Summer is in full force, and what a blessing it’s been to serve the Lord here in Canada. The school year has ended, which closes out the season of giving out Bibles to the public and Catholic schools in our region. My goal was to get to every one of them, but unfortunately, that didn’t come to fruition. By the grace of God, I exceeded the goal of getting out the original shipment of 1,976 New Testaments, and by the season’s end, I have given out 2,180 New Testaments, mostly to high school students or college students. I’m so thrilled that so many young people have eagerly taken a Bible to read for themselves. The seed has been sown; now we must pray. I’ve had so many great interactions with young people during this school year. One of my favourites was the time when a young man, to whom I had offered a Bible, laid hands on me and prayed for me boldly in front of all of his classmates at the front of his high school. He received a Bible gladly but said he was already a Christian. I have so much hope in my heart that God will do something with this endeavour. If nothing else, God helped me to become bolder in my witness and to grow my heart for reaching young people. It’s possible to reach the youth of this generation; we just have to get out of our comfort zone and meet them where they are.
We held our quarterly Youth Rally in May, and the turnout was great. At each rally, we have a Bible Jeopardy Quiz at the end, and this rally marked the finish of our study of the book of Ecclesiastes. The teens are prepared by their respective youth leaders, and they come prepared to help their team with the competition. It was really quite the sight to see young people eager to answer questions about a book that can be quite challenging for adults to understand! We have quite the job here!
Haina, our newest youth-group addition, was led to the Lord by Pastor Johnston’s oldest daughter Ashley one Saturday afternoon in May, ironically, after having gone out soul winning with us. Ashley asked Haina about her own salvation, which led to her coming to faith in Christ. She and her entire family were baptized on Canada Day, July 1. I also got to lead a young man named Marcell to Christ at his door during our midweek soul-winning time. It was certainly a divine appointment, because this Catholic teenager was ripe and ready to hear and accept the Gospel. When challenged on his beliefs about salvation and then pointed to the truth of Scripture, he was saved. Pray for his situation, as it may not be his choice to just decide to leave the Catholic church his parents take him to. I know the Lord can work in this situation, so would you join me in prayer for him?
Pray for me as I disciple a convert of mine named Byrd. I need much wisdom in encouraging him to grow in grace. His family needs to hear the Gospel too. Pray that I can get a meeting established. It has proven to be difficult to get something arranged with their busy schedules. Please continue to pray that we would be Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, and “. . . strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” People need the Lord, but so do we! We love you all and are so encouraged by your faithful support.
Pressing toward the mark,
Brian and Liz Hebert
