And he isI may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.
Phil 1:27

As we start the ministry in Dearborn, we have been planning and preparing for God’s work here. It has been busy and exciting. Thanks so much for your prayers and keeping up with all the Lord is doing through us. We pray that He will use you for His name here and in all the earth.

Teamwork and The Great Need

“Can we have a candle to pray to Mary?” Near the end of the church service, the security man at the church tapped me on the shoulder and said two ladies are here and want a candle. I then walked out and at the door was two Muslim women. They wanted to pray to Mary. They said, “We love her like you all.” I then got the word of God and told them we respect Mary, but Christ is the answer, and we do not need to pray to her. I shared Scripture and stressed to them that God loves them. They wondered when we meet for services and I told her on Nov 1, we will have scheduled Arabic bible studies! Pray these ladies come to our Fall Festival and then the Bible study. A Muslim man came to the church to find a bible. He received one and left. The harvest is ripe. Pray for fruit! Also, pray as our Jordanian friend, George flies back this week.

What and Amazing Weekend! A group of 25 of us joined together to pass out thousands of packets! The final weekend of the month, we will have our Fall Fun Festival. Pastor Staub, Pastor Mario, and friends of Silvery Lane helped make the door hanger packets, pass them out, and will help at the festival. What a huge help this church is! They will help at the festival. At this event, we want to build relationships with those that come and share info of the Bible Study at Grace and Truth Christian Learning Center. We will invite them to the Bible study and the most vital aspect is that we will be able to take time to hear their needs, pray with them and then share about the love of Christ with them as well. The contacts we build are vital. Pray for fruit from the work God is doing.

My brothers in Christ, Bill and Marwan are such a huge help! They setup our website www.graceandtruthtodearborn.com! It contains online Arabic radio, my Arabic preaching, helpful articles, a place for conversation and much more. Hundreds from all over Michigan and even Canada have visited the site looking for hope. Jesse Underwood setup our ministry site for Bible orders. I work with a group of missionaries reaching Muslims where Brother Brady Van Winkle to Turkey poured his heart out for love for Muslims. Friends from all over will help with the blitz! Our sending Church, Maranatha Pastor Bob Monteith continually helps with support and counsel. Many more are needed here, but Bro Josh Levesque of Emmanuel Baptist Corunna MI raises support to get here. Our board, Macedonia World Baptist Missions helps in a variety of ways. Bro Mike, Bro Dwight, and Bro Shane gave 1000s of Bibles to us for the neighborhood blitz. Of course, you all help with prayers and financial support. Many more can be mentioned. My family and I are blessed to labor with these and others. The most important is the God of heaven that guides and empowers in His work here and in all the earth! It takes many to reach Dearborn and the world for Christ. We thank these for teaming up with us in His work.

“We will purchase a place of our own soon!” Pastor Girgis Alfy in Egypt excitedly told me! Our friends in Egypt are a blessing! We invest our hearts, counsel, and more to God’s work He started through us. They looked at some places and changed direction of where to purchase a bigger place for the growing ministry. We deeply appreciate many of you that gave to this endeavor.

Family Matters

My amazing wife, Beth is getting the hang of homeschooling and is trying to meet with other ladies that do this too. Many events are closed down, but we hope to find some extra-curricular events for the kids to get involved in. We want them to be “kids” and build relations with others in the community.

Think On These Things

Life moves fast and many things are happening all at once. Dearborn is affected the same way our world is. Just recently men motivated by their political views and severe circumstances tried to kidnap and kill Michigan Governor Whitmer. People are stressed and wonder where they can find rest. We know that rest is in Jesus, the one that says, “Come unto me and I will give you rest.

For Christ,
The Gates Family