My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ, my righteousness.
When He shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in Him be found!
In Him, my righteousness, alone, faultless to stand before the throne.

—Edward Mote, 1834

This past month, our world has been reminded that nothing is certain: not our health, not our investments, not our livelihoods, and not even our physical lives. In the midst of this overwhelming flood of chaos, we have a solid rock, an anchor, a hope—the person and work of Jesus Christ. His perfect obedience and atoning death credited to undeserving sinners and his vindicating and triumphant resurrection from the dead provide our only hope and stay when everything else gives way.

When we last wrote, we were enjoying our visitors from the United States, Randy and Vicki Livingston. They had the opportunity to meet many of our church people, attend a Lord’s Day service, and then things began to unravel. The church chose to cancel physical meetings, we couldn’t visit anyone, and then their return tickets were canceled without notice. We found them a flight with another airline leaving a few days sooner, and as much they wanted to stick it out, it was the wisest choice (side note: notice how many times missionary trips in the New Testament were thwarted or diverted, for example, Acts 16:6–7; 17:10; Rom 15:22; 2 Cor 1:16; 1 Thess 2:17, et al). Even in their short week with us, Randy and Vicki were a great blessing to us and to our church.

This past month we have been doing web meetings via Zoom with our church people. While not ideal, God continues to work through his Word and his Spirit. Listening to sermons and sharing prayer requests online is a wonderful blessing, but it isn’t what Jesus has called his church to do. I imagine you too are eagerly looking forward to meeting with your brothers and sisters in Jesus’ name on the Lord’s Day, singing his praises together, praying in Jesus’ name, hearing his Word, and remembering Jesus’ death together around the Table. Can’t wait!

This week God answered one of our long-time prayer requests, finishing his saving work in the life of Mark’s mother, Patti Perry, and richly providing her entrance into his eternal kingdom. Again, our hope is Jesus—his life, his death, and his resurrection. There are no scheduled international flights until the beginning of May, so there will be a small burial service tomorrow and we are praying for a memorial service when we can be together physically.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

1 Peter 1:3

This is our April 2020 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.