Dear Praying Friends,
God has opened up doors that are exciting. I would like to share with you a few of the things God is doing here in Neumarkt.
New Members. I am in conversation with several about joining the church. God is using our clear doctrinal statement to show the need for more teaching and training. This coming Sunday a couple will be joining the church. The wife was baptized last October. At that time, the husband stated that he did not need membership and would never join. The wife desired and we started to pray that they would join as a family. Two weeks ago they invited our family over for coffee and cake. He shared that he would like to become a member together with his wife. He could not find a reason why he should not be a member.
Please pray for the newest members in the church to find ministries to do and to get involved. Pray for those that are still struggling with certain points of belief.
With these new members there are new men in the church. This has been a prayer request since the beginning of the church. We were in need of stable men to lead. Please pray for these men to be willing to be used of God in small leadership roles to help the church grow.
Evangelism. Since the beginning of the year I have been teaching in Bible Study on “what is the Gospel.” Those in attendance have been excited to get tools on how to share the gospel. I am challenging the church to pray for people to share the entire gospel with. They have responded by making it concrete and are praying by name for people. Please pray with us as a church to be more involved in personal evangelism.
TTZ. The Theological Training Institute has started back up again. I am teaching Hermeneutics this semester in a different location (Erlangen). This means that I did not know most of my students before starting classes. It is fun to see the excitement in the students to study and to grow in their understanding of the Word of God. Total enrollment is again up this semester. I am also very excited that 3 more individuals from our church in Neumarkt are enrolled in classes at TTZ. Please pray for continued growth of our institute. Pray for leaders to be raised up out of this school.
Family. We are thankful that we have not gotten COVID yet. Please pray for continued health as we have the occasional seasonal cold and sniffles. Despite the COVID rules we have enjoyed having regular contact with people in our home. We have to be creative but it is so vital to the spiritual health of church life.
Short USA Visit. I am planning a short visit to the USA in May. Due to continued travel restrictions and the real possibilities of needing to quarantine, we decided to not travel internationally as a whole family until COVID restrictions become more manageable. I will be traveling by myself for 2,5 weeks – 3 Sundays. Please pray for the men in the church to be trained and be willing to serve in my absence. Please pray for the COVID restrictions to be lifted/eased by May. Please pray also that in my travels I would not pick up COVID and need to remain in the USA longer than planned. I share these plans with you to pray specifically for this as there is much within the church that needs to be planned and trained for. It is exciting to see what God is going to do.
God is at work and continues to build HIS church in Neumarkt. Thank you for your part in this ministry.
For His Glory,
Mark and Leslie Boyd