of these things. I long for a shepherd like Paul to feed me, and I long for a friend like Paul. I lack these in my present situation. I can only ask that God will bring such people into my life and also that He will make me into such a shepherd and friend.

I spoke on Mark chapters 14 and 15 this month concerning Jesus’ last days on earth. After His capture and questioning there was nothing punishable found in Him. After His capture His dear disciple denied Him three times. He was abandoned and tortured. This raised a searching question for me. Would I be willing to follow the Lord to the very end?

The Thursday evening studies this month were on “Christians in the Workplace.” I only taught once; my coworker taught the other three sessions. Part of the reason for doing this is that I want to give him more opportunities to practice teaching so that he can keep growing and maturing. Also, I don’t have experience in secular work. I went into ministry as soon as I graduated from college. He has work experience and so I thought it’d be more appropriate for him to teach this material.

We had another prayer meeting for those being held prisoners this month. When we started praying for them we received news about them. The police had them write some letters to their families to quiet everyone down. When we heard this we were very thankful to again witness the presence and protection of God.

The church is preparing for the third official time of bringing members in. Five people have already signed up to join. Two of these five are new converts. One was previously a member of a cult. When he began to know us, he left his previous church and after a half of a year asked to join us. Seeing unbelievers convert and people leave cults has encouraged me a lot. This is the fruit of God’s work in our midst.