Veldhuis

A Little News From Lydia Veldhuis

Dear Family and Friends,

I just wanted to give all of you a quick update on what I've been doing over the past year. As most of you know, I left West Coast Baptist College after one year because of health problems and transferred to International Baptist College near Phoenix. I finished my second year of college there and greatly enjoyed the new friendships I made and the caring staff members.

Dear Praying Family and Friends,

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (I Corinthians 15:34)

How responsible are we for the ignorance of people “Who worship the works of their own hands” (Isaiah 2:8)?

Have you ever wondered how the unsaved world views Christians caught up in the materialism of Christmas? Do they view us as hypocrites? Or are they completely unaware “That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself” (II Corinthians 5:19a)?

Dear Co-Laborers in Christ,

“ I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not:”(Isaiah 65:1a)

Our Lord’s description of how He will save a remnant of His people in the last days could well be applied to His overwhelming grace in calling twenty-something more Cocopah young people and adults to Himself this summer. God’s hand in this is undeniable when one considers that every person left a culture given over wholly to idolatry and self-gratification at any cost to even visit the “White church”.

Dear Praying Family and Friends,

“And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.” (John 1:16)

The grace that allowed Dawn and me to resume all Cocopah ministries two weeks after my March 24 bypass surgery was rivaled by your prayers and humbling gifts for the ensuing months’ unending work. We cannot overstate our gratitude for your part in preventing physical setbacks while enabling us to add several new demanding projects to our weekly ministries.

Dear Family and Friends in Christ,

Warmest greetings from all of us back at work on our windy southwest Arizona desert reservations. Cloudless 75- 80 degree days invigorate us for ongoing Cocopah labors and encourage us in the work of preparing individuals, vehicles, and resources for summer’s critical camp and Bible Time ministries.

Veldhuis December 2008 Prayer Letter
 
Dear Family and Friends in Christ,

Sand drifts across our church lawn, undermined sidewalks, torn off shingles, and debris- filled gutters from desert sand storms require quick and constant attention to prevent greater damage from future storms. Thanks to our Lord’s grace and daily proactive repairs we sustained only minor loss from a Thanksgiving eve thunderstorm that brought almost one half of our annual three inches’ precipitation in a matter of hours. Lydia and Silas were providentially both home on a school break to help clean the flooded church sanctuary and rebuild berms quickly.

In the same way, daily individual attention to the spiritual needs of Cocopah natives is the price all of us must pay for victory over the drugs, gang violence, indolence, and shameless immorality that define the reservation mind set. Relentless daily pressures to sin desensitize individuals to its consequences and open them to its ravages. Saved adults often move off tribal land to escape this poisonous atmosphere.

 Dear Co laborers in Christ,

Just when it seemed summer’s cloudless, hundred ten degree, days would become interminable, October ushered in comfortable temperatures in the 90’s and our first sprinkles in months.  Our prayer  now is that a fourth measurable rain of the year will bring simultaneous spiritual refreshing for all of us.

Dear Friends and Family,

“I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren”  Genesis 24:27

This testimony of Abraham’s servant to God’s providence and grace aptly describes the multiplied mercies showered on us since our spring letter.

Your prayers and gifts for ongoing ministries in Yuma and your hospitality and generosity throughout distant missions meetings, March through May, 2008 greatly furthered our Lord’s Cocopah work on two fronts simultaneously.  Our sole regret this month is having allowed the intensity of camp and VBS work, tribal youth  home legal questions, multiple repairs on church vehicles, and family health needs to delay this heartfelt note of gratitude.

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

January and February Bible Conferences at Grace Baptist and Lighthouse Baptist churches of Corona and San Diego California set the stage for equally invigorating anniversary/revival meetings with Yuma’s Heritage Baptist and Maranatha Baptist churches in March.

  Mike & Dawn Veldhuis

Michael and Dawn Veldhuis
17840 S. Avenue 4E
Yuma, AZ. 85365
Phone: (928-341-9120
e-mail: themissionarys@juno.com

Mike pastors the Bethel Independent Baptist Church near Yuma Arizona.  The Veldhuis family works with the Cocopah tribe in that area.