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by Ed Hembree, Editor/European Director

As our Lord trained his disciples. He employed a variety of methods to "fish for the souls of men." As you study the Gospel records you find Jesus preaching to vast throngs of people, sometimes using special days or events as the opportunity for such preaching. However, you also find Him going out of His way to speak privately with individuals, meeting physical needs in order to open the door for evangelism as well as taking time to train the twelve for future ministry. Jesus left no stone unturned; He used every situation and occasion as a catalyst for the Gospel.Our Lord knew that in order to reach people, you must go where people are. He also knew that no one method worked equally well for all people.

Often I am asked "What is the best method of reaching people on the missionfield?" Really, there is no one "best" method. The best missionaries I know employ a variety of methods to "fish for men." A method that is very effective for one field, in one culture, may not be productive at all in another. Successful missionaries are always exploring and evaluating different methods for communication of the Gospel. This is why it will always be vital to have long-term missionaries. It simply takes time to get to know a people and culture well enough to effectively reach them for Christ and establish independent Baptist churches!

In this issue I am featuring three veteran missionary families who are successfully using different approaches to preach the Gospel. Our feature articles are from Mickey and Christine Schrimshire in England, Don and Lisa Thatcher in the Republic of Ireland and Marc and Charin Patton in Hungary. These three families are representative of so many of our missionaries laboring throughout Europe, dedicated disciples of our Lord who have learned to follow Him and "fish for men."

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May the Lord find us faithful.
Don and Lisa Thatcher & family

Waterford, the oldest city in Ireland founded by the Vikings in the 9th century, was host to the tall ships this summer. The city has a rich and intriguing history and is well acquainted with tall ships due to its location on the River Suir just before the river empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Much planning and preparation by the city was made in anticipation of the tall ship event scheduled for June 29-July 3, 2011. Back in the spring Lisa and I were talking about different ways to get the Gospel out during this big event.

The plan was to put together some packets that would be appealing to the eye and carry the Gospel into the hearts and homes of the recipients. Our church folks were very involved in putting the packets together as well as handing them out. On Wednesday our family did a trial run and handed out 500 packets. The tall ship event officially began on Thursday afternoon with crowds reported at 80,000 in our city of 45,000 people. Friday brought crowds of over 135,000, and Saturday RTE news report crowds at over 200,000 in Waterford City!

I have never seen so many people in just a few blocks of a city. Sunday morning was the departure of the ships from Waterford to go west around Ireland for the next stop in Scotland. The journey would eventually take them to Sweden. Many of our folks from church got involved along with folk from two other churches, one from Cork and one from Dublin. Together we worked to get the packets out. Our family went to the city every day from Wednesday through Sunday. People were everywhere. Many people are reluctant to take a leaflet anymore on the street, but having put our leaflets in the cellophane bags with a biscuit and tea sure made a big difference. I was able to talk to one particular young man who was originally from Waterford but had moved away to Paris. He was back in town for a few weeks. He told me he was an atheist but felt it was time, due to the world situation, to maybe rethink his position. This man told me he might even come to church this coming Sunday to see what we were all about.

Late Saturday afternoon I walked back down through the city and was overwhelmed by the masses of people. As I was walking home I passed by one of the local pubs that had "set up shop" outside their place. They had a band there on the street, as well as many other bands across the city. But as I passed by I stopped and looked at the people drinking, dancing, and carrying on while the band was blasting out a song called "Highway to Hell"! My mind thought about the reality of what they were singing about, but none of them seemed to even care let alone understand the reality of that song and what highway in this life they were on. It was so sad.

Please continue to pray for us and do continue to pray for the Lord to use the seeds that were sow this effort.


Lisa Thatcher with a bag full of packets, each containing a biscuit and tea, ready to go.


Packets containing the Gospel leaflets are prepared for distribution.

