When I was just a boy, every year our family would plant a garden. My father would have us boys go out in the spring and, one shovel at a time, turn over the soil. He would then, with his gas-powered cultivator, break up the clods. Once that was done, we boys would rake the garden smooth before finally making the rows and planting the seeds by hand. This was old-fashioned hard work. I was reminded of this hard work on my recent trip to Poland and Italy. That is the kind of spiritual work missionaries Paul Sock and Chris Yetzer are involved in. They are turning over the spiritual soil one shovel at a time. They are cultivating the ground by hand, and they are planting a lot of seed. They are in the springtime of the spiritual garden. They are not seeing a lot of fruit at this time, but they are planting a lot of seed.
I was with Missionary Paul Sock and his wife for the first part of my trip. We walked up and down the main street of Warsaw placing Scriptures on the cars and handing them to individuals. We stood near the metro outside an arena where a religious meeting was being held (we were not a part of the meeting) and handed out hundreds of Scriptures. Altogether we handed out around 4,000 John and Romans. Each John and Romans had two tracts inside the pages. Also, each John and Romans had the plan of salvation included in the back. That means each person was given three chances to read the Gospel. This great missionary, who has been in Poland for 12 years, really put me to work! I thank God for the opportunity to be with him and his wife for one week. We did see 1 get saved.
I left Poland and headed to Italy to be with Missionary Chris Yetzer. Once again I was put to work handing our tracts as we walked up and down the streets of Milan. We walked many miles, since Chris does not have a vehicle. I got a workout; that is for sure. Of course, I preached in the regular services at both locations.
Upon returning from my European trip, Linda and I became concerned for her brother Bob who lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He is 70 and has three major physical problems. He has diabetes, a heart condition, and Parkinson’s disease. We decided to go check on him. Soon after arriving in Iron Mountain, we realized he needed to go to the hospital. Bob ended up staying in the hospital for almost two weeks. He is now in the rehab section of the VA hospital located in Iron Mountain, Michigan. We would appreciate your prayers for Bob and for us as we try to help him in a future transition.
Please pray for my upcoming trip to Argentina. I will leave on September 4 and return on the 16th. I will once again be teaching in the college run by the Bethel Baptist Church in Tucuman. Missionaries Larry Owens and Brian George oversee this college. One of the graduates has asked me to participate in his wedding as well. Thank you again for praying and supporting me in my endeavors to help our missionaries around the world.
James Belisle
