On January 28, some of the men and I were doing some repair work on a senior lady’s house. Brother Mike was on her roof making some repair, while I was on ground level repairing her doors. Bro. Mike yelled to me, “Pastor, do you feel that?” It was an earthquake—and a pretty big one too. Later we found out that it was a 7.7-magnitude quake, with an epicenter less than 70 miles away!
While that was scary, we were very concerned for the threat of a tsunami. We would have been at great risk in the event of a tsunami, since our people, home, and church building are primarily in the coastal region. We are thankful that the damage from the earthquake was pretty negligible and that we were not hit by giant waves.
The year 2019 was the most challenging year for us here. We weathered many storms, both in the ministry and in our personal lives. Many of the goals that we had set out to accomplish last year were never fulfilled.
As is the custom, the last night of each year, we meet for a special service, during which we discuss the goals for the new year and review our accomplishments for the previous one. On December 31 while we were reviewing the old year, I could see the disappointment in many of the faces because many of our goals had not been reached. A few days later, however, a few folks told me that they are determined to do their part to make sure that some of the goals for this year are accomplished. So far, they have been keeping their word.
This year’s theme for our church is “Renewing Our Vision.” After I announced it at church, I realized that the theme and the year are a perfect fit: 20/20.
Recently, two of my small children I were partnered up for soul winning. We got to a house and met Shanakay, a college-aged young lady. The Lord allowed me to witness to her, and after about an hour, she trusted Christ as Saviour. The following week, my wife and I went back to follow up on her. She was not home, but another adult was there. God allowed my wife to lead her to the Lord! The following week, we went back to follow up on both of them, and another college-aged young lady was at the house. I witnessed to her, and she, too, trusted Christ as Saviour! The following week, we went back to follow up again, and another lady was there. Alicia was able to lead her to the Lord. The following week, we went back, and I was able to lead another member of the family to the Lord. The following week, my wife and her partner went back, and her partner led a man who was visiting the house to the Lord!
This story reminds me of the story in the Bible of the widow lady and Elijah. No matter how much she thought that she had depleted the meal and oil, she kept finding more every time she checked her stores!
Thank you for your faithful prayers and continued support.
The Oral Anderson Family
Prayer Requests
• Visa renewals
• Church van/bus
• Roof for our Sunday school facility
• Purchase of property for the church
• Nigel Cole, as he transitions into full- time ministry