2014 January Prayer Letter Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. - Proverbs 3:5 Joshua & Lois Ormsby Read the Bible with simplicity and without preconceived notions. -Told to a Catholic priest who was searching by a Baptist pastor RECENT BLESSINGS We hope that this letter finds you beginning the New Year growing in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many of our friends and supporters sent Christmas offerings to us, and we were touched by your love and affection. Thank you! This past month we were excited to see God give us another supporting church. The LORD is so good, and His blessings are far more than we deserve. SOUL SAVED ON VISITATION A couple of weeks ago on visitation with our home church, I had an open door to give the Gospel to a teenager. He saw the truth of God s Word and trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour! Praise be to God that gave the increase. God s Word is the power that all of us need, whether for salvation, for sanctification, or for anything else in our Christian life. All we have to do is apply It in our own lives, and give It out to people. INDIA TRIP We will be leaving for our trip to India on February 3rd, and will be there for five weeks. This will be a wonderful time for us to participate in missions work through working with Lois family there. The LORD has wrought a great work there, with many Indians being saved and baptized, many Bible-believing churches being established, and many Christians learning to live a dedicated walk with God. Please pray for us that we will learn all that we can on our trip to India, and grow more fit for the Master s use while we are there. We will have opportunities to see the Word of God given to the Indian people through preaching, discipleship, and other outreach ministries. PRAYER REQUEST Lois health has deteriorated again recently. We are grateful for all of you that pray for her faithfully, and would ask you to keep her in your prayers, especially during our trip to India. She will have some medical tests done while we are there; we are looking for God us give us some clarity and direction for her health through them. Our God is all-powerful, and we know that we can trust Him not only in this matter, but in all things pertaining to this life.
2013 November Prayer Letter Great is our God... 2 Chronicles 2:5 Joshua & Lois Ormsby No prayerless church (or missionary) can transport a praying religion to foreign lands. William Booth MEETINGS REPORT This past month was extremely busy for us on our deputation trail. We started off by traveling from TX all the way up to PA, and then remained in PA, OH, and NY for most of the month before traveling back home to FL. We were blessed to present our ministry in 7 different churches in October, with 3 of those meetings being missions conferences. Also, 3 more churches have partnered with us! Thank you for your zeal to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ reach the Italian people. It s missions conference time! This international dinner table was decorated by the wonderful people at Annsville Baptist Church in Peekskill, NY, whose conference we were honored to participate in. ALMOST 2 YEARS OF DEPUTATION The end of 2013 will be the two-year mark since we began deputation. At this point, we wish we were ready to pack up and leave for Italy right now! However, because all of our support is not yet raised, we realize that God has a purpose for keeping us in the States this long - if nothing else, He still has lessons we need to learn before we get to the field. We look forward to the day that we will be able to announce reaching our support goal - and we pray that day will be much sooner than later! In the meantime, though, we especially thank our supporting churches and individuals for their faithful prayers and financial support. Without your current support, we would not be able to continue raising the rest of what we need! Praise God for your faith and His provision through you. We will continue to raise our needed support within the LORD s timetable, working with anticipation towards ministering in Italy. SO MUCH TO THANK HIM FOR Truly we have much to thank God for. Here are some of the blessings we have received from our loving God: Lois improved health this year Family that loves and supports us Safety along the 75,000+ miles on deputation A Saviour who always loves, always cares, and always watches over us
2013 October Prayer Letter Every good and every perfect gift is from above... James 1:17 Joshua & Lois Ormsby God s glory is and must forever remain the Christian s true point of departure. Anything that begins anywhere else, whatever it is, is cer tainly not New Testament Christianity. A.W. Tozer SEPTEMBER REPORT We spent September on the west side of the United States, with meetings in CA, AZ, NM, and TX. It was a blessing to meet these churches and pastors that are concerned with fulfilling the Great Commission! In September, we had six meetings in CA, one meeting in AZ, one meeting in NM, and one missions conference in TX, making a total of 9 meetings. Also this month, three new churches took us on for support! Praise the LORD for His provision through these new partners. We are awed when we think of the sacrifice that our supporting churches make on a monthly basis for us, and we are so very grateful. A SPECIAL BLESSING These new churches partnering with us brings us to an exciting mark on our deputation trail - we are now over 50% of our needed support! Officially, we are at 52% of our support goal. We praise God for the encouragement of passing that halfway point - it is things like this that remind us that God is bringing us to Italy in HIS timing! FAQS In our travels we are often asked certain questions that we might not have shared yet in our prayer letters. We wanted to include some of the answers to these questions in our prayer letters so that you may pray for us more effectively! How many churches have you been in? As of the end of September, we have had the privilege to be in 113 churches, all across the United States. When are you planning to leave for Italy? We would like to be in Italy in 2014, LORD willing in the summer. Will you leave before reaching 100%? No - we will wait until the LORD has given us 100% of our support goal. What will you do during your first term? We will first live in Rome for 6-12 months, working with an established missionary already there, learning the culture, and finishing up our Italian studies. Then, we will move to a town called Viareggio, near Pisa, that has no church or Gospel witness whatsoever. It is there I feel the LORD is directing us to plant the first church. For the King of Kings!
