Scriptures: Acts chapter 4 verse 31

“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke The Word of God boldly”.

Scriptures: Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12

“The Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart”.

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

A New Year has begun along with a renewed Hope that God will deliver all of us from the trials and tribulations that we all have and will experience. Know for sure that God is always with you, even though you or your family members are walking through the valley. In this life things happen that we will not understand. We always need to remember that God gives us every good thing, and we need to Praise Him especially for the gifts of our family members and our friends. We need to love everyone we care for, as much as we can as often as God gives us opportunity.

This past year our Senior Pastor in India lost his wife in a tragic car accident while going to a Bible study. Several of The Word of God for Asia, Supporters are no longer with us, but in Heaven with Jesus. One of our Sisters in Christ went home to be with Jesus on Christmas day. Our family also watched our Mother and a nephew in India go home to be with Jesus. For those of us who are left on this Earth it may be painful, but for our family members who loved Jesus, it is Glorious. They are finally at Home with Our Father for Eternity. Do not look back, instead look forward keeping your eyes focused on Jesus the One who gives us Life. Having said this, We Greet You by saying Happy New Year in Jesus Name! This is the Day the Lord God hath made let us REJOICE and be glad in it.

This past year 11 of our 21 Orphan Children were sick with malaria. Many of them had double malaria, that means two different types. They all survived, they are all well, they have all been healed. PRAISE GOD!

Our Pastors continue in their Ministries despite the difficulties they face. One thing I love about these pastoral families, is that they are Up-Beat, Joyful, and Triumphant. They see Victory in Jesus. As a result, they have Congregations that are filled with the Holy Spirit and the Joy of the Lord. When they sing, the power of their Songs and Praises radiate like rays of sunshine that pierce through the clouds of Heaven, except just the opposite. Their Spirit of Praise bursts forward, upward, and outward.

I just received news by phone a few hours ago while writing this Newsletter, that 2,000 Bibles in the Oria language have been sent to Orissa in South-East India. Another 400 more Study Bibles were on their way to another destination, not immediately understood because of the pronunciation problems. Anyway, I am very happy and geeked up about this news and looking forward to a busy schedule in India, which is all coming together in what I believe is Miraculous.

As always, I must write a bit about our theme for this year program, and my Message to you also will be this year Message in India. At the beginning of this Newsletter I have quoted two Scripture passages from the New Testament. I really want to share this with you, because this is how Our Ministry began. Are you ready?

PRAYER & THE WORD OF GOD FOR COMMUNICATION & RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD: In the last Newsletter, we spoke about how our Ministry, The Word Of God For Asia, survived on Prayer. I gave some Examples of how Prayer Blessed every branch of this Ministry. Prayer I believe is our main direct Communication with God the Father. Just to be clear, Prayer is Talking with God.

In this Newsletter, I want to focus attention on the Bible, Scripture, The Word of God, or The Love Letter as I put it to the Hindu people of India. There are many descriptions, but the meaning remains the same. This is the part where God the Father uses His Written Word to

Communicate to us His Children.

Prayer – is one of those ways that we can Communicate to God.

The Holy Bible – is one of those ways that God uses to Communicate to us.

Our Prayer and God’s Word go hand in hand, and really make up the basis of a true Relationship with God the Father.

If we do not Pray or talk with God we have little if any Communication with Him. If we do not read His Word (the Bible), then we eliminate a very important way of God Communicating to us. Please do not misunderstand, God has many ways of Communicating to us. However, since the invention of the printing press and the technology of today. The Bible has become God’s visual way of speaking to us. This means we need to use the tools He has given, so that we may fulfill His purpose for our lives and the lives of others.

The basic Principal below applies to all those human beings on planet earth. If we do not Pray or talk to God and we do not read The Word He gave us. It would be a pretty good bet that there is not much of a Relationship between Oneself and God. In other words, No Communication generally means No Relationship. Personally, I myself have fallen into this horrible trap of thinking my relationship with God was good, when it clearly was not.

