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Jody Kennedy International - News for Fall, 2004

Seasons Change in 2004!

God continues to amaze us with his grace and blessings! We stand back in awe of how God is working around the world and using all kinds of people, from all walks of life to reach people with His beautiful gospel.

Our daughter, Sara, has graduated from East Texas Baptist University and is now a school teacher in Marshall, Texas. Our son, Aaron, has begun his junior year at Texas A&M. Casey, our oldest son, and his wife Ashley will have our second grandson in a few weeks.

All this is to say that life goes on around us and God is giving us more time to serve him. We pray daily for strength, wisdom, provision, and opportunity to use our time wisely as we serve Him and our family.

Beginning in June, we conducted four separate two-week events in Ukraine and Belarus. In Zhitomir, Kiev, and Dniepropetrovsk, Ukraine and Minsk, Belarus there were 60+ volunteers reaching more than 3000 adults with the gospel of Christ. More than 1500 of those adults made a first time decision for Christ. Until you have seen God work through this venue, you cannot believe it.

Follow-up teams of missionaries stationed in those cities are continuing the work by conducting English Bible studies, English classes, integrating the new Christians into churches and forming new congregations.

Each of the hundreds of adults that accepted Christ this summer have a unique and special story.  One of these was a young man we met in Rio Bravo, Mexico. About 19 or 20 years old, we’ll call him “Rodolfo”, he was one of the neighborhood tough guys in the area that surrounded the small, three-week old Baptist church. He and his small group of teenage friends stood around the periphery of our VBS/evangelism event. They were laughing, making jokes, saying crude things, all in Spanish of course. During the break between the children’s VBS and the beginning of the evangelism event, I went over to talk to Rodolfo and his friends. As lovingly as I could, I told Rodolfo and his friends that they were welcome, but they could not be disruptive and would need to stop the crude language and rude comments. I simply told them that if they would listen for only a few minutes, they would hear something that could change their lives forever.

They hung around for a while and then disappeared. The next day, they were back, but instead of disrupting, they joined in with the group of teenagers that were engaged by Jay (of Hulen Street Baptist, Fort Worth) and Pam (of Crossroads Baptist, Rowlett). Amazed, I watched as these tough guys joined in the activities, following directions and enjoying the attention they were getting from our team. Ultimately, Jay and Pam clearly presented the gospel and Rodolfo and some of his friends said “yes” to Christ. The power of God to change hearts and lives is awesome to observe. We continue to pray for Rodolfo and his friends.

Report on Mexico Ministries

Thirty-five adults and youth from Hulen Street Baptist Church (Fort Worth) and Crossroads Baptist Church (Rowlett) joined with Jody to conduct VBS, women’s Bible study and evening evangelism services in Rio Bravo, and

Reynosa, Mexico during June. The most important result was that 70 adults and dozens of children accepted Christ. Pastor Saul, our host, will work hard to integrate these new believers into the Baptist church. In fact, the Baptist church in Rio Bravo was only three-weeks old when we arrived. Most of the adult decisions were made in Rio Bravo and now this new church has a great opportunity to work with these new Christians. These short-term trips have proven to be a very effective way to introduce adults and teens to direct, evangelistic missions.

We volunteer for the Bill Glass Champions for Life Prison Ministry whenever possible. Jody is one of the coordinators for this ministry which takes us all over the United States.

More volunteers are needed and Jody is happy to introduce this ministry to your church or group. This is an excellent venue for men’s groups.

Check the web at: www.lifechampions.org.

Jody is working with our new church a couple of days per week when he is in town. In the year since we joined Hulen Street Baptist Church, the Hulen Street family has sent out teams to Ukraine (3 times), Germany, Mexico (twice), and to numerous prisons around Texas. This church has turned a corner and is embarking on a new focused involvement in missions for every member and we are excited to be a part of it.

Retta Baptist Senior Adults Reach Inmates

The “Retta Rockers” of Retta Baptist Church (Burleson) meet regularly to prepare packets for use in the Champions for Life prison ministry. In 2004 they have prepared more than 5000 packets that have been used by volunteers to reach inmates in jails and prisons across the United States. Each packet represents as many as three first time decisions for Christ by inmate men, women, and youth. Contact Jody to find out how your church group can help in this important work. A very special thank you goes to Delbert Rose for his help with organizing this ministry.

Coming Events

*student enrollment in these locations cities is expected to be from 600-1000 adults at each 2 week English Language Evangelism Event (ELEE)

Many People Ask Who Is Qualified To Go With Us

Be an active member of a Bible believing church

Be 18 years of age or older (unless traveling with a parent)

Be able to speak English

Be ready to share the gospel

Be willing to be a servant to the rest of the team

Be willing to attend a training session

Have a valid U.S. passport (for international ministries)

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