Prayer update

To our faithful praying friends,

This has been a very different and difficult week.

On Wednesday afternoon we received a call letting us know that the young lady, a hospice patient we have been ministering to, had taken a turn for the worse. Then Friday morning we received a call that she had went to be with her Savior. This came quickly and the family is struggling as they deal with this. Pray also for us as we minister to them.

This morning we received a call that our former Regional Director, Stan Spiess had "graduated" and now stands in the presence of his Lord and Savior. Below is the note from Jan.

Greetings Dear Friends,
At 4:03 this morning, Stan graduated to be with His Lord. We praise the Lord for his witness to everyone around him during his battle with cancer. God has used him in an amazing way to influence others. Thanks for your continued prayers along this line. He has loved you and appreciated you so much. Please continue to pray for me as I continue on without the love of my life. At this time, I plan to stay around and continue his Prayer Chaplain work with American Missionary Fellowship. God bless! Jan


For those who might be planning to honor him by attending his funeral services, here are the times and places.

Services: 1st Evangelical Free in Colorado Springs at 820 N.30th
Viewing 9:30-10:45 at the church,Wednesday 26th
Funeral service: 11:00 AM (after viewing)

Thursday 27th
Graveside Service in Boncarbo, Co (West 0f Trinidad) at "The Refuge". Call me for directions. 719-574-2474.

We do not have a date for the other funeral as of yet. The family desires Bill to do a graveside service when they receive their loved one's ashes.

We have asked you to pray for both of these in the past and now ask that you continue to remember their families and friends in this time of loss.

Love in Christ,
Bill & Mary

God has recently led us into some ministry opportunities that have again stretched us in different ways.

In the last month we have come in contact with several elderly widows who are in poor health. These are women that live alone and have no relatives living near them. We were contacted about one of the women by her niece who lives in Alaska. Are you wondering how she came to contact us? Well so are we.

Mary has taken one to the doctors several times and to the emergency room. This woman’s house payment recently increased by $72.00 a month. This amount, on her small fixed income, is beyond her ability to pay. We are praying with her and trusting that God is in control and this need will be met.

One of these dear women is what you might say a little cantankerous and she is NOT hard of hearing so “please don’t yell at me”. She told Mary that she didn’t need people in her life. These words were spoken while Mary was rubbing her back at her request. She tells us she has not had a real bath in 2 years. She just doesn’t have the strength and has had no one to help her. Pray with us as we allow Jesus to flow into this tough situation. She doesn’t want us to talk religion, and that’s ok because we really desire to only talk about Jesus and His desire to set us free by His redemption.

I was blessed to be asked by a teacher at the Aguilar Public Schools to speak in 6 Jr. High and Sr. High English classes. This last Monday I spent 6 hours with these students. This is another great story as I had never met the teacher that asked me to speak in her classes. Being somewhat limited on what could be said, the desire was to at least make connections with these young people, letting them know who we are and what we are doing in their town. I believe that happened and I am looking forward to what may come from this time. The teacher initially asked us to pray with her for revival in the school. Would you pray with us that these young people would begin to seek Jesus?

Mary and I have been providing spiritual care for a young hospice patient with pancreatic cancer. This week it was estimated that the patient has about 2 weeks to live. Pray with us for the patient and family. Pray also that we will be able to minister to the family in the future.

This next week we will be in Pagosa Springs helping again with the “Training of the Twelve” discipleship/spring turkey hunt.

In Christ alone,

Bill and Mary

Spring Newsletter-

Here is our Spring Newsletter for all you who want it via email instead of snail mail. If you will click on a page it will go to another window then click on it again and it will enlarge so that you can read it! (if you have any problems reading it please contact us!)

Thank you again for your prayers and support of this ministry!

“You took me to the next level in my walk,"

“You took me to the next level in my walk, in my relationship with Jesus and I can’t thank you enough!” These were the words of one of the inmates Wednesday evening as we met for the last time and again dug into God’s Word. Most of the other men echoed this same thankfulness and what a joy it was to see that the Holy Spirit has indeed, as promised, been at work in their lives. I also expressed my thanks to them for coming to this Bible study and making an opportunity for me to share what Jesus is teaching me. One of my challenges to them was, since you learn even more when you teach others, go and teach other men what Jesus is teaching you.

One of the men, originally from Mexico, has in the past shared a song in Spanish for us. This night he asked if he could share a song he had written in English (he doesn’t know how to read or write English). What a blessing as he sang to us of God’s constant love and working in our lives.

Christ in you, desiring a deep intimate relationship with you and wanting to be the source of every aspect of your life, was always the central focus of these studies. Pray with us that they will live in that truth.