2013 September Prayer Letter Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more... Romans 6:9 Joshua & Lois Ormsby Worry corrodes our faith; gratitude strengthens it. Paul Chappell MEETINGS REPORT We did a lot of traveling on the road this past month, and are grateful that the LORD has given us safety and provision along the way. Our meetings this past month brought us either to or through FL, SC, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, and CA! This is the beginning of our longest trip yet on deputation, and we are happy to report that our trip has started off and continued on well. Already on this trip we have presented the ministry in seven churches, with one of those times being a five-day missions conference in CA that was an incredible blessing to our hearts. We were excited to feel the spiritual intensity that the church had about the cause of world-wide missions. While with them, we participated in their fall soul-winning kick-off, in which 194 soul winners took part! All across the country, we are meeting Christians that are passionate about their relationship with Jesus Christ, fervently seeking to glorify Him through their lives, and sacrificially seeking to obey the Great Commission. These fellow brothers and sisters in Christ have stoked the passion in our hearts for the cause of missions, growing our fervor for the souls of Italy. As the Bible says, Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. Proverbs 27:17 MINISTRY NEWS We were blessed to have four new churches partner with us in the month of August! Our thanks go to these dear people who have caught the vision of the Gospel of Jesus Christ reaching Italy. We were also blessed with several unexpected love offerings, for which we are deeply grateful. It overwhelms us when we think of the goodness and grace of God we are experiencing on our deputation trail! In August we passed over an exciting milestone that brings joy to our hearts and wonder to our minds when we see what God has done. This milestone is the 100-church mark! We have been in 101 churches, with our meetings spreading across 17 states - all the way from RI down to FL, and now out to CA. All the glory goes to God and His ever-abundant provision! 2 YEARS TOGETHER On August the 20th, we celebrated a very special day. It was two years ago on this day that we joined our hearts and lives in marriage to serve God together. We have seen God s power and strength in these past two years together, and it has given us faith that God can do anything and taught us that no difficulty or problem is too big for God! UPCOMING PLANS Right now we are in sunny CA, and we have seven more meetings in this state before we start to work our way back east. On our way back east, we have meetings scheduled for the rest of the month in AZ, NM, TX. Thank you for all of your prayers and support! For the King of Kings!
2013 August Prayer Letter The word of God is not bound... 2 Timothy 2:9 Joshua & Lois Ormsby Once in Christ, in Christ for ever, Nothing from His love can sever. C.H. Spurgeon MEETINGS REPORT July was a busy time for us - busy, but good! Since our last prayer letter, we finished off our meetings in the northeast with a wonderful time at 2 churches in PA and NY, and then drove down to FL to finish off the month with 2 more churches in the central FL area. God really has blessed our schedule to allow us to be in so many churches to speak of the ministry He has given to us to do. The Lord also blessed us with a few days at home as July was ending, and we were able to be in our home church for a couple of services. It was good to be home again! Time in our home church is always refreshing, and we enjoyed the fellowship of our church family. Another church has chosen to partner with us to reach Italy - we are very grateful for their support! The LORD is bringing our support in steadily. We know that, as James says, Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.... So many of you have partnered with us financially, and we thank you for your sacrifice for the souls of Italy. We also have many people praying for our ministry, and we would like to extend a warm thanks for your prayers on our behalf. PRAYER REQUESTS Please keep these requests in your prayers for us: That God would teach us the lessons we need to learn while we are on deputation. Safety on the road as we travel many miles to our meetings. The last few slots on our schedule that are open for 2013 to be filled. Praise the LORD - there are less than ten open services on our schedule for the rest of the year! Pray that I will be able to book meetings with the churches God would have us to be in for these services. Wisdom and leading as we begin booking our schedule for 2014. The rest of our support to come in so that we may be able to go to Italy in 2014 and begin ministering to the souls there. UPCOMING PLANS We are leaving FL in just a couple days for our longest trip yet on deputation. This trip will be three months long, and we will be visiting churches in 10 different states. It will take us all the way to CA and back! This will be the first time our deputation takes us to the western part of the country - we are very much looking forward to what God has in store for us there. Until next month, friends - keep watching and working for Christ! For the King of Kings!
