August Prayer Letter

August 2019

Dear Praying Friends,

The restaurant had just closed, and the front door was shut and locked. She had just begun cleaning when the man arrived.  Yelling as he beat and kicked on the front door, he finally broke through and then began to scream, “Jesus, save me from the demons!  Only Jesus can save me now!  Oh God, save me from the fires!  Jesus, save me! Can’t you see the demons?!”  The man, overdosing on narcotics and possessed by demons was dying.  She watched in horror as he passed from this life in terror and torment. His face, even in death, was a mask of fear and pain. His eyes, though no longer seeing, were fixed on the horrors only he could see.

She came to services last Sunday looking haunted and terrorized. She listened to my message and immediately came up to talk with me after the services. She recounted this traumatic situation and said she could not sleep nor could she stop thinking about that man and what had happened to him.  Her eyes were haunted, her face revealed the trauma she had suffered.  But as I talked with her, for the first time in over 12 years that we have known her, she confessed that she was not saved.  After I had her read some Scriptures, she bowed her head, confessed her sins and asked Jesus to forgive her and save her.

Her eyes are no longer filled with fear, she has peace that only God can give. Please pray for her and her husband.  He is saved and God has recently called him to preach, but where there was conflict before, please pray that now, through Christ, there will be unity, true love and a submission to the Lord and His perfect will.

Only our God could take such a horrible situation and turn it for eternal good!

 Mark Hale

June Prayer Letter

June 2019

Dear Praying Friends,

The three-and-a-half-hour drive went by as if we were in molasses. Anticipation made every kilometer seem to drag by in slow motion. I had just had abdominal surgery a week before, so Michele and our dear brother, John, did the driving. Finally, we made it to the Lisbon airport. His flight had already landed so our wait was short. Then, as if in a dream, our beloved son, Joshua appeared, pushing the luggage cart and grinning from ear to ear.  The reunion was sweet, the hugs were long and the tears of joy fell freely.  It had been a long school year, but our son was home again with us after completing his second year at Heartland Baptist Bible College. 

In May, during the graduation services there, Joshua was given a scholarship award for this next school year in acknowledgment of his encouraging spirit and help to other students.  We were blessed and proud that our son was publicly recognized this way.  Praise the Lord!  Joshua has been called by God to be a Baptist church planter in the state of Oregon.  He has two years of studies left and then he will, Lord willing, be doing a three-year internship in a great church near Portland, Oregon where he will learn how to minister in that area of the Lord’s harvest field.  He is excited about his studies and what God is teaching him.

He has already preached 10 times in the month he has been home and will preach another 10 to 15 times in our two churches and in a new church plant during the rest of the summer. He preaches fluently in English and in Portuguese and our folks love to hear him speak.  They are proud of what he is doing and how he is following the Lord’s call on his life even though it means he is far away most of the year. Thank you for your prayers for Joshua and for us! I am 80% recovered from the surgery last month and by the end of the summer, I am hoping to be back to 100%, praise the Lord!!

Thanking God for our son,

Mark Hale