Here is a letter and some pictures from two of our members. They are doing ministry in Yemen.

Dear family and friends,

We would like to begin this letter with this quote. “If we have the true religion of the Bible, we shall feel that a debt of love, kindness, and interest is due to Christ in behalf of His brethren: and we can do no less than to show our gratitude for His immeasurable love to us while we were sinners unworthy of His grace, by having a deep interest and unselfish love for those who are our brethren and who are less fortunate than ourselves” (Welfare Ministry 35). Our visit in Yemen has been a crazy adventure filled with different experiences that we would like to share with you.

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On April 13, we headed down to the south border of Texas to the town of Weslaco. Our goal was to help out with a youth rally geared towards the local academy students at VGA (Valley Grande Academy). More specifically, we led out in five song services and four seminars.

We sent down a team of about eight people. We gave four 30 minute seminars. Roland spoke on Christian values, Mrs. Hadley talked about Ellen White’s life, Adrian gave a seminar on last day events, and Alex and Eileen worked together for a seminar on courtship and marriage.

I spoke to one of the participants of this trip, Jennifer Castillo. Jennifer is a relatively new member of the Ellen White Research Center. This was only her second trip. She said she was blessed by the powerful and practical sermons about prayer at the youth rally. She was encouraged to pray to God more openly. She was inspired to pray to God as though he was a close friend.

March 2-3, 2007

We went to the first ever North American Division youth conference in Dallas. This conference was named “Just Claim It.”

We set up a booth but our main goal was to give out many copies of the book Happiness Digest (or otherwise known as Steps To Christ) by Ellen White.

We gave out around 800 free copies of Happiness Digest. We didn’t just give them to the Adventists but also to the non-Adventist convention workers.

We found a lady from the Salvation Army and we gave her two extra books. She sent us a letter showing her appreciation. In the letter, she wrote:

I have really enjoyed the book you gave me, “Happiness [Digest].” The very first story applied to my life so much, “Love Beyond Compare.” I shared the other two books with my sisters back at the Salvation Army.

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February 4, 2007 - Sunday

We held this meeting to tell others about the research center and the new ministries we were starting. We invited our friends and a bunch of them came.

This meeting was similar to a church service. Mahalia led out in hymns that our Adventist pioneers sang. Mrs. Hadley gave a quick history of the research center. I spoke on the centrality of Christ in Ellen White’s writings and life.

At the end of the meeting, the leaders of the new ministries spoke about their ministry and asked people to join. For example, Hanan told us about a women’s group that was starting. And Uzzie notified us about a study group on the Great Controversy.

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Sunday - December 24, 2006

We arrived at the airport in time to catch our planes. It was hard knowing what to do since all the signs were in Russian and the driver didn’t know that much English. Phoebe’s plane and mine left at 6:45. Dr. Ashworth’s left at 6:50, but poor Justin T didn’t leave until 1pm. He had to sit in the airport and stare at the ceiling for a long time.

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Saturday - December 23, 2006

We got up and were ready to leave at 7am. I was feeling terrible and wanted to stay in bed. Mrs. Hadley told me to get up but not to get dressed, because they would leave me at the pastor’s house where we were going to eat breakfast. We left at 7:15am and saw little bit of snow. We ate at the pastor’s house. Then they all left except the pastor’s wife and I.

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Friday - December 22, 2006

We got up, packed our bags, and were gone at 8am. We took Katya with us, whom we had met the night before. This time we took the bus and a car to Kharkov. Helen also went with us. It was very good that we took another car because 17+ people in a 12-passenger bus is a tight squeeze. I was a lot worse that day. My sinuses were draining and my head was killing me.

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Thursday - December 21, 2006

Today was our day to “play.” But it was not our day to sleep in very late. We got up at 9am and ate breakfast. The guys split up into two groups to take showers at different people’s homes. The girls stayed at Pastor M’s house. The boys who went to one house got to watch a movie, eat chocolate and food, and receive presents. The owners of the house also burned the DVD off for them. The boys were very excited when we picked them up.

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Wednesday - December 20, 2006

In the morning, the pastor came back and picked us up. He had his three little girls with him. He dropped Mary off at the bus station so she could catch a ride to work and then we went to the church. There the cooks had breakfast prepared for us.

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Tuesday - December 19, 2006

We got up, ate, and boarded the bus for Zaporojie. We had to pack our bags again because we would be spending the night. We arrived there later than Pastor M liked, which didn’t put him in a good mood. We had the typical night meeting with introductions and Justin T’s sermon. The church had two stories with a balcony. The kitchen, fellowship room, restrooms, and office were downstairs along with the ABC. Upstairs was the sanctuary and balcony. We ate supper and then split up into homes.

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