2013 June - July Prayer Letter Behold, I am alive for evermore... Revelation 1:18 Joshua & Lois Ormsby There are many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things. D.L. Moody MEETINGS REPORT We apologize for the tardiness of July s prayer letter update. June was a busy month for us, involving a lot of driving! In the beginning of June we were blessed to be in our home church for a couple services. Then we departed for KY and had 2 meetings there. After those meetings we came back to FL to be counselors with our church teen group at summer camp. We had a wonderful time with them! Praise God for their willingness to allow Him to work in their lives during their time at camp. When camp was over, we drove up to MI for 4 meetings to present our ministry to Italy. We were also blessed to attend a revival meeting one night in another MI church, as well as a night of VBS in one of the MI churches we had visited in May. After our MI meetings, we drove to PA for a second week of teen camp, this time to be on staff at the camp that Lois and her sister India grew up going to. What a blessing it was to be there! We appreciated experiencing this camp ministry where the LORD certainly had free reign to work in the lives of the young people. After this week of spiritual refreshment and physical service, we travelled to NY, where we have already had five meetings in this month of July. Amidst all of this, we became uncle and aunt! India and her husband Zack had their first daughter, Sakshi, on July 10th. Mother and baby are doing well! We have 5 more July meetings planned in PA, NY, and then back home in FL. Our schedule has kept us on the road a lot over the past weeks, and we praise the LORD for protection and provision along the way! This month we had 2 more churches partner with us to reach Italy! We also had one individual supporter recently do the same, making a total of 3 new supporters. Praise the Lord! Thank you for your faithful support and your continued prayers! SPECIAL HEALTH UPDATE FROM LOIS It has now been roughly six months since I went through the intensive treatments for my ulcerative colitis and began eating gluten-free. Through the past several months, countless of you have been lifting me up in prayer, many doing so daily. I wanted to thank each of you for your faithful, fervent prayers on my behalf. Truly the healing we have seen in my health can only be attributed to God s blessing upon the power of prayer. The past few months of non-stop deputation have been a good test for my health: and I am pleased to report to you that I am doing great! Along with the natural supplements I take, eating gluten-free seems to be the long-term plan for me, as it has helped tremendously. I also want to especially thank those of you who have gone out of your way to accommodate my diet when we have been with your church. Your kind efforts for me do not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Thank you for ministering to my heart through your prayers and labors of love! For the King of Kings!
