Update

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

We have much to share with you this week. God’s goodness has been evident these past several days. He has showered us with many blessings…

Angler's Dinner

Last Friday we held an Angler’s Dinner at the church. This was to reach men from our community. We had fish and chips, fishy stories, a great devotional, and prizes! It was great to have eighteen men come and hear the gospel message. Several of them do not attend any church. God used this dinner to reacquaint one of our members with the man who invited him to church fifty years ago. They had lost contact for thirty years and now the gentleman is away from the Lord. Please pray God would work in his heart and he would start attending church once again.

Visitation

We had our record breaking attendance at visitation last Saturday – there were seventeen people present! We were able to knock on many doors and visit with several people who need the Lord.

Autumn Party

Saturday, October 31, we had an Autumn Party at Marsh Farm. We played fun autumn games, ate delicious food (including pumpkin pie – a novelty for the British), and had a bonfire. During the bonfire we sang songs and listened to a powerful devotional about making wise decisions. Following the lesson, three teenagers raised their hands and mentioned their need for accepting Christ as their Saviour. Please pray God would continue to do a work in the hearts of these young people.

Cathy Henschen

Cathy, a young lady who will be assisting with the chapel in Oxford, arrived safely in Birmingham on Wednesday. Cathy plans on assisting at Beeches Road temporarily to train for her upcoming work. Please pray for Cathy as she works and prepares for this exciting extension work of Beeches Road.

Thank you for your faithfulness to pray for us. We are happy to be serving the Lord!

Little Update & Prayer Letter

I am now half way to fifty! I had a great birthday on Sunday. :) I celebrated my birthday by attending the first morning service and Harvest service at Beeches Road. God really blessed! It was so exciting to see so many people come to praise God! After church, we hosted a special dinner in the Sunday School room. Here are a few photos...and yes, Kevin spoiled me and made me breakfast in bed!

The Children Singing
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We had seven teenagers attend the Heathfield Dinner yesterday. Every week it seems to be growing. Several of those who attend do not go to church anywhere. This has been a great way to share the gospel and invite teenagers church.

--- We are always busy with children who stop by and visit us in the afternoons. One day we made homemade hot chocolate. This was a new experience for them - they loved it, of course! :)

I can feel my heart love these children more and more with each passing day. I think of them while they are in school, pray they will make wise decisions, and encourage them to never be ashamed of Christ. I hope and pray they will always be faithful to Christ.

Dear Pastor and Friends,

“O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.” (Psalm 118:1) This has been our theme during the months of September and October as we have rejoiced in the goodness of our great Saviour! So much has happened since our last letter! We hope you will be encouraged as you read the many blessings God has given us during these past few months.

On Saturday, September 12, we hosted our Thanksgiving Service at Beeches Road. This service was intended to dedicate our new extension on the chapel. It was amazing to see people come from far and near to take part in praising God for providing for our needs. This extension will enable us to expand our ministries and provide services we haven’t done in the past.

The afternoon of Saturday, October 3, was truly special as we witnessed the baptism of Simon Jakeman. It was on a cold, February evening that Simon trusted Christ as his Saviour. Many fellow Christians have faithfully prayed for Simon to follow the Lord. The Jakeman family was overjoyed to see their son make a public decision to follow Christ.

The morning of Sunday, October 18, was a beautiful sunny day! During our first morning service it was just as bright and cheerful inside the chapel as it was outside. Everyone was so encouraged and positive to have another opportunity to worship our great God! We had forty people attend the first morning service. Lord willing, the Gospel service and evangelistic Sunday School will still continue in the afternoon. We are eager to see the spiritual growth of believers who attend this new service.

The Lord gave us the incredible opportunity to go to a state (public) school and freely share the gospel with over 170 children. My heart broke as the children sat on the hard, gymnasium floor intently listening to every word as if they had never heard the good news of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. This is a generation who has never heard God’s wonderful way of salvation. Please continue to pray as we endeavor to reach the next generation with the gospel of Christ.

