Baptism a stand for Christ
On Easter Sunday, eight Mengen believers took a stand for Christ when they were baptized with an entire village looking on.
The eight included some men who had given the missionaries a lot of heartache over the years.
“But to see the changes the Lord has made in their hearts has been precious to us,” wrote Rebecca Preheim. “These past couple of weeks have been extremely exciting for our team in several different ways.”
Beside the baptism, Lourens and Marie Laureti returned to their ministry among the Mengens after a six-month home assignment.
“They are thrilled to be back and transitioning back into the ministry the Lord has for them,” Rebecca wrote.
Another thrilling event for the missionary team was to see two young Mengen men turn to the Lord and give clear testimonies of their faith in Jesus.
“It has been amazing for us to see the Mengen church continue to grow and to see the believers start to develop a real burden for their unsaved friends and family members,” Rebecca continued.
The missionaries have been praying specifically for the unsaved wives of some of the believing men.
“In the past few months, we have been excited to see several of these young women starting to show interest in the Bible teaching and stand up along with their husbands in the face of criticism and persecution,” Rebecca wrote.
The missionary team will undergo more transitions as team members come and go. Keri Pacheco and Rebecca will return soon from home assignment while Dave and Judy Wright are heading for Canada for an extended home assignment. During his absence from the village, Dave plans to continue writing Bible lessons to send to Lourens.
The newest members of the team, Simon and Annika Flanagan, are making progress in learning the Mengen culture and language.
Please pray for the missionaries during their transitions. Pray too for the continued spiritual growth of the Mengen church.