Grammer December 2023

Grammer December 2023

Nov-Dec, 2023

Dear Friends in Christ,

            With the Christmas season on us, are you focusing on a baby in a manger?  O r the fact that God loved us so much that He willingly lowered Himself from His throne on high, knowing He would face the agonizing death on the cross.  He knew we needed it and loved us so much that He willingly came!

            Janet has been working with the children of the local church where we attend.  On Christmas Eve, they have prepared a special with songs, memorized verses and a few bell songs.  The emphasis is God’s love and willingness to leave His Heavenly Home for Calvary.  Not only are we praying for the kids to grasp that message, but encouraging them to serve by sharing that message during the program.

            Did you notice that this letter covers 2 months?  As is our custom, we spent Thanksgiving Day with our family, which meant traveling to NC.  While in that state, we were able to visit with 2 different churches that have sent work teams to Alaska to help with the radio station project in Thorne Bay.  Not only did we get spoiled by their hospitality, the men had time together to discuss future work in Alaska in hopes to soon see this project completed.

            Also, on Nov. 18, God gave us another great grand-daughter, Aurora Ruth Holton.  However, she was only with the family for 2 hrs when God took her home.  Please pray with us for her parents, Caleb & Carissa Holton, for comfort during this difficult time.  However, we have thankful hearts that we have a blessed hope in knowing she is with our Heavenly Father and He had a purpose for her short life. 

            Pray.  Janet has been visiting a lady who is a resident in a local Home for the elderly.  (At times in the past, Rosie has interpreted for her when speaking to older Navajo ladies who are not fluent in English.) During their last visit, the program director for the home, stepped in and asked if Janet would be willing to do a Bible Study for other residents in that wing.  (This wing is specifically for those suffering with dementia and Alzheimer’s.)  Since this would include men & women, it was agreed to call it a “Bible Reading” and include some old hymns.  This month will be the first session with the reading of the Christmas story.  We are going to try a monthly meeting and see what response we get.  Even though these folks have memory disability, they seem to remember things from their past. The Bible was often important to them in their youth and was respected and appears to be desired in their present challenges. 

            Thank you to each of you that have a part in our ministry, whether in giving or praying (or both).  You are a blessing!!! Thank you.

                        II Cor. 2:11 “Ye also helping together by prayer for us.”

In Christ,

Sam & Janet Grammer

Jones December 2023

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope this update finds you well as we enter the Christmas season! God has done marvelous things at New Haven Baptist Church over the past year.

As many of you know, back in December of 2020, we sent out a letter letting people know of the opportunity to own our own building for $35,000. We were able to raise it within a month. We thank the Lord for those whose hearts he moved upon to meet this need. We want to thank everyone for giving during this time. We now own this building free & clear. 

Throughout the past 3 years, many have walked into our building and heard the Gospel for the first time and accepted Christ as their Savior. We thank God for His goodness!

Our building was built in the 1940’s, and as you can imagine, there is a lot of remodeling work and repairing that needs to be done.  Throughout the last three years we have done projects when we were able to upkeep and improve the building. On January 19th, 2024 We have a  group of 20 volunteers coming from North Carolina to help us remodel our church kitchen area as well as our kids room ceiling, foyer carpeting, and other repairs. 

They are coming to work on the building while paying their own way to CA.

 Our greatest desire is to have a building with the utmost functionality for God’s glory. 

This job would’ve cost us $15,000 if we were to hire a crew,  but with the workers we have coming volunteering their time,  we only need $9,000. 

We would like to ask churches if they would be willing to help. 

Below is an itemized estimate for the needed repairs:

An Electrician

Paint 

Primer

Paint brushes & other supplies 

Sheet Rock

Base boards

Tile 

Shed

Carpet 

Mudding 

2 Doors 

2 door handles

Stove 

Electrical vent 

Lights 

Shiplap

Unforeseen Expenses 

Total: $9,000

If you have any questions or would like to give, please contact me via email or phone at (928) 315-5057.

