Gateway/EPIC Newsletter
May 11, 2010
Gateway/EPIC breaks ground in an unreached Kurdish Eastern Province: It is a privilege to be a (lower-cased) apostle for the Lord Jesus Christ here in these lands. It is also an honor to be able to bring good news concerning the battle front of spreading the message of salvation to those whom have never met a Christian, seen a Bible or know anything about sin, righteousness and the coming judgment.
We set out for Beytel East located in Sodom May 1st and with a total of 9 made up of both foreigners and nationals. We drove to an unreached province (4 hours away) called Thousand Lakes. In a very large municipality called Snowy Plain we met with the mayor and city council, along with other prominent members/business owners of the community. We traveled to another Eastern province and stopped and prayed for each village and worshipped the Lord along the way. Another municipality Seven Waters asked us to visit them in Thousand Lakes province but we did not have enough time. At Snowy Plain we introduced ourselves and made plans with the approval of the local government to begin to send English teachers as a service to their community. Also J. with Erd taught a self-defense clinic for Kurdish school girls. This was well received and the girls cannot wait for the next lessons! Other authorities that were not so keen on our presence there frightened the mayor of the Snowy Plain province. We understood that we needed to leave immediately so as not to cause him problems. However the next day not only the mayor but the other municipality called us asking for us to come and begin the programs. J. told the mayor of Snowy Plain that he and other Christians would be praying for him and his town. Please join in prayer with J. for not only Snowy Plain, but also for Seven Waters along with the whole province of Thousand Lakes.
The area is very complex made up of three different languages Zazaki, Kurmanji and Turkish along with two different religions, Alevism and Sunni Islam. The majority of Snowy Plain live under a Feudal system and Islamic Sharia law. The mayor and the educated/those we met with want to change this. Pray for us as we plan to send the first teacher to this area. Pray the Lord would give us wisdom in this and that the doors would stay open in these areas so that we may proclaim the Gospel boldly and clearly.
See the pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/gatewayeducationalservices?ref=profile
Sharing the Gospel in Sodom: “What are you doing to prepare for Judgment day”? Was the question I asked those at the barber shop near E.’s house. They looked at me and said, “Pray five times a day”. I replied, “Do you really do that”? They answered, “well no”. I replied, “well how do you repent of your sins”? They answered, “we pray.” I said, “So you just say to God I am sorry and then your sin is completely gone, you say you pray 5 times a day for forgiveness but then you admit you really do not do that either! Why do you expect that God will let you go free without paying a penalty when here on earth when you steal, kill, lie, cheat, slander you must go before a judge in court and when condemned you must pay a penalty. When you stand before God one day, there will be a judgment and a penalty to be paid”. They asked me, “Well how do you as a Christian repent”? I explained from the sacrificial system from Adam and Eve, to Abraham and Isaac all the way to the final, perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross. “He paid the penalty on the cross, by His shed blood; He paid for your and my sins”. “We confess our sins to God, but our sins our forgiven because of Christ.” The conversation continued about what true Christianity is compared to what they see on the TV and what a True Christian is compared to one that is just a Christian by name. Many other subjects were discussed concerning the Faith. I challenged them to read the Old and New Testament as they need to know the truth. It just so happens that two of those whom I shared with were originally from Dagestan (Near Chechnya) an area I have been praying for now since December. Their families immigrated to Sodom long ago but they still hold on to their roots. Please pray for Masum, Murat and Ferat. Also pray for the others who overheard our conversation at the barber shop. E. will be following up on these.
Announcements:
1. Beytel West has moved: As of April 22 Beytel West located in Istanbul has moved to a new location. We were sad to move from the place where we ministered for 4 years however it was time for a fresh start in a new area. There have been many issues regarding the secret police, the Muslim owner, along with some incidents over the last year that drove the many of the members of Beytel away. After much prayer and fasting concerning all of this since March of 2009 the Lord answered our prayer. We praise God for His leading in this and believe that He will continue to cleanse and protect His church from attacks from without and wolves that try to destroy from within. Prayer Requests: Pray that God would continue to protect His church from dissension, rivalry, jealousy and that there would be a spirit of unity, love and humbleness. Pray that the Lord would grow our church here, specifically that they would always walk in the Spirit, in all holiness and love, clinging close to the Lord and His word.
2. Dr. Mujdeci also known as Dr. K. that we had worked with for many years and in October of 2009 separated from because of some theological issues, has since then spoken with J. and E. concerning these on several occasions. Dr. K. has recanted of any former theological views that made us uncomfortable. Pray for this brother as he continues to works to see the Kingdom grow in T. province. Any work in this country is hard and is full of battles, the spiritual forces on the losing side are trying to keep their ground please pray for the work here.
Academic Summer for J. and L.: As of the first week of June J. will be heading to New York and Pennsylvania then has 3 seminary classes. One in Washington D.C. June 07-11th. One in Orlando FL. June 21-26 and one in Charlotte NC. June 28-July 1. L. will be finishing her last classes and taking her comps for her Ed.D. in Educational Psychology/Special Education July 5th-18th in West Virginia. Needs: A vehicle to use from June 4th through August 4th. If anyone knows of an extra vehicle that they can use that could be picked up in Pennsylvania or New York please let us know. Or if anyone knows a cheap way to rent a car for 2 months please reply to this email. Also J. would like to know if there is a place that he could stay while in Washington D.C., Orlando and Charlotte while taking his classes?
Thank you for partnering with the ministry here in the Middle East and for your financial support and prayers as they are what keep us going here to reach the unreached.
J. from Istanbul
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