Fowler Bruce Judith 1975 PuertoRico

8/13/2019 Fowler Bruce Judith 1975 PuertoRico

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8 TIDBITS:use ou r Paseo, Alfa 2081, Levittotoi address i ns te ad o f

o x num ber . T han ks le p la ce o f p ra ye r an d fas t ing in th e Chris t ian walk ofi s becoming more important to us . George an d FelixMinisters in the prison) are spending a l l mornin prayer befo re at tempting an y ministry the re st o f the

on Check-i t-out Joe Acre, whose test imony wasin our l a st l e tt e r: As wel l a s h elp in g me in th eson min is tr y , he has now s ta r ted some Chris t ian clubs in

High Schools here . Teams o f t umed -o n -f or -Ch r is t k id sevange li z ing on the i r campuses. How about doi ng t ha ty o u r s .m gett ing rea l exci ted about the c on ce pt o f fa i th beingthe present To say I have fa i th t ha t it HELL HAPPENnot fai th, but hope, even if you have no doubts Faith

it has ALREADY happened . Claim i t now (a s Abraham did*s promise for an heir), thank HIM for i t , and experienceful f i l lment in t he f le sh in God*s per fec t t ime.Christian ha s a fulf il l ing (to himself) ministry, i fJust t rus t God and step into it In these l a s t daysJesus comes fo r Hi s Church, the Holy Spir i t i s directHi s people in new exciting oppor tuni t ies. Are you enyours yet? Talk to Director of Opportunities Un(God) about i t . *J es us ' lo ve to you,Bruce Judy Fowler, th e fou r C*s

CHRISTIAN CHURCHCOLLEGE BOULEVARDIDAHO 83706CORRECTI(^ REQUESTED

W, E . McGILVEY2600 ROCKFORD LN.KOKOMO, IND. 46901

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION.U. S . POSTAGE PAIDPERMIT NO. 29BOISE, IDAHO

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MISSION MESSAGES f rom t h e Fow le r sPaseo Alfa 2081Levittown, PUERTO RICO 00632

March 1975MEET YOUR NEW BROTHER.. .R i c ha r d

This month we^re fea tur ing th e testimony of another oft he p ri soner s a t th e penitent iary; Richard Houser. A fewweeks ago, Richard wanted only to get ou t of prison andhide from society in th e hi l l s of South America to get intEas te rn medi ta t ion and occult and to t r ip out on drugs.Bu t since Jesus f i l l ed Richard's l i f e an d p la n s w it h theHoly Spirit he plans to go to South America (or whereverGod sends him) as a missionary-evangelist, and i s makingplans now for Bible College training. The prison ha srecen t ly t ransfered Richard from the mairi pen it ent ia ry toa minimum-securi ty halfway house so he can s t a r t at tending classes in preparation fo r the ministry.

He w r i t e s :A ll T l i f e I ve been swaying back and forth betweenGod and.no God, I t hi nk t he main reason t ha t I h ad su chhard time accepting God was I couldn't understand how Icould become r econc il ed t o God who i s perfect I went toSunday School as a child, ibut I was taught about the Godthe Hebrews and Jesus wi thout ever really;..un(ter;S,tandingthe Good News. I thought that i f I accepted Qhrist . .(Continued on page 6 }{****** * 5 * * * * ^ ^ CATHERINE SUE FOWLER 8 Iba, lU oz, joined the fainily February 8th, kfta harrowing.ride to th e hospital e.mergency w^d.. Thehour-long rdde took ten minutes (through heavy Sail Ju^t raff ic yetl) because she was determined to be bom inthe car. She wasn't, and now everyone i s our family feelf ine, happy, complete, and grateful to Jesus.

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Page 2INMATES BEGIN FULL-TI i\ iIE MINISTRY INSIDE PEN

George Bel l Po\md, whose tes t imony yo u read i n October,d another new convert, Felix Perez, have o f f i ci k l l yf u l l - t i m e m i n i s t r y as inmate-missionaries, enangel iz -

n g w it hi n t he pri son w a l l s an d taking over more o f th ei n my o f f i c e . I f e e l t h a t one m in is tr y t o which

od h a s c a l l e d me h e r e is to train l e a d e r s who c a n t e a c hown peopl e wi thout , an outsider having t o bridgee c ult ure gap. Currently, there are FIVE of the newwho have decided t o go i n t o f u l l - t i m e evangelismRichard Houser, Felix Perez, Wilfredo AvellezGeorge Bell Pound, and Paul Dolce. Several .