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Michael and Christine Schrimshire

During our last furlough in the States, I was invited by a friend to help in a witnessing opportunity at the North Georgia State Fair. What I saw and experienced was a thrill to my soul. I was introduced to the Amazing Grace Mission and a method to draw people into spiritual conversations about their souls and about the Lord Jesus Christ using the ThreeDoor Box and invitation for passersby to "see three things God cannot do." I had the privilege to lead several people to Christ, and worked several other events taking the training they offered in this type of evangelism. Along with two other friends who were soul winning partners, we began our own regular outreach to a very large Flea Market in North Alabama. We combined what we had learned at AGM and a display that had worked very well for me in the UK. For the remainder of our furlough, we hired a spot each Saturday and setup our tables and displays witnessing to everyone who would stop and speak to us. As a team we had over 200 professions of faith that year. These contacts were given to local churches for follow up visits and we have received some very good reports.

We were finally given permission to return to the United Kingdom at the end of 2009. Our primary work was to help establish a church plant in South Cheshire. Shortly after our return I began to share the vision of this type of soul winning ministry in England. Of course there were those who had the usual objections. "It can't be done here." "This is a very different culture from America." However, God gave me a team of British men and women with a burden for souls and a willingness to learn to witness who also saw the potential of this ministry. We purchased our equipment, stamped thousands of Gospel tracts, and checked out possible venues. The Lord supplied everything that was needed. We are now getting into County and District Fairs, City Fates, large "Car Boot Sales," i.e. flea markets and local markets. We are seeing people saved almost every time we go out.

I am convinced from Scripture that the Apostle Paul consistently either went to a synagogue full of lost Jews or a market or public gathering place full of lost Gentiles. I have also learned from experience that it is the best place in our modern world to confront people with the Gospel—away from TVs, away from electronic gadgets, away from ball games, away from the ever increasing distractions of the world in which we live. We have seen a number of adults and teenagers bow their heads in crowded market places, repent of their sins, and ask Christ to grant them eternal life. That is nothing short of a miracle. We have also had the opportunity to witness to literally hundreds and have given out thousands of Gospel tracts. This unique market ministry has given us another valuable and effective way to reach people with the Gospel along with other tried and true methods. The Gospel is still the power of God to save when we get it to people where they are.

You may wonder HOW this works. We pay the fee to set up a stall, and then put up our gazebo, tables and chairs, our signs, and the threedoor box out front. The box has a large sign that says, "See Three Things God Cannot Do." When they look at the threedoor box, we simply ask, "Have you seen three things God cannot do?" 1. He cannot lie. 2. He cannot change. 3. He cannot let anyone into Heaven unless they are born again. We then point out a large sign in the back that asks the question, How sure are you of Heaven? 50%, 75% or 100%? Their answer reveals much about their spiritual condition. Within a few minutes we are into the conversation about their soul and the Gospel. The object is to get them seated with a Bible open before them to see what God said they must do to be born again and go to Heaven someday. The men, women, and teenagers flow before us in a continuous stream as a wellstocked river for those who enjoy fishing for men.

You may wonder IF this works. We fill out contact cards for those we speak to and have them write what they have done on the back of the card as their first testimony after they receive Christ. Let me share a sampling: "Today I found my way to Christ, and I gave myself to Him. I have waited a long time for someone to show me the way." "I feel so happy and spiritually refreshed; I know that Jesus is in my heart." "I prayed to Jesus and asked Him to forgive my sin and come into my heart. I also asked Him to guide me through the rest of my life." "I prayed and asked Jesus into my heart. He is now my Lord."

We had a great blessing at the Hanley Park Fair this year. A young man I spoke to last year had listened very intently, taken some literature, and said he would think about what I had said. I do not believe in easy "prayism" so we don't push people for insincere prayers or decisions. I recommended he attend the church that was sponsoring us at this event. Three months later another BIMI missionary led him to the Lord in that church after an evening service. We returned this past summer and had just begun to set up. He came up, introduced himself, and spent the rest of the day going out into the crowd bringing other young people to the gazebo commending them to listen to something that had changed his life for the good. I think he will go on for the Lord

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by Marc Patton

ONE OF THE BIGGEST QUESTIONS FOR MISSIONARIES IN EUROPE IS THE FOLLOWING: How do you share the Gospel with people who don't want to hear it? Traditional methods are often viewed as pushy, overly aggressive or even cultish. Is there some other way? One solution is to find needs in the community and seek to meet them. This not only changes public perception of our church but also opens the door to many opportunities to share the Gospel. Here are some of the means God has blessed in our churches in Hungary.