Sincerely,

Pastor/ Missionary Jacob Jones

Colossians 1:18

Roembke November 2023

Dear Prayer Partners,

Hope Baptist Church
We continue to see the Lord working in White Earth at Hope Baptist Church! Our attendance has been in the teens on Sundays and in the 20s on Thursdays. Although we are starting to see our Sunday attendees come on Thursdays, we continue to pray for our Thursday attendees to attend on Sundays as well.
It is exciting to see many children becoming part of the ministry at Hope Baptist Church. As many as 10 have come to the children’s class my wife teaches. They were able to learn a gospel song and sing for the Lord during our Sunday and Thursday services last week. It was exciting to see them sing and for those listening to hear what they have been learning!
On Sundays, I have been preaching about Jesus’ church. For the last few weeks, we have focused on Jesus’ church being a praying church. Along with these messages about prayer, we are taking time after the message to put into practice what we learned. Corporate prayer is new to some people but we trust that God is working. Pray that our prayer lives would be strengthened.

Outreaches
On November 16th, we had 29 people come to bowl with a frozen turkey and hear the gospel preached.  Turkey Bowling night had its challenges but the Lord worked in hearts! The day before Thanksgiving we had a Pie and Praise service and it was a wonderful time of praising the Lord for what He has done.
Please be praying for the outreaches we have planned in December.  The 14th-17th we are having special meetings with Evangelist Joe Mueller & family. Please pray for our meetings and for the preacher and his family. Pray that believers will grow and others will get saved. On Saturday, December 16th, we are doing an outreach called Christmas with Hope for the White Earth Reservation. We will be preaching the Gospel and giving each man, woman, boy and girl a Christmas gift. We are grateful for the many churches that sent Christmas shoeboxes to us to make this outreach special! Pray for souls to be saved! Also pray that we will be able to get good contacts from this outreach.
On New Years Eve, we are going to be showing the gospel film Redeeming Hope put together by Evangelist Caleb Garraway and Pastor Stacey Shiflett. We would like to pack the auditorium full of lost people to see the gospel preached through film. Please be praying that souls would be saved through this outreach.

Building Project
Lord-willing we will begin a building project in February. An unessential wall and adjoining rooms take up much of the space in our auditorium that we would like to fill with seats. When that wall comes down, we will be able to add another 25 to 30 seats in the auditorium and do some other much needed renovations. The Lord led us to a man from a church in Bemidji, Minnesota, to lead the project. We are trusting the Lord to provide through the people of Hope Baptist Church to fund this project.
Please continue to pray for our family, the Ojibwe people, and Hope Baptist Church. Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer and financial support! May fruit abound to your account.

For the cause of Christ,

Marty, Logan Michelle, Aliza, Annie, Ezekiel, Isaiah and Max Roembke

DeFord November 2023

Dear Praying friends and family,

Thank you for your faithful support of the ministry among the Native American over the past two months. The Lord of the Harvest has mercifully allowed and graciously enabled us to plant, water, and harvest in His field this fall.

Back in October, we celebrated the graduation of two saints to Glory. And we received word this morning of the graduation of one more-the spouse of one of those who passed in October. Please, pray for family members that have gone through Thanksgiving with an empty chair at the table, and for those who will be grieving the separation from loved ones this Christmas and New Year season. Funeral services are a significant part of our ministry on the reservation. We need God’s Holy Spirit filling in order to be a blessing to family at these times!

Hualapai Baptist hosted its bi-annual missions conference in October with two of our missionaries who minister among other tribes here in the Southwest. We were blessed to have Pastor Kevin Barthel from the San Carlos Apache Reservation as our key note speaker. Brother Barthel is ministering in the church we were serving many years ago. He was sure a blessing to us all. The following week, we traveled to Florida to attend a missions conference in Pensacola. The Campus Church family and staff really spoiled us! We returned home encouraged and refreshed.

After arriving home, Steve had a moment of confusion and memory loss landing him in the hospital over night. We thank God all test came back negative for signs of brain damage. He had a similar incident about four years ago. We are still waiting for an appointment with a specialist to try and determine why these incidences of amnesia are occurring.

Many of you have been asking about Steve’s mom, Becky. She moved in with us in mid-November, and is settling into our home and church very well. We are planning some remodeling to our home to better accommodate her needs. Lord willing, she’ll have a new suite by the end of February thanks to some volunteer laborers coming to help with the remodeling project. Thank you for your prayers and concern for her!

We truly had great cause for Thanksgiving as just a few days prior the holiday, Steve led a young man to Christ who has been attending church for the last couple months. This young man had recently returned home from a Christian rehab center. While visiting in the home, it became apparent he had never received Christ as his personal Saviour. He eagerly listened and surrendered himself to Jesus! Praise God! Your support enables us to continue planting, watering, and harvesting-Thank you!

For God’s Glory,
The Steve DeFord family

Roembke October 2023

Dear Prayer Partners,

 We are excited to tell what the Lord is doing here in White Earth! There is so much happening in the ministry, but I will attempt to give a brief summary.

Transition Service
In 2021, Walworth Baptist Church, led by Pastor Caleb Mitchell, received a church building free of charge on the White Earth Reservation. They immediately took action and started Hope Baptist Church in September 2021. This year on September 28th Walworth Baptist Church turned the ministry of Hope Baptist Church over to our leadership. The transition service was a wonderful time of recognizing what Jesus is doing on the reservation.

Hope Baptist Church
We are continuing Thursday night services as usual. These services are evangelistic in nature. Some of the attendees are saved and some are not. Most of them are still learning truths from the Bible for the first time.
On October 1st, we held our first Sunday morning service. It has been a challenge to get our Thursday night crowd to come on Sundays but the Lord has blessed with people in the service each Sunday. This past weekend one of our nearby supporting churches aided us greatly with outreach on Saturday and continued helping the Sunday service by providing a pianist, nursery workers and kitchen help!  As a result of the outreach, we had six first time visitors!  Please pray that those who attend Thursday night will make it a priority to meet on Sunday as well.
This Thursday night, we had our highest attendance of 21 and for the first time we were able to introduce people to a missionary going to a foreign land. As missionary to India, Brother Casey Davis presented his field the native folks connected very well with him and asked him some really good questions! We are looking forward to Hope Baptist Church supporting their very first missionary!
Throughout the month of October, we also conducted a Bible campaign. The goal of the campaign was to encourage people to take personally learning about Jesus from His Word. People earned points by attending services, bringing their Bible, bringing a friend, memorizing verses, and reading the Bible. Some became enthusiastic about bringing their Bible, one man brought three new people, and a few participated in memorizing verses.  We praise the Lord for these victories! This week we awarded the highest scores between the men and women with a new leather Bible, case and pen set.  It was a close race between our daughters for the youth prize, but in the end, we were proud to award Aliza with a McDonald’s gift card since she already has a Bible. 
Another exciting part of the Bible campaign was the Lord sending us a man who had copies of John & Romans translated into Ojibwe.  Most on the White Earth Reservation only know a few words of Ojibwe but the excitement of seeing their language side by side with the King James Bible could not be matched! One lady even told her friends if you do not know your language get one of these Bibles and learn it! The man that dropped off the John & Romans said the New Testament will be ready in 2024. Thank the Lord for this gospel opportunity and pray with us as we look into getting more Ojibwe Bibles!
As always, we have faced spiritual battles as well. In the last few weeks, a couple of drunks have stumbled into the services; however, one man has returned for nearly every Thursday evening service.  He struggles with the thought of dying at the same time considering suicide. In conversation with him, it is evident He is controlled by evil spirits. Pray for him to run to Jesus and find salvation in Him. Unfortunately, he is one of many who struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. Please pray for us as we look forward to starting a ministry at Hope geared towards reaching addicts for Jesus.
Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer and financial support! May fruit abound to your account.

