Welcome to the new year! All of us during 2020 have learned to appreciate our Lord’s words when He said, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” We saw some evil during that year, but we have also seen God do some great things to the furtherance of His kingdom. I am so glad that many of our missionaries have learned to adapt to the restrictions and find ways to reach people with the Gospel. We all need to pray for our missionaries more than ever.
As I mentioned in my last letter, I had a bout with the COVID virus. Thankfully, I am fully recovered from the sickness. In fact, within two weeks of getting out of the hospital, God gave me enough strength to preach all the services at a church. I preached a Missions-Emphasis Weekend at the Riverside Baptist Church in Burlington, Iowa. Linda and I were then able to go to Indiana for meetings with the FBMI staff.
Our home church, Marion Avenue Baptist Church, puts on a Live Animal Christmas Play each year, which over 4,000 people often come to see. It is a great outreach to the lost, as well as a blessing for the saved. Due to the virus, we did not have the play this year, the first time since the start of the church. We did erect a huge horn of plenty during Thanksgiving (seen here) that drew many people to the church.
Please pray for me, as I am starting to take some trips overseas. I leave on January 26 for Guatemala, where I will be preaching a Missions Conference. The U.S. government, starting January 26, will be requiring EVERYONE who enters the U.S. to have a COVID test prior to entry or a blood test showing you have had COVID and are cleared to travel. Please pray that all the tests will allow me to leave and reenter the country. Thank you again for the many prayers you send up to God on my behalf. God is still on the throne!
Your servant,
Missionary Evangelist James Belisle
Huge horn of plenty constructed on the platform of our home church, Marion Avenue Baptist Church, Washington, Iowa
