One of the answers to prayer since our last letter is the approval of our residence visas! Thank you for praying for this. Alyse’s pregnancy is nearing the end, continued prayers are still appreciated.
During the first week of February, I scheduled to have a coffee with a man in our church. He had been attending since September, but we could never get to a clear testimony of salvation even though he’s grown up in “Christianity.” After two hours of working through the past, the simplicity of salvation, and the honest condition of his soul, I asked him what was stopping him from accepting Christ. We drove back to his home where he put his faith in Christ alone, next to his wife and kids. Even coming from a Christian background, the verse rings true, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Praise God for the change the gospel makes in everyone’s life, not just in him, but also in his children as well, now having a saved dad! We have begun discipling the family, they have been involved in setting up and packing up the church weekly, and you might guess who the first volunteer was to share their testimony last Sunday morning. Pray that God would use this family to bring Him glory!
That same week, I met with a man who we have prayed for since last April. I had visited him, identified he was Catholic and presented the gospel and how it disagreed with Catholicism. There had been no further discussion for ten months, until this visit. Through a series of circumstances, I presented the gospel to him again clearly, to which he confidently replied that he accepted Christ after my visit last April! He contemplated the consequences of staying with Catholicism and was convinced Christ is the way. Since publicly declaring this, what a change in him! I asked him to let me know he got saved sooner next time. (Jokingly, of course.) Both of these men are scheduled to be baptised soon.
This past Sunday, a Catholic lady attending since December raised her hand for salvation and sweetly accepted Christ following the morning service. One of her sons was mentioned in our previous prayer letter, having accepted Christ on the first of the year. Her first question after salvation to the member who talked to her was, “What next?” Salvation is the beginning of living!
Alyse has done an excellent job investing in the ladies of our church, like the one mentioned above. The ladies fellowships are always well-attended and there is a high level of involvement in HBC ministries from those ladies. Many new attendees mention the family-feel of HBC and part of this is due to the planning that goes in to these things from Alyse and others.
Starting March 1, we have funded an advertising campaign on streaming services for the Gospel Films and also continued the John & Romans distribution. The streaming ads will reach just shy of 250,000 people, encouraging them to view the full videos. And the current shipment of literature is reaching 125,000 homes in the rural areas of the South Island. Both of these endeavors will take three months to fulfil.
The door to door outreach has had good responses for the past two months. There have been far more opportunities to witness at the door than we’ve previously experienced, but not many visitors from the efforts recently. Please pray for fruit that remains from this ministry as we seek to be faithful in His calling.
By the time this letter is received, we will have hosted a basketball outreach. This is our first event of this kind and we have 60 teen guys registered to attend. We are looking forward to reporting how the gospel is received!
Please pray for preparations of the Teen Camp, April 6-10. We are managing the kitchen again, and my brother, Pastor Kevin Szwarga will be preaching the camp.
Thank you for praying and sacrificing for the gospel’s sake,
Josh, Alyse, Bentlee and Raelynn Szwarga
