Dear Friends & Family,
The people who live in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the shadowland
of death, light has dawned. (Mt 4.16 CSB)
I was reminded recently of a story passed on by Dr. D.James Kennedy, founder of Evangelism Explosion International. Reading it isn’t the same as hearing it with his oratorical voice, still I was encouraged…challenged again. It will encourage you, too!
The Old Lamplighter
Have you ever visited a historical village where a lamplighter lights the street lamps at night? If you have, then you can relate to what Sir Henry Lauder, a famous Scotsman of the turn of the century, saw as he watched a lamplighter one evening at the Hotel Cecil: “I was sitting in the twilight at dusk, and a man passed the window. He was the lamplighter. He pushed his pole into the lamp and lighted it. Then he went to another and another. Now I couldn’t see him. But I knew where he was by the lights as they broke out down the street, until he had left a beautiful avenue of lights. You are lamplighters! They’ll know where you’ve been by the light you have lit.”
Christ said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12) and “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). All of those in whom the Light of life—Jesus Christ—burns brightly must bring light to those who sit in the shadow of darkness so that upon them the wondrous light of Christ might shine. We are the lamplighters! The darkened lamps are the lives and souls of lost men and women who sit in sin’s dark night, far apart from God’s life and light. The flame is Jesus Christ burning within our hearts through His Spirit. The pole is the presentation of Jesus Christ.
Are you a lamplighter for Christ? Have you touched the dark world with the Light of Jesus Christ, encouraging lost men and women to “catch fire?” The world will know where you are—what you believe—by the lights you have lit. Ask God to teach you the joy of spreading Christ’s Light in a dark world.
Last week we complied the results…fruit of our first 2025 trimester:
- Eight 1-day Share Your Faith Workshops with 342 participants, representing 18 churches.
- Five 3-day training clinics with 43 participants, representing 12 churches; 57 people heard the Gospel and 36 prayed to receive Christ, while the 43 clinicians were being trained to explain the Gospel in real-life situations. Spiritual multiplication!
- Thirteen training events in as many weeks! EE-Brazil is off to a great start in 2025! Praise the Lord!
Thank you so much for your prayerful support of our family and ministry! Your partnership continues to make it possible for us to serve through EE-Brazil, and we are grateful beyond measure! Below you will find a link for a secure Online Giving portal, as well as an address for gifts to be mailed in for our missionary support.
About eight weeks ago, Mary Jo suffered a compression fracture of the L5 vertebra. Her follow-up x-rays last week were positive, showing signs of healing of the fracture. Please pray for bone strengthening, relief from the pain, the beginning of physical therapy in early May and her complete healing.
We pray that you will have a rewarding Easter season as we contemplate all that Christ’s resurrection means to us as believers! (1 Corinthians 15)
Together for a changed world,
Robert & Mary Jo Foster,
Missionaries with Be One Together, Serving Evangelism Explosion-Brazil
* Atualidades a Portuguese word that means news or up to date information. We want you to have the latest information in order to support us in prayer, as well as financially when the Lord leads/enables. Thank you!