Two Baptisms in Two Weeks

Actually, it’s been baptism number six and number seven for us here at the Long Island Church of Christ since the start of our Harvest Campaign in mid June. I personally have baptized these two souls and it was such a privilege doing so.

William, pictured here with Bob, was baptized July 9th. His two brothers and sister-in-law, Dora, are deaf and have visited the church. Dora is a regular in the deaf ministry. William and his family have been coming to church on and off for about 5 years. Finally, William decided to put on Jesus in baptism (Gal 3:26-27) and has been added to God’s family! He speaks English and Spanish and will focus more on the Spanish work of the church.

Iris, who is also Ismael’s sister, was baptized July 19th. Her husband Pedro had been baptized before our summer campaign began and Iris had been visiting us for a while, also being a regular at our house church in Queens. Finally, yesterday after services she expressed desire to die to her old life and give herself up for Jesus and join Him in His death, burial and resurrection through baptism to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3-4)!

Now Iris is Ismael’s sister twice, but much more so now that she is a true sister through the blood of Jesus!

Welcome these souls into the kingdom of our Savior next time you see them! May God be praised and New York City inundated with the saving and powerful Gospel of Jesus!

Romans 1:16 ESV  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Another souls added to the Kingdom in El Salvador!

Friday, May 8/2009, suddenly, I received a telephone call in my home, from Mr. Ángel Menjivar Rivas, who asks me if I am the preacher of the Church of Christ in Quezaltepeque, which I respond to positively.

Mr. Menjivar says to me that fifteen years ago he began to study the Bible Correspondence Course “What Does the Bible Says? ”, but only studied until the sixth lesson (I clarify that for at that time I was the Director of those courses), nevertheless, he indicates to me the desire to visit the church, and expresses his desire to take with him his family to the worship meeting.

Sunday, May 10^th, he listened to the class and the sermon very kindly; later he said to me that the following Sunday he would bring his family. Next Sunday, May 17^th, he came with his wife and four children, whose ages are between 20 to 14 years (two boys and two girls).

Sunday, May 31^st, Mr. ANGEL MENJIVAR RIVAS, a man of 50 years of age, was baptized for the forgiveness of his sins. Brother Angel has not stopped congregating, accompanied with his wife, and almost always the four children. We are also working on them that they also come to the Lord. We request your prayers for him and his family.

For the Cause of Jesus Christ,

Alexander & Silvia Castellanos

City Harvest Campaign 2009

City Harvest Campaign 2009 (formerly known as Conquering Queens for Christ) was outstanding. Words can not begin to describe the enthusiasm and joy that filled the brothers and sisters who hit the streets of Elmont, Valley Stream, and Queens County. Everyone's faith was taken up a notch as we sowed the Gospel on Jamaica Ave. which turned out to be "ripe for the harvest." Each night ended with the Team and some of our new friends having dinner and a Gospel presentation while the kids (ages 3-14) participated in their own bible classes (a pre-vbs environment). After three days of evangelizing we had two new souls added to the body on Friday, our new brothers Hiram (who will be attending the Spanish Church at Far Rockaway) and Douglas. On the fourth day we held a community BBQ inviting all our new friends to eat with us. On this day there were many gospel conversations being had with our new friends and God gave us more than we could ask for or imagine with those conversations turning into bible studies being held on the second floor, ground floor and six in the basement. Some who we met those four days have visited bible class and/or are actively learning more about the Gospel.  Following are some pictures from amongst the many hundreds that were taken during the event. May God be praised as we continue to declare the saving name of Jesus!

- Rob Young

Our new brother Hiram with Jaime and Manuel from the Far Rockaway Church

 

Troy and our new brother Douglas Friday, July 3

Pre - VBS

Kids ready for the pre-VBS

City Harvest Campaign Team Members

Our new brother Hiram after his baptism

Another souls gets baptized in India!

Once again, God has blessed our humble efforts and gave us this wonderful opportunity to share this "GOOD NEWS" with you.

We are much delighted to inform you this report of 1 precious soul from Tribal community obeyed Gospel and baptized into Christ. We are so thankful to our co-laborers in the Lord who are putting on their best efforts to reach the unreached in these Tribal forest areas. We appreciate the dedication and hard work of our Tribal preachers who preached gospel to this man belongs to Koya Tribe, also had many Bible studies since few months. On this Saturday 28th June, we have conducted a gospel meeting in Nemalipeta tribal village and Bro. David Daniel and I are invited as guest speakers. We preached on topics "The Church Jesus has built" by Brother David Daniel and I preached the on topic "Why I am a Member of The Church of Christ".

