Month in Review

There is a gas station/store in a small town near us where old men congregate every morning to shoot the breeze and watch town life happen. In the early morning people hurry to pump gas, women run in to buy a jug of milk, and the foolish mosey in around mid-morning to spend their last few bucks on a carton of cigarettes. The old men sit and watch, and then offer their opinions or criticisms.

A new thing is happening in this one-horse town which has really upset the old guys’ apple cart. For over 3 months there has been an older-old man directly across the street from where they sit, working like a young guy on steroids on what once was a decrepit, abandoned building. This older-old guy has completely overhauled the place and he says, “It will open soon.”

“To do WHAT?” asks the oldest old man on the bench, the same question he has asked every day over the last several months.

“What is he gonna sell? That is what I want to know,” grunts another.

“He says nothin’; gonna sell nothing,” answers the first.

“Just WHY is anyone gonna go into a store that sells nothing?” spits out the next. They all lean back in their chairs when they see the old laborer walking quickly across the road to where they sit. This laborer is Mike Pearl, and they know the routine, so they are ready when he says, “Hey, do any of you want to lend a hand today?” Then Mike hits his forehead as if he remembers, “Oh, yeah, you are all Democrats and Democrats don’t work if they can sit and watch. Okay, never matter (he means “never mind” but “never matter” sounds cool). It annoys the old guys that an older-old guy is working hard labor every day, all day long, right in front of the whole town. It vexes the old guys that they are indeed Democrats. It really stumps them when he says that he is using the building to help folks come to know God.

“How’s THAT gonna work?” one mutters, as a smiling Mike exits the store.

Opening soon...
The DOOR

• Every week, as the Lord wills, we will be streaming Bible questions and answers, Bible teaching (milk and meat) and maybe some music, all over the world from the mountain tops of Papua New Guinea to cold valleys of Mongolia, into the midst of fighting in the Middle East, to the soldiers on military ships at sea, and to the homes in the USA. And while we stream, we will be reaching the lost in our little town with the gospel, and showing you how you can go and do the same. And THAT is how it is gonna work! 

  Moses was 80 when God spoke to him from the burning bush and gave him his walking orders. Even for that era, that was old. Well, Mike is halfway through his seventieth year. I thought we would have entered a turning point. And we have. These last six months we have been far busier than we have been in MANY years. Thankfully, when God opens doors, he gives multiplied strength to do the job.Almost every day during the month of March NGJ was handling ministry or business on several continents and many countries of the world.

• Our son Gabriel and a visitor from Canada worked on Rick Batson’s (our missionary) rental house for over a month. It is now up for sale, which will greatly aid Rick’s ministry.
• Mike worked on The DOOR. I repeat: Mike worked on The DOOR.
• I put together the May/June magazine, wrote this newsletter and watched over the layout of Mike’s newest book, Who is the Antichrist? (coming by early May).
• I am also working on preparing for our trip to China (leaving April 18th). Our trip is not for fun. My idea of fun is working in the garden that is DIRECTLY out the back door. This is a ministry and business trip because China is now a key distributor of many of our books. If you had told us six years ago that this would be the case, we would have laughed, as the likelihood was so remote. But when God opens a door He swings it wide! Wide enough to move over 150,000 of our books.
• Another very time consuming project has been the Lightbearers Ministry. Our prison ministry has always been the most fruitful (chaplains report entire prisons are being changed due to men coming to know the LORD by reading the Good and Evil books), BUT it is expensive. It costs NGJ over $8 to get a book in the hand of a prisoner. For this reason we have been very reluctant about telling other chaplains about our Good and Evil book offer.Now, by faith, we have started sending out “Redemption Cards” to chaplains to give to their inmates. ALL cards given to prisoners are redeemed by the inmates that want a book (you should see our mail). I have included a hand-out that is going in our May/June magazine which tells how the program works. We give REAL thanks that the Lightbearers program is working. People ARE stepping up to become LIGHTBEARER PACKERS; and as the ministry grows we know that others will begin to support the Lightbearers Ministry. Perhaps you would want to step up and print ten or twenty thousand Good and Evil books which will be used ONLY for the prison ministry. The more we print the better pricing we receive, which means we would be able to reach more for the gospel. When born-again prisoners get out of prison they are CHANGED. Just ask Rick Batson, as that is where he got saved and built up in the WORD.

https://vimeo.com/115086388.

There’s lots more happening all over the globe, and your support keeps it flowing.

God says when you cast your bread upon the water it will return to you. Someday you will be standing before the throne of God and some strange person will tap you on the shoulder and say, “I just wanted to tell you thanks for the gift you gave. I am here today, along with my whole family, because you gave funds for books to be published and given to prisoners.” Then another will step up and say, “Me, too. I want to say thanks. I was in prison and you came to me by way of a book called Good and Evil. In fact, over a thousand men came to know Jesus through the one printing you made possible.” It will happen. Heaven is not a theoretical place of clouds and such; it is a practical place where people will know how they came to know the LORD, and they will really be glad. God loves thanksgiving just the same then as he does now.

In the harvest of souls, some plow, some sow seeds, some harvest; others publish.

Mark 13:10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.