It’s been two months since we had our first meeting, and God has extremely blessed us. It was truly by His grace that we were able to start deputation in September. Brittany and I finished teaching this summer and were able to get all our paperwork in order to start deputation. God allowed several requests to be met to enable us to start. We are very thankful for His guidance and mercy as we have been traveling.
Our first two months have taken us to many states and many amazing churches. We started off in Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia and also had the opportunity to fly to Oregon and Nebraska to be a part of several meetings. We have been in five missions conferences so far, and God made Himself known in each one. By God’s grace, all five of those churches have pledged to take us on for support in the near future. One of our first one-day meetings was in a country church in North Carolina that allowed us to “get our feet wet” in presenting our ministry. Sometimes the smaller churches can be the biggest blessings. Last week the pastor called and told me that the church had voted to take us on for support. Praise the Lord!
I’ve had the privilege to preach in several churches thus far, and I count it an honor to preach behind a pastor’s pulpit. One of the many highlights of the trip was being able to preach to a Spanish church in North Carolina. This was my first time using a translator, and I really enjoyed Pastor Rosario allowing me to preach and also translating for me. A young man came up to me after the service that morning, wanting to hear more about salvation. Though he did not trust Christ that day, I believe the Lord is working on his heart. Please pray for him that he will come to an understanding of his need for the Gospel and receive Christ.
We ended our first two months of travel at Shenandoah Bible Baptist Church, where we have been on staff since Bible college. It was so nice to be at our home church for their annual missions conference. Pastor Bane, the church family, and the school spoiled us beyond measure. That Saturday we were able to go soul winning with our missionary friends, Sam and Krista Marasco, and lead a young man named John to the Lord.
We are looking forward to being in Michigan and Indiana next month to present our burden for the country of Thailand. Please pray for our safety and that the Lord will allow us to schedule more meetings for this upcoming year. Thank you for your prayers and support.
In His service,
Jonathan and Brittany Beil