Dear Supporters,
I thank the Lord for you and the fact that you continue to support the ministry the Lord has given our family. I know that it is not easy for anyone financially these days, which is why I am even more grateful than usual. I just wanted to remind you of what you are doing and how you are helping this ministry.
Some of you may have been aware that we had been having van problems with our smaller van for a while. I had been working on our small van that belongs to my mother and had replaced a number of things I thought were contributing to the problems we were having with it misfiring and lurching up hills. Just when I had reached the end of my ability to repair the van we received a check in the mail from one of our supporting churches. To make a long story short, the van is now running great! Thanks to your prayers and the church that sent us the money, which was enough to cover 2/3 of the repair cost, we now have a running van. Many people have expressed thanks for the Bible studies lately. Juanita went through Malachi and I am now teaching 1 Corinthians. We have some new pastors coming to the study and lately we have had a lot of youth attending. I really try to make it interesting for them and deal with issues they have to deal with. A number of times, on my way to picking up and dropping off attendees, a group of the youth ask me many questions. It gives me a golden opportunity to answer their questions and encourage them in their faith. Many of them attend public school here and are dealing with issues of being taught by unbelievers. I appreciate the time I have while picking people up to discuss issues and answer additional questions that arise in the Bible studies. It is not uncommon for me to be on the road for an hour and a half picking people up and an hour or more dropping them off. Please continue to pray for Pastor Graceful and his wife Bila. She continues to convalesce from serious problems that left her feet and hands black and gangrenous. She has had some improvement and would appreciate your prayers. So far the doctors have not had to amputate and it has been many months now.
I want to leave you with this prayer in these uncertain days:
Lord, I would trust Thee completely; I would be altogether Thine; I would exalt Thee above all. I desire that I may feel no sense of possessing anything outside of Thee. I want constantly to be aware of Thy overshadowing Presence and to hear Thy speaking Voice. I long to live in restful sincerity of heart. I want to live so fully in the Spirit that all my thought may be as sweet incense ascending to Thee and every act of my life may be an act of worship. Therefore I pray in the words of Thy great servant of old, "I beseech Thee so for to cleanse the intent of mine heart with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace, that I may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee." And all this I confidently believe Thou wilt grant me through the merits of Jesus Christ Thy Son. Amen. (A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit Of God, The Sacrament of Living, Chapter 10)
In His hands,
Sandy Simpson
P.O. Box 1759
Pearl City, HI 96782
Email: ssimpson@hawaii.rr.com
Blog: http://simpsonfamilynews.blogspot.com/
From Juanita ...
God called us to minister to the Micronesians now residing temporarily or permanently here in Hawaii. Why do Micronesians come here from their islands? There are a number of reasons, but the most prominent and obvious is their need for health care. The health facilities in those small islands leave much to be desired. For instance, there are no dialysis machines there except in Palau. So when a Marshallese, Chuukese, Kosraean or Pohnpeian suffers from kidney failure, he has 2 choices: come to Hawaii or die! We found that those staying here need encouragement. comfort, prayer and Bible teaching. And so there developed a visitation ministry. The other great need we found was for deep verse-by-verse study of the Bible, especially for the pastors and church workers. And so we began Bible Studies.
We are very thankful for the ways in which the Lord is blessing the Bible Studies each week on Tuesday and Saturday at our house. The attendance has increased. There are 50 or more attending each week. Of these, 7 are pastors. The rest are men, women, and young people. Most come with their Bibles, eager to learn and sometimes asking questions. One woman whose husband has to work at night tapes each lesson for him. Sandy and I take turns teaching. I just finished teaching Jonah and Malachi, and now Sandy is teaching I Corinthians. We copy our teaching notes and pass them out to everyone so that they can reread and study them further at home, or use them in ministries of their own.
Certain things that are happening encourage us to know that God is at work instilling His Word deeply into the hearts of those who attend the studies. One is that people feel free to call us up whenever they are stumped in their personal Bible Study or sermon preparation. They call to ask for further explanation of a passage they are studying. Others call just because they need someone to pray for and with them. In recent weeks I have been asked repeatedly to order a commentary for someone from Christian Book Distributors. They carry a big variety of Bibles and other helps. The people at CBD must wonder why this lady is ordering so many commentaries! Others have asked me to order large print Bibles for themselves, or small teen Bibles for their grandchildren. I rejoice to see God’s Word being taken seriously!
We have seen God wonderfully answer prayer in the lives of people I have been visiting. Let me give you a few examples from recent weeks. Ponet had breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy and chemo treatments. The doctors in Majuro and Hawaii all told her she would die. But she loves the Lord and we visited weekly and prayed urgently for her. She is much better and has returned home for a few months. Ashton is a young man who fell under a city bus. His hand was crushed under the wheel. His hand is healing, but he still needs the Lord. Bila came very close to death and ended up with gangrene in her foot and most of her fingers. It looked like amputation would be necessary. She is still bed-ridden, but the gangrene is slowly disappearing. We love to sing praise to the Lord when I visit her before studying the Word and praying together.
Billy was very close to death when he arrived here from the Marshalls. He was suffering from severe kidney failure. When we first visited him he looked very bad, was on oxygen and IV. A few days later I visited him in the hospital again. I could hardly believe the change. He said it all started when we prayed. “To God be the glory!” was what Cathleen and I were singing as we headed home down the halls of the hospital. Juaier is a high chief in an area of the Marshalls. When he got here the doctors told him they would amputate his arm that was full of infection. His wife refused and we prayed. He still has his arm and it is much better. Pray that he will give his arm and his heart to Christ as I have urged him to. Liklol had bypass heart surgery. He wept as we rejoiced together in God’s love and mercy at rescuing him before it was too late. Please pray with us that our love and God’s powerful and comforting Word will produce much fruit for His kingdom.
“God is not unjust. He will not forget your work, and hthe love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.” Heb. 6:10
Gratefully yours,
Juanita Simpson
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