Hafa Adai (Hello) from the beautiful island of Guam. “. . . I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.” (Romans 10:20) The majority of people I witness to and pray with for salvation are people spontaneously approached. They were not actively seeking God at that moment; they were simply in my path, and the opportunity was taken.
An amazing example of this took place while tracking down a couple of believers who recently relocated to different villages. Six people were led to the Lord along the way while trying to locate the believers. Two men were on the side of the road, three women were in front of their apartment building, and one lady received Christ as her Saviour at the door of her duplex. Each one was not actively seeking the Lord at the time, but each one listened carefully to the Gospel, said they understood and believed the Gospel, and then personally prayed to receive Christ as their Saviour. Truly, they were found of Him that sought Him not.
For the months of May and June, the Lord used me personally to lead 38 to Christ.
Recently missionary friends returned to the island from furlough. We had a bokkan todu (potluck fellowship) for them at church and were able to help move their belongings to their former house in the southern village where they live. Though Guam is a small island, there are enough people to have a church in every village like the Catholics do. We need more missionaries starting churches on this religious-but-lost island, especially in the southern part of Guam where it is spiritually the darkest. The village this missionary will start a church in also has a Chamorro cultural village, which includes broken-down remains of the very first Baptist church on Guam. The Catholic church views this as a victory of their supremacy, but actually it stands as a reminder that the light was there but was rejected. Still, God in His love and longsuffering is giving this village another chance with the Gospel before it is too late. Island Baptist Church continues to be an example of God’s grace to the saved and unsaved alike.
Our neighbor was scheduled to be deployed for a 10-month tour of duty in the Middle East. We began to pray (since last October) for the Lord to prevent the deployment but were told a deployment cannot be cancelled. However, our military neighbor “suddenly” developed an eye abnormality that needed off-island laser surgery, and because of it, his deployment was cancelled. So incredible was this answer to prayer that it has begun to change everything for our neighbor’s life and his family.
Please continue to pray for our health and safety, Island Baptist Church, Guam, and Micronesia.
In His harvest field,
Dan Rothwell and Family