July Prayer Letter

July 2024

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

He gravitated to the “bad kids” group, was constantly testing the camp rules, got called down for talking during services and was not receptive to the word of God in our daily lessons together. He scowled at everyone and complained about everything. Ten year old, L. was doing his best to be “bad” but God was working in spite of the boy’s plans.

 

As the week progressed, he got in trouble a few more times but he became more serious as he heard the Word of God taught and preached each day. Finally the last night of camp arrived and God worked in a miraculous way. After a powerful message was preached, the invitation was given and 20 children and teens came forward. L. was among them. 

 

I took him aside and asked why he came forward and he said, “Because I want to be saved, I don’t want to go to hell!” I went through the Scriptures with him and asked if he wanted to confess his sin and trust in Christ alone to save him. By this time, tears were rolling down his cheeks and he just nodded. For five minutes in prayer, this repentant boy listed every sin he could remember and asked God to forgive him of those and any he forgot. Then he said, “I sure hope you keep your word, Lord, because I am trusting you to save me.” God saved that boy that night. The next day, instead of a scowl, there was a huge smile. He ran over and gave me a hug as he prepared to leave. “Thank you for telling me about Jesus!” he whispered. 

 

In total, 17 precious souls were saved at camp this year! Praise God!!!

 

Rejoicing in the Harvest,

 

Mark Hale

Morning service.

Evening service.

Working the camp store.

Mark holding Michele's coffee.  🤣

The campers' tents.

 

June Prayer Letter

June 2024

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

He had worked hard all day and was looking forward to getting home to his

wife and children. His thoughts drifted to the warmth and comfort of home,

that is, until the flashing lights got his attention. Why was the police officer

pulling him over? He had not been speeding, nor driving erratically, what had

he done to be stopped?

 

The police officer stood at his window and asked for the typical identifications

and documents. Then the policeman informed him that the rear lights on his

van were not “functioning properly” and it would be a 300 Euro fine. Money

was tight with four mouths to feed and this was not welcome news, the pain

was evident on his face. The police officer paused and then said, “Look, I will

write this down as something else and it will only cost you 50 Euros, you just

have to sign this ticket.

 

He paused for a moment, it was tempting, all he had to do was sign the

officer’s paper and save 250 Euros. But then he shook his head, “No, officer, I

cannot do that, it would be lying. I am a Christian and I cannot lie, even if it

costs me the 300 Euros.” The policeman was stunned, he had never

encountered this before. Finally, he looked at this strange man and said,

“Never mind, just go on home, no ticket today.”

 

Thanking God for a young Christian’s honesty and testimony,

 

Mark Hale

May Prayer Letter

 May 2024

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

I had been invited to speak at a church that we had helped to establish 35 years

ago and as I preached, the congregation listened closely. I could tell there were

some there that day who were not saved and whispered a prayer that the Holy

Spirit would draw them to Christ. As I ended my sermon and gave the

invitation, a lady came forward and received Christ as her personal Savior!

Two others were saved and we rejoiced for what God had done in their lives!

 

Only the Lord knows the future and whether a person will ever have another

opportunity to accept Christ or not. This young wife and mother who had

come forward and was gloriously saved found out just a month later that the

cancer she had fought off years before had returned and spread into her bones.

The doctors are not optimistic about her chances of survival, but we thank God

that whether she survives this battle or not, she will be with Christ for eternity!

 

Thank you for making it possible for us to minister on your behalf and see God

work His miracle of salvation in so many lives! Please join us in prayer for this

young woman, that whether in life or death, the Lord Jesus Christ would be

glorified!

 

Thankful for God’s salvation!

 

Mark Hale

April Prayer Letter

 April 2024

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

He was faced with a very difficult choice. If he took the job they offered, his financial worries would be a thing of the past, but he would be out of church every Sunday. If he didn’t take the job, his wife and small children could go hungry.

 

He is a young husband and father and hasn’t been saved very long. He and his wife are soon to be baptized and become members of our church here in Lagos. Because of their faith in Christ, they have endured hostility from lost family members, suffered the rejection of former friends and now are facing financial trials. He took a big step of faith in the Lord and turned down the job for a large chain of stores because he said, “It would not honor the Lord for me to miss church just for money.” I was amazed at the spiritual growth and maturity he was showing. Four days went by while he wondered if he had made a mistake.

