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2004 Email Updates
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| Subject: Gaudet Family Update June 25, 2004 Date: 6/25/2004 10:34:10 AM Central Daylight Time Dear Intercessors, At any rate, mission accomplished! Thank you for interceding. We were able to learn many things that will help Metropolitan Baptist Church formulate some solid plans concerning ministry in Cuba. Interestingly while there, we spotted a Korean man on the streets of Havana. When I approached him, I noticed that he wore a badge above his heart. When I was able to see it clearly, it was a North Korean badge depicting Kim Jong Il. All North Koreans wear that badge, but this fella must have been pretty proud of his country as he was wearing it while in Cuba. Honestly you could travel the world and never meet a North Korean. There just are not many who are able to be outside the communist country except on state business. He said he was a businessman, but that in all likelihood means he is working for the North Korean Embassy in Havana trying to generate enough income to keep it open. Strange system, but several years ago the North Korean government informed all of their embassies around the world that they were on their own to stay open. The government had run out of funds to operate them. This has spurred many illicit schemes to raise funds from drug dealing to prostitution. Strange still that we should meet this North Korean man in Cuba, another Communist Nation. I am sure he felt right at home. It was a reminder to pray however. We are interacting with the printing ministries as we turn over materials in the following languages to them; Thai, Lao, Khmer (Cambodia), Vietnamese, Burmese, Kachin (Myanmar) Thank you for praying. It could not happen without you. For Souls Still Waiting, Subject: Gaudet Family Update 7/10/04 Dear Intercessors, I will be traveling quite a bit between now and the time we depart the USA for Thailand. As well as speaking in churches in California, Alaska, and Texas, my Pastor and I plan to make a trip to China before our family goes to Thailand. The Lord is so faithful to us, but please pray for safety and the Lord's provision as these travels are undertaken. We wish to thank many of you for your faithfulness to us in prayer and finances. I cannot envision attempting to continue without you behind us. Thank You in Jesus' Name! Following is an article concerning North Korea. An offer for loan of a documentary on DVD is at the end of it. For Souls Still Waiting, ----------article follows---------------- A new documentary by the BBC which has not been aired yet in the USA reveals the effectiveness of teaching the communist ideology within North Korea. Also for the first time is an interview with a defector who was a high ranking official in the prison system inside North Korea. His testimony is chilling. Your heart will break as you see the obstacle that must be overcome if North Koreans are ever able to hear the Gospel of Christ freely. If you wish to view this documentary, please contact Bro. Tom and we will arrange for it to be loaned to you. We need to be informed so we may better pray. Subject: Gaudet Family Update 7/30/04 - North Korea news Dear Intercessors, I have been in meetings in Texas, California, and am presently in Alaska. My Pastor and I are scheduled to fly to China on the 19th of August. I trust you will pray for these meetings and travels. Below, I am giving two articles below concerning North Korea. You will see how they relate to each other. What amazing developments in the region at this time. Please pray! For Souls Still Waiting, ----------------article follows---------------------- U.S. House Unanimously Passes Bill on Human Rights in North Korea The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill on Wednesday that calls for spending of up to US$88 million over the next four years on improving human rights and providing humanitarian aid to North Korea. The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 also calls for protecting North Korean defectors and increasing transparency of humanitarian assistance to the poverty-stricken state. The U.S. is the first country to make legislation specifically aimed at helping the people of North Korea. There will be negotiations with China for the U.S. to set up refugee camps for North Koreans on the Chinese boarder so that China will not have to finance them. There will be an "escape route" for North Koreans to immigrate into America from China, once they do escape. All of these things will be to help the people and not the government of North Korea. There are many Christians in the human rights community. The voice of the suffering people of this hideous totalitarian state are finally being heard. Please pray that the Lord would use these events to open doors to that blighted land. ----------- second article follows------------ What is going on? Experts caution against interpreting news of the mass defection as an indicator that many more may be following. Fact is, these refugees came from a Southeast Asian country so they had probably escaped in small numbers from North Korea over a period of months and were being harbored in that location until now. The other fact is that North Korea will probably respond to the news by clamping down on the border region with China. However, news of this combined with the bill just passed by the US Congress known as the North Korean Freedom Act surely will filter in to the people of North Korea. The best scenario for a sweeping change in the communist country will come if the people revolt. That very thing has been the downfall of every other communist regime but there has not been much hope of that happening until now. How will we respond when the country opens? What will we do NOW as more and more North Koreans flee their homeland? We must not fail to give them the Gospel as well as help them in any other way possible. Subject: Gaudet Family Update Prayer Requested for Travel Dear Intercessors, China is still a communist country. Even today pastors and leaders are put into prison and China threatens those from the outside world who would dare to care. Please be discerning about these requests and keep them before the Lord as we travel. We covet your partnership in this manner.
