JODY KENNEDY INTERNATIONAL

God Has His Way in Belarus
Two 2 week Practically Speaking English events were held in Minsk, one in June and one in July-August. About 1,500 students enrolled in the courses and many of those made a decision for Christ. The second of the events finishes this week, so the final results are forthcoming.

However, these events were a little different than those held in the past. They were very successfully completed without the presence of Jody and Trisha. Nonetheless, God had His way and showed everyone that His work does not depend on any one or two people. He had already prepared the teams with leadership to take Jody's and Trisha's places and carry on.

Ron Cansler, Dan and Mary Brothers, Mike Day, Andy Sudigala, and Alvin Conyers used the experience they had gained in previous work with Jody and Trisha and completed the tasks at hand in admirable fashion. Our Minsk partners, Joe Wilson and Oleg Rachkovski did their usual fantastic job of advance preparation and ongoing support. Oleg took on the role of evangelist and was mightily used by God to share the gospel with the students.

We are grateful to our valued partners who traveled from Texas, Washington, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Georgia to fulfill the great commission.

Jody Denied Entry to Belarus
It was with great anticipation that Jody opened the envelope from the Embassy of Belarus that contained their passports. They fully expected to leave for Belarus on June 25 for six weeks of ministry. Jody quickly checked the first passport which was Trisha's. The passport contained an approved visa to Belarus. Then he checked his passport and found a simple yellow sticky-note with the word "Rejected" neatly printed. Inquiries to Belarus authorities were fruitless. No information was going to be released.

Apparently, as a result of the work done over the years and especially last summer and last winter, the Belarus government decided to prevent Jody from returning. While not officially charged with anything illegal, he will likely be prevented from returning to Belarus for a year or so. However, Jody is in good company. Several other Christian workers and entire groups have been banned from Belarus in the last two years as the government increases their restrictions on religious freedom and especially evangelical work by non-Belarusians. Fortunately, the ban has not extended to our teams.

In God’s perfect timing, Jody was allowed to be home with Trisha to help after her Mother’s death

Jody and Trisha are convinced that this is temporary and are committed to returning to Belarus as soon as God is ready to have them return. In the meantime, Jody and Trisha are so very grateful to the teams that went on without them and completed the work to the glory of God and not to the glory of any man.

Job Well Done in the Heat of Managua, Nicaragua
Conversational English - June 7-15, 2008
It was a pleasure to work once again with an established partner church, Hermón Baptist Church in Managua. There the team conducted the Practically Speaking Conversational English course and the Practically Speaking English for Children program. More than 250 children attended each morning of the week to learn basic English and to hear the gospel message. Many parents also attended during this time and some of them accepted Christ. In the adult English classes, more than 400 students were enrolled. More than 100 of these accepted Christ or made other significant spiritual decisions. Partner and friend, Pastor Armando, is seeing many of these students return to the church and enter into discipleship leading to baptism. From the 2007 classes, he reports that more than 20 have either joined his congregation through baptism or are actively attending.

Thanks go out to this ministry's faithful partners from Eastside Baptist Church (Fort Smith, AR) and Hulen Street Baptist Church (Fort Worth, TX) for joining Jody and Trisha once again in Managua to reach one of the toughest neighborhoods in the city.

New Partner Churches Added in Managua
While in Managua three pastors introduced themselves to Jody and invited the team to visit their churches in the hopes that they could have a team come to minister to their community. As a result, the team visited these three churches and met with the church leadership. At the conclusion of the visits, each pastor immediately extended an invitation to Jody and Trisha to bring the Practically Speaking English program to their communities.

One of the churches is in Managua. The other two are about 1 hour drive from Managua (one to the east, the other to the west). Watch for the Mission Opportunity Bulletins that will announce the dates and details of these events.

Africa Project - September 2008
Plans are on hold for this project due to the illness of our host partner's baby. This dear family had to return to the U.S. for the treatment of their newborn daughter. She is doing pretty well but it is not sure when this family will be able to return to their mission field. We will reschedule this project after they return to Africa.

Senegal - Next Stop for Jody, October 2008
Jody has been invited to join a favorite partner, Johnny Clayton of Fort Smith, Arkansas, in an 11 day journey to Senegal for evangelism through dental and medical outreach. While in Senegal it is likely that the group will also provide much needed leadership and discipleship training to some of the growing churches there.

Partnering with Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child
Jody and Trisha will work in the Charlotte, NC Operation Christmas Child processing center for five weeks during November and December. The processing center will inspect, process and ship a million or so shoe boxes bound for children around the world.

Operation Christmas Child processing centers are taking reservations for volunteers in their 5 processing centers from Georgia to California. Check out the OCC information at www.samaritanspurse.org.

Family News
Trisha’s mother, Fran Taylor, went home to the Lord on June 2. Although she had been under hospice care for months, her loss was still somewhat sudden because she seemed to be improving. We are grateful for all the prayers, kind words and notes of support that helped us during this time.

The grandchildren, Max, Drew, and Nicole are all growing and doing well. Casey and Ashley and the boys, Max and Drew are doing well in Round Rock, Texas. David and our daughter Sara and baby Nicole are thriving in Marshall, Texas and recently learned that another baby is due in February. Aaron is stationed with the Navy in Panama City, Florida as an Ensign and is enjoying his new church and new friends.

2009 Ministry Opportunities

Jan 3-17, 2009, Managua, Ni - Conversational English

Jan 22-29, 2009, Holzhausen, Ge - IMB Childcare/VBS

Feb 14-28, 2009, Managua, Ni - Conversational English

Mar 28-Apr 4, 2009, San Rafael del Sur, Ni - Conversational English

April 18-25, 2009, Las Maderas, Ni - Conversational English

April, 2009, Tuva region of Russia, - Conversational English

We will work with our partner churches to conduct the Practically Speaking Conversational English course. This is our one or two week event with the addition of our Practically Speaking Children's English program.

Volunteer positions are still available for these events. You must have a valid U.S. passport. Contact Jody immediately if you are interested in participating in this ministry.

Watch your inbox for the specific Mission Opportunity Bulletin about each mission opportunity.

Ministry Needs
- Prayer is at the top of our list of needs. Knowing that you are praying for us and our work is a tremendous encouragement. Please pray for continued health and stamina, God's direction as we finalize our 2009 schedule and wisdom as we explore new countries in which to serve.

- Finances are always on our list of needs as God continues to provide for us month to month through people like you who believe in what we do and trust us to be good stewards of God's resources. Even small donations make a difference. We want to continue to expand our reach to the world as well as support the children's home and begin to offer financial help to some of our partner churches in other countries.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Contact Jody Kennedy about details or to sign up for a missions project.

Phone: 817.944.2288

Email: jody@jodykennedy.com
Online: www.jodykennedy.com (click on Projects Schedule)

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