Nelson Newsletter – May 2012

Dear Partners in the Gospel,

Danelle and I praise God for each of you! We are acutely aware of our dependence on your prayers and support. In this newsletter I will be highlighting prayer, especially since I am leaving May 16^th for Tanzania. Your intercession is invaluable for our success. “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” Psalm 127:1 Our team has been praying together every Wednesday morning at 6am because we know the Lord must save souls and build His church in Tanzania, because we can’t.

In this letter I also want to encourage you to “devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” Colossians 4:2 Remember, we don’t have a separate “prayer life,” we have a relationship with Jesus Christ 24/7, and to have a healthy relationship with Him, we must “pray without ceasing.” God tells us in Philippians 4:6-7 to not be anxious about anything, but instead to pray about everything. Then He promises to guard our hearts and minds with His peace. Hallelujah!

Tanzania Why go to Tanzania? God opened the door to go to Tanzania and evangelize through a few nationals that Matt Gordon and the church in Gainesville, Florida know. These men share the same vision of starting a church planting movement in their country. We are going to work with them to find other men and women who also want to make disciples all across Tanzania, especially in the villages. The villages have had little opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ.

What will we do? We will spend the first week in the capital, Dar Es Salaam, teaching orphans in a Christian orphanage. Then we will travel to Mwanza to go to villages in that region. There we will drill wells and evangelize, seeking to make disciples who will start new churches. Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” Matthew 28:19

Rehab Center Maxim and Sveta Bagdon recently invited me to speak at the rehab center in Canton, GA. I was impressed by their hunger for God. I spoke about relationships and used my book as a reference, leaving them copies to study. Please pray for these men and for Max and Sveta in this new ministry. (She was my first translator in 1994).Max invited me to teach them on a regular basis. We spoke a lot of Russian since they all had a Russian heritage!

Prayer Requests and Praise Report

1. Tanzania, May 16-June 10 Pray for God to prepare hearts, save many, raise up workers to take the gospel all over Tanzania. Pray for our health, safety, and unity. Pray for God’s wisdom and discernment.
2. Atlanta House Churches Pray for them to grow in Christ and reach out to others while we are gone.
3. New Granddaughters Pray for Danelle as she goes to NYC to help Julie with her new baby, due May 14^th, and then Amanda’s baby, due June 1^st. Pray for safe deliveries and healthy babies.
4. Timmy and Kenyon Praise God, they are both doing well after having their gall bladders removed!

Your partners on mission…Steve and Danelle