I failed to mention in our last update of a little different opportunity for ministry that has come my way. We have mentioned getting involved as volunteers with Sangre de Cristo Hospice. Late last year I was asked to consider being on the board of directors for this amazing organization. They were interested in having some representation from the southern part of the area they cover. As I interviewed with 2 of the board members, they also expressed a desire for me to bring to the board the perspective of a missionary to this area. This is of importance, I believe, for several reasons. One of those is that we are in the process of searching for a new CEO. The founder and recently retired CEO was very strong on the importance of providing, when requested, spiritual care in addition to medical care. This is an area that could too easily be seen as not really necessary and a place to cut costs. Another aspect I want to explore is in meeting with people in this area to let them know about hospice care that is available to them. This will give me some more great opportunities to meet people, always looking for those open doors to plant seeds and to share the Gospel of Jesus.

It looks like we will be renting the building we mentioned in our last update. We will be looking for some folding chairs and tables to equip this building. We will be going to Alamogordo on Tuesday for Millicent Shyne’s memorial service. If any of you down there know of some chairs and tables that would be available we could bring the truck.



In Christ alone,

Bill & Mary

Prison closing- Buildings and Bible Studies-

Occasionally I will begin the Bible study at the prison by asking the men what their "take away" was from last week . This can sometimes be a less than encouraging moment, as I am always hoping that they heard something that the Holy Spirit used during the week to convict, grow or stretch them in their walk. One night one of the young men asked if he could use my marker and come to the white board. He told us that what he heard last week and was illustrating on the board had been impacting him all week. What a great joy to see the evidence of the Holy Spirit working in changing lives. It was particularly exciting to me as that same night I had learned that these Arizona inmates will be going back to Arizona in March. Having only been working with these guys for seven months my thoughts were that it hasn't been enough time of taking them into scripture to deepen their relationship with Jesus. I must be content to have the opportunity to plant some seeds.

With the loss of this contract with Arizona, this prison now has no contract with any other state to house their inmates. What that means is that the prison here in Walsenburg will be closing. This could be short term or…..? This means the loss of about 200 jobs in the area as well as other revenue generated by the prison. For a small community, this will have a very large impact. Doing a Bible study with the Colorado inmates and then the Arizona inmates has been an adventure that has been rewarding. With both groups I was blessed to have men that were desperately hungry to find the Source for a drastically changed life and to learn to allow (die to themselves) the Source, “Christ in you”, to flow from them.

Pray with us that these men who have found Jesus as their Savior, will run to Him as their only source when faced with every aspect of life.

Tuesday's Coffee and Chat have brought several new people to the mix of regulars-
A couple of weeks ago, during our Sunday evening fellowship/worship time we had a potluck dinner. We were blessed to have 2 new families join us for this time. We are planning to have potluck at least one Sunday a month as this makes it possible for these families to come.

Today we looked at a building in Aguilar to rent. There are not many in this little town that are in any condition to occupy. We are praying for a place where we can meet for Bible studies, Sunday worship/ fellowship, after school Bible club for children, and possibly a clothing and food bank. The building we looked at today will accommodate those needs. The couple that owns it are excited about this and offered to rent it to us for $300.00 per month and they will pay all utilities. This will give us a consistent place to meet eliminating being “bumped” by other groups. Pray with us that this is where God would have us.

Mary is planning on starting a women’s Bible study after meeting with several women on individual basis for some time. Please pray for wisdom as to material to use as this is a very diverse group with many different needs.

In Christ Alone

Bill and Mary

Look at Fun we had Today!!!

60 plus

Home Baked Goodies

25 bags filled with crayons, candy, pencils, and small toys bought over this past year on clearance-

Loaded up all the bags and most of the breads

Took them to Aguilar where we have our Coffee and Chat

and Bread Distribution-

received a
lot of Happy faces and Hugs!!

Couldn't ask for a better Christmas Gift!

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be Jesus to this needy community!


Now it's time to stoke this


Thaw this,

And set this-

for Christmas guest - between 10 and 15!!

Jonathan and David will not be here this Christmas (we have not had David home for the past 4 Christmases due to his job)
but
we are thankful that we can be family to those who are here who have no one near -

May you experience the true JOY of Christmas- Immanuel- God with us
This Christmas Season
and every day of the year!

Blessings
Bill and Mary

December Newsletter online

Merry Christmas!! You can read our December newsletter here- just click on the picture below and it will enlarge-

**We have had several responses to the need of a small tv with VCR- We now have one!! Thank you!