For the cause of Christ,

Marty, Logan Michelle, Aliza, Annie, Ezekiel, Isaiah and Max Roembke

Jones November 2023

Dear Family and Friends,

     We want to thank all of you for your prayers and financial support. The last 3 months have been profitable. We continue to focus on doorknocking, discipling, teaching, and building relationships with the people.

     During the month of August, we took a two week vacation and went to see family as well as present and update at a few churches along the way. We saw family in Wisconsin and Michigan and had a wonderful time! When we returned home,  we got to work ministering to our people. 

     In the month of September, we took our Teens to West Branch Camp’s Youth Conference in Peoria, AZ. We took a joint trip with Cocopah Bethel Baptist Church. The Teens enjoyed the fellowship and games and listened intently to the preaching. Please keep our young people in prayer!

      On September 21st, we had the Beauford Family, missionaries to Uganda. That night, a man named Melvin walked in and told P. Jacob and Bro. Beauford how he had attended a Baptist church in northern Arizona when he was young. He had promised God that if a Baptist church came to Winterhaven, he would attend faithfully. God reminded him of his promise, and he has been consistently attending since!

     During the month of October, Pastor Jacob started a series entitled “For the Faith” going through the basic Biblical fundamentals of the faith. He spoke on God the Father the first week, God the Son the second, and the Holy Ghost the third. 

When he got to tongues, visions, and the (male) role of the Pastorate, there were a few people that were highly offended by those stances. The culture on the reservation is very Matriarchal and superstitious.

     He had a few people come and talk to him after the service disagreeing with what the Bible says.  One family said they were going to leave the church. We told them that we would not compromise but still care about them, but after a few weeks of prayer on Pastor Jacob & Lydia’s part, the family has put their doctrinal difference to the side and returned to services. We are not compromising on this, but are preaching the truth in love. 

    On October 8th, Jacob went to Wichita, Kansas to present at a church that had previously supported, but had not met us in person. October 16-20th, Jacob and Samuel attended the Missions Conference at Hualapai Baptist Church in Peach Springs. Pastor DeFord was very hospitable and the church was a huge blessing and encouragement to us! From October 22-25th, Jacob was given the opportunity to present at a Round Robin Missions Conference in Utah at 4 different churches in 4 days.  All of the churches were a help and encouragement to our ministry! From October 29-31st, we had our Native Revival with Pastor Sheridan Saunders from Mount Powell Baptist Church in Thoreau, New Mexico. We all had a great time and God was at work. One of our newer attendees, who has been going a little over a month, said it was just what he needed! 

We want to thank you all for your continued prayers and support. God is at work!

      Sincerely,

The Jones Family

Missionaries to the Native Americans 

Colossians 1:18

Prayer Requests:

The Golding Family- Seneca struggles with addiction, but her mom, Bernita and the grandkids attend our church faithfully. 

Pray for the Oceguega family of 5 Teens whose dad struggles with alcoholism.

Pray for the Jose Family- that Lydia will be able to witness to the Grandmother, whose health isn’t good. 

Pray for the Takala & Koteen families to return to church.

Please PRAY for these events:

Our annual Christmas party December 21st. Pray that during the Christmas season people will come to know the true purpose behind the celebration and for the means to provide a gift for each child. 

Our Teen Rally with Pastor Toby Garcia Youth Pastor at Gospel Light Baptist Church in Rio Rancho, NM on January 6th

Our Winter Tent Revival with Dr. Arthur Maricle January 22-26th. We have a group of 20 coming from North Carolina to finish the remodeling of our building- especially the kitchen- which was built in the 40s and has not been updated in years. If you would like to help with the remodeling, please let us know and we will give you more details regarding the cost.

