Hafa Adai from the beautiful island of Guam.
The year began with a sense of hope and optimism. Our longtime faithful church member Agnes returned from the States with medical news that she was cancer-free. We were all amazed and thankful to the Lord! Thank you for praying for her. In March, she returns to the States for checkups and follow-ups. If she had not sought a second opinion off the island and gotten medical treatment for her cancer there, then the medical advice and procedures here would have left her with a colostomy bag for the rest of her life. She and her husband had to make tough decisions by faith to pursue another medical direction, not knowing how the process would turn out or end up. They also trusted the Lord to help set everything in order, including financial provisions. Praise the Lord that everything unfolded in a positive way. The Lord hath done great things for them in their steps of faith!
My family and I made an unscheduled visit to an elderly widow who lives with her sister-in-law, both of whom are faithful church members. The sister-in-law not only cares for the widow but also for an elderly couple that lives in a studio attachment in the back of her house. She had been concerned and praying for their salvation for a long time, as were we. As my wife was talking with the widow, the Lord put the thought in my mind that this might be the opportunity to speak with the elderly couple. When I mentioned this possibility to the sister-in-law, she immediately took me around to where they lived. She spoke with the elderly couple about me, and they let me in to talk with them.
Eventually, I was able to share with them how much they were loved by the sister-in-law in her care for them, and this greatly affected them. It softened them to where my transitioning to the Gospel seemed effortless. They willingly allowed me to explain the Gospel, said they understood and believed it, and then prayed with me to receive the Lord Jesus Christ into their hearts as their personal Saviour. Afterward, they thanked me for talking with them, and both seemed different in a happy, reserved way. The next week, the sister-in-law excitedly shared after church that she had already noticed a change in them, especially with the man, because he “stopped cussing so much.” However, the following week, she let us know that she was concerned for him because when she went to help him, he did not recognize her or know who she was. She was afraid he was developing Alzheimer’s already—just two weeks later might have been too late.
Since my last update, the Lord has blessed me and used me personally to lead 25 people to Christ while soul winning.
Island Baptist Church continues to be blessed of the Lord. One of our faithful men mentioned to me recently that he had led his son to the Lord, saying, “I did not want him to grow up and ask me why I never talked to him about something that important.” One Sunday during the height of a recent cold and flu season, the children in my wife’s morning class were all home sick except for one girl. This made all the difference for her because she was not preoccupied with her peers and received undivided attention, which led, most importantly, to her receiving Christ into her heart.
Thank you for praying for us and supporting our ministry. We had a family need and did not know how we were going to meet it, but when the moment came, the supply arrived. The Lord’s timing is amazing! Please continue to pray for our health and safety, Island Baptist Church, Guam, and Micronesia.
In His harvest field,
Dan Rothwell and Family