Dear friends,
My regards from Den Helder. This is my 1st
Newsletter with which I hope to inform you about what is happening in my life, and what
the Lord is doing with my life. I hope to mail my Newsletter to all of you before I leave
to tell you how I am doing.
Most of you know that I got saved about 2½ years ago. I received Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and Redeemer. My
life changed totally.This made clear to me that I should change the way I live, the way I
do things, everything. Even though I love my country, The Netherlands, I kept having the
feeling that I wanted to do more with my faith for this world.
In February 1998 I worked a month as a volunteer on the Mercy Ship ‘the Anastasis” in Benin, West Africa. This is a private hospital ship that conducts surgeries on the face of the poorest people in Africa (Tumors, cataract, clef-lips, etc.). These people are outcasts in their own country, and lack therefore any chances in their society. In working and praying with these people my heart has changed, and the desire grew to serve these people with the Grace of our Lord and to share with them the Good News, the Grace and Love of Jesus for all people, including them!
After considering and praying what I should do, I
decided to make a step. To be able to learn how to share my faith, to be able to be
a missionary, I am going to do a study for personal growth in the Lord, and training
myself in biblical knowledge. To be able to learn this, the Lord led me the last half year
to the school of Youth With A Mission, Montana, USA .
From September 13th, 1999 I will attend this
school. The first three months maily consist of theory and personal education. The last
two months we will put into practice what we have learned. This can be anywhere in the
world, but also aboard one of the Mercy Ships. We will let God guide us in this.
I hope to use these experiences to integrate somewhere in this world and to share the Word and Love of our Lord Jesus.
The last few steps seem the hardest. Everyone is returning from their holidays, while I am in the middle of preparations and packings for my trip to Montana. My nerves are slowly starting to twitch. What do I still need; please Lord, keep me from forgetting anything; buy this and that; etc. etc. But by walking in obedience to Him, God has shown me that no matter what happens, He will provide me with the energy and courage to continue.By following the steps on the path He has provided for me, a new season is dawning for me.I am so grateful to the Lord for giving me this wonderful opportunity to serve and learn.
As of now, this newsletter, and all that will
follow, will be published on-line. The URL for my homepage is : http://move.to/joshillen or http://uss-guardian.virtualave.net . This
page is always under construction, and will be updated when new things happen. However, do
not hesitate to take a look. When you do, please be sure to add to my guestbook too.
Above all, we need each others prayer support. Without this our ministries will be harder to fulfill. I would like to ask your prayers on the following points:
- That God will provide in all my needs;
- That God will open doors for the way I should go;
- With the preparations;
- For smooth travel, since I haven’t decided how I will travel from Seattle to the YWAM base in Montana.
Blessings, and hope to hear from you soon.
Love,
Joshua
servant of our Lord Jesus.