We are grateful for the opportunity to serve other churches in the local area. This month Kevin has been able to preach at several churches that are without a pastor. During our time together it has been good to encourage fellow believers to keep following Christ and fishing for men!

If you would like to receive our weekly email updates, please email us at “theruwersmafamily@yahoo.com”. We do our best to send either a weekly or bi-weekly update. We hope you will join our prayer team of believers who have committed to pray for our work in Birmingham, England.

Thank you for your prayers and support. We are happy to be serving the Lord in England. God is so good!

Weekly Update

Dear Friends and Family,

How great is our God! We serve the Almighty God of the universe. The God who made the mountains, made the blind to see, and best of all – a God who has made a way for us to be forgiven of our sins. This is our hearts cry…that all the earth may know God’s wonderful plan of salvation. God has changed our lives by His saving power, He has given us a desire to share His love to all those who have never heard. Thank you for taking the time to read about our endeavors to serve Him this week.

The Lord has continually blessed the church and we were able to see Simon Jakeman baptized this past Saturday. We had a special service Saturday afternoon where the gospel was clearly presented. Several people came from across the country to see the baptism. There were nearly one hundred and forty people in attendance, many of them were unbelievers.

We thank the Lord we have been given another opportunity to hold a religious assembly in a primary (elementary) school tomorrow. During the assembly we are able to teach Bible songs, memory verses, and have a short Bible lesson. Please pray that the children will listen and understand their need to know Him as their Saviour.

In the past week we have had a few visitors stay with us for a several days. One was from London and the other from Tennessee. It was great for them to see the day to day ministry and to see the faithful children who come week after week! We have several exciting days coming in the near future. On October 18th we will be celebrating our Chapel’s Anniversary, this will also be the start of our morning services. We will still have our Gospel Service at 3:00 every Sunday, but will also have a morning service at 11:00. We thank the Lord for another year God has allowed the chapel to keep the doors open and look forward to the many wonderful works He will do in the coming years.

Lord willing, we will have a website for Beeches Road Baptist Chapel up and running soon. We hope this will be a help to those praying for the chapel and also be a tool to spread the word about Jesus Christ and the work in England.

Treasure Club

My dear friend and sweet helper, Sue Jakeman. Sue helps during our Friday Treasure Club. When children come to Sunday School they are rewarded by being able to attend the Treasure Club on Friday. During the club we play games and spend individual time with each child quoting scripture.

Discipleship and Bible Studies

Kevin and I have many Bible Studies throughout the week with families and individuals. We are discipling several of the young people as well. I would ask that you specifically pray for a young lady named Sandy this week. Sandy has made a profession of faith, she needs victory over many habits. Please pray God will continue to work in her life and give her the strength she needs.

Castle Bromwich Hall

Please keep the Castle Bromwich Hall in your prayers this week. Pray that God would provide and give us wisdom for the many upcoming decisions.

State School Bible Clubs

This morning we were able to share the gospel with an entire primary school! The Lord blessed and the administration asked if they could call and schedule another assembly. Praise the Lord!

Visitation

Every Saturday morning we go on visitation. We go door to door, visit prospects, and visit to those who haven't come to church for awhile. The faithful children enjoy coming with us. What an encouragement it is to see young people want to please their Saviour and share the gospel with others.

Simon's Baptism

On Saturday we were blessed to see Simon follow the Lord in believer's baptism. What a blessing! It is exciting to see his life change and see his desire to obey the Lord. It was a very encouraging service. Praise God for His goodness. I will do my best to post more information later. Sorry so short - life is a little busy at the moment. God bless you! Please continue to pray for Beeches Road...

Weekly Update

Dear Friends and Family,

We trust the Lord has given you a good week filled with many blessings. This week has been amazing! We are sad to see it end. Anna’s parents came for a short visit this week. They spoiled and pampered us all week long. It was lovely to see them again and share our burden for England with them. They were able to visit our church and meet several of the people we write about every week. The children at Beeches Road were thrilled to meet them! This morning, as I drove them to the airport – the magnitude of what we are doing hit me once again. Yes, it is worth leaving our homeland and families to reach a people in need of the gospel. Yes, we are happy and enjoying our work, but it is SO difficult to say goodbye! My heart ached all the way home as I drove in the silent car. God never gives you a trial that He does not give you the strength and grace to persevere. I would love to say to all the families reading this, love your families. Love them intensely. Time is so short, and family means so much! While you have your family together don’t waste a day, make each day special.

