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THE ELDREDGE FAMILY MISSIONARY NEWSLETTER - APRIL 2001
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PLEASE READ !
Greetings Friends & Family:
A lot has happened since our last newsletter! Doesn't it seem like whenever we get comfortable, God stretches us a little more? Well, He is doing it again and we are happy to follow His voice. God spoke to JoAnna and I each separately, and it was later confirmed with the Strombecks and our leaders in Ecuador - God is calling us to a new work!
JoAnna and I will now be working as the Mission Directors of Breath Of The Almighty Ministries in Southern California. Our job will include evangelism in our local area, with trips to Mexico and other countries. We will also continue our strong focus on discipleship training by teaching a biweekly discipleship class. We believe it is extremely important to help new believers start their relationship with Christ right. No good parent gives birth and leaves their baby on the sidewalk!
We will still be "living by faith", as our income will not come from Breath Of The Almighty Ministries. We appreciate your continued support and will continue praying for you and your family. Thank you and God bless you!
-In Him, John
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Several months ago, I met an English teacher here from the states, Adam Boyd. He had signed up with a program to teach English overseas for one year. He came to the church with his girlfriend (also American, who was already saved). I spotted the "gringos" a mile away and talked to them after the service. God has been using us to share about Him to Adam. Since then, we have been spending a lot of time together and Adam has been growing in the
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Lord. He has also returned to the states, so keep him in your prayers. He gave us a thank you card and I asked him if I could share it with you. Here it is:
"Dear John & JoAnna,
While salvation is the gift of God and nobody else, I want to thank you both sincerely for your friendship and support, without which I may not have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior today. JoAnna, I want to specifically thank you for sharing your testimony with me. It's remarkable similarity to what I have experienced recently, strengthened my faith at a time when I was very vulnerable. John, I want to thank you for putting me at ease with your sense of humor and relaxed approach. Without detracting from it's importance, you made me feel like accepting Christ and becoming a Christian was cool and something I could be proud of. Thank you both so much. God bless you.
With Love, Adam Boyd"
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God had been moving greatly in the G-12 system. We have seen many people saved and delivered. I want to relate to you just two of the many testimonies that I have witnessed first hand.
One story is of Maritza Maya, a young women that is in my G-12. She was diagnosed with cancer not long before she became Christian. They had shown her x-rays of the cancer and this one seemed to be spreading quickly. But after becoming a Christian she heard for the first time that God can and does heal people today. She began to have the faith that God could heal her. The ladies in our G-12 also prayed and agreed with her in prayer.
Two weeks later, Ms. Maya was scheduled for exploratory surgery to see if there was any possible way to remove the cancer from here body. When the surgeons went in they could not find any trace of the cancer! Praise God!
Another testimony is of a young
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college student. She received the Lord during a Sunday service and was so dramatically changed that her family, who were not Christians, wondered what had bought such an incredible change.
Everything seemed to be going great until she began to have nightmares and see demonic spirits in her room. Her family was very concerned and had her see a psychiatrist , who later diagnosed her as schizophrenic and prescribed sleep therapy. Before long she was in a drug induced stupor that went on for days.
Fasting, Mariel Muñoz and I went to her home with the permission of her mother to pray for deliverance. Though her mother denied it in the beginning, the Holy Spirit revealed to Mariel and I that her mother had been and still was involved in transcendental meditation, spirit guides and aroma therapy and had gotten her daughter deeply into it as well. We explained that it was her involvement
(continued on page 2) Page 1
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in New Age that had opened the door to the demonic and that her daughter needed to be delivered. Both mother and daughter repented, renounced their involvement in New Age and her mother accepted Jesus in her heart. They agreed to have us return with some of the ladies of G-12 to bless the house. Praise the Lord! God is awesome!
There are so many more testimonies to tell. Unfortunately, we are not able to report them all in this newsletter. To the right is a picture of a few of the ladies in the G-12 that met every Thursday in our home. To God be the glory for all the great things he has done!
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It happened when I had finished preaching during a Wednesday night service. I usually always give the altar call, but this time felt that assistant Pastor Rolando should do it. Even before he began speaking, God had put a young man I did not know on my heart. I knew he needed to receive Jesus as Savior and felt like God wanted me to do something. Honestly, I did not want to do anything at that time, so I just began to pray that this guy would raise his hand for the altar call. He did not. He didn't even flinch. I felt uneasy, as I knew what I had to do.
I walked off the platform and went up to the young man and asked him in Spanish if he was saved. He answer was, "¿Que?" or "What?". I then said in Spanish, "Do you need to receive
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Jesus into your heart?" Right then his girlfriend who was sitting with him began to cheer and shout, "Yes he does!" I asked him once more and he responded very solemnly, "Yes." I told him, "OK, come with me." It was then that he came up to the altar with me and received Jesus into his heart! Praise the Lord!
God is awesome and He deserves all the glory, because it was Jesus Christ that paid the price for us all. However, no man can be saved, no matter what we do, unless the Holy Spirit draws them first.
I admit I was little nervous about going down from the altar and going up to Andre (the young man that was saved). As I was walking towards him I was thinking about all the ways he could have told me to get lost or how he was a Christian and had been saved for years. I did not know how he would respond. I only knew (and very softly I might add) what God was prompting me to do. It turned out that his girlfriend had basically dragged him to church and was praying the whole time that he would get saved. God answers prayer!
Please agree with me for his spiritual growth. Pray that he will get plugged in and continue growing in his relationship with God.
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Our apt. in Quito was on the side of Mt. Pichincha, which is part of Volcano Guaya Pichincha, only 7 miles away.
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Above is the Ecuadorian currency that has recently been replaced by the U.S. Dollar. Many of the "Indigenous" population have initiated several riots and uprisings as a result.
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