Thankfully out of His Great Love, God continues to chase me down. The Good News, is that He is chasing you down as well. Praise the Lord!

HOW IT HAPPENED TO ME:In 1989 Extreme circumstances in India dropped me to my knees. I Prayed to God from the depth of my Heart, and said to Him if I ever come back to India again which I doubt. I would like to come back as a Missionary. However, I had no desire to return back to India ever again. In 1994 I was headed back to India. This time I was traveling with 105 Bibles in a crate and backpack. Many of you have heard this in-depth story before. What it illustrates is that Prayer and The Word of God have been the key Elements of Communication that made everything possible. It all turned into a Ministry of Blessing, that reached out to hundreds of thousands of people throughout India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. PRAISE GOD!!!

I always love to tell stories about God’s Word, and what His Word enables us to do in fulfilling His Great Commission. Below is a story I wrote for our Christmas Church Newsletter in Charlevoix. I Hope it speaks to you about Communicating the Word of God to the people of this Earth. I Hope and Pray that all of you understand the Power of Prayer and the Power of God’s Holy Inspired Word in your Life.

Luke 2 verses 13 – 14

” Suddenly a great company of Heavenly Host appeared with the Angel praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.”

20 Years ago, the day before Christmas did not exactly seem like the picture we read about in Luke. My wife and I were lying in bed, trying to sleep in a small hut like house below the mountains in remote North-East India. This was our second night of trying to get some sleep. A short distance away down a small two track was a little Church with a very big loud speaker. This loud speaker was used to project the sound of people speaking deep into the surrounding mountains. This went on for 24 hours a day, no exaggeration! If that was not enough the underground militants were at war with each other, shooting machine guns in and over the mountains from where we were trying to sleep. No one could sleep. I asked my wife. Why, do they have that SPEAKER so loud! Why, do they keep on speaking non-stop, all day and all night! She said, every year 3 -days before Christmas the Christians in our village read the Bible from Genesis – to – Revelations, stopping just before Christmas Day. Then on Christmas Day we Sing and have a Great Big Feast. It is how we Celebrate the Birth of our Savior Jesus. suddenly I thought, WOW! That is so cool. My mind-set completely changed. The reading of the Bible was in my wife’s tribal language, so from time to time I would ask her, where are they reading from now. That night I fell asleep Peacefully.

Those days and nights were filled with war and violence. Travel up into the mountains behind our small house was forbidden, because you would be shot on site. There was no

Peace during that time. This However, did not stop those who loved Jesus from proclaiming His Great Name. They Praised Him with the loudest sound of His Almighty Word!!!!!! They Magnified and Glorified Him with their voices for 3 – days, 24 hours a day before Christmas. They spoke in their Language loud and clear so that every Man, Woman, and Child could hear God’s Holy Inspired Word. They Hoped that the projected sound would be heard by the ruthless underground militants fighting up in the mountains.

In this World our Brothers and Sisters in Christ Celebrate Christmas in multitudes of different ways. They are all Praising and Glorifying GOD just as the Heavenly Host did as we read about it in Luke. There may not be Peace where they live, there may be no sleep, and there may be no rest. BUT, when we have our Hope in Jesus! We have all the Peace we need.

Have you Thanked God? Have you Praised His Name? Have you given Him all the Glory? PEACE BE WITH YOU IN JESUS NAME! HAPPY NEW YEAR! WE LOVE YOU!

In the Service of Our Risen Savior Jesus,

Steven L. Rozema

THE WORD OF GOD FOR ASIA, INC. A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, 501 (C) – 3

TAX ID. #38-3364751

P.S. We will be leaving for India on January 19, 2018, and God willing we Hope to return from India back to the U.S.A. on March 07, 2018. Please Pray for us as we continue to Serve the Lord, in the mission work He has called us to do.

Thank You to all of you who support this Ministry, our Pastors, our Orphans, our Churches, and our Bible distribution program. Please continue to lift up and encourage all those who are working in the Mission Fields. Pray that God will help you more and more to fulfill the Great Commission in Jesus Name. God Bless You!