 

The fifth day came and three new job offers came in and none of these jobs require him to miss church! For the foreseeable future, he will be busy working and providing for his growing family (they have another child on the way) but he will be in church and still studying with me in the Bible Institute. His example has spurred others in our church to take that same step of faith and ask God for a job that doesn’t take them out of church.

 

Praising God for growing faith,

 

Mark Hale

March Prayer Letter

March 2024 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

He was a volunteer. While many (including myself) waited uneasily for the call, he followed Isaiah’s example and simply said, “Here am I, Lord, send me.” My father-in-law, Dean McClure, spent the past 60 years serving God; first in the US and then for the last 58 years as a missionary to Brazil.

 

Dean learned the Portuguese language fluently and spoke like a Brazilian. He immersed himself in the history, culture, sports, food, music and mindset of the Brazilians. As a result, he was very effective in his ministry to that nation. The McClures established 20 Baptist churches which are all under national leadership and financing and still faithfully preaching the gospel. They established a Bible Institute where many pastors, preachers, Christian workers and their wives have been trained. They won thousands to Christ and what is absolute proof of the value of their ministry, while the first generation they won and trained are passing off the scene, the children and grandchildren of those pastors and their wives are now leading those churches and establishing more!

 

God called Dean McClure home to be with Him April 4, 2024. We are sad for us but rejoice for him! He was faithful to Christ all the way to the end. In the hospital, he witnessed to doctors and nurses, at home from his wheelchair, he made sure that the pastors and their churches had thousands of tracts for evangelization. His burden for the Brazilian people and his love for the Lord Jesus Christ were clearly evident in his life. Our world is still in great need but the laborers are few. What about you? Would you be a volunteer? Would you trust the Lord and say, “Here am I Lord, send me.”?

 

Thankful for the volunteer,

 

Mark Hale

Dean and Deloris McClure in 1966, just before leaving for Brazil

The McClures in 1982

Dean McClure preaching in 2001

Deloris and Dean in May 2023

February 2024

February Prayer Letter

 February 2024

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

He was scheduled for a procedure that Friday, so asked for us to come over to see him. We had a good conversation and since he was a bit nervous about the upcoming hospital visit, we had a time of prayer at the end. He gripped my hand and said, “I am looking forward to Sunday!” Why is that? I asked not sure what he was referring to. “My procedure is on Friday but on Sunday, I get to go home!” he answered with a smile.

 

His procedure went well and all seemed fine; he was stable and scheduled to go home on Sunday. But on Saturday night, he closed his eyes in the hospital room and opened them to his new eternal home in heaven! That Sunday, he was able to worship the Lord in person!

 

None of us know when the date of our departure will be. If we knew that our departure was this Saturday night, how would that affect our choices for the rest of this week? What would we value differently? How would we talk and what would we do knowing that our departure was this Saturday night? David said it best in 1 Samuel 20:3 “...there is but a step between me and death.”

 

May each of us value the things that are of heaven and not the things that are of earth. May we all honestly say, “I am looking forward to Sunday!”

 

Life is but a vapor,

 

Mark Hale

January Prayer Letter

 January 2024

 

Dear Praying Friends,

 

Years ago, I knew a pastor who had spent 13 years in the gulags of Russia for the testimony of Christ. He said, “When they arrested me, the first thing they did was take away my Bible. It wasn’t long before I realized how little of God’s word I had because I had not memorized much of the Scriptures. I vowed to the Lord that if He ever allowed me to be freed, I would memorize as much of the Bible as I could so that the next time I am imprisoned, I will have more of God’s Word with me!”

 

His testimony convicted me; how much of God’s Word had I memorized? How much of the Holy Scriptures would I have if they confiscated my Bible? I determined to strive even more to memorize God’s Word while I had the opportunity. I recently read that the only Bible North Korean Christians have is what they have memorized and passed on to other believers. In the Communist translation of the “Bible”, the names of their dictators replace God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit!

 

As we begin this new year, may we each value God’s Word as the eternal treasure that it is! May we strive to read and obey the Bible daily and memorize more and more of it so that we can share the good news of Jesus Christ with our dark and hopeless world!

 

So thankful for God’s Word!!

 

Mark Hale