Saipan Mission News November 2008

Water Mill
Church of Christ
3020 North Barnes
Springfield, MO 65803

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Goal of the Work

· Evangelizing Tinian and Rota, and continue evangelizing Saipan

· Edifying the saints and future converts

· Equipping the saints to teach, lead, and evangelize

· Encouraging the saints to be self-governing and supporting

"Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."
John 4:35

Planting the Seeds!

December has been another good month in the CNMI. We have had several new studies begin in the month, mostly with family members of Christians who worship with us. Culturally in the islands, there is a tremendous amount of pressure on people to do what their families do religiously. As you know, Christianity is a very personal religion, so sometimes this pressure is a hindrance to the spread of the gospel. We have several members who have been under severe pressure to turn away from the truth. One lady we have been studying with, Millet, was transferred to another part of the island because her employer does not want her attending services with us. She was told she would loose her job if she did not stop. The next Sunday, there she was at services with us! Please pray for Millet as she struggles with this very difficult situation.

Sometimes our studies with people result in them wanting to put on Christ in baptism. Sometimes they do not always end so happily. One couple we have studied with for months decided that they could not make the hard decisions they needed to make to become Christians. The problem was they were married, just not to each other. Our hearts ache when we come across situations like this. Yet, our duty is to teach the truth in love to as many people as possible. Please pray for this couple.

I was able to go to Tinian 2 times this month. We are excited by the fact that we will be partnering with House to House/Heart to Heart in the Jan/Feb issue. We will be sending a copy of this wonderful newsletter to every P.O. Box on the island of Tinian and have 176 copies left over to use on Saipan. Please pray that there will be many people who will want to know more when they read this newsletter.

On December 13th, our ladies had a chance to learn and fellowship with each other during the special Ladies Day that Maria will tell you about on the back page. Please pray for our work.

Greetings to all. Let me tell you about our Ladies’ Day.

December was a particularly exciting month for me. I was blessed to be able to teach a Ladies’ Day at the Saipan church of Christ. The topic was Woman: In His Image. We had 19 women in attendance. I believe that was a very good number. Some of our own ladies worked that day and were unable to come, but we had five ladies who are not affiliated with the Lord’s church. It was a day the ladies had eagerly anticipated and had invited many guests. I am very thankful that our ladies invited so many of their friends to this day especially for their enrichment.

The men helped in a very big way. Brother Ernesto drove the bus which takes up pretty much all of his day. Brother Boyet cooked all the food we had for lunch. We ate very well that day. Brother Robert, Pat, Jacob, and Sarah took care of all the children who came with their mothers. There were fifteen to eighteen children. That was a big day for them.

I believe the ladies were very interested in hearing what God’s word said to them about being women, and how they can be women of God. Some of the sisters have given me feedback about discussions they’ve had with their friends who came. They were excited about what they learned. They have not heard much of what God tells them about how they ought to order their lives. It made sense to them, and they are still studying the sheets they took home with the lessons.

With some people the language is a bit of a difficulty. In a group setting, if they do not understand they won’t speak up. So, I put every scripture I used on the PowerPoint slide projection. I had hoped there would be visitors, and knew they might not be able to keep up in a Bible. Also the handout I sent home with them had the verses and the lessons.

Please pray for these women that the word will germinate in their hearts, and they will wish to know more of the simplicity of the plan God has set out for us.

The ladies who visited have also asked if we will be having other such days in the future. We hope to have another ladies day in the spring and discuss child rearing. Please keep all our works in your prayers.

In His Service,

Maria