Pictures of Silas

Our apprentice term is starting to come to a close. We only have 4.5 months left before we prepare ourselves to return to the United States. We are currently in the process of finishing up our final projects and of receiving our final evaluations. Our time of working in Europe has definitely been an eye opening experience. The opposition to the g0spel here has been a major challenge to our work. Many people not only reject the g0spel, but they also oppose the message of J. Some would even go so far as to say that our message is evil. The opposition seems to come from both the adherents of Isl@m and Atheism. From the perspective of Isl@m, J was merely a prophet. They reject the concept that J is G0d and that he died on the cr0ss for s*ns. Therefore, when we teach that J died for s*ns and that he is worthy of w0rship then we are committing the s*n of idolatry. Chr*stian missi0naries, according to Isl@m, are leading people away from the true path and onto the path of eternal condemnation.  Atheists, on the other hand, believe that we are inconveniencing people's lives by trying to persuade them of something that has no basis in reality. They believe that our views are oppressive and harmful to mankind. They also like to point to the many woes that religi0n has brought to the world. You might be able to imagine how people who hold to these perspectives respond to us when we approach them with our message. Not all Atheists or M*slims hold a position that is this strong against our message, but there are a significant number who do. Reaching out in such an environment is naturally challenging, but that does not mean that the Father is not working in people's lives here. We saw a South Asian man pr@y to receive J this week. This man just recently moved to Europe in order to go to school. He connected with us shortly after arriving. He comes from a Chr*stian background and he was raised in ch*rch, but he came to the conclusion that his f*ith was not personal. We talked him through how one can receive the forgiveness of s*n and the acceptance of the Father. He immediately wanted to pr@y to receive J. Our hope for him is that he will continue to open himself up to d*scipleship. It would be wonderful to see him become a fruit bearing Chr*stian.

Lena's pregnancy continues to progress well. She is 29 weeks pregnant as of today. We are hoping that we can keep baby Simeon in the oven for 11 more weeks.  

Pr@yer Requests:
1. That Lena's pregnancy would continue to progress well.
2. That this new South Asian believer would continue to desire closeness with the Father and would develop into a fruit bearing Chr*stian.
3. That we would continue to meet people who are ready to receive J and who will develop into leaders.