More Info
I just realized that:
A. I had never sent an update about our work in Ukraine and India (Nov and Dec 2011)
B. I had failed to give enough info for people to help with the Asian Book Project
C. The earthquake is very interesting even if it comes the day after my last update
So... More Info
A. Heidi and I had a wonderful time lecturing (Eugene lecturing) to the AFCOE students in the Ukraine. Those students were part of a very lively church and while we were there, they made the preliminary steps to organizing GYC Ukraine. Our three weeks there were interesting for more reasons than one. (For Heidi, she was amazed at the number of very small stray dogs! There were hundreds of adorable miniture breeds...that were in the public domain and wandered around the city at will, eating scraps. Did you ever realize that you are adorable too as you wander around this world eating scraps? But there is a loving family that would adopt you immediately if you would be willing to settle down and be loyal to a loving Master.) Another reason we loved our time in Ukraine was that the students were so anxious to learn and grow. And our translator, Slavik, was delightful.
After Urkaine we spent several weeks in India at the AFCOE program there. More than 30 students, all males, and all pastors, were enrolled. The church in India is growing rapidly and more than 7,000 persons were baptized while we were there, just in the one conference where we were teaching! But that rapid growth has created problems. Many pastors have been hired with insuficient training and even with a weak understanding of the truths of Adventism. So the AFCOE program, now scheduled to train more than 100 pastors a year, is highly needed. And for those 100 pastors, it will generally be the only formal training they receive. This will make a difference for the nation as pastors come out of training who understand truly the messages they are to take to the world.
B. If you were willing to help wiht our Asian publishing project (see the last update) you can send a tax-deductable donation to:
Adventist City Missions
8100 N Maize Rd.
Valley Center, KS 67147
You will get the customary IRS-pleasing receipt. What is needed is about $28,000 to make books available to the canvassers in Indonesia and Australia, and even in India. Since sending the update a few days ago, donatons have been pledged for several thousand dollars already. But three people had to write and ask me if the donation would be tax deductbale. So...this is more info. Yes. Adventist City Missions is a 501C3. (This is the ministry of Dave and Clarissa Fiedler, and other board members including Eugene Prewitt. Its purpose is fairly evidence from the name of the ministry).
And if you would like to order a 1000 copies of a magabook Ministry of Healing for $3,000....then order them by replying to this email. They will only cost us about $2,100 to get them to you, so that would give us $900 to help the canvassers in Asia. OK, you want them for $2,500 instead? Done. Just by ordering 1000 copies, you help increase the print run in such a way as to lower the cost.
C. One day after sending the last update, I was training canvassers in a large church in Iloilo when the earth began to move back and forth. We were experiencing a serious earthquake that seems to have killed about 70 to 100 people in the two islands just south of her, and one on this island. One Adventist church collapsed and become an icon of the damage. But the buildings that Heidi and I were in, though shaken, were stable. And since that time, 48 hours ago, we have experienced very many aftershocks. The reminder of our mortality has been good for my soul and I hope just thinking about it will be good for yours.
Please do send $25 or $50 or $150 or $1000 to ACM. We want to print these books this month, not next month.
--Eugene
