As Paul stated in Philippians 1:3, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” It is such a great joy to serve our Lord in this generation with so many great Christians. Yet as in any generation of Christians, there are also those among us who disappoint and work to bring down and divide the brethren. Such again was the case with Paul who had adversaries and, in some cases, even adversaries from within the church.
It saddens my heart when I think of those who have disappointed us in this generation. One of these I am compelled to mention because of some misunderstanding about my appearance in Federal Court. I want to apologize for any misunderstandings. The individual about whom I am talking is Thom Kimmel. If you need any further information, please feel free to contact me at 304-685-4855, or you may visit my web address at josephelwell1.com or reachamericaprayer.com and go to the Journal prompt.
God has certainly kept Crystal and me busy during the past two months. Usually summer is a little slow for us. This summer we have been busy with traveling and preaching. We have also been doing some survey work for a new church plant that will be in Scottsdale, Arizona. What a needy area! The population of Scottsdale has grown to 220,000. There are a couple of churches in the area but plenty of room for another without getting in anyone’s way.
I ask that you pray for me in travels this fall. I am leaving August 27 and will be in 12 missions conferences and churches. Crystal will be staying at home this fall for some much-needed rest. Would you please pray for us as we are apart? Would you pray for God’s power in the meetings that we will be preaching? Pray for the people in the churches to be faithful to the missions conferences and to giving to missions. Pray for safety in my travels. Pray for the 3 new churches that we are helping with over the next 18 months.
I want to thank those of you who have faithfully supported this ministry over the past 15 years. God has been good and faithful to this servant. I do ask that you would pray for our finances going forward. Crystal and I have suffered a very serious setback in our overall financial situation.
Thank you for your prayers and for your love. We love you all and again thank God for getting to serve in this generation.
Sincerely,
Joseph and Crystal Elwell