Greetings all,
We trust you had a very Blessed Christmas and that you will have a Happy New Year 2023! The Wana believers look forward to Christmas every year and this year was no exception. In fact, this year was a special year as many were celebrating Christmas with a “new meaning” for the first time in their lives.
This was true in the village of “Lone Rock” as many have come to know the Lord as Savior in the last few months. The new church there decided to hold their Christmas service on the eve of December 19. They invited people from other church groups to come and many others also made their way to Lone Rock to celebrate with them. A couple of weeks prior, they asked me if I would be willing to bring the message for their Christmas service via live stream. I agreed to do this and we all prayed that the “Wi-Fi” system would behave and give us a good signal. The service started at 6:00 p.m. their time which meant 4:00 a.m. my time.
It was a short night but an exciting time for all. They estimated about 500 people present, of which many have not come to a clear understanding of the gospel. Praise the Lord the Wi-Fi system worked great. I was able to follow the whole service from beginning to end, which with the visiting afterward turned into 3 hours – the service itself was over 2 ½ hours filled with group singing, special numbers, scripture reading, and yours truly. And, yes, they were sitting mainly on hard wooden benches, plastic chairs, and on the ground. The only comments I heard about the length of the service were, “It sure didn’t seem that long”.
It has been a special blessing for me to be a part of this new outreach and to see firsthand what the Lord is doing in their lives. Thank you too, for being a part through your prayers – the Wana evangelists continue to express their appreciation for those praying for them. Below are a few pictures of their first Christmas together.
Ed Casteel
Church Planting Asia Pacific
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