April 2007 Update

Dear Ministry Friends, April 2007

The last two months have been quite busy for our family with the added commuting to the work in Waterford. The kids are all but finished with school for the year. Lisa has been getting us organized for the upcoming move while I have been searching for a house. We are trusting God to provided the right house in His time. Although, in my time frame I would like to be past this point (not excited about all the work!). We are looking forward to getting set up in Waterford permanently and be done with the commuting.

The services have been going well there in Waterford. We have about 22 people not counting my family that are regular attendees. The churches name is Anchor Baptist Church. Tis a fitting name for a port city located on the River Suir at the edge of the ocean. We are proclaiming the Gospel message in Waterford that can anchor any soul “both steadfast and sure.” Three weeks ago one of the Irish men brought his 75 year old father to the service for the first time. He had never been to anything like this before in his life. I was able to preach the Gospel that day. Although he has not trusted Christ yet, he did say that he will be back again. We also had a great time having our sending church pastor, Bob Wall, with us for a few days in March. He was able to do a baby dedication for our son Kaleb as well as preach the service that day. What a special day for us. Pastor Wall was able to see first hand the city of Waterford and have a better understanding of the work that God has for us.

Some of you have asked to be informed about the cost of the move. At the current exchange rate we will need close to $3,000. We are thankful to the Lord for providing $1,000 of that already. If you are interested in helping with this expense please label it as “1233 moving expense” when sending it to our account at BIMI.

Thank you for your prayers for us especially from Christmas until now as we were listening for the Lord’s leading concerning the ministry in Waterford.


Prayer Needs:

• A house
• Finances to cover movingn expenses
• Two tracts and other materials that need to be printed
• God to be at work in the hearts of the people of Waterford
  

May the Lord find us faithful,
Don & Lisa Thatcher
Phil. 1:6

April 4, 2007 Update

Dear Friends,

We had a great day this past Sunday down in Waterford. Patrick brought his 75 year old father to the service for the first time. He had never been to a non catholic service before. The message was from John 10 on "He laid down His Life". The Gospel was clearly given. Patrick's father listened intently. Before he left he commented that he really enjoyed hearing what was presented in the message. Do pray that God will use it to convict his heart. We had a new visiting Indian family of three as well. The husband and wife are both doctors at the local hospital. After the service we had our first fellowship meal this year. It was a good time together with the people. I thoroughly enjoyed the day. Kevin and I went down to Waterford today to look for housing. Please continue to pray that God would provide just exactly what we need in a house. We were able to get some banking issues sorted out for the church this week as well. The church has been looking to get a keyboard so I have spent a little bit of time going to a couple different shops looking and pricing out a couple different models that will do what we are looking for. We are really chomping at the bit to get down to Waterford and get settled in to do the work God has for us there. Keep praying to that end. God is good!

May the Lord find us faithful,
Don and Lisa Thatcher

Dear Friends,

The sun is shining and the weather is very pleasant here in Ireland today. Just two days ago we had one of those typical "have it all" in one day type of days here in Ireland. We had calm winds, clear sunny skies as my family picked up a lady at the airport who had come for a visit. We then drove a few miles to show her a castle. We parked had lunch and then walked to view the castle. During this time the winds picked up and clouds moved quickly in. It then started sleeting, followed by snow and then finally finishing off with a down pour. It all happened in less then two minutes. The trouble is that we were about a ten minute walk back to the van. Needless to say, we were all drenched. We climbed in the van. As I wiped the water from my face, I smiling turned to our visitor and politely said"Welcome to Ireland!" You just never know about the weather here.

We are getting geared up for Easter Sunday coming up. Looking forward to it being a great day as we celebrate the Lord's resurrection. Tomorrow, I am preaching out of John 10 about "Laying down His life". Next week we are going to look into Christ's "taking it up again." I am excited about what God is doing in my heart as well as the hearts of the folks in Waterford. We are looking forward to being in Waterford permanently. It is a lot of work commuting back and forth. We are feverishly looking for a house in the Waterford area so that we can make the move as soon as possible. Having a ministry outreach in Waterford was not something that was in my long range plan. But God has a way of altering our plans sometimes. So, this alteration is not something that we had a lot of time to plan ahead for as far as moving is concerned. The move is going to cost us between $2500-$3000. We will be doing all that we can do to try to cover this cost; but, realistically, we do not have this money at all. If you would be interested in having a part in helping us with this expense please label it as "1233 moving expense" when sending it through BIMI. We are thankful for all that you do and are equally thankful even if you are not able or feel led to help with this expense. We are hoping and planning toward being on location in Waterford by the end of April. Please be in prayer with us that God will speed us along in good fashion. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to drop me a note or even get in touch with our sending church pastor, Bob Wall, at Fostoria Baptist Church (989)795-2185 or fostoriabaptist@cecpower.net .

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

May the Lord find us faithful,
Don and Lisa Thatcher