Obed Bazin

Over the next few weeks, I hope to introduce you to our Seminary and Bible Institute students here in the DR. We start with Obed Bazin:

Obed was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on September 19, 1977. He studied Economic Sciences in college, but moved to the DR before finishing. In Santiago, he worked in the "zona franca" (free trade zone) where he sewed polo shirts for a clothing manufacturer.

In May 2003, a friend of his told him about English classes that our mission was offering, and he decided to participate. The teachers (who were WELS Kingdom Worker volunteers) invited him to attend church services. He liked the doctrine he heard and decided to join the congregation.

As a member of the Haitian congregation, he attended church and Bible studies, and participated in evangelism efforts. He started studying Bible Institute courses and then graduated from the BI in August 2005. He has been studying in our seminary ever since and should graduate in 2009 or early 2010.

We thank God for Obed and his service.

The Lord bless you with his peace,
NW

September Birthdays

September is a busy month of birthdays for our mission family:

• 19 Sep -- Obed Bazin, one of our Haitian seminary students
• 19 Sep -- Sam Monday, son of Missionary Shiloh and Molly Monday (he turned 5!)
• 21 Sep -- Kiero Guerra, a Dominican Evangelist, currently studying in the US
• 24 Sep -- Vanessa King, one of our WELS Kingdom Worker volunteers teaching English as a Foreign Language classes
• 27 Sep -- Freddy Aquino, one of our Dominican seminary students
• 04 Oct -- Julio Corporan, one of the Dominican pastors/seminary student (it's *almost* in Sept)

We enjoy celebrating another year of God's grace with these, our brothers and sisters in Christ. May he grant them all many more years of his grace.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

Prayer suggestions

What a marvelous blessing prayer is! Almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, invites us to pray with the same confidence and persistence as dear children talk to, ask and thank their loving father. Jesus teaches to call on God as "Our Father in heaven" (Matthew 6:9). "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give hims a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:9-11)

Occasionally brothers and sisters in Christ ask us what they should pray for on behalf of our mission. Following are some suggestions, but is by no means exhaustive:

• Pray for the Latin American national churches that are striving to grow and become self-supporting sister churches of WELS: the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mexico, the Evangelical Lutheran Confessional Church in Puerto Rico, and those in Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Brazil.
• Ask God’s blessings on the LATTE team as they help spread the gospel in Latin America: Missionaries Schlomer, Martens, Retberg, Strackbein, and Wagenknecht.
• Thank the Great Shepherd of the sheep for the seminarians and national pastors serving him in the Dominican Republic: Rona Abraham, Obed Bazin, Julio Corporan, Alexander Torres, Freddy Aquino, Robert Helve, and Elise Abraham.
• Call on our God of grace to bless Missionary Monday's ministry, to watch over the Monday family and to grant them joy.
  
• Pray that the Holy Spirit would strengthen and keep the members of our congregations -- most of whom are first generation Christians, or at least first generation confessional Lutherans -- in the true Christian faith until they receive the crown of life in heaven.
• Ask our loving, perfect Father to help Christian parents raise their children in the "training and admonition of the Lord".
• Seek the Lord's favor on Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God) congregation in Moca as they look for their own permanent building to dedicate to the Lord's service.
  

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW