April 2020 Missionary Newsletter
This is the week that we were going to visit Canada for our first survey trip to the Alberta province. We were planning to visit the cities of Calgary and Edmonton, along with Canada's largest national forest/park; Banff. But we were unable to go due to the USA/Canadian border closure placed in a mutual agreement by both the POTUS & the Prime Minister of Canada.
The entire world has been affected by this virus with now over 182 countries are reporting cases of infection. At the time of this newsletter, there are nearly 1.5 million people known to be infected and nearly 90,000 deaths. Millions, if not billions, of people around the world are now under order to stay home. The things people worshipped or idolized before have been taken away; no more sports, theaters, and/or concerts. The global economy has also been impacted and many are unable to make the next months bills. I say all this because there appears to be a great awakening occurring through this storm.
God did not wake up one day surprised to find out that a deadly and vicious virus has spread across the entire world infecting millions and killing thousands. No, God is not surprised. Neither has God left us or forsaken us. However, I do see something great happening from all of this. I see doctors and nurses coming together on the rooftops of hospitals and praying. I see news anchors asking guest pastors to pray on live tv and in Jesus' name! I have seen people on Facebook and other social media attending church services online that have never darkened the doors of a church or they have been out of church for a season. Church a mighty work of God happening, we just need to open our eyes to see it.
Before COVID-19, I was talking to a new Canadian pastor friend. I asked him "How do the Canadian people respond to the gospel?" His response was "most Canadian's are stiff-necked and hard-hearted toward the gospel, however the immigrants are more accepting of it." That wasn't a surprise, I heard the same statements from many other Canadian pastors. Even in our calling God revealed this bit of information to us (Ezekiel 3). But I sit here and think about the great work God is doing now in Canada. I'm excited to see what the response will be to the gospel after the borders open back up. I want to get there now and share the gospel, but we will have to wait.
During this time our family is making the best of our current situation, playing games together, camping in the back yard, reading our Bibles, praying, attending church (online), and working on school work. Being still... and waiting for the chance to head out!
BBFI Missions: Second Interview
God continues to bless us with the opening of doors! During our second interview with the missions office, they recommended us to pursue the "Career Missionary" path, instead of "Intern Missionary." This cuts a year or more off of our plans! Praise the Lord! We now need to complete a six-month internship stateside to be ready for approval by March 2021.
Video Presentation of the Gospel
We are currently working on a video presentation of the gospel to share through our website and Facebook page. We are excited to once again make a video like this and ask that you join us in prayer for God to use this video to open people's hearts to Christ. We may not be able to physically be in Canada but through technology, we can still send the gospel message to the people God has called us too.
God bless,
Steven Pratt, Jr.
Missionary to Canada
Â
Help Spread the News!
Know someone that might be interested in our monthly newsletter and blog posts?
Click on the links below to share this newsletter/post with them.
Â