Text Box: Not too long ago we were talking with a man we highly respect. We asked him, “Why is a Christian college needed in the west? “ He replied, “Because we find that when we send our young men to the east to go to college, they tend to marry girls from the east and get positions in the churches in the east. There are more churches in the east, and the ones that are there tend to be larger. Therefore, we lose our best men to the churches in the east when they are desperately needed in the west.” Additionally, we realize that, practically, it is the opportunities that you are around that you will consider for ministry. If you study in the east, you will hear of more opportunities in the east…. “Oh, okay.” that made sense to us, as example after example flashed through our minds of people that fit that description (including ourselves). Now, add an ecoText Box: nomic pressure, which is the situation if a young man is studying in an area that has a significantly higher standard of living than his home area. Then it becomes more probable that a young man wouldn’t go back, for one reason or another. People are still people, even in other cultures. It is difficult to go back to lower standards once one has “tasted” a higher standard of living. These are the reasons that we see the necessity to train men in their own countries. Text Box: Part of what we hope to do is help missionaries and national pastors train their future leaders for the ministry in their own countries. We are looking forward to what the Lord has. We would ask your prayers as we head back in May for Central Europe. Mike will be teaching in a Bible Institute in June in Fetesti, Romania for a couple of weeks with a missionary there. We will be doing a survey trip into Slovakia to see to what city the Lord is leading us. When we asked one missionary there “What cities don’t have Bible preaching churches, “ he wrote back and said, “It would be easier to ask, Which cities do have a Bible preaching church?” We need wisdom. Thanks for praying. Text Box: Concerning location and training

Our addresses

  • Email address:        mjpeter@gte.net
  • Web page address: http://home1.gte.net/mjpeter
  • Permanent U.S. home address: 12808 Fort King Road, Dade City, FL 33525
  • Mission board: International Baptist Missions: 2150 E. Southern Ave, Tempe, AZ 85282

Petersens in Central Europe

Text Box: Special Prayer Requests Text Box: Our return to Poland in May, closing up details there Mike’s safety, and wisdom in June as he travels to Romania and teaches for 2 weeks intensively Children’s readjustment Text Box: to another culture Adequate, affordable housing in Slovakia (we have 5 children and need a room for a study for Mike). Wisdom as we pack in the next month or so Text Box: Medical needs that need to be attended to. Safety on the road as we finish visiting the last few churches here in the States. Thanks for your support and prayers! Text Box: Volume 6, Issue 1 Text Box: March 1999

Michael

 

Becky

 

Jeremiah Mark

10

Timothy Michael

8

Abigail Ruth

7

Lydia Joy

4

Daniel Stephen

1