Well, that time has come around again.  By God's grace I have now reached the venerable age of 56 years.  If I had any doubts all I'd have to do is to look in the mirror.  It's a blessing to remember that "all our days are in His hands."

 

God has been so good to me during this half century and it is my desire to continue to serve Him with all my heart, soul and strength.  What a privilege it is to be coworkers with the Lord Jesus in the plan to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth.

 

Please pray that God will enable me to be faithful to the charge which He has allotted to me while I am here on this planet.  We are entering a time of great testing and I am of the opinion that the Lord's coming is very near.  Very near! 

 

Good news!  Ten young people from the newly founded church at Dubois were baptised during the Easter service.  The new site at Metayer has a structure now to meet under and it is hoped that it will serve as a base to bring more and more people from this area into a saving relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Stand firm and be active to reach out to people for the Lord in these last days before His return.  May we be found faithful! 

There sometimes is some confusion on children sponsored.  When a child leaves our program by either moving from the area or by not fulfilling program requirements this child will be replaced by another needy child.  If this happens we will note on the bottom of the letter you receive that the child has been replaced and the name of the new child will be written.  Please pay careful attention to the name indicated at the bottom of the page or you will not realize that your child may have been replaced by another.  Sorry for the confusion!  If you have any questions in regards to this please send inquiries to me, sam, personally at samrice@gospelgrowers.org   All these kids are needy so we hope you will love the new child you receive as much as the prior one.   GOD BLESS and THANKS!!!        

The other day I had a "treat" to waking up to find snow on the ground here.  This was remarkable to me as I have been coming to the states for several years now either in the spring or summer and so this was a bit of a nostalgic experience for me.  It brought to mind the passage of scripture from Isaiah 1 where the Lord says though our sins be as scarlet,  they will be white as snow.  Afterall , that's what Easter is all about! Jesus our Lord willingly went to the cross for mankind to atone for and expiate our sins so that we could be reconciled to God. 

 

Let's hold on to this unshakable truth in these difficult times when faith is being put to the test due to the ever encroaching apostasy which was prophesied in the Bible as revealing that we are in the final days before the coming of Christ.

 

These are exciting times which should encourage us more and more as we see prophecy taking place before our very eyes.  It is important to continue to fellowship with other Bible believing Christians and submerge yourself in God's Word to counteract the pervasive false phlosophies and doctrines being broadcasted everywhere around us.

 

I have been attending a wonderful Bible study every Wed. morning here at Greenstone UMC.  It is being taught by Cecilia Slat and has been meeting for over 20 years in different places. What a joy to hear God's Word being presented in such a lucid and exact manner.  So few people take advantage of "Sunday School" anymore.  You should find a home group or Bible Study somewhere near you.