Newsletter

GOSPEL MINISTRIES TO CHILDREN

JEFF WALLER, GENERAL DIRECTOR * P. O. BOX 3613 * SAN ANGELO, TX 76902

Office: (325) 947-7405 * Home: (325) 650-6919 *email: jeff@gospelministriestochildren.net

NEWS UPDATE-SEPTEMBER 2011

This is actually kind of funny! During the summer, our team spent a week in Juarez, Mexico doing ministry with Alfredo Tabares. We had a great week of ministry and saw many children believe on Jesus as their Savior during the week of Bible Clubs. When we arrived at the International Bridge, I was surprised to see that the line was unusually short. I was glad to see this and was excited that we might be getting back to San Angelo early. Everything was going well until we arrived at the U. S. Customs border station. The border guard asked to see each of our passports as they always do. He looked at mine first and immediately noticed that I had 2 visas in my passport from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. That is when things headed south! I tried to explain that I was a “Christian” missionary and not Muslim. By then they had our baggage out and first asked to inspect mine. In my briefcase, I had forgotten to take out a file that had all of the travel arrangements from my trip Pakistan earlier in the year. As the guard opened my briefcase, the first thing he saw was a file with the words “Pakistan Travel Plans” plainly written on it. It went downhill from there. The next question they asked is if anyone else in the van had been to Pakistan. Unfortunately, my son Jeffrey had gone with me a year earlier. Both Jeffrey and I were led away to an interrogation room and were handcuffed to steel chairs that were bolted to the floor. After further interrogation and fingerprinting, they discovered that Jeffrey and I were not terrorists. In the meantime, our entire team was made to sit in our van, without the motor running in very hot conditions. After about 45 minutes, they were glad to see us returning and Jeffrey and I were glad to be out of handcuffs! In hindsight, the border guards were just doing their job and treated us very kindly in spite of our inconvenience. I will be traveling back to Mexico this weekend to meet with Alfredo. Hopefully, I will not experience this again!

We have made the most of this year’s summer vacation season, conducting evangelism events nearly every day from the first week of June to August 14th. We spent 10 weeks conducting Vacation Bible Schools, a summer camp at the Gospel Ranch and two face painting evangelism events. We had 830 children enrolled in our Vacation Bible Schools and Camps. We know of at least 86 children who put their faith in Jesus as their Savior at these events! We also conducted large scale face painting evangelism events in both San Angelo and Lubbock on July 4^th resulting in more than 1000 children hearing the gospel message. Several decisions were recorded at these events.

One downside of conducting ministry at the Outreach Center and Gospel Ranch is the huge utility costs we incur. Last month we paid more than $1,100.00 in electric bills. As of today, our account is near zero and we have almost $1,600.00 more in electric bills due in just a few days. We also have a payment of $1,300.00 due now to renew our liability insurance. Pray with us that God will meet these urgent needs. If you want to help, you can click on the “donate now” tab on our website www.gospelministriestochildren.net or simply mail in a donation.

This summer, we again partnered with the Texas Hunger Initiative and local churches to provide a summer feeding program for children at the Outreach Center. July 5-August 18^th, the schools were not providing meals for children. As a result, many children are left hungry. The Outreach Center was open each week day, serving free lunch for boys and girls. We are also able to share the gospel with them and invite them to Vacation Bible School. About 85 children are attending. On the weekends, my home church, Lifepoint Baptist, is providing “take home bags” of non-perishable food items for the children. We are hoping to get many of these children to regularly attend the Outreach Center this fall.

December 16-21, we will once again be distributing Christmas gifts to needy children in the border region of Mexico and in Pakistan. WE NEED YOUR HELP !! IT IS OUR GOAL TO DISTRIBUTE AT LEAST 2500 GIFTS! Instead of shoeboxes, we are now using clear jumbo sized Ziploc bags. This allows for easier visual inspection at the border. You can donate toys, hygiene products, school supplies or other gift items in bulk if it is easier. Donations of money are also needed to purchase gifts in Pakistan and pay for expenses in Mexico. It is more cost effective to purchase the gifts in Pakistan.

…some gift ideas are: school supplies, toys (dolls, toy cars, balls, etc.), candy,

…do not include: used or second hand items, weapon type toys, aerosol cans, glass bottles, medications or vitamins, breakable items out of date candy or items or items that will spill or melt.

If you are interested in coming with us to Juarez, Mexico…let us know. Limited space is still available.

This is a note I received from Almas Bhatti…(Family pictured) “How remarkable this is to let you know that God enabled us to conduct our yearly Children Gospel Trip today. We started off our journey at 10am, we picked up children from Nishtar Colony, and there were gathered over 100 children for the trip. We put the new ministry banner in front of the bus, so people could know about our gospel trip. After getting in park, firstly, we conducted the Bible Club there. We began it with prayer, this time we told children two stories from Elisha’s life. Rafaqat shared with children the first story which was regarding Elisha’s Authority. After first story Gohar came up with a game, and he asked questions from this story. Children participated in this game and answered the questions attentively. After this game, I told children another Elisha’s story that was about oil and widow. After completing this story, Saba guided children in memorizing the Bible verse, it was Hebrew 13:17. As I called to those children who had not yet accepted Christ as their Lord and personal savior, I remember, six children raised their hands and sincerely accepted Christ as their Lord in their hearts! We provided children good lunch with some other eatables. After our Bible club, children played games, went for ride, they really enjoyed a lot spending time in Park. We are thankful to God for making our Children Gospel Trip 2011 very successful”. It is amazing that he is able to share the gospel in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pray for Almas and his family as they risk their lives daily to share the gospel message.

November 11-16 Jeff in Illinois picking up Christmas gifts for children in Mexico