For Souls Still Waiting, Subject: Gaudet Family Update - Bruce Martin Family, prayer requested Dear Intercessors, I would like to ask prayer for Bruce and Provi Martin as they are in Cuba, in the path of the upcoming hurricane Ivan. They have been in country since the 7th of September and are scheduled to leave on Tuesday, the 14th. The storm is one of the strongest and if it stays on it's current path, will hit on Sunday or Monday. Many are being evacuated but Bruce has some meetings planned with key men.
For Souls Still Waiting, Subject: Gaudet Family Update 9/28/04 & Prayer Request for missionary Brian Johnson Dear Intercessors, The family of missionary Brian Johnson is in need of your prayers at this time. Brian is married to our Daughter, Lisa and they have just spent nearly three weeks here in Fort Worth with us upon their arrival from Lithuania for furlough. They left here last Thursday to start a series of meetings throughout the USA, but on Sunday night in Louisiana, Brian heard that his Mother, who lives in Superior, Wisconsin has been diagnosed with cancer and is in very serious condition. At this hour they are driving straight through to Wisconsin expecting to arrive early tomorrow morning. Of course he has a full schedule, and in fact was to begin a missions conference in his home church in Mapleton, IL tomorrow evening. However, that is all on hold as the word he has now on his Mother's condition is that she is just hanging on. I know Brian, Lisa, and his extended family in Wisconsin would appreciate very much your prayers. This surely will be a tough time for them. Thankfully they are in the USA during this time. If you would like to contact Brian his e-mail is: skidmaze@aol.com (I have no idea when he will be checking it) --------- The response from printing ministries has been amazing. We are estimating at least three seagoing containers at this time. Funds for the first one are in hand. Set up costs for our family is still needed as well as some additional support for us. Please pray for these preparations and needs. Again, we are humbled by your interest, intercession and love for this missionary family. Thank you in Jesus' Name! For Souls Still Waiting, Subject: Gaudet Family Update & Prayer Request for Brian Johnson Dear Intercessors, Many things are ongoing concerning the preparations for both the first shipment to Thailand and our departure in January. The NewsLetter has a lot of info on both of these in it. I will talk about more of these things in an upcoming message but let me ask your intercession for our Son-in-law, Brian Johnson, Missionary to Lithuania. Brian had a growth on his leg when he arrived in the USA from Lithuania in September. He had it taken off in earlier this week while visiting a Church in Arkansas. He just got a phone call today from the Dr. concerning lab results of the growth. It has been diagnosed as malignant. He advised immediate treatment. They are finishing meetings in MO now and on Monday will be heading to Superior, WI. The Dr. has called ahead and scheduled him in for a more extensive set of tests which includes taking a larger section of flesh for testing. This important appointment is for Thursday, November 4th in Duluth, MN. This test will determine how far this Melanoma has progressed and what can be done to help him. Brian just buried his Mother on the 2nd of this month. This is a lot for Brian and Lisa to be faced with. I cannot describe the emotions for Krinny and me at this time. Please intercede for them in this matter. I trust you won't mind if I update you on this prayer request after those tests. Please pray. For Souls Still Waiting, Subject: Gaudet Family Update - Update on Brian Johnson November 4 Dear Intercessors, For Souls Still Waiting, -------------update from Brian follows----------- First of all I want to thank each and every one of you who have been lifting me and my family up in your prayers. We certainly do appreciate it. I went to see two specialists this morning at the St. Mary's Duluth Clinic in Duluth, Minnesota. This is the best hospital in the northland (northern Wisconsin and Minnesota). The first Dr. I saw was a cancer surgeon and he started our conversation by saying, "You certainly are a complicated patient." Of course my mind went crazy trying to figure out what he had meant by that. He went on to say that two pathologists who specialize in dermatology did not agree with the first diagnosis that I received a week ago. He said that their diagnosis was that I had an "atypical spitzoid nevus". To me that sounded like bad news since I had no idea what he was talking about. He went on to explain this to me. He said that this is not melanoma cancer, but was still dangerous. In fact it is a very rare thing for adults to have, it usually only occurs in children. When it does occur in adults it almost always leads into cancer. He said that it is something that we must deal with, but was not life threatening. He said that diagnosing this is very difficult since it looks like and acts like melanoma cancer. He said that there is little known about this and that it is a "gray" area in the medical field and that we need to treat it as though it is melanoma and remove a larger area of skin surrounding the site on my left thigh to have another test on that tissue. I will be going to the doctor to have a minor surgery on this area on November 26th. Once the skin is removed it will be sent in to be examined again. He said that there does not appear to be any immediate threat to my health and cleared me to leave for Montana tomorrow morning where I will be involved in a mission conference. If they find something which looks like cancer at that time they will take a larger area of skin and also do a surgical procedure on my lymph nodes to do an additional biopsy. At this point that is not needed. I will find out more after the minor surgery on November 26th. I will