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6 TESTIMONY OF R ICHARD HOUSER Coat, from Page 1DQT Savior and had my s ins washed away then sinned a f t e rI would again fa l l into disfavor with God. So by th eI reached my teens I decided I had be t t e r wait to askr salvation unt i l I learned how to l ive without sinning.did I know that th e Good News and th e Holy Spir i tth e very th ings tha t I needed in order to l e am howl ive without sinning.

I grew older I forgot about t ry ing to l iv e withoutbu t I more or less decided to t ry and l ive rightaccording to my own standards. I gave God l i t t l eunti l I was in ngr twenties and had some experiencethe world behind me. Many of my generation seemed to be

for Truth an d tha t search eventual ly led to God.this search fo r me was in vain for a long t ime becausedn t c onsi der the God o f th e Hebrews du e to His vio lencewrath. I was concerned about finding a God of love andunders tand how one God could be both . But Godwith me through a l l of this an d He knew that iny heart wasin seeking the Truth. Praise the Lord.but surely th e Lord brought me to Him, bu t not due too f my e ffo rts . F ir s t h e showed me -who I wa s because Het ha t before I could understand Him I must f i r s t undermyself. I learned tha t I cou ldn t stand alone an d f indand He showed me that I couldn t expect to findperson who would l ive up to my expectations either.after going aro imd and around in the world searching forand happiness and coming up empty-handed, the Lordme naked to Him; and when I was ready to accept Him onterms, he accepted me just as I was and began to teach met Himself in th e only way that i t is possible to know Him:ugh a personal relationship with Jesus as my personalTeacher, and Priend.I f i rs t went to the Lord in prayer in order t o get toHim I had ho real belief, (although I sincerelyto believe) and I didn*t dare to hope lest my hopes bevain. But the Lord tvas patient and loving and kind with me;I asked the Lo3?d to show me He was real with signs and

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. . .Page 3way hou se s a round th e i s land . We expect a l l the Christ ihere to be moved out in a few weeks. They wi l l be goingmissionaries to spread th e Gospel a l l over t he i sl an d, jas in Acts 8 :l,I i.. P ra ise to Almi^ty Jehovahl As Watchman Nee reminds us (in his book, Sit-Walk-Stand ) Wedo not f ight FOR victoryj we f igh t FROM v ic to ry . Jesusha s a l ready defea ted Satan at th e cross. Overcomers ar ethose who re s t in the v ic to ry a l ready given to them by GCLAIM m

MINISTRY OUTSIDE THE PRISONFriday evenings we ga ther in a f r i end s home fo r worshpra ise , Bible teaching, and mini s t ry . So many have come(People are hungry for the Gospel) that we had to dividegroup; we d idn t a l l t in to one house. And t looks

l ik e w e ll have to d iv id e a ga in . In th e l a s t few weeksmany people have been saved in these f el lowshi ps ( th i eethem have been Jews\ )j bealed of many diseases and oppressions , an d have been del ivered of demonic inf luencesthrough Jesus word. Mark l6;l5-17 i s right; Usuallyseveral evenings a week when I m not a t th e prison) theare spec ia l minis try sessions in homes of those who vis iour fe llowsh ip , believe tha t God i s jus t a s power fu l todas He was in th e book of Acts, and open their h ea rts tolove and del iverance. Please pray fo r th i s minist iy ;especially (1 ) that we can continue l i f t ing up Jesus andno t ourselves, (2 ) that we would center on the BasicGospel and not get distracted by secondary issues5 whatwou ld h av e come out of t h i s mini s t ry . Many are prayingt ha t a regular congregation would g3?ow from th e fel lowshJudy and I are start ing a Bible study in our home fo r thnew Christ ians who found Jesus in t he p ra ye r group. I fyou l l pray fo r God s direct ion o f ii ia t venture, we l lclaim t and pra ise Him fo r t I

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Th e Fowler Family :

Cu r t i s Bruc eJudy Chrjsty CraigCathy.

