Thursday, October 22, 2009

Little Update & Prayer Letter

I am now half way to fifty! I had a great birthday on Sunday. :) I celebrated my birthday by attending the first morning service and Harvest service at Beeches Road. God really blessed! It was so exciting to see so many people come to praise God! After church, we hosted a special dinner in the Sunday School room. Here are a few photos...and yes, Kevin spoiled me and made me breakfast in bed!





The Children Singing
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We had seven teenagers attend the Heathfield Dinner yesterday. Every week it seems to be growing. Several of those who attend do not go to church anywhere. This has been a great way to share the gospel and invite teenagers church.

--- We are always busy with children who stop by and visit us in the afternoons. One day we made homemade hot chocolate. This was a new experience for them - they loved it, of course! :)


I can feel my heart love these children more and more with each passing day. I think of them while they are in school, pray they will make wise decisions, and encourage them to never be ashamed of Christ. I hope and pray they will always be faithful to Christ.




Dear Pastor and Friends,
“O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.” (Psalm 118:1) This has been our theme during the months of September and October as we have rejoiced in the goodness of our great Saviour! So much has happened since our last letter! We hope you will be encouraged as you read the many blessings God has given us during these past few months.

On Saturday, September 12, we hosted our Thanksgiving Service at Beeches Road. This service was intended to dedicate our new extension on the chapel. It was amazing to see people come from far and near to take part in praising God for providing for our needs. This extension will enable us to expand our ministries and provide services we haven’t done in the past.

The afternoon of Saturday, October 3, was truly special as we witnessed the baptism of Simon Jakeman. It was on a cold, February evening that Simon trusted Christ as his Saviour. Many fellow Christians have faithfully prayed for Simon to follow the Lord. The Jakeman family was overjoyed to see their son make a public decision to follow Christ.

The morning of Sunday, October 18, was a beautiful sunny day! During our first morning service it was just as bright and cheerful inside the chapel as it was outside. Everyone was so encouraged and positive to have another opportunity to worship our great God! We had forty people attend the first morning service. Lord willing, the Gospel service and evangelistic Sunday School will still continue in the afternoon. We are eager to see the spiritual growth of believers who attend this new service.

The Lord gave us the incredible opportunity to go to a state (public) school and freely share the gospel with over 170 children. My heart broke as the children sat on the hard, gymnasium floor intently listening to every word as if they had never heard the good news of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. This is a generation who has never heard God’s wonderful way of salvation. Please continue to pray as we endeavor to reach the next generation with the gospel of Christ.

We are grateful for the opportunity to serve other churches in the local area. This month Kevin has been able to preach at several churches that are without a pastor. During our time together it has been good to encourage fellow believers to keep following Christ and fishing for men!

If you would like to receive our weekly email updates, please email us at “theruwersmafamily@yahoo.com”. We do our best to send either a weekly or bi-weekly update. We hope you will join our prayer team of believers who have committed to pray for our work in Birmingham, England.

Thank you for your prayers and support. We are happy to be serving the Lord in England. God is so good!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Weekly Update

Dear Friends and Family,

How great is our God! We serve the Almighty God of the universe. The God who made the mountains, made the blind to see, and best of all – a God who has made a way for us to be forgiven of our sins. This is our hearts cry…that all the earth may know God’s wonderful plan of salvation. God has changed our lives by His saving power, He has given us a desire to share His love to all those who have never heard. Thank you for taking the time to read about our endeavors to serve Him this week.

The Lord has continually blessed the church and we were able to see Simon Jakeman baptized this past Saturday. We had a special service Saturday afternoon where the gospel was clearly presented. Several people came from across the country to see the baptism. There were nearly one hundred and forty people in attendance, many of them were unbelievers.

We thank the Lord we have been given another opportunity to hold a religious assembly in a primary (elementary) school tomorrow. During the assembly we are able to teach Bible songs, memory verses, and have a short Bible lesson. Please pray that the children will listen and understand their need to know Him as their Saviour.

In the past week we have had a few visitors stay with us for a several days. One was from London and the other from Tennessee. It was great for them to see the day to day ministry and to see the faithful children who come week after week! We have several exciting days coming in the near future. On October 18th we will be celebrating our Chapel’s Anniversary, this will also be the start of our morning services. We will still have our Gospel Service at 3:00 every Sunday, but will also have a morning service at 11:00. We thank the Lord for another year God has allowed the chapel to keep the doors open and look forward to the many wonderful works He will do in the coming years.

Lord willing, we will have a website for Beeches Road Baptist Chapel up and running soon. We hope this will be a help to those praying for the chapel and also be a tool to spread the word about Jesus Christ and the work in England.


Treasure Club
My dear friend and sweet helper, Sue Jakeman. Sue helps during our Friday Treasure Club. When children come to Sunday School they are rewarded by being able to attend the Treasure Club on Friday. During the club we play games and spend individual time with each child quoting scripture.

Discipleship and Bible Studies
Kevin and I have many Bible Studies throughout the week with families and individuals. We are discipling several of the young people as well. I would ask that you specifically pray for a young lady named Sandy this week. Sandy has made a profession of faith, she needs victory over many habits. Please pray God will continue to work in her life and give her the strength she needs.

Castle Bromwich Hall
Please keep the Castle Bromwich Hall in your prayers this week. Pray that God would provide and give us wisdom for the many upcoming decisions.
State School Bible Clubs

This morning we were able to share the gospel with an entire primary school! The Lord blessed and the administration asked if they could call and schedule another assembly. Praise the Lord!

Visitation

Every Saturday morning we go on visitation. We go door to door, visit prospects, and visit to those who haven't come to church for awhile. The faithful children enjoy coming with us. What an encouragement it is to see young people want to please their Saviour and share the gospel with others.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Simon's Baptism

On Saturday we were blessed to see Simon follow the Lord in believer's baptism. What a blessing! It is exciting to see his life change and see his desire to obey the Lord. It was a very encouraging service. Praise God for His goodness. I will do my best to post more information later. Sorry so short - life is a little busy at the moment. God bless you! Please continue to pray for Beeches Road...