Dearest Friends,
WONDERFUL NEWS
I am so happy to tell you that our Nepali driver Dev asked Jesus Christ to be his Savior! God faithfully answered our prayers for this young man. Because he is from a Hindu family, I was very concerned about his decision to talk with his parents before he followed Jesus. Often in a Hindu family, they will disown their son or daughter who becomes a Christian. I really wanted Dev to face this potential problem with faith. On his way home from taking us to the airport, he decided not to wait, and trusted Jesus. I am very grateful for all of you who faithfully prayed for this young man. Please continue to hold him, his wife, and little baby boy in your prayers. Ask the Father to call his wife quickly to faith and give them both a deep hunger for His Word.
WHAT GOD DID IN NEPAL
I received a wonderful email from Pastor Tika Ram Baral after I returned home from Nepal. I knew that God was blessing our time with the children, but I never imagined how many children we actually talked to about Jesus! He informed me that we shared with more than 14,000 children. This is incredible!
He also wrote Sam and me a very sweet thank you note. I want to share with you some of his words. If you prayed for this trip or contributed financially to this trip, these thanks belong to you as well.
“I have no words to say thank you for coming to Nepal and sharing the Gospel with the children of Nepal. Do you know that you have shared the story of Jesus to more than 14000 children of Nepal! It’s amazing. My joys will know no bounds in heaven. I want to assure you of our daily prayers for you and your ministry. It gives me pleasure to inform you that Dev, our driver accepted Jesus Christ on the same day you left Nepal! Praise God! I look forward to helping him grow in the Lord. We really had wonderful time together. I look forward to meeting you and working with you again.”
THE MIDDLE EAST
I received great news from one of our teams in the Middle East. Pastor Shadi wrote to tell me that they had just used the puppets and equipment we left with them to do an Easter outreach at their church. He wrote, “Over 100 children and 20 parents attended. Many prayed when the invitation was given. Praise God!” Please continue to pray for this team as they minister in an area where more than 99% of the population is Muslim. Ask God to give them great wisdom and joy.
BALLOON FESTIVAL
When I am home, I do many shows in different kinds of venues across the United States. Three days after I returned from Nepal, we had a very special puppet show at a balloon festival in Menlo, Georgia. We were surrounded by rides of every description, including a large Ferris wheel. There were many booths selling a variety of foods and crafts. You would not expect to see a large crowd gather to watch a puppet show when they had so many other choices. I was amazed at all of the parents and children who came and sat on the ground to listen to the Gospel. The organizers of the festival were so happy with our program and the response of those who watched that they offered to delay the band that was to follow us in order to give us another opportunity to share. This is incredible!
We were given this wonderful opportunity by friends at a local PCA church who wanted to do an outreach in their community. Is there any place near you where you could imagine us doing an outreach for children? If so, please respond to this email! I still have a few openings for this summer.
PERU
In June, I will travel with a team to work in the Andes with the Quechua Indian children. We’re going to work in a new location in Peru, in the town of Huancayo. There is a Christian center there and the people are anxious to have good tools to work with their children. It will be our honor to partner with our friends at Runa Simi who have organized all of our previous trips to Peru. Please begin to pray for this time of ministry. If you wish to participate financially in this ministry to the Quechua Indian children, there is an easy way to do so through our website (https://theagapepuppets.org/donations.htm).
In Jesus,
Linda
