October Prayer Letter

October 2015

Dear Praying Friends,

I remember starting our church with just two boys attending every Sunday.  When my wife took the boys to the Sunday School class room, I would sit in the empty auditorium and pray for their salvations and for the thousands of people in our city of Lagos that rejected Christ and His gospel.  It was a discouraging time and we labored for years with occasional visitors but only a few adults who came and went. We tried everything that had worked in the past but with no success.  We knew God had called us here and were determined to stay until He said it was enough.  All during this time, you faithfully kept praying and giving to keep us laboring here.

Until a year ago, space was not a problem.  Our small auditorium had plenty of seats to spare.  Now, with so many coming to services and four families taking our new members class, it has become a challenge to fit everyone in.  For two years, we have been praying for the storefront next to ours that is used as a paint warehouse.  It would make a great auditorium with enough room to triple our attendance and still have the original rooms for the children’s classes, for church fellowships and for activities.

During our VBS we got acquainted with the owner of this store front.  Please pray with us that we will be able to win him to Christ and if it is the will of God, that we will be able to purchase his store front to handle our expanding church.  Our Father knows our needs before we do and we are confident He will supply the need just as He always has.  But we also know that when you folks pray, God listens to your prayers; so we are asking that you join us in prayer for this situation. 

Thankful for space problems,

Mark Hale

September Prayer Letter

September 2015

Dear Praying Friends,

We were in the middle of our Vacation Bible School when the mailman showed up at the door of our church.  “I have a delivery” he announced while a shy 7 year old girl peeked out from behind his leg.  Visions of abandoned children being left on church doorsteps raced through my mind but then he announced, “Her father asked me to drop her off; she has been wanting to come all week but was too shy to come earlier.”  I breathed a sigh of relief and we welcomed her in.

Our Vacation Bible School ended last week and it was amazing what God did!  We had a total of 19 children attend during the week, many of them first time visitors!  We have many new contacts with families and children and are very excited by this level of interest from so many families here in Lagos.

We want to thank each one of you who prayed for this ministry and let you know that God is working as a result of your faithful labors in prayer.  Two children, G. and N., expressed interest in being saved, but neither wanted to take the final step and pray.  Please continue to pray for these two children and all the others who heard the gospel last week.  15 out of the 19 children confessed that they did not have Jesus as their Savior.  Our hearts are burdened that these precious children and their families would soon come to know Christ as their Savior and Lord. 

Bringing children to Jesus,

Mark Hale

To see the entire VBS 2015 album, please click HERE.

August 2015

Dear Praying Friends,

I had been sick all week with fevers, chills, muscle aches, and a racking cough that wouldn’t go away.  I crawled out of bed that Sunday morning with great difficulty and got dressed.   I felt even worse by the time we arrived at church.  Desperately,  I prayed, “Father, take over, I can’t do this…”  

God powerfully answered that prayer.  Four first time visitors arrived among our regular folks and we had our largest attendance ever!  God gave me the strength to lead the service and preach His word.  The presence of the Holy Spirit was evident.  It was one of those services where there was no doubt that God was in control. 

In the last two months, we have had more visitors than during the entire history of our church and most of them are continuing to attend services!  God is showing us that in spite of our weaknesses, in spite of the hardness of people’s hearts, He is still in control and has a remnant that desires to know Him and His Word in this ancient and wicked city. 

We now have six adults studying with us in our new converts/ new member’s class.  Please pray for A, J, M, J, I, and G that each one would faithfully attend, study and learn the basic doctrines that the Word of God teaches and become members of our growing church.

Praising God for our weakness and His strength,

Mark Hale

July Prayer Letter

July 2015

Dear Praying Friends,

The enemy’s attacks began weeks ago and continued until the last day of camp.  Every missionary that participated in our youth camp endured car problems, health issues, financial difficulties and last minute cancellations by lost parents suddenly filled with anxiety over their children coming to camp. 

The enemy was at work among the campers as well.  Every lesson and sermon was hindered by distractions too numerous to mention.  For the first three days, not one soul was saved, not one life brought closer to the Lord.  Yet we continued to pray and you, our prayer warriors, remained faithful in holding us up before the throne of God. 

Finally, near the end of the week, the walls of resistance and rebellion were broken.  The hardness of hearts and the distractions of the enemy came crumbling down.  Five precious souls were saved this week at youth camp!!  In spite of Satan’s attempts to discourage, distract and destroy, God won the victory!!