DISTRIBUTION OF CLOTHING
We have used the distribution of used clothing from the earliest period of our church all the way to the present. We do not attach any "strings" to the distribution (they don't have to attend a service, listen to a sermon, etc). Nevertheless, the distributions give us a great opportunity to meet people, pass out Bibles and tracts, answer questions, or share the Gospel. Our entire ministry in the nearby town of Nagysap started with a clothing distribution there. We now have regular services there and have seen a number of professions of faith.

ENGLISH CLASSES AND CAMPS
Hungarians want to learn English. In fact, they will even pay us to teach them English. They will come to an English class with no "armtwisting" whatsoever. What a great opportunity it gives us not only to be a help to them in learning English, but also to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

PUPPET EVANGELISM
For a number of years, our puppet teams have been able to take the Gospel into public schools and share it with tens of thousands of children. Again in most of these cases, the schools will call us and ask us to come! We are able to meet the need for a quality Christmas program, and at the same time share the Gospel with these children.

CHRISTMAS SHOE BOX DISTRIBUTIONS
The ministry began when Samaritan's Purse was providing the shoe box gifts, but now for the last several years Hungarians are providing the shoebox gifts for Hungarian children. We work in cooperation with Hungarian Baptist Aid. Middle class Hungarians (most of them unsaved) will make up the shoebox gifts and deliver them to collection centers. We operate collection centers at both of our churches. We then distribute the shoe boxes to needy children in the community. The great blessing is that we develop contacts with both the middle class families delivering the boxes, and also with the poor families receiving them. All the distributions are done as a part of a Christmas program with a Gospel presentation. Last year we collected and distributed about 500 gift boxes in this manner.

CHRISTIAN DAYCARE
This past summer we held our first "Christian Daycare" week at our church in Tata. Many working mothers don't know what to do with their young children during the summer break. We decided to provide a week of daycare for these families. Families paid us to watch their kids for the week, knowing full well that we would be teaching them Bible stories, songs, verses, etc. We had twenty seven children total; twenty one were from outside the church. What an opportunity to not only meet a need, but share the Gospel! We have a brand new family that has attended our church every week since their children participated in the Daycare week.

These are just ideas. Many others could be developed. It is my feeling that this is a biblical philosophy of evangelism. I believe that God wants us to help others in our community. I also believe that meeting needs opens tremendous opportunities for evangelism, as well as helping us defeat the "cult image."

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compiled by Carole Hembree

ENGLAND

Joshua Booth Family – The Sunday following our Holiday Bible Club (VBS) a mum and her son rode their bikes to our church for the first time. When Joshua and I visited with her in her home, she shared her concerns for her older son (age 13) who claims to be an atheist. He "helped" Joshua in the children's class and even answered some of the questions from the Bible lesson. Later, his mum told us how pleased she was to see his attitude change about church. Many of YOU were praying for our Holiday Bible Club and this is the fruit that we desired of God! Please pray for this young man to be saved as we continue to minister to this family.

Graham Forbes Family – Beauly Baptist church has a new pastor. Peter is now at the forefront of the church and is now inducted as the pastor. Pray for him as he begins to lead the church. We have spent about two days a week over the past two years helping him to be equipped for the work of the ministry. Please pray for Peter and his wife, Alison.

Reta Burns and Marcia Kittleson – Bill, a man from our church who desires to grow in his faith, started praying for his family. His antagonistic brotherinlaw was recently witnessed to by a man on a train in Scotland, and recently accepted a Bible from Bill. Pray for Bill's unsaved wife and family.

James Mansfield Family – We have seen our church attendance steadily grow with most families coming faithfully to Sunday School, Preaching and Thursday night Bible study. We have seen 17 people saved since the last prayer letter. Four of those are people who have started attending our church and also followed the Lord in baptism this past month!

Jack Moorman Family – Dot has been feeling a lot better over the past month. There have been a good number of visitors during the summer months. Several others have joined and put their hand to the plough. We attended a good gathering of independent Baptist churches in Wales at the end of August and I will be speaking at several places including Northern Ireland over the next few weeks.

