June Prayer Letter

June 2026

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

Sometimes God shuts a door and we just don’t understand why. With Western Europe suffering the worst heat wave in years, the decision had to be made about whether to go ahead and have camp. But with temperatures ranging between 103F to 109F, the risk to both campers and adults was too great. So, with heavy hearts, camp for 2026 was cancelled. (Please bear in mind, this camp is outdoors in tents, not in air-conditioned buildings.)

 

Each church is holding special activities for their children and youth (ours included) and we are trying to make these events fun but also a time for evangelism and Christian growth. It is not the same as camp, but it is the best we can do under the circumstances.

 

Thank you, each and every one who prayed for camp this week!! Your prayers have not been in vain. With each special activity, it is our prayer that the lost will be saved and the saved will be drawn into a closer walk with Christ. Only in eternity will we understand why God allowed this to happen, I am so very glad we can trust Him completely even when we don’t understand!!

 

Trusting in His wisdom,

 

Mark Hale

May Prayer Letter

May 2026

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

Please remember to pray for our upcoming youth camp on July 7-11. It is always a time of unrelenting heat, much work, little sleep but many precious souls saved and lives changed (which is why we do this every year!) 

 

We are taking three young people with us this time. Please pray for them:

1. One young lady is saved but really struggling with living for the Lord. She has made some serious mistakes recently in her quest to be accepted by her lost classmates and friends. We are praying she repents of her carnality and falls in love with Jesus all over again.

2. One young lady is religious but lost and mistakenly believes her good works are all that she needs to go to heaven. Her father recently passed away and she is reeling from the loss. Our prayer is that she will be saved this week and return to witness to her lost family.

3. One young man has made a profession of faith but it is clear that he is not truly saved. He attends services but sleeps through the sermons. Our prayer is that he will understand religious works and repeating prayers cannot save anyone and that this week he will truly come to Christ and be saved.

 

We KNOW that you are prayer warriors and are confident that with you lifting up these youth in prayer along with us, that God will work miraculously and have His perfect will done in each life.

 

Praying for victories,

 

Mark Hale

April Prayer Letter

April 2026

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

I am still surprised and a bit shocked. After an almost two year long struggle to renew our permanent visas, our paperwork was finally approved and we are now waiting to receive the cards in the mail! Why did this finally happen? Because you prayed without ceasing for this vital prayer request!

 

We are so humbled and thankful for you, our prayer warriors, who bring us before the Lord in your daily prayers! So many of you just kept on praying in spite of the hopeless looking situation! In our modern culture of instant gratification, you fought against that current and kept on praying with us for this important renewal in spite of how long it took! THANK YOU!!

 

Thinking of you dear friends, I am reminded of James 5:16b “...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Your unceasing prayers in spite of the spiritual opposition and lack of visible progress availed MUCH! It is truly our honor to represent you here in southern Portugal. May God richly bless you for your faithful ministry in prayer!

 

So thankful for your prayers,

 

Mark Hale

March Prayer Letter

March 2026

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

In 41 years as missionaries, we have never had this happen. Almost two years ago, we began what we thought would be a normal renewal of our “permanent visas” but this has been anything but “normal”. The new government agency now in charge of this has been backlogged with over one million people waiting for documents. After months of fruitless attempts, we finally got an appointment and went with all the required documents. Then, we waited and waited, but most importantly, asked you to pray.

 

After months of silence, the government website showed that Michele’s application was approved but mine was still being “analyzed”. Yesterday, my application status was finally approved as well!! Hopefully, we will soon receive the new permanent visa cards in the mail.

 

THANK YOU for praying for this impossible situation!!! Only God could make this happen and we are so grateful to you for faithfully remembering this in prayer! Your prayers made all the difference!!

 

Thanking God for answered prayers,

 

Mark Hale

February Prayer Letter

February 2026

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

“Oh, brother Mark, I am just too busy to read the Bible every day.” “Oh pastor, I have difficulty reading, the Bible is just too hard.” Trust me when I say, I have heard most of the excuses for not reading God’s word. None of them are valid, but people try to convince themselves they are.

 

She is 61 years old and cannot read. Because of poverty, she went to work instead of school. She has survived all her life but has been severely limited in the kind of work she does. We had the privilege to lead this precious lady to Christ last year and the first thing she wanted to know, was “how to read the Bible” with her inability to read. 

 

Michele helped her download an app onto her phone that allows her to listen while the Bible is read. Every morning, she listens to the Word of God while she drinks her coffee and eats her breakfast. She didn’t try to make an excuse, even though she had a valid reason for not reading the Bible, but instead, her hunger for God and His word led her to a modern solution to her difficult problem. Praise the Lord for a new Christian who instead of making excuses, found a solution to have God’s word daily in her life!

 

Praising God for His word,

 

Mark Hale

January Prayer Letter

January 2025

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

At times I wonder if anyone is really paying attention. I study, I pray, I practice and I preach, but sometimes weeks go by and little happens. I begin to question myself, to examine my heart, to ask God if the problem is me. I have preached for over 48 years and the responsibility is always heavy on me. I used to deal with a gripping terror of public speaking, now my fear is that I will waste the opportunity God has given me to preach His word.

 

When Covid came and our church was not allowed to meet in person, we began a video ministry for our homebound church folk. Soon, others heard of our videos and requested we do them in English as well as in Portuguese. We now have almost 1500 videos on our church website and we continue this ministry to this day. People in 15 countries watch our videos and we are amazed at how God has grown this ongoing evangelistic tool.

 

Recently, a church in Brazil asked if we could send them the sermon links so they could watch our videos when their pastor cannot be there to preach to them. I was encouraged at how God is using this technology for us to minister across oceans and on different continents! Only God knows how He will use the teaching and preaching of His word to reach our world for Him. Thank you for making it possible for us to minister here in Portugal and in 15 countries across our world!

 

Amazed at our God,

 

Mark Hale

December Prayer Letter

December 2025

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

The pain woke me at 4 that morning and within a few hours had grown to burning agony in my lower back and abdomen. I recognized it, kidney stones. I have had these twice before (a genetic family “blessing”). In spite of seven years of avoiding foods and beverages which can cause these types of stones, I was suffering a third attack. We finally were able to see my doctor and he prescribed a CT scan which revealed a large stone blocking my left kidney. Surgery was scheduled and the stone was removed, praise the Lord.

 

My recovery has been frustratingly slow but I am making progress. Even more changes in diet and beverages, Lord willing, will keep me from suffering a fourth attack of kidney stones. I have a second surgery scheduled in February to remove the stent left in for a couple of months to help recovery of the

affected kidney.

 

We have two important prayer requests:

1. Please pray with us that my kidneys will recover and function properly. I just had blood work done but it will be a week before the results are in so that we can know whether or not my kidney function is recovering.

2. Michele’s permanent visa was approved but mine is still rejected. We have turned in all additional paperwork they demanded, but it has been months of silence.

 

Thank you so very much for your prayers!!!

 

Mark Hale