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| Dear Praying Friends, As I sit to write this six month prayer letter, I am reminded of how good God is. When I look back to our first service with only eight people, I am humbled to see where God has brought us. We are now averaging between 30-40 each Sunday. Just last month we had three people walk the aisle to join and this past week saw four saved in our Sunday service alone (Sabrina – 14, Paige – 12, Tyler – 10 and Andrew – 7 all were brought by a lady in our church, talk about rewards in heaven through the bus ministry!). Our church has been able to take on a couple of missionaries and we have started receiving some support from the church, also. My family and I were able to travel back to our sending church this month to preach a graduation service. While gone, I had a “fill-in” preacher preach for me. When we returned, most of our people said, “he was good, but he wasn’t you.” That is very humbling and encouraging to my soul. I am honored that God has chosen this young preacher to lead this flock into bigger and better things for Him. Debbie is coming along fine in the pregnancy. She went into early labor near the end of last month, which was frightening. God is good, though, and the doctors were able to stop the contractions. She is getting very close now to having our little girl, Naomi Brynn Martin. Keep Mom and baby in your prayers. We are hoping to be able to go to June 13, but are just not sure if that will happen. Next month, here at Gateway, will be our Victory Month! We are going to try to break all our records in Sunday School and our AM Service. Pray that God will bless. We have just ordered new tracts that are nice, attractive and a great tool in inviting people to visit our church. Thank you for your prayers and support. In His Service, Pastor J. Martin |
| May Prayer Letter May 18, 2008 |
| Naomi Brynn 9 weeks old |
| Dear Praying Friends, Wow! What a summer. I trust you have had as wonderful of a summer as we have had here at Gateway. First off, let me start by giving you a run down from the month of June. June was our Victory Month here in Ellisville, and what a month it was. On June 9, my wife gave birth to Naomi Brynn Martin, weighing in at 7lbs. 4oz. and 19 ¼ in. long. She arrived a couple of weeks early, but all went well. June 29 was our Victory Day with 30 people in Sunday School and 41 in our morning service! Praise the Lord! July was busy with a trip back to our sending church in Tennessee to conduct Vacation Bible School. We saw nearly 150 enrolled with about 20 saved! Upon returning back in Mississippi, we were able to begin renovation of one of the rooms in our church. Our “Mother’s Room” is up and ready. We also, have been in preparation for the opening of our new Christian School. Gateway Baptist Academy will begin operation on August 19. Also, during the month of July we saw several people saved, one of which is a 17 year old girl who has been coming for a few months. My wife and I had been praying for her for some time, and during the invitation she raised her hand for salvation, came forward, and accepted Christ as her Saviour! Praise the Lord! The very next service, she brought a friend to church with her. We are still seeking to purchase a van for the ministry here at gateway. If you know of any church or individual who may be interested in selling one, we would love to know. We are very grateful to Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, here in Ellisville, for allowing us to use their van for our VBS this week. So far, we have nearly 50 enrolled and 5 saved. Our next prayer letter will have all of the stats from the VBS. In Christ, Pastor J. Martin |
| June/July Prayer Letter |