  Spiritual Growth:

Dallas, Bernita, & Emma

Salvations:

Vanite, Leia, Ish, Zane, Manuel, Kayla, Rachel, Nina, Renesmee, Domininc, Robert, & Donovan.

Personal:

Lydia: wisdom/ treatment with worsening lung function as tests showed mild PAH while on meds and lowered pfts.

Samuel: that he will continue to improve in Speech and Occupational Therapy. That God gives wisdom and strength and directs his future.

Grammer October 2023

Dear Friends in Christ,

            This seems to have been the month for funerals.  Yesterday, there was the funeral for a neighbor and today the service for the grandmother of one of Janet’s piano students (and mother of one of Sam’s former students). Tomorrow, there will be a service at the church for a man who was a member. {He and his wife moved to Arkansas to be closer to family during their later years and she wanted to have the service here in Flagstaff where they have many friends.}  Sam also officiated at another funeral this past month.  There have also been friends from out of state that have moved from this life to their eternal home but we were unable to attend.  All of these folks have professed Christ as Saviour which is a real comfort.  Why do we bring this up?  It is a reminder that each of us will face eternity; there is no avoiding it.  It is also a reminder of just why we are here-to give out the Gospel message that we can spend eternity with our Lord, but we need to accept His wonderful gift of Salvation-bought for us at a great price!  Are you ready for the next life?  Have you received this gift of Salvation? It’s free!   After death it is too late to choose Christ!

            The fall semester of the Northern Arizona School of the Bible is almost completed. This year, Sam taught 2 classes; New Testament Survey and Basic Bible Doctrine.  We are so thankful for each student that wants to know more about the Scriptures.  Pray with us for Eric who has plans to attend Crown College in Tennessee beginning this next spring.  He has been a big help here in the local church with the sound system and will be greatly missed.  But we are excited to see him take this step of faith and trusting God to meet his needs.

            Please continue to pray for the young people that God has put in our lives for training (piano lessons & leatherwork).

            We would like to share with you that a generator for the radio station in Alaska has been provided.  Thank you for praying with us.         

            On a personal note, great grandchild #16 was born October 20;  Palmer Judea /6 lbs 15.5oz.,  to Leah & Tyler Smith (&3 big sisters!)  God has truly blessed our family. 

            We are thankful also for God’s protection on another granddaughter and her family that live in Lewiston, ME. They have been in lockdown in their home because of the shooting. She told us that one of her co-workers was killed and she is hoping it will open hearts to hear the message of the Gospel!

            Thank you to each of you that has a part in our ministry, whether in giving or praying (or both).  You are a blessing!!!

            Once again this year, we don’t plan to send out a November letter but will include any news with our December letter as we hope to spend some time with family over Thanksgiving and will be away.

                        II Cor. 2:11 “Ye also helping together by prayer for us.”

In Christ,

Sam & Janet Grammer

Messick September 2023

Dear ones in Christ,

Since Gary stepped down as pastor of Living Waters Baptist Church in May, one hymn has often come to mind – one of our favorites – “All the Way My Savior Leads Me.”
The first verse is:
“All the way my Savior leads me – What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who through life has been my Guide?
Heaven’y peace divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know what e’er befall me, Jesus doth all this well;
For I know what e’er befall me, Jesus doth all thing well.”
And the closing line,
“This my song through endless ages; Jesus led me all the way.”
This is the desire of our hearts.

It seems we are constantly seeking His direction in this new phase of our lives.
No longer serving at Living Waters as been an adjustment for sure, and we want to thank you for praying for God’s direction as to how He would have us continue serving Him. And we see His definite “leading” in many areas.