Thank you for your faithful prayers!  Thank you for laboring together with us to see this harvest of souls!

Working for the night is coming,

  

Mark Hale

June Prayer Letter

June 2015

Dear Praying Friends,

This month we reached three important milestones:

1.  We celebrated 30 years since I left the United States to begin my life as a missionary.  We looked back with profound gratitude and amazement at the almost 1,000 precious souls saved and the 9 Baptist churches that we have been blessed to establish. Each of those churches is self supporting and pastored by national pastors.  We have established three Bible institutes that each year teach and prepare over 120 in house students and another 30 to 40 online international students for the gospel ministry.  This is because we have the most faithful prayer warriors and financial supporters a missionary could ever have!  You have stuck with us through thick and thin and these results are fruit to your account!  We are honored to be your representatives here in Europe!

2.  We celebrated 28 wonderful and blessed years of marriage.

3.  We also celebrated the five year anniversary of the Windward Side Baptist Church in Lagos, Portugal.  This is our tenth church plant and is by far the most difficult we have ever attempted.  Recently, our attendance has doubled.  We have had more visitors these past four weeks than in any other month of the church’s brief history.  What is amazing with these visitors is that although every one of them is lost, they continue to attend services and listen carefully to the gospel messages and lessons!

PLEASE PRAY for J (an adult), J (a boy), B, D and her son, L, C and her daughter B, P, C, J and his family.  We know that miracles happen when you folks pray!  We are begging God for their salvations and for the continual growth of our church.  Also, please pray for many souls to be saved in our upcoming youth camp July 7-11. 

We are humbled by your faithfulness and thank God we are blessed to labor together with you to reap the harvest here in Europe. 

Mark Hale

May Prayer Letter

May 2015

Dear Praying Friends,

The pastor had been having abdominal pain for the last week but the doctor misdiagnosed those warning signs as an ulcer.  Three days later, the pastor’s appendix ruptured, yet this dedicated man continued to minister to his people in spite of the agony because he thought it was just an ulcer.  After two days, he passed out from the pain while teaching a new members’ class at church.

Rushed to the hospital he was only given a 5% chance of survival.  On the operating table the doctor said, “It is a miracle you are still alive, you must have some influence with the Man upstairs.”  The pastor smiled through his pain and said, “No, I am simply a servant of the Almighty God and my life is in His hands.  I am ready to go to meet him, are you sir?”  The doctor mumbled uncomfortably and administered the anesthetic. 

Pastor Lenildo Monteiro pulled through and is recuperating well, praise the Lord.  He pastors our sister church an hour and a half away. Praise the Lord for pastors who are faithful, even to the point of death!  Please pray for his complete recovery and for me as I pastor both of our churches in his absence.  He was able to attend a service recently and thank the church for their prayers, but his recovery will take a while. 

So much work here in Portugal, yet so few workers….

Working for the night is coming,

Mark Hale

April Prayer Letter

April 2015

Dear Praying Friends,

Many of you have asked recently about Michele’s hospital outreach ministry.   She is still sewing 20 stuffed animals every month and donating them to the Lagos city hospital.  So far she has made and given away 277.  Each stuffed animal comes with a tag identifying our church and giving contact information.  Through this ministry, we are getting to know the hospital staff and several of them have asked why we do this.  As a result, praise the Lord, we have had opportunities to share the Gospel and invite them to church!  

Recently, a lady called Michele out of the blue.  Cristina works at a local daycare and saw a stuffed doggy one of the little boys in her class had received in his stay at the hospital.  She looked up the website on the tag sewn on the toy, found our phone number, and called my wife.  Cristina was participating in a charity event and wanted the dog pattern so she could make some for the event.  Michele shared the pattern but also sewed 10 dogs to help.  My wife was able to meet Cristina when she delivered the stuffed toys to her.  They had a good conversation and Michele was able to answer her many questions about our church and why she would help total strangers.  

We just never know the eternal impact of one stuffed animal, one kind word, one Christ - like action.  May God help each one of us to not only talk like Christ, but to act like Him, to love like Him and seek to reach the lost like Him.  Thank you for your prayers for us, for our ministries and for Cristina.

Seeking to reflect Him,

Mark Hale