For the cause of Christ,
Chorlian K. Samson - Associate Minister
Sathupalli church of Christ

Another soul added to the Kingdom in Long Island!

Hello kingdom saint!


The Lord has added a new soul to His Church! After Wednesday night Bible class, Chris was baptized into Christ! I met Chris a few months back singing karaoke. I introduced myself as a Christian and minister and we started to talk about life. Chris was going thru struggles and I kept reminding him of the importance of knowing and following Christ. Eventually, Chris needed a place to stay so I offered my home (which is really the Lord's) and he moved in around February. We studied for a bit but the studies stopped. I wanted to make sure that if Chris were to become a disciple, he would do it because of his love for the Lord and not because he lives with a Christian. Since he has a good voice, I asked Chris if he would like to sing lead on one of the songs on the Friday Devo CD (Open The Eyes Of My Heart). He said "Sure!" So, I had him sing lead (so for those of you who have the CD, you can hear Chris on that song!). My goal was to allow the song to minister to his heart -- Open the eyes of my heart, Lord was an appropriate song! hehe Well, after our brother Charlie preached on commitment on Sunday and after experiencing the fellowship at Dave’s house during our last Harvest Saturday campaign, Chris told me that he realizes that he needs to commit to Jesus and obey the gospel! He said to me: "I need what you and those in the church have!"

I had Chris look at the DVD so that he can be sure if he is ready to become a disciple! After viewing the DVD, he said "I am ready!"  Pray for Chris' growth, now that he is entering "the wilderness" to be tested! He is very sociable and loves being around people. Pray that the Lord uses him in a mighty way -- he already wants to be part of the next Harvest campaign! I'm going to encourage him to try to get some people interested in learning more about the bible -- he works in the Iron union. With new converts, its good to start them with the focus of making disciples and even taking them out to evangelize!

Lets keep on sharing Jesus! Time is short and moving fast and there is no time for us to waste! When we find ourselves in our Father's business, we experience His joy within, even when life gets hard! But remember, there is eternity to face: and we want to be with the Lord forever and bring as many as possible with us!

"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible"... 1Corinthians 9:19 (NIV)

Because He lives,
your brother, Bob

Using Your WM Phone as a BT Modem

I’ve been trying to figure out for the longest how to use the internet plan I already pay for on my cell phone to surf the internet from my laptop without having to purchase another internet plan just for that!

Well, I found this excellent article online recently that shows you just how to do that and it worked beautifully! I was able to use the internet and wirelessly at that in the Caribbean on a recent trip where internet is tough to get.

The article begins talking about pairing your laptop to your phone. Of course you will need to get a USB BlueTooth dongle which is relatively inexpensive.

After pairing your devices then you have to set the type of connection for your internet sharing using an app called “Internet Sharing” on your phone. That’s the critical piece I had been missing. Once you do that it is as easy as pie to connect and begin using that expensive data plan you already pay for on your phone. 

The full article

Summer Harvest Campaign 2009

"Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest'" (Matthew 9:37-38 ESV)

After Jesus made this statement, He sent His 12 disciples into the harvest. Why did Jesus say the laborers are few? Because they are not being sent out! We all need to be sent out into the field as per the Lord's instruction! For this reason, the goal of the Spring-Harvest Campaign was to encourage every disciple to heed the Master's call to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19), proclaiming the gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15).

The past three Harvest Saturdays have been a great encouragement! New disciples, like Peter K. and Paulette I., along with older disciples, were hitting the streets of Central Islip, sharing Jesus with the lost; even praying with those who were going through difficult times in their lives! Some have agreed to Bible studies and some have even come to Sunday worship!

Many of the disciples shared with me how their participation in this event has encouraged their hearts! I shared with them that whenever we fulfill our calling as disciples, we find ourselves experiencing the joy of the Lord! The last thing Satan wants us to make disciples. He will try everything in his power to keep us from evangelizing. Complacency and idleness promotes discouragement and dissatisfaction! But being in our Father's business spells JOY: (J)esus first; (O)thers second; (Y)ou third!

People need the Lord! And each time we encounter the lost with the hope of the Gospel and the love of God, they encounter Jesus, because "as He is so also are we in this world!" (1John 4:17 ESV)

They say a picture paints a thousand words. Here are some of the disciples in action -- taking Jesus to the streets!

George and Lisa sharing the Gospel

Carolyn sharing the Gospel with a lady

David sharing the Gospel in Islandia Shopping Center

Pedro sharing the Gospel on Suffolk Avenue

Bob sharing the Gospel on Suffolk Avenue

May God continue to send out His workers into the field! The harvest is plentiful!