SUMMER 2002 PRAYER LETTER

Our dear praying friend,

He was 94 years old. A little service had been arranged at his Residential Home during our Mission in Bootle, and he came. Fred listened as Sylvia (our Associate Evangelist) spoke of Jesus. Sitting afterwards with a team member, the good news was explained again to make sure. Fred trusted Jesus that afternoon, with tears in his eyes. He pointed to his heart: "I feel at peace in here now," he said.

Hello and greetings from all of us at the 40:3 Trust! Isn't that a lovely incident - never too old to get new life in Christ! We have been exceedingly busy (perhaps, too busy), and there is much to share.

WHERE WE'VE BEEN
Moss Side/Alexandra Park, Manchester. We had a very good Mission with these inner city churches of St James and St Edmund. The services for bereavement and loss saw considerable numbers counselled and helped with their difficult situations. The men responded well to the challenge to live as real Christians. A highlight was when the Bishop of Manchester popped in for a lunchtime meeting and gave a wonderful testimony as to how he had trusted Christ, aged 19, at a Billy Graham service. Many within the congregations themselves responded during the Mission - some for the first time.
Harpurhey, Manchester. Hardly had we left the fair city than we were back for an evangelistic weekend at Christ Church where, again, there was a good response. Here's a lovely thing which happened. The organiser of the Men's Breakfast brought his father-in-law, for whom he and his wife had been praying for many years. Dad trusted Christ. His daughter told me, the next day, in this soccer-mad city, that "It's better than seeing City win!" On the Sunday evening, her mother trusted Christ as well - joy overwhelming.

At that same Sunday evening service, an 11-year-old foster child also trusted Christ, much to the delight of her foster mother; a middle-aged man, along with others, also responded. It is wonderful to see the way God touches the young, middle-aged and old in the same service with the same message, as if tailor-made for each one personally.

Bourne was the Queen's Jubilee weekend, clashing with the England-Sweden match. Brilliant Bourne Baptists solved the problem, with a big-screen morning match, and a town-wide Jubilee afternoon service. I did the "half-time team talk" to over a hundred men, boys and a few ladies, many from way outside the church, and gave each one a Christian booklet at the end. Over 500 came in the afternoon, with a major local dignitary among those responding to Christ.

Bootle. A man heard the message, asked a team member several searching questions and then gave his life to Christ, shaking with excitement. His happiness was clear to see. A teenage girl, having trusted Christ, asked to let the whole meeting know what had happened. Asked publicly how she felt now, she simply said, "Brilliant!" In this tough part of Liverpool, numbers of young and older folk met Jesus.

And all over. It has been thrilling to see people coming to faith in Christ, or rededicating themselves to Him, wherever we have preached. At Iver or Hatton (Warwick), at Canley Crematorium or Allesley in Coventry, men and women have said "Yes". Perhaps most remarkably, at the Unitarians Meeting in Newcastle under Lyme every person accepted one of my tracts, and I was told I would be invited back: even the sects are open to the Gospel!

Bless you for praying: the Lord has done great things, and it is marvellous in our eyes.

WHAT'S GOING ON
As well as all our evangelism, let me share with you four ongoing activities:

1 The Faith-Sharing book tour. This is proving to be a great success, and you'll see more dates in the Autumn Diary. Have you got your 'Fifty Ways to Share Your Faith' book (only £8, post free) yet? Would your church like an evening seminar? Call us!

2 'Older people and the church: together or apart?' This is the big, new, latest book, just published. It's £18.99, but you can have it for £16.99, post free. It really is a vital book for your church, dealing with the relationship between the church and older people. I do seminars on this, too!

3 Radio recordings. The opportunities for broadcasting keep on growing. Would you like to pray for three special men? They are the people responsible for my programmes in Slovakia: Igor Conka (the translator), Lubomir Vyhnanak (the director) and my "voice" Ondrej Betko (the producer and broadcaster). Do pray also for Michael Pfundner, who produces all my U.K. programmes.

I have just completed 52 'short' programmes, and now have a further 52 half-hour programmes to write and record - quite a task! Please pray for wisdom, a sense of God's Spirit working through me and a good throat!

4 My other major project is re-writing 'Bereaved'. This must be done by October 31, for a publication date of May '03. Many have asked for this book, speaking of the blessings of the first one. Would you pray for great inspiration here, too?

All this means a lot of typing for Julie and checking for Sue: remember in prayer their work in our office.