Gil and Denise Thomas
September 2020
During the last week of July, Gil led the 15th Essential Mission Components course along with several more teachers and facilitators. About 45 missionaries learned and applied four guiding principles and eight church multiplication functions to carry out ABWE’s vision around the world. Here’s what we did to keep people safe during the training:
• Divided the large training room into two and had no more than 25 in each room at a time.
• Dismissed the participants to lunch only one room at time to help keep them distanced from each other.
• Donned masks whenever they moved to flipcharts or activities in which they were in closer proximity.
• Sterilized the rooms often and each night.
• Employed a new air sterilizer which kept the air healthier to breathe.
Great news! The Tagalog (principal language used all over the Philippines) version is ready to print. Ariel Abadiano, our Good Soil representative in the Philippines, is working on getting final permissions in order to be able to print this month. Pray with us that it will be able to printed soon. Once it is printed, this tool will immediately be used by thousands of leaders. Of the $5000 needed to print the book, God’s people have already contributed $1800. Help us see this accomplished in the very near future by praying with us. Ariel will be joining the teaching team in October when we teach Good Soil in Harrisburg.
Denise’s home church, Kent City Baptist, has had a ladies’ mission’s group for years. She remembers her mom being a part of the group since she was very little. I believe it has been going on for the majority of the 150-year history of the church. It was fun for Denise to be home to help her mom (on the sewing machine in the picture) host the group as they prepared bandages for the ABWE hospitals in Bangladesh and Togo. Though times change, it is encouraging to see those who desire to lend a helping hand to missionaries and their ministries.
We spent the month of August in Michigan at Denise’s childhood home. Gil went into the church office almost daily to gain access to internet and work from there. We were able to report to a church and visit several supporters and other missionary colleagues in the area. Denise was able to spend time with family members and help her mom around the house. It was nice to be able to spend a more extended amount of time and not just run in and run out. After the family reunion on September 5th we will be heading back to Harrisburg.