Dear CCW Family,
The commanding statue of Lenin in front of the Communist Headquarters building towered over us as we walked by. We entered this imposing building in what was then called Kosice, Czechoslovakia. In a short time, the building was packed with a thousand intrigued listeners, including the mayor of the city, and the television crew for the evening News.
“You’ve taken the curse off this place,” the mayor said, indicating that many people had been sentenced to die by policies enacted from that very room. The stark presidium was all you would think it should be. Covering the bust of the former Communist leader was a banner proclaiming a message about the cross. From the side, you could see the tip of the nose of this huge head of their most famous Communist just barely touching the joint of the cross on the back of the banner. It was a symbol to those who hung it. Musicians Ron and Patricia Owens sang beautifully, and I preached the gospel to a room so crowded it was standing room only. The people cheered for their freedom. The wall was down and a new liberty had come!
That was 1989. We planned our ministry trip when the walls of Communism were still up, but arrived just after they had come down. Wherever we spoke, the buildings were crammed with people, for these were the first open meetings for Christ in 45 years.
Freedom. I love it in a country, though we are losing it rapidly here. Freedom. We have it in Christ, and that cannot be taken away from us. Freedom from sin that came from knowing Christ is why one lifelong inmate in a Colorado penitentiary told me that since knowing Christ he had been freer inside the prison than he ever was outside.
We preach such a freedom through Christ in this ministry. How thankful we are to have this ministry and privilege of preaching freedom through Him. Thank you so much for your prayers to see this accomplished.
Last evening I saw again some of the outreach of the ministry that we often never hear of. Missionaries Trevor Johnson and Paul Snider in Papua, Indonesia told me of the use of many of our articles as tracts that have been translated and passed out by the thousands there. Websites with varieties of articles have their effects, most of which will not be known in our lifetime. These articles usually get multiple thousands of reads. How can we explain that except by God’s goodness?
We will soon begin our summer Muller Center Study on John 6. By the time the weeks are over, the participants will have read the 71 verses of that great “Bread of Life” chapter at least 25 times. Insights into the passage will come freely as we study, and the passage will have a life of its own in us for the years to come. On August 21 we will begin our regular.
Muller Center studies. This year we will meet in the evening in 9-week blocks. We hope to include more interested people this way. The first segment is on Joshua, Judges and Ruth. The second will be on Acts and the third, in the spring, will be on First and Second Samuel. Locals may join us for any or all of these segments. Check our website or contact us for updates coming soon.
We will also continue to travel over the summer and into the fall, with several important trips in view. Selamab Assefa and Steve Burchett, for instance, will travel again to Ethiopia, and I will take several stateside opportunities. Please pray for us about this.
Thanks so much for your love and encouragement along the way. God is up to something good.
With Joy,
Jim Elliff