God is at Work Building His Church

You might recall our update a couple of weeks ago about Sara and Ray teaming up to teach English to South American Spanish speakers at our weekly Free English Classes outreach that we launched at IPC-Ealing in January. Sara and her mum Andrea are members of of our House Group Bible study that meets in our home weekly, and we were so encouraged to see Sara baptised yesterday and join the church at IPC-Ealing.

In fact, the past two Sundays we’ve been so encouraged to welcome into church membership at IPC-Ealing four members of our House Group Bible Study, as well as three other friends who we’ve enjoyed spending time with over the past year in Ealing. Sara amazes us with her bilingual superpowers and the way that she loves and cares for those around her, and how the Lord is using her already as a new believer.

In addition to Sara, we also welcomed into membership our House Group members Anthony, Justin, and Rebekah on Palm Sunday, as well as our friends Funso, Dana, and David, who is another of our English teachers.

Nothing encourages us more than seeing how the Lord is at work to build His church in this place, both in those coming to faith in Christ, as well as seeing longtime believers finding a church home and place to serve at IPC-Ealing, and helps remind us that missions works best when paired with planting and strengthening Gospel centered churches.

God is Drawing Persians from Iran to Jesus in London

Since our arrival in London earlier this year, it’s been our privilege to serve and reach out to members of many different unreached people groups here. One of the most significant of these has been Persian asylum seekers from Iran and Afghanistan as we have been learning from our much more experienced co-laborers in the Gospel at IPC-Ealing who’ve been reaching out to Persians in London for many years.

Yesterday we praised God together as a church at IPC-Ealing as we baptised a new Iranian Christian, who we will call “N”. "N" is the fourth member of her family to be baptised at IPC-Ealing, following her son, daughter, and son-in-law into saving faith in Jesus Christ from Islam. "N" and her grown children have suffered much to come to London from Iran as asylum seekers, having literally lost almost everything to come here and to now follow Jesus.

Please join us in praising God for "N" and her family’s faith in Jesus Christ and for their family’s bold witness as they continually reach out to others with the Gospel. Please also join us and our Iranian friends in praying for the people of Iran as they continue to suffer under an oppressive Islamic regime that suppresses the Gospel and Christ’s church in their home country, and many Iranian Christians, moderate Muslims, Zoroastrians, and secular Iranians have fled Iran over the past several decades and come to London.