Thank you for your prayers for our February trip to Egypt to serve the national pastors. God blessed with safe journeys to and from the conference site, and in a great way, He answered weeks of prayer on our part for the Holy Spirit to empower and direct with regard to the messages. How could we possibly understand the struggles and spiritual needs of these priceless servants of God—the Egyptian pastors, their wives, and those others who would attend? How could we possibly have credibility speaking to them so that they might have a heart to listen to us despite the language and cultural barriers?
In short, God worked in different ways to prepare us. He then gave applications of the text passages that enabled the messages to be clear and relevant. I’ve never before experienced the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to the degree that we enjoyed that week. Without any doubt, it was because literally thousands of people were praying for us and for the meeting. Thank you!
Early this month, it was also a wonderful blessing to teach and preach in Canada. Once again, the challenge was to be relevant and helpful to these dear people despite the barriers. And once again, prayers were answered, and the Holy Spirit blessed in many ways.
It would honor the Lord to express great appreciation to Him for all He did to encourage and challenge on these trips. On the way to Egypt, we crossed Europe from Belgium to the Balkans, even Thessalonica at one point, before crossing Northern Israel to Jordan. There we transferred to our connecting flight for Cairo. Our gracious hosts picked us up at the airport and drove us to the conference location. On the way back, we got this picture of the Nile River at night in the rain—my one great tourist moment! On the trip to Canada, it was a joy to see my aunt, several cousins, and other members of her extended family once again. They’ve faithfully served God for decades in many different capacities. I met numbers of people at the conference whom they’ve reached with the Gospel and influenced, who now serve God as well. It was also a great joy to see and serve a faithful FBMI missionary family and the dedicated Canadian pastor with whom they labor.
The biggest blessing was the unexpected way the Lord knit my heart with those we served and that I’ve been invited to return to Egypt to teach in their Bible institute for a week this fall. Please pray with me that this will become a reality and that the Lord will once again prepare, direct, and empower.
On the home front, we’re blessed to continue teaching at Hyles-Anderson College and in the evening English and Spanish Bible institutes, serving missionaries and pastors, going soul winning, and building believers through the ups and downs of their lives. We love you and thank you for making it all possible through your faithful prayers and financial support.
That all might hear, everywhere,
Dan and Lana Siemer
The Nile River at night in the rain