Glenn Palmer Family – For Holiday Bible Club (VBS) we ended with 16 new children and teens along with our regular group, so we had around 30 with all the workers too. Now our Sunday school has new children and we have new adults as a result of this. In August I spoke in another mission church that needs a pastor or missionary. There is such a need for workers here, to take on newly started works and to assist others.

Glenn Pizor Family – I mentioned in a previous letter of the new 200 housing units located within a quarter mile of our church. These units will now be ready for occupancy within the next two months. The ladies in our church will be preparing welcome packets as a means of initiating an invitation to our church.

Mickey Schrimshire Family – The first Sunday in July, we had a joint service with Leek Baptist Church and saw four people baptized from our church. In the same service, we had two families dedicate their children to the Lord. As a direct result of this service, there are two, possibly five more to be baptized the first Sunday in September. Praise the Lord!

ESTONIA

Rob Willoughby Family – I can hardly wait to tell you that my friend Alo has made a profession of faith! It all began last summer when we had Bible study at his house. When I began having services in February this year, he attended several times with his wife. All this time, God had been quietly working in his heart. Ron Winkler Family – In our ministry here in Estonia, we are in the planting season. We praise the Lord for continually giving us opportunities to plant the seed of the Gospel as we meet new people and water the seeds that have been planted already.

FRANCE

Carey Abbett Family – When you receive this letter, my family and I will be working in a youth camp in the south of France. I remember when God used this same camp to help me surrender to His call as a missionary years ago. France has a desperate need for more workers. We need more laborers, and I'm asking God to use this camp once more to call more young people into His service.

Danny Flowers Family – A good testimony still matters! Daniel and Nadine Delnau are new converts in our church who have really taken off in their spiritual walk. Their family has noticed this change in their lives and is open to learning more about it. Their daughter, Aline, invited us to study the Bible with her and her boyfriend, Pascal. After several visits, she received Christ in early July, but Pascal has an agnostic background and is more hesitant to make a decision. Pascal has seen the difference in those around him. Let's pray that he will want this change for himself.

Gail Huffman – In July, I shared concerning the need to reach the deaf in France and how the Lord is answering Bob's prayers for someone to begin a deaf ministry here. Two young ladies answered the call to begin studying French sign language, (FSL) so Mr. Sloan returned to France in August and spent two weeks teaching courses to get them started. Another girl in the church who is hard of hearing attended also, and because he taught in English, I translated for him.

GERMANY

Dan Dubbe Family – On the 13th of August our son, Tim, married Anni, a wonderful young lady and gifted pianist in the church. The wedding took place in Germany on a beautiful sunny day, and the ceremony, program and activities lasted from one in the afternoon until midnight. Their love for Jesus was evident throughout the entire event!

Walter Hornung Family – Would you please pray with us for Victor, a young man from our church who feels that the Lord wants him to go to Bible School to prepare for the service of the Lord? There are many obstacles for him, but we know the Lord is able!

Rodney Kidd Family – We have just finished our summer Bible camp with 96 children 612 years of age and we saw God's blessings in so many ways. One young man who was a ringleader of some "troublemakers" gave his life to Christ the last night of camp and I was able to talk to him on the last day. He was a changed young man and that is exactly what his family at home said as well. Talk about God's sovereignty!

HUNGARY

Marc Patton Family – Thank you for praying for our English Camp. Everything went very well. We ended up with a total of 54 students in the morning classes and about 15 in our afternoon classes. More than 40 of these were people who do not attend our church. We invited all the students and their parents to our Sunday service on July 31 and we were pleased to have 2030 visitors present.

MALTA

Anson Van de Kemp Family – The past couple of months have been filled with long term challenges, but God has given us small victories. Allison and I have been pursuing our language studies with diligence and practiced patience. Small phrases are beginning to emerge from our long lists of vocabulary words and with difficulty we are able to understand very elementary conversations–albeit with much concentration.

