Hafa Adai from the beautiful island of Guam.
“One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell
in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD,
and to enquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)
I would like to share a personal blessing. Before I knew what a call to the ministry was, I had a strong mental image of standing at a pulpit in church, spending time with God in His Word, with the intent of feeding God’s people what I had learned. Not long after, on September 17, 1992, God called me to the ministry, to missions, to Micronesia, and eventually, specifically to Guam. At the time, I did not want to be a missionary but knew the Lord had called me. In 1997, I fully surrendered to His call and began what became a most amazing journey.
Since then, the Lord and His people have done (and continue to do) incredible things to help me carry out His call. Recently, while standing at the pulpit of Island Baptist Church spending time with God in His Word, an awareness came over me that this was exactly what I had envisioned, and that through following Him, He gave me the desire of my heart. I have learned that following the Lord leads to true desires.
The Lord blessed with another amazing soul-winning experience. We have been praying for the salvation of a local family that has lived Stateside for many years. The man is an executive for a major airline. He suffered a heart attack a few years ago; we were afraid he wasn’t going to live, so we began praying. Recently, he flew to Guam for a weekend and stopped by to say “Hi.” He found me power washing our concrete roof in my bahakis (“work clothes,” pronounced: bah-hah-keys). He was only able to visit momentarily, but while we talked, it dawned on me that this might be my only opportunity to talk to him about salvation. I mustered up the courage to speak, but when I did, my mind was cloudy and my words muddled. It sapped my confidence and left me feeling humiliated. To my surprise, the “skeptical guard” I saw in his eyes lowered, and he began to listen intently. When I finished explaining the Gospel, he acknowledged that he believed it and then prayed with me to receive the Lord Jesus Christ into his heart as his personal Saviour. After that, he gave me a big hug, looked me in the eyes, and thanked me for talking with him. Wow! I was so amazed at how the Lord gave me an opportunity to make sure of his salvation, though thoroughly embarrassed with my “performance.” In retrospect, if I had spoken to him about the Gospel in any other way than in my humiliation, he may not have listened. Since my last update, the Lord has used me personally to lead 18 people to Christ.
Island Baptist Church continues to be blessed of the Lord and by the lives of its members. Recently, during a message, I gave an illustration concerning sin, explaining it several times in a couple of different ways, but the congregants just looked at me with confused faces. So, when I just called it sin, a new member was visibly affected and avoided looking at me for the rest of the service. I was concerned for this new member and thought I would not see this person in church again. But later I was told that the person said to a family member after church, “I need to make some changes in my life.” The member continues to come to church, and it seems the Lord is indeed working in that person’s life. I thank the Lord for using our ministry to reach people for Christ and to positively affect the lives of those who come to church.
Thank you for continuing to pray for us and for supporting us during these times. We greatly value your faithfulness. Please continue to pray for our health, safety, Island Baptist Church, Guam, and Micronesia.
In His harvest field,
Dan Rothwell