First of all, after going to several churches in the area, seeking the one God would have us be part of, we felt “led” to visit the American Indian Church on another section of our reservation located about 20 miles from us at Clarkdale, AZ. Our first Sunday there, it felt like “home.” When you have been in NA churches for almost 40 years, that seems like home to us. It is a very small work, less than a dozen attending, Pastor Daigle is 86 years old, a Penobscot Indian from Maine, having started the work 41 years ago. He recently had a stroke and is somewhat limited, but still faithfully giving God’s Word. The folk have made us feel very welcome. We assured them up front that we weren’t there to try to take over, but we would be glad to help in any way we might be needed.

For some time now, Gary has felt God’s “leading” in meeting with Native American men that are incarcerated at our county jail located in Camp Verde. There was much red tape to work through in order to do so. It has to be done by video. One problem was that they don’t give out names of inmates, you have get those on you own. The first Sunday we attended the new church, Gary asked for prayer for guidance in this new ministry. One of the ladies came to him afterwards and said her grandson was incarcerated there and wondered Gary could get in contact with him, He then had his first contact! Gary has been able to meet with Michael once and is arranging another meeting. Please pray for Michael’s salvation.

We are so thankful God has “led” us to good doctors. Gary will be seeing an electrocardiologist in October concerning the need for a pacemaker. Bev is getting the last of her heart tests finished so she can reschedule her knee surgery that was canceled in May. She just had another bout with Covid, but is recuperating nicely.
We understand that things are going well at Living Waters, and we are so thankful God led Paul and Naomi Sondergaard to pick up the baton.

It was a great blessing to attend the annual IBIMI retreat in August, held at West Branch camp near Williams, AZ. What made it extra – special was that we celebrated the 45th anniversary of the mission board. Many pictures and memories were shared during that time. We were challenged and encouraged by great messages from Pastor Randy Miller and Brother Troy Carlson.

PRAISES:
*For fellowship and teaching at American Indian Church
*For opening doors to a new area of ministry
*For taking care of our physical needs

PRAYER REQUESTS:
*For God’s guidance in ways we can be of help at AIC.
*For new contacts Gary can meet with at the jail
*For medical needs coming up

We are grateful for your prayers and support in our behalf. Please continue to pray for God’s leading and direction.

In His Love and Ourst,

Gary & Bev Messick

De Ford September 2023

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Dear friends, family, and prayer partners,

We are grateful for our righteous Lord and for you faithful supporters. It is uncommon for us to have months as packed as the last two have been. Thankfully, God strengthens and upholds!

The first of August, Sherry was able to meet up with our youngest, Josh, and visit family in Illinois then went on to Ohio to see her parents. While she was away long-time family friend Bud Wells came and helped plan out the renovations necessary for our home in order to get Steve’s mother moved in. While in Ohio, Sherry was able to attend the church we were married in 35 years ago to the day. Unfortunately, we had to celebrate this day apart, but we were and are thankful for God’s faithfulness to us through all the years. It truly is amazing to look back and see everything He has brought us through, and appreciate the family, friends, and love that has grown between us!

The day after Sherry returned home, we attended our annual mission retreat. Nearly all of our IBIMI missionaries were able to attend this year’s event. Many commented on how timely, and needful the preaching and fellowship was this year in particular. We commemorated 45 years as a mission with a fond look back and an enthusiastic look to the future!

In addition to our church’s monthly Men’s and Ladies’ fellowships, we concluded our special summer fellowship prayer meetings with our annual Prayer/Praise/and Pie night. This night is one of Steve’s personal favorites! The homeschool co-op also began again. This year we are thrilled that our first ever Native American student will be graduating who will have gone his entire academic career in our co-op! But the best news of August was the salvation of a young man whom we’ve known for many years. The youngest brother of our deacon received Christ as Saviour after a Sunday morning service!

September didn’t slow down much. In addition to the regular services, our teens attended the Bill Rice Ranch West Branch regional youth conference. We had one of our largest groups ever attending with a full van making the trip to Peoria, AZ for the day. 