MOLDOVA

David Gross Family – "Thank you! Thank you that you came to tell us these things." These words, followed by a hug of gratitude, came from a 13 year old girl, Alexandra, who trusted Christ as Savior during the week I preached at a Christian camp in the northern corner of Moldova.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Ed Bissett Family – We have started a men's Fellowship and Bible study on every other Thursday night. I am trying to make this more of an open discussion time where the men can give their views and insights into the Scripture. While it is intended to help believers become more skilful in using the Bible, I am also wanting the men to bring other men, saved and unsaved. It is my hope that this can be used as a means of outreach to families and friends.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Dan Canavan Family – Since returning from camp, the teens have continued to meet every Friday night. We have been averaging 10 teens. The teens seem to possessa genuine love for the Lord. Most are faithful to both Sunday services. We praise God for the current situation. Please pray for it to continue.

Stephen Finley Family – This year, 14 kids from our church went to Victory Youth Camp. To my knowledge, about 12 kids received Christ as Savior during camp! I had the privilege to lead 14yearold Michael (from Cork) to the Lord; and 3 of the kids from our own church group, Alex (13), Joan (10), and Mary (7), received Christ as well.

Jerome Pittman Family – (These are veteran missionaries to Ireland who have now affiliated with BIMI) During our absence over the summer due to our short furlough in the States, Lighthouse Baptist Church continued to evangelize, preach and teach. Praise the Lord for the faithful men who stepped in to fill the pulpit. Our second Sunday home, one of our Sunday school girls trusted the Lord as her Savior! Please keep Eniola in your prayers for spiritual growth.

Don Thatcher Family – The past two months have generated some exciting times here in Waterford. We have had a couple of families contact us as a result of the Tall Ship outreach. Since August, we have had four new Irish families coming to church. Two of the families have been coming quite regularly.

Bob Zemeski Family – We found a building to rent just outside Maynooth. It is on a main road and bus route. I believe the rent is the lowest of any commercial church rental property of any mission's church in Ireland. It came with 16 chairs, 7 tables, two filing cabinets and two storage cabinets. We also have a kitchen, two separate restrooms and three Sunday school rooms.

ROMANIA

Margueite Gentry – We had five weeks of camp altogether and the Lord blessed with hundreds coming forward for salvation and many coming for rededication. In addition to the camps at the property, there are also the traveling camps. These are held for poor children who cannot afford to come to the regular camp. There were close to 2,000 children attending these traveling camps in the first three weeks!

Daniel Irvin Family – After selling our house in Ukraine, we will be moving to the Timisoara area of Romania to begin a church there and will also be taking on the task of enlarging the scope of the Bible college in Lugoj.

Tim Tyler Family – I just wanted to share with you an update on the remodeling plans for our new church facility in Timisoara. We have put in 2 weeks on the house in back, stripping walls of mold and water damage which took place over 5 years of nonoccupancy; we have mowed down the tall grass and pruned the many fruit and nut trees in the back. Things are looking much better.

RUSSIA

Duane Hearron Family – This summer we had a baptismal service in the river that flows through our village. The water is always ice cold and as is typical on the day we were to baptize, the weather turned rainy and cold In spite of the this we had three that followed the Lord in believer's baptism: Kosty, Irena and Julia.

Don Ossewaarde Family – Sveta is the director of a private school that teaches English and other languages. She came with some friends to our English Bible study on a Thursday night. I suspected that improving her English was more important to her than knowing the Bible, but she started coming regularly. She came for several months and listened very carefully. Ruth had a talk with her after the lesson one night and went through the plan of salvation. Sveta said, "Yes, I believe all that, and I am ready to ask Jesus to save me." They prayed together and we are so happy that Sveta took that step of faith.

David Sterling Family – Due to problems with our regular meeting place, we held VBS on the local athletic field, which is located across the street from our house. There were dozens of kids who attended, and we had a great time despite the rain. We were encouraged by the adults who came with their children and sat through the programs.

Adam Young Family – Kolya has been studying the Bible with me for about 18 months and has been growing. His unsaved girlfriend, Katya began listening in on the lessons. The first time she came I made sure the focus was on the Gospel, not knowing if she would ever come back again. Katya listened for about 5 months and then trusted Christ as her Savior!

