Since this is my last letter of the year and realizing you will receive this letter after Christmas, I want to start the letter off by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Linda and I were very blessed to have our daughter Beth Ann, her husband Kelton, and their daughter Abigail here just prior to Christmas. Then Rachel came to be with us for the week of Christmas; and finally, Jim, Holly, and their three sons came for a few days during Christmas. Susanna, Nathan, and their son Jason will be coming sometime in January since they could not make it for Christmas.
The last two months have been very busy for us. In November I was once again privileged to go to Nigeria to minister to Missionary Mark Holmes and his church. The trip was from November 10-25 and involved me preaching in his church, teaching in his seminary, preaching in schools, and going to a new location to help a national pastor start a church. It was a joy to take a full day to present and teach the Teaching All Nations Bible curriculum to some pastors, the seminary students, and some of the church people. This is a program put together by First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana, and is designed to follow what Jesus taught His disciples while He was on the earth. There was great enthusiasm among the people, and I am hopeful this will be a great help to pastors.
After preaching at the church and teaching in the seminary, I was able to travel with five nationals to Ugba, a village 8 hours from Abuja, so we could help establish a church in another hamlet 45 minutes from Ugba. While in Ugba we had a baptismal service, preached in two schools, and preached at a church started by Pastor Victor. We then took two nights to show The Jesus Film, stopping it at the crucifixion so I could preach the Gospel and invite people to get saved. Because of the darkness, we do not know how many got saved, but we heard many praying out loud when I gave the invitation. As a result, 38 persons showed up on Sunday for the first service of this new church. Praise the Lord! For the whole trip, we were able to count over 50 persons who got saved in all the services, as well as those I led to Christ out soul winning. This does not count those who got saved at the showing of the film.
Upon returning to the USA, I immediately got involved in the preparations for the annual Live Animal Christmas Play that is put on by the Marion Avenue Baptist Church. This is like no other Christmas play you have ever seen put on by a church; I promise you. The play was shown on Friday night, three times on Saturday, and twice on Sunday. Our pastor takes 10-20 minutes during each showing to preach the Gospel and give people a chance to get saved. Over 3700 persons came to these showings, with over 400 trusting Christ as their Saviour. What a great ministry this is, and I am so thankful I get to be a part of it each year!
I thank each of you who support this ministry, and I thank especially those of you who pray for me. Please continue to do so as I plan my travels for 2015. Again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
James Belisle