The month ended with our ladies attending a retreat in eastern Arizona near Eager. Sherry had been asked to speak for this conference over a year ago. She had been faithfully studying, and making notes for many months. Hundreds of prayers were lifted up to God. And when it was done, Sherry knew God had worked in her and through her to speak to the record crowd. Three ladies were saved, including one of the ladies attending from Hualapai Baptist, and two other ladies received assurance of salvation. The Lord demonstrated again that we are to “Fear … not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Thank you all for your prayers and support of the ministry among the Native American Indian in Arizona!

For God’s Glory,

The Steve De Ford family

— 

Steve De Ford
Director Independent Baptist Indian Mission
3880 Stockton Hill Rd. #103-438
Kingman, AZ  86409
928-200-2392
Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things He hath done for you. I Samuel 12:24
ibimi.com

Grammer September 2023

Dear Friends in Christ,

            It seems summer has just arrived but fall is already trying to take over.  The monsoon rains were late this year, so our garden was slow in coming and now the freezes are just around the corner, though night temperatures are still in the 40’s.  But God, once again, is faithful in providing our needs –even without a good garden crop!

            The fall semester of the Northern Arizona School of the Bible has begun and we have several new students enrolled.  What a joy to have a part and watch young Christians hunger to know more of God’s Word and growing in Him.  This year, Sam is teaching 2 classes; New Testament Survey and Basic Bible Doctrine.

            The last 2 week-ends of this month, we have traveled to the Hopi Reservation (about 2 hr away) to fill in for a missionary family that is away.  Won’t you pray with us for Andy & Nancy and their 4 children?  They really need a larger home with a washer and dryer.  Their present home is better fit for 2 people, rather than 6 and is also the location for their services. (Attendance is low, but as it increases, more space will be needed.)  They also have a children’s Bible Club on Sunday afternoons which meets outside but will be more of a challenge as the weather changes.  (The attendance of the children is dependent on the tribal religious ceremonies and family trips and plans.)  It can be discouraging when you don’t see results to your labor, but we have seen their faithfulness  and trust God to work in hearts in His time.

            Our truck is now back home in our driveway with repairs and an extra heavy duty bumper for future encounters with local deer and elk.  Thank you for your prayers.  We have a great God and are so thankful for His protection and provision during this incident.  What a comfort to know God is in control and very aware of every detail.  We are reminded to “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Prov. 3:5 & 6)

            Janet has 4 piano students this year; 3 are Navajo.   Sometimes the lesson opens up opportunities to understand basic Bible truths  .All 4 have professed Christ as Saviour and we are hoping that they can minister in their local churches with their piano playing.  Please pray with us to that end.

            Sam also has 2 young students that are taking some lessons from him in leatherwork.  One is a young Navajo boy from a Christian home and the other is a neighborhood teen from a Mormon family.  More opportunities to talk with them about what Scripture says.  Again, please pray with us for God to work in their hearts.

            Thank you for letting God use you to meet our needs and pay our bills.  Your giving and prayers are very much appreciated.  

                        II Cor. 2:11 “Ye also helping together by prayer for us.”

