April Prayer Letter

April 2012

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

The elderly farmer and his wife sat forlornly looking over the destruction of their crops.  Brown, shriveled and stunted, their winter cabbage and cauliflower plants resembled dirty softballs.  Months of drought and extremely low temperatures had wiped out countless hours of back breaking work.

 

We have witnessed to this couple over the years and slowly gotten better acquainted.  We have shared food and time with them and my heart broke to see them there.  Slowly, he lifted his head and saw me standing on the edge of his field.  The burden of his loss weighing heavily upon him, he struggled with his emotions before he could speak.  “It’s all gone…we’ve lost it all.  What the cold left, the drought killed.”

 

The possible bankruptcy of Portugal has had a cascade effect.  Jobs are disappearing, the economy is slowing down and taxes continue to increase.  Now the weather is forcing many who were barely paying their bills into hunger, despair and financial ruin.  Please pray that we will be able to balance the desperate physical needs with the all important spiritual need of each Portuguese. We are praying that through this bleak and hopeless crisis, the apathy of the people here will become a hunger and thirst for salvation in Christ.

 

Laboring in His fields,

 

 

Mark Hale

March Prayer Letter

March 2012

Dear Praying Friends,

There are times when I wonder, “Why bother witnessing?  No one wants to hear, so why should I keep trying?”  Recently, I asked myself that very thing after once again, trying to be a witness in actions as well as words.

The grandmother’s old car was on the side of the road with a flat tire and she had no cell phone to call for help.  I stopped and offered to change her tire and she cautiously accepted.  She had no tools to undo the clamp holding her spare tire, but I had the right ones and within twenty minutes, her car was road worthy again. 

She thanked me and I gave her a tract and invitation to our church.  She looked at the pamphlets and scowled and began shaking her head.  Handing them back, she simply said, “No thank you” and got in her now functioning car and drove away without a backward glance.

Cleaning my hands while I murmured, I asked myself why I bother.  But the answer is so clear – because Christ died for every person and they need to have the opportunity to accept him or reject him.  That is why we are here and why we will continue to witness to this lost and darkened city.  This generation will not be able to say they did not have an opportunity to hear the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ.

This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine…

Mark Hale    

February Prayer Letter

February 2012

Dear Praying Friends,

I drove up to our church building still rejoicing over the wonderful service we had just had the previous Sunday with two first time visitors.  The five young men blocking the front door of our church, however, were not rejoicing.  I greeted them and asked to get through, but they simply stared belligerently.  After an uncomfortable minute or two, they sullenly allowed me to work my way through them and open the church door.  They walked out to the parking lot and disappeared from sight.  I dimly heard a popping sound but didn’t think much about it. 

After working for a while, I began wondering about that ominous sound.  I went back outside to find my car covered with obscene and insulting graffiti and the driver’ side rear view mirror destroyed.  We have gotten used to cleaning spit off our church windows and cleaning up the trash left in front of our door, but this was a new twist.

I drove to the carwash in a haze of confusion and hurt.  I didn’t even know those guys, why did they do this?  As I got out of my car, an angry man ran up yelling, “I was next, you cut the line!”  I immediately apologized and offered to back out, but the man’s demeanor changed instantly.  “No, that’s ok, it is enough that you apologized.”  I quickly washed my car and parked. Going back, I inserted the coins into the machine for the man.  “Why are you doing this?”  He asked.  “You are much different than all the men I know, what makes you so different?”   There in the car wash, I shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with him.

Later, I realized that if those teenagers hadn’t vandalized my car, I wouldn’t have been at that car wash at that moment, to share Jesus Christ with this man.   Only God could take an act of hate and turn it into a beautiful opportunity to share the love of the Savior.

In awe of God,

Mark Hale

January 2012 prayer letter

January 2012

Dear Praying Friends,

As the time for the service arrived, no one had come.  All the labor that Michele and the boys had put into the bell choir, all the invitations that had gone out, all the doors that we had knocked on, all the prayers that had been offered now seemed in vain.  This morning, the church sat empty except for our family. 

