Year End Report 2002

Posted December, 2002

Dearest Friends,

2002 YEAR END REPORT

Thank you for all of your prayer and financial support this year! God has poured His spirit on your faithfulness! We have trained and equipped puppet teams in 2 regions of Mexico, planted more teams in South Africa and Ukraine, and resupplied existing teams. By His grace, we shared his love with more than 30,000 thousand children around the world and saw hundred’s come to faith.

We also worked in the United States in many churches, schools, shelters, camps, vacation Bible schools, youth prisons, and on the streets. More, we trained short term mission teams to work in Peru with children whose parents died for the Gospel, in Russia at an orphanage where they have never heard the Christmas story, and in Ukraine in schools and orphanages. This year we accepted summer interns from England, Mexico, and Northern Ireland in addition to our regular USA team members. This is a great way to train people to work in their own countries more effectively.

CHRISTMAS TOURS

This has been a very busy month as we welcomed hundreds of children and adults into our home to see the Christmas trees, play with the toys and hear about Jesus who is the hope of Christmas. They came from public schools, private schools, families, churches, and ranged in age from the very young to the very old. One teenager, after a tour, asked me, “How can I know for sure that when you die, you will go to heaven?” Many little ones just wanted a hug, someone to love them. One little boy told me that he loved my house. I smiled and told him that I loved it too and that I hoped that everyone who visited here could feel the love of Jesus. He stopped, slowly looked all around and then said, “I feel it!”

Who tell a child about Jesus, when that child comes from a non-believing family? Please pray for us as we finish this week of tours, sharing Christ with mentally handicapped children, senior citizens, and children from a private school.

LOCAL PUPPET SHOWS

Also, we shared with a puppet show this past week, for parents of severely handicapped children and in another show for Chinese adults at a Christmas banquet in Atlanta. It was our first time to sing in Mandarin Chinese. These were incredible opportunities that your prayers made possible!

PLANS for 2003

As the year finishes, please pray for us as we are busy planning to begin or enlarge work in 8 countries in 2003.

Slovakia and the Czech Republic…January Sharing Him who is the Bread of Life with Gypsy children who spend 2 weeks out of the month rummaging in trash cans for food.

Mexico…March Working with the excited Christians of Yucatan and sharing with the Mayan Indian children.

Malawi…May teaching at the African Bible College and sharing Christ with thousands of orphans, many of which lost their parents to Aids or famine.

Scotland and Northern Ireland…June Sharing Christ in a place that has forgotten the great truths of God’s word with children who no longer know who Jesus is.

Taiwan…September sharing with children who find their comfort in possessions or false gods.

USA… Year round ministry from Georgia to Pennsylvania in prisons, inner-city areas, churches and summer camps

Please ask the Lord for team members and financial support for these efforts. We would be happy to meet with your mission committee concerning the work of The Agape Puppets and how you can become a part of it. We would especially love to visit your church and do a puppet show for your community.

PRAYER & PRAISE:

Linda’s throat surgery (for sleep aphnea) has completely healed and she is sleeping much better. We (the puppet team) are not sure if we can survive a fully rested and energetic Linda.
Mike’s skin cancer surgery on his nose was successful and is healing well.
The engine died in our “new” 1989 van that we bought in October. After a new engine, radiator, brakes and other repairs, we are back on the road.
David Thomson’s arm (from England) is healing after he broke it while living with us in the US. He is back in England for Christmas with his family and will rejoin Linda in Slovakia in mid-January. Pray that healing will be complete by then.

Hold us in your prayers!

If you haven’t looked before, check our the web site. More pictures and stories to come…

Love in Jesus, Mike and Linda Summer