"...Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do." Acts 15:36
Our praying friends and family in the Lord,
Last month the Leaches, our fellow missionaries here, returned to the states for furlough. While Bro. Larry is gone, my brother Zachary and I are looking after his meetings. Bro. Larry works with national pastor Ismael; together they take care of eight churches. Ismael is one of our longest serving national pastors. He's a good preacher and a loving shepherd to his flock. The last time Bro. Larry returned for furlough, I spent the better part of year going to his churches, learning from Bro. Ismael, growing to appreciate and love his people. They, like their pastor, are a tenderhearted lot. It was good, then, to return to them, to see familiar faces faithfully serving their Lord in their churches.
In the village of Stoyan Mihaylovski, the little church continues to thrive. Sister Minka, a widow who opened her house to the church many years ago, recently lost everything in a fire. It seems she was adding wood to her stove when a burning coal rolled out and set the room on fire. Soon, the entire house was engulfed in flames. Sister Minka escaped with her life, and that was it. The only other things to survive the fire were the hymnals the church uses. At present, she spends her time trying to clean up the wreckage and plant and tend her garden. By day, she occupies a stall in an outbuilding where livestock once resided; by night, she stays with a relative nearby. Still, she faithfully attends the meeting and testifies that, while it's possible to lose everything you have in this life, the word of God will stand the fire. If you'd like to help us in the rebuilding of Sister Minka's home, you can contact Charity Baptist Mission at the address below. You can also visit www.charitybaptistmission.org, scroll down, see photos of the devastation, and get a sense of what we need to fix it.
Sister Sidika is a doting mother, loving wife, and faithful believer. Her husband, as well, loves the Lord and on meeting day stops work to come to church. The night the fire struck, she was in the crowd watching the destruction, helpless to do anything other than pray. She cried for Minka, for the church, and for those in the crowd mocking the believers. She asked the Lord what she could do. She determined then and there that the church wouldn't be without a meeting place. She testified a few weeks ago that she had always wanted to host the believers but had never been in a position to. Her little family is desperately poor. They live in a two-room, mud-brick, whitewashed house. The electricity is spotty when working at all. What furniture they have couldn't be sold, as no one would want it. Sometimes, to accommodate visitors, they bring in logs they haven't yet split and put a pillow on them for a makeshift chair. Still, as the fire raged, she gave what she had to the Lord and opened her heart and house for the meeting. Every Wednesday now, she's as happy as a soul can be, watching her heavenly family gather in to sing, pray, and worship God. Last week, at the close of meeting, she said it was on her heart to pray for her friends, that they, too, would come to the meeting and hear the word of God. Yesterday, when we arrived, we were gladly greeted by a house full of new faces. Sister Sidika was ashamed and embarrassed of her poverty, but in opening her house to the Lord Jesus, she found He makes himself quite at home there. In opening her heart to Him, she found He answers exceeding abundantly above all she asks or thinks.
I'd like to ask you all for your faith and prayers. We're slowly making preparations for our upcoming furlough this year. Our needs are many, but I'm not asking for anything more than your help in praying and believing. I'm thankful for all that the Lord Jesus does for us and with us in Bulgaria. I bless the Lord in everything, for good times and hard times. I even thank Him for the ole Devil that fights us, for trials, storms, and valleys. And I thank Him now for what will be, for meeting these things we have need of. I rejoice in their fulfillment. My needs exceed your resources and mine, but not the Lord's. Our heavenly Joseph is in charge of the storehouses of God's bounty, and they stand open to needy souls. Help us pray; believe for us when our faith wanes, and we'll do the same for you. We love you.
Because of a living Saviour,
The William LeFevre Family
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