The work at Beeches Road is doing very well. We are busy preparing for our Baptismal Service on October 3rd. Lord willing we will be baptizing three people. It is exciting to see how the Lord has worked in their hearts and shown them their need to follow the Lord in believer’s baptism! Please pray we will see several visitors attend this special service. Also, pray the Lord will continue to work in the lives of those being baptized Mic, Simon, and Lizzy.

This week was our first week hosting a lunch and Bible study in our home for the children who go to the high school down the road from our house. We had five young people attend. It was great to have Paige, a girl who hasn’t been to church in a couple weeks, come and hear the truths from God’s Word. This unique opportunity has been a great way to reach children who are on the fringe. They are more likely to come to a lunch then a church service. Please continue to pray the faithful children would invite their friends and hear the gospel.

Thanks for your prayers. We love you all very much! God bless!

Painting with Mr. Ruwersma

Simon and Ryan came over and helped Kevin paint our fence. Thanks guys for your hard work! It looks great!!

Public School Lunch and Bible Study

We love these children! It's amazing how God can give you a love so strong for souls that need Him. We enjoy every opportunity we get to spend time with them!

Visit with Anna's Parents

Our visit to Cadbury World - delicious!


Our hike in the Clint Hills Thank you mom and dad for your love and encouragement! You are the best parents in the whole world. Thanks for loving me dispite all my flaws and short comings. Thank you for always putting God first in our family. Thank you for all our wise words and counsel. I love and miss you so much!

Weekly Update

Sorry this is a little late this week. I thought Kevin was taking care of it, and he thought I was taking care of it.....ooops! We had a slight communication breakdown. :)

Dear Friends and Family,

Hope you are doing well. We would like to thank you for praying for us this week. Many of you have written and mentioned how you pray for us daily. It is such an encouragement to know that we have many people praying for us every day! Thank you for your faithfulness.

The Lord provided for us to build three new bathrooms and a kitchen inside the chapel. The chapel was in desperate need of updating since the only facilities were outside. Also, having a kitchen will be a huge help to our future ministry. Saturday, September 12, we had a Thanksgiving Service at Beeches Road dedicating the new addition of the chapel. God blessed and many visitors attended the service to see the updated building. It was such a special day as we gave thanks to the Lord for all He has given to us.

Anna’s parents have come for a short visit. They are staying with us off and on as they spend some time traveling and taking a much deserved vacation. They brought us over many surprises from the States. It’s always nice to enjoy the little pleasure of American culture. Many of the women from their home church made gifts to give to the children at the chapel. The children will be delighted to know that people are thinking and praying for them in a different country.

It was neat to have a school contact us this week in regards to having a Bible Club. Anna has spent many hours on the phone contacting schools. Several schools so far seem interested, but at the moment we only have one scheduled.

Here are a few snapshots from the week....enjoy!

An English Wedding

Kevin and I were invited to a sweet friend's wedding this week. It was so lovely and we had a nice time. We brought along a few children from the chapel. For most of them is what their first wedding ever! It was a great time for us to explain the principles of a Christian marriage to them.

Sue and Dan Jakeman - don't they look smart?

Annalee with my hat on!

Ummm....trouble!

The whole gang


This week I spent some time babysitting the Jakemans. It was a beautiful evening outside....I grabbed my carema and ran outside to snap a few pictures of the girls. They are SO sweet....how can you help but love them!

Annalee

Annalee and Sarah Jane

Toni Lou

Thanks for taking the time to visit with us! Until next time...

Thanksgiving Service

On Saturday, September 12, we had a special Thanksgiving Service at Beeches Road. We were dedicating the new extension on our building. Praise the Lord we had many people visit and God blessed the service. Thank you to each of you who have prayed faithfully for our ministry. You have touched many lives through your prayers.

