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Jesus has told us to go into all the world and to preach the Gospel and to make disciples. |
Here's what our missionaries have to say |
Mario and Rose Bruno- church planters in Italy Hello, Ever since Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden chose to rebel against God by disobeying His Word all men and women have created their own religion believing they can decide for themselves what is good/right and bad/evil. It is a self tailor-made religion, which gives a false sense of security as to their standing before God. Since they behave in accordance to the religion they have created they naturally see themselves as worthy of God’s blessings. Jesus found this same attitude in the scribes and the Pharisees. They misrepresented God’s teachings contained in the Old Testament with their traditions. To the men who made it their supreme work to read the Scriptures Jesus said to them at least ten times in the Gospels: “Have you never read…” and then quoted the Old Testament passage with the correct teaching. Very often when I speak to the people in Rome about Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death on the cross I get this response: “I believe in God, but in my own way.” They then go on to explain their own individual ideas and beliefs. The following are a few examples I recently heard. “God is a God of love and so He could never judge anyone and condemn them to an eternal hell.” “I am not a sinner because I have not killed anyone, stolen from anyone poorer than me, nor gone after the wife of another man. This is why I don’t need God’s salvation.” “I’m a good Roman Catholic but I never go to confession or to mass.” And one last example: a widow, who is a devout Catholic, has, on her own, made her husband into a “saint” because, according to her, “he was a good husband.” She attributes to him the ability to answer her prayers and prays to him all day long. She thanks him whenever she gets what she asks for. Only the Holy Spirit using His word can open their eyes to see the spiritual darkness that has blinded them. Rose and I needed to take the subway to go to a Bible Study. We had just sat down when the man sitting across the car got up and came over to us. “I know you,” he said to me. “You’re the one who gives out the flyers in the morning. Can you give me the address of a church in Acilia [a bedroom community to the west of Rome].” Pointing to the person sitting next to where he sat he added: “My friend wants to go.” As I gave him the address of a church near there I thanked the Lord for this evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit. Our church had its annual business meeting last Sunday. My heart was full of praise to the Lord when the major topic of discussion and which took the longest time was to increase the prayer time during the Sunday morning service for our personal and church-wide outreach. It was decided to increase the worship time to allow for prayer for the people with whom the church family is talking to about Christ and for the Lord to build His church. Thank you for your partnership with us in the cause of Christ. May God's grace be upon you. Mario and Rose |
Ninswaliki 66 10 January 2010 Nampula, Mozambique Dear Praying Friends, “Boas Entradas!” (good entries) is the typical new year greeting in Mozambique. If you are seeing someone for the first time since December, an obligatory greeting in January is to ask, “How did you enter?” We entered well this year, and we are still in that phase of searching and praying for what God would have us do in the coming year. Letters from us have been scarce in past months, and that is not from poor health or for lack of things to say, but for a certain amount of uncertainty about the future while we undergo transition here in Mozambique. Our family is doing well. In November Susan and I went to Kenya for leadership meetings and a retreat for directors and their wives. The meetings were held not far from RVA and also coincided with the end of their school term. And so, we were able to spend two weekends with our children, to get to know their teachers, hear the Christmas concerts, etc. It was wonderful. We have missed so much of our children’s lives while at school and it is a pleasure to get a quick glimpse into that world. And we are so proud of them. Andrew’s first semester away from home was a challenge, but he is doing well, has grown much taller than me, can beat me 7 for 7 in ping pong and play the trumpet like a pro. Emily is a beautiful young lady, full of life and love for adventure. This semester she will go to Uganda for a day of rafting on the Nile. We had a good break with them, spending the first ten days in Balama, going over the Meetto translation of Ephesians. Laura and Mary spent Christmas with Grandpa Iseminger. Every time I talk to him on the phone he tells me how much he enjoys having them with him. Mary is in her third year of nursing and Laura graduates from Houghton in May. Lord willing, Susan will go back for the graduation. Just before Emily and Andrew departed for school we took our little boat sailing in Pemba over new year weekend; a memorable event. The first day we chased down a pod of dolphins that was feeding on a shoal of bait fish. Tuna and wahoo were also feeding, accidentally launching out of the water in their feeding frenzy. The dolphins were more dramatic in their broaching, almost poetic. They obviously have more fun than the tuna who are just there for the lunch. The second day there was a high wind and heavy sea and both Emily and Andrew were anxious to get out into the waves with our little boat. It was a new experience for them to be on the open sea and see nothing but heaving waves which alternately obscured the horizon for their height. It was glorious… but oh, for a more stable boat! To be honest, we begin this year very tired. The month of December in Nampula was hot and humid, the rains came in fits and starts, and now in the new year we’re still waiting for the cooling clouds to come to stay. We are looking forward to a six month furlough later this year, but finding a replacement is proving difficult. While continuing to increase in translation production as well as open new translation programs, we are also reducing in the number of missionaries on the field. More Mozambicans are involved in more roles of leadership and management and we are so thankful for them. The challenge is to train adequately and then to alter our administrative structures to accommodate them. And in all of this, we thank you for standing with us in the battle to see the Word of God translated into the languages of Mozambique. Pressing On, John I. |