UPDATE FOR JULY
SATAN’S DESTRUCTIVE POWER SEEN AT MATELICA
We delayed writing this newsletter, because we were hit by a severe turn of events in our work here, which, seen only from a human standpoint, could set us back for some time to come. One of our church leaders was caught in the sin of adultery. This shocked people in our church with which he was significantly involved for many years. It turned out to be an inveterate sin that was going on for some time. When the church family confronted him, he came forward to confess his sin and request forgiveness for the damage his actions caused both to the church family and to our public witness. People in the town heard rumors of his affair with a woman in the group of which he is leader, but his public relations made this gossip unbelievable for a time. But now this bubble has burst and those who know of his religious connections can scoff about his church. However in his public statement, in itself emotionless, he did not formally repent and he keeps going back to his lover and abandoning his wife. He has not turned back to God, nor shown fruits worthy of repentance. So he is hurting and we request prayer that he might yet be saved, because he is really lost at this point. His wife is devastated too.
THE DEATH OF A DREAM. Like Martin Luther King jr, we too had a dream, a vision that we would leave our little congregation autonomous, under the native leadership of two of our men— and he was one of them. Now we are living with the broken pieces of what has happened. There have been Jezebels and Diotofes in the church since its beginning. Adultery and divorce may be the norm in a corrupt world and this pain and shame may not strike everyone as particularly serious. But where the embattled church is small, every victory for Satan brings grief to God and His people.
THE LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH IS NOT DEAD! He reigns on high and saw this thing coming and we can trust Him to lead us through it. We are reminded that it is He who continues to build His Church, and all the powers in the universe cannot stop HIM!
WE ARE ENCOURAGED because He has taught us to sing: “Does Jesus care? Yes, I know He cares, His heart is touched with my grief…”. “But until then, my heart will go on singing, until that day God calls me home.”
WE TREASURE YOUR LOVE AND PRAYERS ALL THE MORE.
Harold and Enid Fowler