Who is a strong LORD like unto thee? Psalm 89:8 May - June 2012 Prayer Letter The majority of saints are sound asleep to the devastation going on, and we shall come under the bitter curse of Meroz if we do not rouse ourselves up and stand with God against the mighty. Oswald Chambers MAY MEETINGS REPORT May was a wonderful time for us on the deputation trail. We had some meetings in FL the beginning of the month, and then we travelled from FL to MI, where we spent the rest of May visiting churches and presenting our ministry to Italy. The LORD blessed our schedule for May, and we were able to be in 12 different churches. On a fun note, we saw snow while we were in MI! Snow might not be a big thing to many of our friends - but to see snow the day after Mother s Day was a surprise for us! We picked up one personal supporter this month, and we are very grateful for them getting behind us in both prayer and financial support. Our support level is now up to 43%. Praise the LORD! God gave us a neat opportunity this month in allowing us to talk about the ministry on the radio for a little bit. One of the churches that we visited in FL has a radio station and they invited us to be a part of their Share-a-thon. Josh got to talk about our ministry for a few minutes, and Lois spoke about the music ministry and the way God has used her and her sister India through the years. JUNE PLANS It worked out for us to spend a the first three services of June at our home church. We are very thankful to spend time with our church family! Our church teen group is going to church camp in June, and we are blessed with the opportunity to go with them as counselors. We look forward to helping out in any way we can. Both of us have so many memories from our own church camp years! Those years were very instrumental for us both; we are excited for this chance to minister with our teenagers. Pray that God would use us to glorify Himself and help others during this time. In June we have 6 meetings scheduled in the states of KY and MI. Thank you all so much for the prayers for our safety and support growth along the way. God is working! WHO IS A STRONG LORD LIKE UNTO THEE? When we Christians get our eyes upon the world around us, it is easy to fear when we see the enemies of truth, the enemies of right, the enemies of God advancing around us. If we allow ourselves to be shaken by these things we will lose courage in the midst of the battle like the Israelites that shrank before the giant Goliath. We must fix our eyes upon our Commander, the Captain of our salvation! Our eyes must be set always upon God and not upon the world around us. The Psalmist reminds us in Psalm 89:8 of two things about our God that we must keep in the forefront of our minds: the strength of God, and the faithfulness of God. Who is like unto the God that we serve? Who else has the power to create the universe and to set everything in motion as we see it? God framed the worlds and spread out the heavens - that is the God we serve! Though the enemy advances around us, we must remember that God is strong in might and that God is faithful to His children. The Ruler and Maker of all - faithful to watch over us, faithful to lead us, faithful to protect us! May we never forget that God will never leave us or forsake us in this world. Keep fighting, for our God is strong and our God is faithful! For the King of Kings!
Who gave himself for our sins... 2 Corinthians 11:3 April - May 2013 Prayer Letter Right is still right even if everyone is against it, and wrong is still wrong if everyone is still for it. William Penn APRIL MEETINGS REPORT This past month we spent mostly presenting our ministry to churches in TX. We had 7 meetings in TX, one youth conference in FL, and one meeting in FL on the way out to TX. In one TX church that we just dropped in to visit on a Sunday night, the pastor gave me a few minutes to explain our burden and ministry in the service and then later expressed a desire to support our ministry! Praise the LORD, for He is opening doors for us! Our April trip to TX was the farthest west we have been on our deputation travels. It is such a blessing to have Christian family in Christ wherever we go. Nothing excites us more than to meet a new church that is passionate about the work of missions across this world, and especially in the nation of Italy. NEW CD BLESSINGS RELEASED! This month Lois and her sister India s new CD was released. It is entitled Blessings, and is a collection of their mother s favorite songs. One of my favorite songs that Lois sings while we are on deputation, Where Is Jesus? is on this CD as well! This CD is in celebration of all the blessings that God has given Lois and India, especially the precious gift of a mother that loves them and has raised them to love and glorify God first and foremost. Blessings is the fourth CD that Lois and India have recorded and released. They have been singing together for 19 years now! God has worked through them to produce music that is Christ-honoring, wholesome, and beautiful to listen to. If you would like to order a copy of Blessings, please contact Lois at loisandindia@hotmail.com. MAY DEPUTATION PLANS We have many meetings scheduled for the month of May - this will be one of our busiest months of the year. There are three meetings in FL, one meeting in TN, and eight meetings in MI on our calendar for May, making a total of twelve meetings in three states for us! Praise the Lord for a busy deputation schedule. We trust that God will continue to give us safety on the road as we travel to churches and present the ministry God has given us to Italy. Please keep us in your prayers for: Safety on the road Guidance in our lives Favor with churches WHO GAVE HIMSELF FOR OUR SINS Think of it - the one sacrifice for sins that is acceptable to God was the most precious thing to God the Father. This sacrifice was the only begotten Son of God: Jesus Christ. He gave Himself for our sins, He laid down His life to redeem us, He paid the penalty so that we could have the forgiveness of sins! But will we who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ give ourselves, our life, our all to serve the God who first loved us? Surrender and serve! It will be worth it for all eternity. For the King of Kings!