Easter 1995
"Now you will summon foriegn nations; at one time they did not know you, but now they will come running to you! I, the Lord, your God, the holy God of Israel will make this happen; I will give you honour and glory.!"
(Isaiah 55:5)
This exciting promise was given to us in January and it has been good to keep it on view as we plan for the year ahead.
In February we met with the minister and elders of Widcombe Baptist Church, Bath, and we are pleased to announce that the church has officially agreed to sponsor Martin Gillmore to work with GFC. He will be commissioned on April 23rd '95 and he and Michele Simms will be married on August 5th. Please pray for them and for the opening up of the work in the West Country where they will be based.
In March we visited Braunstone Baptist Church, Leicester, where Michele was doing her college placement. It was the first time the four of us were together as a team. The service went well and was enjoyed by young and old alike. A man who had never before attended church came in. After the service he said that his grandfather was a Romani and he would like to continue coming to church. Please pray for him.
Valdemar Kalinin's stay with us was a great blessing and he has been back to visit us twice. We are delighted that he has agreed to be our representative in Belarus. We will be travelling to Vitebsk in August (7th-20th) and Valdemar is arranging our itinerary. We would value your prayers for this journey and the contacts we make. Plans for the trip to the Ukraine and our return visit to Romania have not yet been worked out. Please pray!
On the 23rd of August the team will be conducting a mission at Priddy in Somerset. It had been requested by Christian Gypsies who go there. We will be supported by a team of young people from Widcombe Baptist Church. Please pray for this outreach.
Enclosed is your souvenir copy of "The Drom." We hope it will remind you to pray for Gypsies and the work of Scripture Gift Mission. We hope to use it at a Gypsy Mission on a nearby site in May. Earlier this year we attended the launch of "On The Verge: The Gypsies of England" by Donald Kenrick and Sian Bakewell on the same site. This book deals with the consequences of recent legislation which repealed the Caravan Site Act of 1968. If you are interested in obtaining the book and learning more about the Gypsy way of life we can send you an order form.
The GFC family is growing! Our treasurer and his wife are expecting an addition to their family in April and so are Terry and Lin Hurst in May. Congratulations! We have no up to date news from Basharat Ureem who went to Pakistan in February to visit his parents. Sonnie was elected President of the East London Chapter of the FGBMFI in December and our prison work with the New Bridge continues so we manage to keep busy.
All of us send you love and greetings for a joyful and blessed Easter. The Lord is risen indeed. May his peace and grace be with you.
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