It is obvious to us that we are being prayed for. Nothing is more important to your missionaries than your prayer support. Thank you for holding us up before the Lord. Thank you also for your financial support.
August 1-4, we went to Celaya, about a nine-hour drive south of here, for a Fires of Evangelism Conference. What a great conference it was! Aside from the preaching services, there were sessions for full-time workers, teens, and ladies. Scores of young people surrendered to full-time service. These meetings have been used of God to encourage and challenge God’s people in soul winning and personal spiritual growth. It has been a privilege to have been a part of this great ministry for over 30 years.
On August 21, we went to Mexico City to preach for Bro. Kevin Wynne at Mount Sion Baptist Church. This is an incredible church, probably the largest Baptist church in the world. Scores of people were baptized. God is using this church to have an influence on hundreds of God’s men.
On September 1, we traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, to be in the Missions Conference of the Spanish Department of Shawnee Baptist Church. Bro. Andrew Parrock is the Spanish Pastor. I spoke to the soul-winning group on Saturday morning, and Emily and I went out with them. We had a great time. Emily is from Louisville, and we had a wonderful visit with her cousins, Chester and Aimee LaHue.
From there we went to Santa Ana, El Salvador, for a Fires of Evangelism Conference in the church pastored by Bro. Henry Gonzalez, our son-in-law. He and our daughter Tammie have served there for over 25 years and have a great ministry. The conference was the best we have ever had there. Over 500 attended the evening services, with 50 pastors, missionaries, and evangelists present. On Thursday evening, 17 people surrendered to full-time service! Please pray for Tammie’s health; she was still recovering from gall bladder surgery she’d had just days before the conference. I went soul winning with Henry on Saturday and led a young man to Christ.
From El Salvador, we went to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the Missions Conference in the Spanish Department of Eastland Baptist Church with Spanish Pastor Walter Echeverría. What a great church it is! Pastor Troy Dorrell had me speak to his Sunday school class, and then we were in the Spanish Department the rest of the day. We went from there to Lexington, Kentucky, to be with Bro. Dwayne Walker at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, where we were treated so graciously.
We ended up our 25-day, 10-flight trip with Bro. Darrell Hurst at New Zion Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Kentucky. This is the 34th year I have preached Bro. Hurst’s Missions Conference. What a joy it was to be with such dear friends. He and his wife Grace have been so faithful for so many years. We went soul winning with the Hursts on Saturday. The Hursts have had an enormous influence in a place where very few people would be willing to remain as long as they have. I know of no pastor who has more of a burden for missions than Bro. Hurst. He has been to 25 mission fields. He and Grace have been a blessing to scores of missionaries. He comes to our Pastors’ and Workers’ Conference every year.
Please pray for the Soul-Winning Marathon we have planned for September 26-October 2. We will give you a complete report of the results in our next prayer letter. The goal is to preach to 5,000 people that week.
There have been some very significant developments in the recovery of the ministry property that we have been dealing with for several years. We plan to send you a complete update in the next few days. Please pray for what we believe is going to be a great victory.
We’ve had souls saved in almost every soul-winning program we have been in. We recently won a young couple who came to church and were baptized. We want to be used in personal soul winning, as well as in our preaching and teaching in conferences.
Thank you again for all you do to keep your missionaries on the field. We pray over every offering we receive. You are prayed for. We are thankful for the four churches mentioned in this letter, and many others, who have supported us for many years.
Yours for souls,
Bro. Tommy and Emily Ashcraft
John 9:4