I stepped out onto the front walk, squinting into the distance, hoping to see someone who was coming, but the streets remained devoid of movement.  “Well Father, it is in your hands” I prayed, feeling a wave of sadness engulf me.  Then in the distance I saw them coming.  My heart began beating wildly; we were actually going to be able to share the good news of Christ’s birth to people here in Lagos, Portugal!!

We had eight in our services that morning, two adults for the first time!  Not only did they enjoy the Christmas bell choir, but they listened intently to the message I preached.  All of them stayed for the time of fellowship after the services and thanked us when they left.

We were thrilled that these folks had come and were humbled by the faithful prayers that so many of you had offered.  We truly count it our privilege to be your representatives to the Portuguese people and be able to share with them the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

Proclaiming the Savior,

Mark Hale 

December prayer letter

December 2011

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

I had spent hours walking up and down the cobblestone streets of Lagos, passing out invitations to our services and talking to the few who would listen.  My feet hurt, my back hurt and now of all things, it began to rain.  Wet, cold and murmuring under my breath, I finally made it back to the church building and decided to do some work there before going home.  “Might as well do something worthwhile” I grumbled out loud.

 

That is when the three boys, Gonçalo, Rui and Tiago showed up peering in through the windows.  I invited them in and the curious young men entered and immediately began asking many questions:  “What is this place?”  “What do you do here?”   “Do you celebrate Christmas?” In answer to their questions, I gave them the plan of salvation and some gospel tracts which they read and put in their backpacks.

 

Although I had spent hours in what appeared to be wasted effort, God used the rain to get me back to the church building just in time to accomplish His will.  Please pray for these three and for all those we have invited to our special Christmas service; that they would come and hear about the Savior and why He was born so long ago.

 

Praising God for showers of blessings,

 

 

Mark Hale

November prayer letter

November 2011

Dear Praying Friends,

For two weeks in late October and early November, I had the privilege of returning to Lithuania to teach seminars for the Bible college students and pastors there.  In 2000, I helped found the Bible Baptist Institute with four students. By 2006 when God called us to Portugal, the institute had grown to 30 students from seven churches.

Since that time, this ministry has been growing under the faithful and godly leadership of pastor Audrius Sinkevicius.  The Bible Baptist College now has close to 100 students in three locations (in the cities of Vilnius and Kaunas in Lithuania and in Riga, Latvia). I taught over 40 hours to the assembled students and visiting pastors and was thrilled to see their passion for God’s word and their desire to know the Lord more closely!

I was also blessed to be able to preach three times in various churches and teach in two youth meetings.  On my final evening there, the young people listened closely as I taught a very simple lesson on John 3:16.  At the close of my lesson, I gave the invitation and two teenage young men accepted Christ as their personal Savior, PRAISE THE LORD!!!  What a way to end my time back in Lithuania!!

I returned weary in body but rejoicing in spirit, determined to continue plowing and planting in the hardened soil of Lagos, Portugal.

Thanking God for the harvest, wherever it may be!

Mark Hale 

October prayer letter

October 2011

Dear Praying Friends,

On Oct. 1st at one in the morning, the Lord woke my mother up and burdened her to pray for our safety. Soon, my father and sister had joined in the early morning prayer meeting.

Thousands of miles away, at that very moment, we were preparing to leave on a short trip that couldn’t be postponed.  We had six hours of driving ahead of us, but Michele and I felt something bad was going to happen.  We didn’t know if it was car problems, crime or an accident waiting for us, but we both were very concerned about this journey.

Yet, that evening when we returned home safely, we wondered if we had been mistaken in our concerns about the trip.  It wasn’t until the following day that we discovered the miracle of the prayer warriors who had given up much needed sleep to pray for our safety.

Down through the years, we have been blessed numerous times when our dear family or supporting pastors and churches have stopped what they were doing, interrupted services or given up sleep to pray for us.  These prayer warriors have prayed at key moments and opened the floodgates of God’s protection, blessing and power upon our lives and ministries.

We are truly blessed to have faithful families and supporters who labor in prayer for us!  I am convinced the vast majority of victories that we have enjoyed on the mission field have been a direct result of God’s people praying for us.  Thank you for heeding heaven's wake up calls and praying for us!!

Humbled and thankful,

Mark Hale