An Exciting Event!

Dear Partners,

January has come and gone and much has happened. But we must share one of the most important events that have taken place. On January 21st, our youngest daughter, Juleen and husband Jim (Noob) gave birth to a 6 pound 11 ounce daughter, Emma Grace.  She was about three weeks early and both needed to remain in the hospital about a week because of an infection.  This makes our seventh grand child.

August and November also brought excitement when we had two great grand daughters born.  I guess this was the year of girls, Piper Louise and then Cora Joy.  It is hard to believe that our daughter, Andrea, and Mark are now grand parents.  What blessings from God!

We are looking forward to more adventures that God has in store for us as 2013 rushes on.

Every year we start off with a whole new group of internationals coming to the US to study at Michigan State University.  They are graduate students, visiting scholars and their families.

What a joy it is to work mainly with Chinese and helping them to improve their speaking of   English.  We introduce them right away to the Bible and how much of our culture has been influenced by what it has to say.  Most of them have heard of the Bible and are very curious as to what it is.  How exciting it is to begin with Genesis 1:1 and begin to teach them there is God and how we know this to be true.  They become very hungry to know more.  Over the months we give them the full gospel story.  Not one has express that they are not interested.

The important thing is for them to build a trust relationship between us.  This may take spending much time with them; dinner at our home, playing games, going sight seeing and sending them emails.  They are anxious to be with us.  We are looking for that time when they will commit their lives to Jesus.  Sometimes we have the privilege of seeing this happen.  Others have done this after they return to China.  We are glad that this is not dependent on us but this is God’s business.  The important thing is that we live the Christian life before them and that we communicate the message.

We wish that we could share with you all the stories of how the humanitarian aid with GAiN (Global Aid Network) is changing lives.  We will try to share a few.

You will remember the mobile medical clinic we were able to ship to Zimbabwe.  Recently the Mobile Medical Clinic brought a ray of hope to 3500 people in three rural areas.  The people in these communities have to walk for hours on foot or by ox-drawn cart for up to 25 miles to get to the nearest clinic for medical treatment.  The clinics are generally short-staffed and sometimes not adequately stocked with drugs.  In addition, most people stay home with illnesses that can easily be cured because they don’t have the money to pay for medical treatment.

Thanks to the generous donations of our partners, GAiN was able to provide medical supplies and medicines to our local distribution partners in Zimbabwe to establish the MMC.  From September through November, the MMC traveled to various communities, targeting the most remote areas to offer medical treatment, HIV testing and counseling for free.

The Mobile Medical Clinic is equipped so they can show the JESUS Film in the evenings.  Through this, many hear the gospel message for the first time and others make commitments to follow Jesus.

Another story:  Elson, 11 years old, is an orphan living in Chinhoyi with his 15 year-old brother lost both parents to AIDS when Elson was just seven.  After the death of their parents, Elson and his brother were left without a guardian and have been alone ever since.

The elder brother dropped out of school to find work and take care of him.  Fortunately for them, a local church stepped in to give them some guidance and counseling,

Water supply is erratic in their location.  Most of the time they have to resort on unsafe water sources to get by.  GAiN was able to provide a bucket stalled with a water filter.  It was reported Elson face lit up with a smile.  He said that he could not wait to get home to show his brother and drink clean water.

Thanks for all you do to partner with us and make our ministry possible.  It would be great if you could find the time to go with us and work at our Pennsylvania Distribution Center for a few days  in June 2013.  Please be sure to contact us if you have any interest.

We can be reached at (517) 347-1514 or frankluter@sbcglobal.net

Blessings, Frank & Ruth Luter