Abe & Margaretha Harder
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-12)
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It has been another year like none other we have had. We have seen many people become sick, ourselves included, and have seen many recover. It has also been a year where we have seen many of our friends not recover but be ushered into eternity. It has been especially painful to lose our ministry partners Benny Fehr and Ruben Mercado. It caused us to ask many questions, not least among them: Jesus said in Matthew 18:19: “‘Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.’” There were so many people praying for these dear friends’ health to be restored to them, yet they did not get healed; they passed on. Why? When they were just in their prime, doing such a powerful work! They had such a fruitful ministry and so much more work to do, yet God chose to allow them to die. But our God is a good God; He has great plans for each one of us, and He knows best. So we accept His sovereignty and keep trusting Him. We have a hope to meet all these people again.
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It has been our goal to prepare leaders, to equip people to take on the leading of the church. We have worked hard toward that goal, and we have seen some fruit from our labours. This year we have accepted a number of new members into the church and have seen them take on leadership positions in the church.
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We elected and commissioned a lay pastor couple, Benni & Lorina Dueck, who had spent 3 winters in Paraguay in Bible School preparing for this work. It has been a joy to see them growing in their spiritual lives, to teach the baptism/membership class, to preach about once a month, and to help lead the young teens and youth this past year. Lorina has just been elected to the women’s ministry leadership team and is also beginning to teach Sunday School this year.
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We also elected a David & Helena Knelsen as deacons, and they are doing an amazing job caring for the needy among us.
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We have also seen our church council take much more ownership of the church, giving good leadership of the various areas of church life.
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There are some among us who are actively seeking opportunities to evangelize, hoping to start another church in another colony in the near future. We believe there are many in the colonies who are seeking a different life than the life they have known.
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God is at work, so there is also a lot of opposition. Those who take a stand for Christ have to make many hard choices between their faith and this world. Especially hard is often the sacrifice of family and friends.
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In this coming year we look forward again to teaching some Bible school courses. A number have already asked when we will start again.
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“‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’” (Luke 10:2)
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January 29, 2022