In Christ,

Sam & Janet Grammer

Roembke September 2023

August & September 2023

Dear Prayer Partners,

 We finished our meetings in the West and made it home safely at the end of August. While we were out, we presented our ministry in 19 Native American churches across 10 different reservations. Some of these were updates for supporting churches and several were churches we had yet to meet.  Our trip was very profitable and we learned much from different missionaries and Native pastors. It is exciting to see God moving among these reservations! We were also able to attend our mission board’s annual retreat. It was an encouraging time of preaching, mission reports, and celebrating the 45thanniversary of the Independent Baptist Indian Mission, Inc.
     On August 20th my wife and I celebrated our 7th anniversary! Thank you to those that sent cards! I am thankful for my marriage. Aliza and Annie are starting school this coming week so please pray for my wife as she prepares for that in the midst of our ministry to Hope Baptist Church on the White Earth Reservation.
     Since arriving back to our new home in Twin Valley, Minnesota, we have been working diligently to put our house together before the official transition on September 28th.  I have also been able to lead the services at Hope Baptist for the past three weeks and to prepare a full schedule for the beginning of Sunday services.
     Here are a few things you all can be praying about with the ministry among the Ojibwe:
1. Pray for the transition service on September 28th where we will take leadership of this Native work.
2. Pray for souls to be saved, baptized, and added to the church.
3. Pray for our first Sunday service on October 1st.
4. Pray for our Bible Campaign during October. Our goal is to teach our people how to get in the Bible and know Jesus personally.
5. Pray for our church cleaning and project day on October 14th.  Our goal is to learn how to take care of God’s house along with enjoying a time of fellowship and discipleship. Our desire is that the Ojibwe people would catch a vision for what God can do through them and see the necessity for them to lead their people.
     This past Monday and Tuesday, Pastor Caleb Mitchell and I were able to attend the North Central Church Planting Conference with our families. The preaching and the fellowship with other church planters was a great encouragement. Each church planter was given the opportunity to present needs before the congregation. The Lord met many needs for all the church planters! On Monday night, I presented our needs and the congregation raised $4,790 for a four-wheel drive vehicle for our family. The host church, Eastside Baptist Church of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is also providing us a sound system for our church building! The next day another pastor told me their church was going to be giving $2,000 more to us! Then Wednesday morning I got a letter from a supporting church that said someone was led to give another $1,000 toward a four-wheel drive vehicle for us. The Lord provided $7,790 and a sound system for us in three days! God is good! If you are interested about some of the other church building projects we are working toward, please reach out to me.

Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer and financial support! May fruit abound to your account.

For the cause of Christ,

Marty, Logan Michelle, Aliza, Annie, Ezekiel, Isaiah and Max Roembke

Grammer August 2023

Dear Friends in Christ,

            II Cor. 4:8b “…we are perplexed, but not in despair;”  Paul wrote this but we can empathize with him.  Last month we shared some of the perplexing happenings of the summer.  Are you ready for the “rest of the story”?

            3 weeks after scheduled, Sam was able to travel to Alaska.  The second night he was there, he was awakened at 2:30 a.m. to hear that his older brother was now gone; appears to be a heart attack.  Later that morning, he caught a float plane to Ketchikan and then a commercial plane to Mississippi for the service.  (Amazing that things worked together so quickly for this trip.)

            The return flight was not so smooth as the first plane took off 2 hrs. late, causing him to miss the second and then the third flights, requiring an overnight in Seattle and brought him back to Ketchikan as the work crew were leaving for home, so he had to close things up for the winter.  (It does appear that they had accomplished all that was on the list-and did a good job!  Thank you to our volunteer workers!)

            We still need prayer for electric to be  brought to the building.  The generator that we were using is not strong enough for the needs of the cabin and broadcasting and needed repair-approximately $500 to repair and then the cost of a larger unit-$2,500. ( With all the rain storms in the area, we will still need a generator as backup but asking God to change the decision of the power company.)

            Now began the trip back to Arizona and all went well until Utah.  A deer decided that it needed to cross the road RIGHT NOW!  So now we need a new bumper and front headlight on the driver’s side.  Praise God, Sam was not injured and the truck was still drivable with about ½“clearance for the wheel which would have affected turning.  Now we move on to dealing with police reports, insurance, and repairs. 

            What a comfort to know God is in control and very aware of every detail.  We are reminded to “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Prov. 3:5 & 6)

            Please continue to pray with us for the man that the Lord wants to maintain the station and live in Thorne Bay.  

            This past month, when writing a checks to pay a bill, our response was, “Thank you God, for supplying so we can pay this.”  He uses you to meet this need and help us continue in the work we do. You are definitely fellow-laborers.   Thank you for your prayer and for your giving.

                        II Cor. 2:11 “Ye also helping together by prayer for us.”

In Christ,

Sam & Janet Grammer