Kevin, Pete, Tim, and Pastor Zenker

Tim and Pete were the builders who added on our extension.

It was great to see the church full!

A view from the balcony...

Chapel Construction

Great news - the Lord has blessed and given us the time and resources to do a little renovation on the chapel building! The building was in desperate need of updating. So many people have been kind to give of their time and money to help with this project. It looks so nice and feels like a new place! We are grateful to the Lord for all He has given us. Many of the students who have helped us in the past would be shocked to see the changes. I hope you enjoy a few of the before and after pictures....

Sunday School Classroom - BEFORE

Sunday School Classroom - AFTER

Classroom - BEFORE

Classroom - AFTER

We had an outside kitchen BEFORE

Kitchen - AFTER!

Outside Men's Restroom - BEFORE

Outside Ladies Restroom - BEFORE

We now have THREE restrooms INSIDE!

New carpet on all stairways....

We have spent several late nights and early mornings getting the chapel ready before the special Thanksgiving Service last Saturday.

All the floors in the classrooms are wood - we worked really hard to scrub them and get them all clean. They look great now and even smell better! :)

Kevin did lots of painting!

Many church members came out to help during our chapel work day.

The students last term helped in painting the Sunday School Classroom! Wish you could be here to see the fruits of all your labour. Thank you!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THE WORK OF BEECHES ROAD BAPTIST CHAPEL!

Weekly Update - September 10, 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 We are praising God for the beautiful sunshine He has given us today!

Kevin is working very diligently in preparing the chapel for our Thanksgiving Service. There is much to finish for the building; much painting, cleaning, and many other tasks. We will be dedicating the new extension and hosting a special service on Saturday, September 12. The Lord has blessed Beeches Road Baptist Chapel. We have seen several people make a profession of faith, and many who are interested in baptism. Lord willing, we will be having a baptismal service in October. The church is also looking forward to our first annual Mission Conference in November. It’s so exciting to be a part of a new work that is moving forward and growing in Christ!

Anna is assisting with the Teaching English as a Second Language program. This is a great ministry to reach international people who are seeking to improve their English. We have seen several people visit our church who have been reached through this avenue. Most of our students are from a Muslim background. Please pray we will break through their hardened hearts with the gospel of Christ.

School is back in session. This means we will once again be able to have a girls lunch and Bible study in our home with the high school girls during their lunch break. The girls seem very eager to come back to our home and try some more American food! In the past this has been a good way to reach the high school girls with the gospel. We will also do our best to enter many primary and secondary schools this term to hold religious assemblies. Last year we were invited to attend over seven schools, Lord willing we will be able to go back to those same schools and also reach new schools.

Please continue to pray for the Castle of Bromwich Hall project. The Lord keeps opening doors for us to proceed. Please pray the Lord will provide for this project. The Castle of Bromwich Hall will serve as an English Christian Heritage Center, Conference Center, and also be a home for Crown College United Kingdom.

Thanks so much for your love and support. Without your help we could not continue our work. Through your prayers and support you are touching many lives with the gospel of Christ. Thank you.

Family Devotions Ministry

These children are full of life!

Kevin teaching us the Bible lesson...

Hanging out with Mrs. Ruwersma

Getting a little sleepy...

We love to sing Bible songs and learn the Ten Commandments!

Thanks for stopping by!

Promotion Sunday

Sunday was a very special day! Beeches Road Sunday School celebrated Promotion Sunday. The Lord blessed with 43 children attending! We did several fun things for the children. We had been learning about faith in Sunday School so we held a little faith program for the parents in the main auditorium. We sang Hebrews 11:6, quoted Ephesians 2:8-9, and then sang Ephesians 2:8-9. Following the program, Mr. Zenker gave the children their promotion certificates. We also awarded the most faithful, the person who brought the most visitors, and an outstanding students in each age group. Everyone was given a gift, it was an age appropriate CD of christian songs. The children had a fun day and we were able to see several parents attend the service. Praise God!

The parking lot was full!

I LOVE these children!

Award Time

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world!