Greetings from our quarantine quarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! I’m sure many of you are like me and ready to get back to normal! I’m humbled by all of your prayers and support for our family during this time.
Creatively Caring During COVID-19
We had to be creative in our ministry to others in April because I didn’t want to just sit around and wait until the restrictions were lifted to be involved in ministry. I had the opportunity to drop off gift bags to families in our church to try to be a blessing and an encouragement. Our pastor encouraged us to invite people, who wouldn’t normally be involved in a church service, to watch our church’s live-stream service. Our family went around our neighborhood in Milwaukee and left tracts and door hangers in doors. The tracts and door hangers had the Gospel and information about the live-stream services on them. One time we also included a letter that said, “Even though these can be troubling times, we have a hope in Christ and would like to share that with you.” On April 18, my father-in-law and I put tracts in doors. I prayed that the Lord would lead me to someone outside whom I could share the Gospel with. At the house where I was going to leave my last door hanger, I met an 18-year-old man named Jose, who was in his yard with his dog. I began talking with him and sharing the Gospel with him. He said he was hoping to go to Heaven because he was good. His friends came while we were talking, but he still listened for about 20 minutes and trusted in Christ to save him! I’m glad that God is still saving souls during COVID-19! On April 25 at a church we were with, we enjoyed going out with a bus route to help give pizzas to some families to let them know we cared about them, even though the buses weren’t able to pick them up for church. Since we actually took the church bus, some people saw who we were, which enabled us to invite several new families to church! What a great opportunity!
Unique Meetings in April
As of now, we have had a total of nine meetings that have had to cancel. Because of that, we had a month of no meetings. That was discouraging, especially in the beginning when I would get call after call with churches needing to cancel. I am thankful for several churches that still sent a love offering even though the meeting was canceled! We had two unique meetings in April. On April 22, we drove to Roanoke, Indiana, to present our ministry for a live-streamed service. It was a blessing to meet Pastor Tarr and his family in person! On April 23, we had the privilege to present our ministry at a drive-in service in Berne, Indiana. It rained pretty much the whole service, but I had a great time with Faith Baptist Church! While I was preaching, Ethan asked Christa why I was talking about Heaven and Hell. He had asked questions before but didn’t seem ready to get saved. Christa explained the Gospel to him, and he prayed to trust in Jesus to save Him! We will review the Gospel again to make sure he completely understands, but we are excited that he wants to know more about God! Both churches were such an encouragement to us; and, hopefully, we were a blessing to them as well! God is so good to us!
As of now, we have nine meetings and no cancellations in May! Please pray for our health and safety.
Your missionaries to Uruguay,
Tim, Christa, Ethan, and Evan Simmons