be sure to send you another update once I find out information from those tests. I also saw a Dermatologist and he agreed with everything the cancer surgeon had said. Again, thank you for praying for me and please continue to pray. I am not out of the woods yet, but everything seems to be better than what we had first expected after the initial news. Missionary Brian Johnson Subject: Gaudet Family Update/Brian Johnson health update. Greetings Intercessors! There is a lot of printing going on in various spots around the country right now. Praise the Lord for those who are willing to make this outreach happen! I need to make mention of a matter concerning North Korea, but before I do, let me copy an update from my Son-in-law, Brian Johnson, missionary to Lithuania. Many of you have been praying for him as it was discovered that he had a growth on his skin that was diagnosed as cancerous. He just had a follow-up biopsy done yesterday and we wanted to get this to you ASAP. Please keep praying for him. Bottom line, we still don't have an answer to what it is that he has. -----------forwarded e-mail from Brian follows-------------- I am very sore and am very limited in what I can do right now. I am scheduled to teach Sunday school and preach the morning service in one church and then preach again in another church tomorrow evening. We also have to get everything ready and pack the van in order to head out on the road once again on Monday morning for southern Arkansas. Please pray for me that I will be able to do everything that needs to be done without doing any harm to my leg. Thank you once again for praying. We really do appreciate you. With a Vision for Lithuania, -------------------------North Korea info follows---------------------- Additionally reports have surfaced that some officials who are now traveling outside the country are appearing without the ubiquitous badge depicting the leader. It may be that there is change in the government taking place. Of course, no one knows exactly what this means since solid information is so hard to come by out of the communist nation, but we can imagine God is working in some manner. Please keep on praying. For Souls Still Waiting, Subject: Gaudet Family Update/Brian Johnson update! Dear Intercessors: I am delighted to tell you that Brian got the report today that the original diagnosis of Melanoma was incorrect! In fact he has been given a clean bill of health by the cancer doctors! The biopsy that they examined was not cancerous. They did warn him to have any other growths that he notices in the future dealt with immediately. Do I need to tell you that Brian and Lisa, and Krinny and I are rejoicing? For those of you new to our e-mail list, we had asked prayer for our Son-in-law, Brian Johnson, missionary to Lithuania. He had just had a biopsy done of a site on his leg where a growth had been removed a couple of weeks before. The original doctors suspected melanoma. Thank you so much for praying. We appreciate all the calls and e-mails expressing your concern. Brian and Lisa are on the road at the moment, and they will actually be with us in Fort Worth for the next three weeks. It will be a blessing for sure! Prayer works! Thank you. For Souls Still Waiting, Subject: Gaudet Family Update 24 December, 2004 Christmas Greetings! It only made us realize how close we are to departing for Thailand. I reserved tickets yesterday for departure on February 1, 2005. We obtained Thai visas last week, good for one year with multiple entries valid for 90 days at a time. That means we will need to leave Thailand every 90 days to renew the visas; not a serious matter as it can be done by crossing the border with Myanmar or Laos pretty easily and inexpensively The departure date was set after phone conversations with several of the printing ministries. It looks like all of the materials should be in Fort Worth by the 20th of January. With that in mind, we plan to ship the next week. The day the first container ships we will have enough material to ship a second container. However, we want to make sure that the shipping, customs, and storage is all worked out in Thailand before shipping a second container. By the way, these will be 44,000# containers, 40' in length, a lot of the Word of God! At this point the estimated shipping costs of the first container have been covered as well as the costs of moving the materials around the USA to get them to the point of departure. That totals around $6,000. We rejoice and praise the Lord for this provision. Please pray for the funds and details of setting us up in Thailand. We will need to rent a house which will accommodate our family, a couple of young ladies who will be working with us, and an extensive working office. The office is occupying much of our time now, as we prepare to ship with our baggage - computers, data, records, network, etc. Also it will be necessary to rent a facility for storage of the literature. We are estimating the costs of setting up housekeeping as well as storage at around $4,000.00. Please intercede on behalf of these things. Things are developing on several fronts for China. My Pastor and I both have spoken in churches concerning the need and opportunities in China. It looks like this has been fruitful. We will tell you more as it develops, but there will be a need to make several trips in and out of China in the future. I could tell of some amazing developments but not via e-mail. Please continue to pray for laborers and provision for these efforts. We are blessed to know that so many of you stand behind us and intercede as we look upon the fields "...white unto Harvest." I cannot imagine a missionary family so blessed as we are. All glory to the Lord of the Harvest! You and I can only bask in His glory! This time of the year makes eternity so much closer. For Souls Still Waiting, |
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