Martin Otto [martin.otto@scfs.org]
Last night four Indian Seamen from Tamil Nadu came to our home for fellowship and Bible Study. One of these men was a young many who asked if he could tell us a story – using some scissors and a sheet of plain paper! He had seen you do this onboard MV Virgina 1 a bulk carrier that visited Hamburg in May 2001. He also got the Bridge from you.
He told us that when he saw what you did, he surrendered his life to Christ as his Saviour and that ever since he been a faithful follower of Christ as His Lord! He has a powerful testimony of your impact in his life , he also did the paper and scissors presentation perfectly!
Do you remember him? His name is Xavier Franc Pele. Now he is an OS onboard CSCL Djakarta. The Bosun on this ship is a wonderful believer shares and explains the Scriptures to Franc every evening after they finish work! Franc?s ship visits Sydney every five weeks and he will remain onboard until January 2005.
We were able to give him a Bible and a Bible Study course last night. I told him I would email you and tell you that he thanks God for your witness to him and to let you know that he is going on with the Lord.
Be encouraged my brother! It was a great blessing for us to hear Franc's testimony and to share with him.
Volker Lamaack [volker.lamaack@scfs.org]
My name is Volker Lamaack and I am married to Doris. God gave us three children – one girl and two boys. Since 1991 I have worked fulltime as a Seamen's Missionary in the port of Hamburg in Germany. It is a big privilege for me to serve God among people from so many different countries.
I consider it very important to do effective follow up work, because the sailors usually only stay a short time in our ports. The Bible Study Correspondence Course is really helpful for seeking people, as well as for believers, in order to help them to grow spiritually. As well as other courses which we use, I have written two myself.
Here is an example of a sailor who was blessed by studying Bible Correspondence Courses. Ruel, a Chief Engineer wrote to me:
I am so grateful to you, that you came in the name of the Lord Jesus on our ship, in order to give us Bible Study Correspondence Courses. I can't express it with words, what it means to us.
The first time it happened that we conducted a bible-study on board. Yesterday we have had our second meeting. Every present person was glad and is willing to grow in faith and to give God the glory.
I have completed now the 12 lessons and would like to continue with the next Bible Course. Would you be so kind and send me a Study Course in Cebuano (one of the many Filipino dialects) languages?
My parents and some other relatives in Cebu would also like to start with them. I want them to get to know the Bible, in order that they might discover the purpose of life and everything God has prepared for them.