"And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation." Psalm 35:9
Our praying friends and family in the Lord,
The holiday season is upon us. We have just celebrated our Thanksgiving here and are preparing for Christmas and the new year. As believers, however, every day is Thanksgiving; we celebrate every day the Lord's birth, life, death, and resurrection. Still, we don't begrudge a fallen world's attempts at imitating our joy. Some complain, and with good cause, of the world's commercialization and abandonment of the sacred; but what do we expect from those in darkness and at enmity with God? Rather, I praise the Lord that at this season, above all others, whether consciously or in ignorance, the Lord is exalted. Songs and hymns of adoration can be heard in the most unlikely of places. I have heard, "Christ, by highest heav'n adored, Christ, the everlasting Lord... Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail th' incarnate Deity! Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus our Immanuel" echo through the halls of commerce and fall on seemingly oblivious ears, but it sung, nevertheless. "What then? Notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." Philippians 1:18 What a privilege is ours then, to guide lost souls from imitation to sincere acceptance, from ignorance and unbelief to faith in the resurrected Christ!
This year, as you know, I've been helping national pastor Alish in his meetings. At the start of the year, Alish pastored ten churches and preached at other meetings beside. Midway through the year, he assumed the care of three more churches without forfeiting any of his regular meetings. On some days we go together to meetings, on others we go to separate meetings. It is my joy to witness these souls growing both in their understanding of the Word and their love and care one for another and those around them. The woman of the house where we meet in Shkorpilovsti has cancer. She has been through several rounds of chemotherapy already, seemingly to no avail. She suffers a great deal from the treatments and a great deal more from her condition. The other day, during our service, she was weeping inconsolably. When it came time to pray, she asked prayer for two boys she had seen at the hospital during her chemo session. She said the boys had been in a terrible accident and were writhing in pain, crying out for relief. Though she suffers pain of an increasing nature and herself often succumbs to its effects, she was moved by the plight of these boys. Her heart was broken for them. She testified, "I suffer with hope, that one day my suffering will all be over. Those boys suffer with no hope, without faith; their sufferings are only starting." That service she prayed fervently for those souls, and her zeal took hold of our hearts, as well.
Pray for Nasuf. He's one of our national pastors laboring in Targovishte. Recently I was asked to attend his meetings with him and distribute new hymnals to all of his members. I was happy to do so. I was made happier by the welcome I received from all his churches, not just in hospitality shown, but in heartfelt gratitude for our work in the LORD. Nasuf has been having heart trouble, and just this week went for a heart catherization in Sofia. Praise the LORD the procedure went well. Please pray he makes a full and speedy recovery, as we miss him in the work.
With the exception of visas, I seldom mention any of our personal needs. Some churches have chided me for this, stating that's partly the reason for prayer letters. I chafe at this and don't want to be burdensome, but on this occasion trust to your understanding and ask your prayers. Our winter wood supply, our primary heating source, is depleting rapidly. So please pray that either the LORD turns up the heat or sends in the wood. God bless you all. We love and miss you, and more so during the holidays. From our family to yours, we pray you have a Merry and Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year.
Because of a living Saviour,
The William LeFevre Family
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