SCOTLAND

Arvin Devers Family – Three girls from our Sunday school were baptized recently, Shianne, Arcadia and Jemma. These children and others involved in our ministry are very often persecuted for their faith in God. They are called names and even, occasionally, physically abused, both in the neighborhood and at school. Please pray for them.

Lea Devers – In August, we began holding teen meetings. The main goal is to study the Bible; the secondary goal is to practice songs for the teens to sing during the nursing home services we hold on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month. The teen meetings have been a blessing to the teens, but even more to me—How I love to hear the young people sing!

Dennis Snelson Family – We continue to minister in the Care Home on a weekly basis with the reality of why we are there facing us squarely this past week. In was August 21 when Dennis was preaching that a resident by the name of Helen told him to shut up. But Helen didn't realize that moment was the last opportunity she had to hear the Gospel, for she went into eternity the following Wednesday. Nothing can be done for Helen, but we can continue to reach out to others who need the Lord. That is why we are here.

SPAIN

Julio Velasquez Family – Last Sunday we had a very special service in our church with an emphasis on the Family. We sent invitations to all the contacts we have made recently. We were so thrilled Sunday morning when 41 people attended the service. We were filled to capacity. Amen!

UKRAINE

Robert Fuller – Our deaf camp began with nineteen deaf and hearing teenagers. It was truly a blessing to see six deaf teens coming to know Jesus as their Savior. These six deaf teenagers are from the area of Simferopol. They need to be discipled spiritually. Pray for them and their spiritual growth.

Tony Hess Family – It was long expected, diligently prepared and prayed for: we handed out nearly 3,000 invitations to those living not far from our church. It was our 2nd annual FAMILY SEMINAR, and it was a great blessing! Decisions for Christ were made, and we wait to see fruitful results in our church.

Matthew Hudson Family – The Lord blessed our annual week of Vacation Bible School. This year's theme was "The Ten Commandments." The goals and purpose of the week were to show how that keeping the Law could never save us, and that only Jesus Christ could pay our sin debt. It was a blessing to see several young people hear the Gospel message and receive Jesus Christ. Many parents and grandparents also attended the week, and we are praying that they will also trust the Lord to save them.

Polly Irvin – We had a tremendous Single Ladies Conference at the end of August. There were over 30 single ladies from different parts of Ukraine and from the neighboring country of Belarus, where I served our Lord Jesus Christ from 1994-2000. A couple of the ladies said "I was at a crossroads in my life. This conference helped me choose God's way."

John Spillman Family – Please thank the Lord with us for recent victories we have had. The most notable is the confession of faith in Christ by Tanya. We asked you last time to pray especially for her. Kathleen continued to witness and invited her to the kids' clubs we were putting on. Tanya came to Christ after the first club finished, stating that she finally understood the Gospel. Another girl attended the club with her, and is another friend Kathleen has witnessed to. Please pray for Yonna to be saved.

Bob Van Sant Family – The angels are singing tonight! Roma has been coming to church on Wednesday night for almost one year. He said that for the last few weeks he has been under heavy conviction. Tonight, during the prayer request and praise time, Roma raised his hand and said that he wanted to get saved! Praise the Lord!

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Duane Hearron in Russia www.thehearronfamily.com

Rodney Kidd in Germany www.fbg-ma.de

Jack Moorman in England www.bethelbaptistlondon.com

Don Ossewaarde in Russia www.donossewaarde.com

David Sterling in Russia www.sterlingstosiberia.blogspot.com

Don Thatcher in Republic of Ireland www.brodonthatcher.blogspot.com

Tim Tyler in Romania www.tylero.org

Anson Van de Kemp in Malta www.gospeltomalta.com

Bob Van Sant in Ukraine www.bobandjudy.net

Adam Young in Russia www.theyoungs2russia.org

Bob Zemeski in Ireland www.zemeski.org

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Saturday, May 25, 2013

1 John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Robert L & Rhoda Smith II -  BARBADOS
Lyle & Rose Snakenberg -  MAINTENANCE
Dennis & Mary Snelson -  SCOTLAND