Church of the Vine

The S family is reaching out to a minority Muslim people in a restricted nation in Asia. We are careful not to leave their name on printed material for security reasons. They are able to access this country by setting up a manufacturing business that brings employment to that area. They have been there for a few years and have seen some people from this group come to Christ. So far there is no church for this people group worshipping in there language. There are about 10 million members of this group and less that 50 known believers spread throughout the country among the majority ethnic group.

Any suspecting government official could have this family kicked out of the country because it is against the law to evangelize. Please pray for their safety and that doors will be open for them to start their business. Pray that they will have favor among officials and will be able to stay as long as they are supposed to.

Talk to Steve Fleming about contacting S family.

PLEASE LIFT UP:
Chris our co-worker - safe comfortable travels and resettling for he and his family from US this week.
Leo - for the light of Fth in J to turn on soon. Our oldest employee (37), reads the NT almost daily at breakfast.
Remodel - for rapid, on-budget completion of factory repairs/remodel so we can get machinery in place and start training.  “Hampshire” family - opportunities to build/deepen relations with them. Simeon plays with the grandson, Leslie studies Language with a daughter in law, they may do some part of roof remodel, etc.
 “Sunny” - disabled neighbor boy , wisdom to know how to best help. Has CP from early childhood illness, we are trying to find a way to help them with physical therapy, perhaps minor surgery.
Local govt relations - that they would trust us and not get the wrong ideas, especially they would know we have no involvement in politics and the recent turmoil in the region. 
Peace in the region - wisdom for national and regional governments and other leaders to respond with short and long term measures to bring about safety and harmony among the ethnic groups here.

Rejoice !
 Chris our engineer / operations mgr is due to arrive with family this Friday!
 Leo has been reading the book on his own almost every morning at breakfast.
 Our family and friends have been safe in midst of the recent riots/turmoil in the nearby big city.
 We are making steady progress on getting the facility ready for work as well as finding and remodeling a flat for Chris and his family.

News Brief
The heads of city and county police came out recently, mocked our factory building and small investment… asked why we’ve been there 5 months and still no factory running… (they didn’t seem to know or understand that 5 months is very normal here for a foreign business to get thru all the other gov’t agencies’ approvals needed to bring in investment capital and start work). Then 10 days ago the local police also paid a 12:30-1AM visit to the factory with 5 officers to check up on us, to see who was staying there, to look at the computer (we were not there - we were at our apt at the school where Leslie teaches). This was a little unsettling to our employees who live at the factory, but it seems that this is mostly due to the fears and extra care the govt here is taking after what has been called the worst riots in 60 years in this conuntry.

We continue to exercise extra care when going to the big city, checking in with friends there on the status of things before getting on the bus to go. Our area (both the small town and village) has been quiet.

Our family is doing well. Kids are back to studies, Leslie back to teaching and she is finding this semester less stressful than the last one.

Communication continues to be a challenge as the gov’t has continued to keep Int’l phone lines and internet access shut down in our province. Rumor is after Oct 1 it may get turned back on but no one knows. This is the first time in over a month that I have accessed the Internet - To send this email I took a taxi ride, an hour and a half bus ride, a 2 hour mini-van ride and an overnight train to the nearest town in the next province with high speed internet. I try to comfort myself by remembering that those here 100 yrs ago had to wait months for letters to go overland and over sea to get to the states! We plan to do a trip like this about every 2 weeks to stay in touch until the web is back up. Since a lot of emails can pile up in 2 weeks, please do not send general forwards or cute pictures of your cat - but we really really do welcome your personal emails to us.

I have been reflecting on Heb 1:9 which refers to J while quoting from the OT. J "loved righteousness and hated wickedness" - I want that kind of depth of godliness in me where I don't just turn from temptation because I know I'm not supposed to indulge, but turn from it because I love what is right and hate what is wrong...

grace to you,
Scott

Update 25 Apr 09

PLS LIFT UP:

Sonia - Ask for her ties with the HK heretical group (Eric H H Chang) to be broken: spiritual, emotional, financial, relational. We are asking for events to transpire while she is still with them in HK that will open her eyes to the dangerous nature of the group. Ask for her to have a clear revelation of the nature of J, for her to have complete trust in the Book, and for Chr to be completely formed in her.

DETAILS:

We are hosting a day of fast ing and pr tomorrow (your Sat night) for Sonia. She is still in HK with the heretical group she left a couple of yrs ago; she's been there about 2 wks to attend a conference of theirs and they have asked her to stay longer.

If you can join us in the same for part of that time that would be great. Let us know if he shows you any insights, scripts or words.

In brief, this group denies the 3 in one nature of the creator, says J is the son of G but not G the son. They also seem to be going in a unitarian direction and say the arabs' book is also good.

Sonia had been growing in a lot of ways in the last 2 yrs and in the last 6 mos. This set back is discouraging not only out of our concern for her, but because of her influence among the group of B's here. It would be even more discouraging if she brought others from this group back and starting planting it here.

As you may remember, we met Sonia via divine appt on the bus 3.5 yrs ago the first week Leslie and the kids arrived in this country. She was leaving the group then, and had suffered under their controlling influence. We don't believe that meeting on the bus and the 100s of hours we and our friends have spent w her have been in vain, but she is trapped in their web and we want to ask for her freedom.

We are trusting in him who is greater than he who is in the world. Other positive things are happening in new people here, and our enviro approval process is restarted and seems to be progressing albeit slowly (we were told May 10th for completion).

Grace to you, thanks for standing with us

scott

 A letter from the S Family

PLEASE LIFT UP:

Sonia - Protection from error, grow in spirit of discernment - She is currently attending a conf in HK led by Eric H H Cx who recently came out with a self-published 600 page book denouncing the trinity among other things. She was advised to not go. Ask that she not grow more confused but that she would see this group for what it is, and sever ties with it. She has deep emotional attachments to this elderly couple and group as they were instrumental in her coming to fai th 4+ yrs ago and helped her family with money at a financial crisis then. She has forgotten how sp' and emotionally abusive they were when she left the group in Xiamen 3 yrs ago when we met her. Cx (in his late 70s), was educated in the West and was once a Prebyterian but left or was booted due to his heresies. She not infrequently brings confusion to other young believers here at a time when we are trying to lay a long-term foundation. It is such a mixture! She was instrumental in the two men above who believed in the last weeks and shares good news frequently, and has grown, but still has issues that affect not only her life but the emerging community here. Ask for discernment for those of us who are still laying the foundation.

Environment Commission sign-off - Ask that we get our city enviromental commission sign off and that our business license granted quickly. This country has made great strides toward a rule of law vs the rule of men; but it has a long way to go. The leader of the city enviromental commission personally has to approve which company does each report for a new business - on a case by case basis, and, we've heard, he receives kick-backs from the companies that do our reports. He supposedly is upset we did not use the company he "suggested" late in the process after we had already contracted with another company. Confusing territory. Ask for discernment and favor to get thru the maze and get the Cheese - our full approvals to operate the factory.

Meanwhile we are continuing minor remodels at the house/office at the factory and planting fruit trees there. Ask for continued favor on my relationship with Phil and Leo who live there now. We've had some times of reading the book together - Leo (not yet family) really liked reading the draft version of the book in his language/culture.

Easter blessings to you, scott

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