Two anniversaries passed during November: our three-year anniversary in New Zealand and Heritage Baptist Church’s one-year anniversary! We are surprised by how quickly time has gone for both of those occasions. Pastor Dan Fraser preached for the church anniversary service on November 16th, with seven visitors in attendance and 88 from our community. In July, there was an average of 50 attending regularly. That has increased steadily from August to October with about 65, and now again November onwards with 70 on average. Pastor Lim and I prayed to start the year that God would add one family per month to the church, and it has been a blessing to see Him do that.
On the first week of November, a Catholic man visited the church and another man visited from the prayer stand as well. At the invitation time, the man from prayer stand raised a hand for salvation, but while speaking to him afterwards, he had simply misunderstood the question and was already a Christian. However, this conversation opened up the door to speak to Richard, the Catholic visitor. Richard was very open to the gospel and accepted Christ, on what happened to be his birthday. It was a blessing to explain that now his two birthdays fell on the same day!
Later that week, a young man passed the prayer stand and I handed him a Gospel Films card and told him that the videos will show him how Jesus loves him. He stopped and said to us, “I’m looking for Jesus!” After offering to help him find Jesus, we opened the Bible and guided him to Christ. Afterwards, he claimed he had received the same card from an older guy outside his school, which of course was Bro. Andy, as noted in our previous letter.
During November, we hosted the Oprzedek’s from our sending church. Their trip was highlighted by the Anniversary Sunday, speaking at the quarterly ladies’ event, and a multitude of witnessing opportunities while sightseeing. Prior to one of our hikes, I (Josh) had prayed for an opportunity to witness to a guy my age. At the summit, there was a Jewish doctor my age. After striking up a conversation, it quickly turned to Christ, as he lives in Nazareth. He asked if we could walk together as he had many questions but no Christians in his life to ask. We walked for several hours, beginning at the Garden and finishing at the Cross. One moving section was describing Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep...” while walking through a roaming flock of sheep. Pray for Hadar’s salvation as his heart is open and searching. We expect him to pass through to visit us in December before heading home to Israel.
Since the October Revival, there have been 24 men (only a few of whom are teens) who have surrendered to preach among the churches in our fellowship. While attending a prayer day with several pastors, a missionary with several decades of experience here claimed that this is unprecedented in his time. Time will tell what God will do with these laborers in His harvest, but please pray with us for them! Part of this stirring was a preaching meeting organised by the young men at GIBC, Tauranga. Five teens preached for the first time that night. These may seem like small things, but these are significant movements in a country of this scale. Pray for laborers to be raised up, from within New Zealand.
Looking ahead to the end of the year, please pray for the North Island Family Camp, December 29 - January 2, and continue to pray for our visa renewal.
Thank you for praying and sacrificing for the gospel’s sake,
Josh, Alyse, Bentlee and Raelynn Szwarga
