Video clip with Erv: | Click Here |
Highlights.
- Our end of year party for the students was a huge success! One student, Kira from Nepal, was so moved that he cried when he said 'thank you.' We had over 40+ attend. Everyone loved the Taco Truck. God blessed us so that we ended up getting the entire water park and tables all to ourselves.
- My wife has finished the massive application and pre-work to come on staff with me :) We should know her 'official' status in a couple weeks. She really took to all the material, the books and the essays she had to write. I think she may now know more about ISI than me.
- My wife and I are now meeting regularly with the ESL teacher and her husband to pray for all of the students. I believe there are over 100+ coming. I have over 40+ of their emails that I now communicate with and they attend one of our all of our weekly events.
- One of the students at the RC campus asked me to start a book club. We have added that as an additional meeting on Sundays. We chose Where the Red Fern Grows. There are plenty of references to prayer and the Lord in the book that we will get to talk further about :)
- 3 of my students are now visiting their home country- Russia, Iran and Mexico. They told me that they didn't want to stop our weekly meetings while they were away :) and so I have set-up regular Skype meetings for all of us starting this Sunday.
- For fun, I have started my own overview of the Bible page where I can keep track of what God teaches me in my quiet times.
- Our yearly fund-raising dinner with Arcade Baptist church went very well and we got all the $ we needed for the giveaway gift bags we give to all the international students at all the local 7 colleges. The bags have very useful things they appreciate and then lots of information about who we are and why we care for them.
- Another church has heard about what we are doing and invited me to have lunch with their pastor and their missions committee to brainstorm ways they can get involved :)
Lowlights.
- I needed to go out of town this last weekend and had to miss our first Book Club. My wife and the ESL instructor filled in for me but they told me no one came. Not sure what to make of this since it was the students idea and many of them agreed to the time and place.
- The students at the RC campus wanted to keep doing Talk Time through the summer but now that school is over their attendance has dropped.The FLC Talk Time remains as strong as ever. That really has become my 'core' group and I think much of the success we keep seeing is because of their commitment and passion.
Story 1 - Alec*
Alec* and h is wife Nadia* are both from Russia. I think they were professionals there as they seem very intelligent and astute. Alec is very kind, gentle and sensitive. He is a major reason our monthly picnics have been so successful. He sets up pages on FB for us, has brought and cooked food for all of us that he paid for, he finds a way to get a ride wherever we meet. He recently told us that him and his wife would be very happy to come to church with us. I think he would love to hear what Christ is all about since he already seems to embrace many of His same qualities.
Story 2 - Gia*
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Links
Donation: http://isiervthomas.weebly.com/donate.html
Metrics: http://isiervthomas.weebly.com/metrics
Nations in the US: http://www.ice.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Document/2015/by-the-numbers.pdf
FLC Club (FB page): http://www.facebook.com/international.life.flc
FLC Club (webpage): https://sites.google.com/site/flcinternationalclub/
My Talks: http://isiervthomas.weebly.com/my-talks.html
Pics: https://plus.google.com/photos/+ervthomas/albums/6053038271389882641
Prayer Requests
- For Megan*. That God would continue to show Himself to her and build on the experience she had with Him at Easter. That she would know for sure she has found the relationship with Him she desires. Pray for my wife to be able to follow-up with her soon and say the right things.<<Ongoing.>>
- That we can start an Alpha club (Bible study) with the students that are interested in learning more about the Lord. <<Ongoing. Maybe this is what I add to the summer program>>
- That God would help us get over the hurdle(s) in lining up the 20 Christian volunteers who will meet with and practice English with the FLC students.<<I am now at 4>>
- I can create 2 good Bible Talk Time lessons that cover the book of Revelation that would point the students to Jesus. I am happy they asked me to do this! It might be a challenging task but I am up for it :) <<Yes! I ended up emailing both lessons to all 40+ students on my distribution. I was a tad nervous as Revelation is pretty strong stuff but I asked the students and they said it was very interesting, as did the ESL instructor>>
- For Ana* and Zoey*. Like Megan* that God would start drawing them to Himself and making them aware of their need for Him. They are both great friends with Megan*, that perhaps Megans* seeking will inspire them to seek also. <<As mentioned above, Zoey* is now reading CS Lewis. Not sure what the next step is for Ana*, yet. She is the only one in her family that is at least open to all we share>>
- I am going to ISI's 5 day National Conference at the end of June...
Admonition
“He must increase, but I must decrease." - John 3:30