Gregory Baptiste fromTrinidad in front ofsc r ip tu re pos te r madeby p r i sone r s

Paul Dolce f rom Haitibeing baptized in pondbehind the prison.Onleft is a s s o c i a t e Jo e Arce

The se t h r e e new Ch r i s t i a n sBelow are prisonerswhose t e s t imon i e s will b epr inted in r r next l e t t e r s .

W i l l ie Or t i z who has a lifesen tence wa s once bound bydemonic spi r i t i sm Now hei s f r e e in Jesu s Ch r i s t a

i t

Anthony Lewis fromJamaica relaxing inoffi e fter a

Bible s t ud y s e ss i on


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MISSION MESSAGES from the Fowlers JUi 7Paseo Alfa 20819 Levlttown, PUERTO RICO 00632June - J u l y 1975

MEET YOUR NEW BROTHER. . . Gregory

(Gregory Baptiste i s one of the prisonerswith whom I have worked r eg u la rl y f ornear ly t h r e e years He i s sentenced to8-12 years on a drug charge. He writes;)I am writing t h i s testimony so t h a t a l lof my b r o t h e r s and s i s t e r s who read itcould share with me the joy and peacet h a t my Heavenly Father has be'eh givingto me, and w i l l give to each one of youi f you w i l l ask Him. God our Father i sa l i v e and f u l l w ith lo ve , c ar e ss es , jo y,and peace, a l l to give to us, His childr^He also takes away sin, sickness, guiltyf e a r s . My n am e i s Gregory Baptis te annI am from Trinidad. I am going to shaiwith a l l o f you what the Devil had donet o me a n d w h a t God t h e F a t h er h a s d o n ef o r me. P r a i s e God^^ When I was a b o u tnine years old, back i n my homeland ofT r i n i d a d , my mother used t o send me t oth e home o f a woman we c a l l e d Mother Gustwho performed witchcraft . Because of theD e v i l w o r k through t h i s woman I havel ived seventeen years in fear ( I am 26years of age p r e s e n t l y ) . One morningwhen I came to her home, I went i n t o herp r i v a t e room where she performed herwittihdraft. Lying oh the- table was l^ome-thing wrapped i n a white s h e e t . Uponopening it to my shock and s u r p r i s e Isaw a human s k e l e t o n . J u s t t h e n t h e womancame i n t o t h e room and p u t a c u r s e on me,t e l l i n g me t h a t i f I ever sh ou ld s ay a wordt o anybody about what I saw i n t h a t roomI would go crazy, blind , or die. To t e l lthe t r u t h , I V7as scared . I was so scaredt h a t t h a t f e a r h a s d om i n at e d a nd h a u n t e dne for seventeen years. Final ly, two monthsago I began to t r u s t God's power over thecurse and I op en ly to ok my fear to God theF a t h e r , and asked Him to take it away fromme. I t was taken away immediately Now Iam f r e e f r o m t h a t demon What is stillsurpr is ing to me i s , l i k e , God was onlyw a i t i n g ll t h o s e y e a r s to h e a r me s a y help . And He was there to help and i sstill h e l p i n g .

All it takes to get God's grace i s tohave fai th in Him knowing He can do a l lthings. He did fo r me and anythingHe did for me. He wil l also do for you.Praise the Lord I am so eager to sharewith all of you what I call God s truthand Satan's l i e s . Now that I am writingwhat God wants me to say, I can see whyI have had such a hard time writing i t ;because Satan was t r y i n g to prevent mefrom sharing this main fact with youall-sBecause i t is Satan's strongholdC^esn't want to be exposed and

thing. This thing and fact isothers and s i s t e r s , and Satanthis area to prev ent us fromtow h

GUILT,works^- _C^ng the forgiveness that God hasoffered through His Grace,When I was about fourteen years of age,I made a commitment to God; and a f t e r aperiod of time I broke l:he commitment.After a while I began to feel guiltyabout i t , . o and this guil t stayedwith me for years. That was just th eopportunity Satan was waiting for. Heused that opportunity to make me sinkdeeper and deeper into my guilt, makingme think that I had blown i t with Godforever. First , what Satan did was makeme feel guil ty of all my sin from whichGod had once forgiven me. Second hemade me feel that since I blew mycommitment to God God did not want tosee me or hear from me again, and thatHe would never forgive any of my sinsagain. Oh my brothers and sisters,maybe Satan has fooled you and putthese same things in your heart that heput in mine. I t s all a l ie , one ofSatan's biggest l ies because O FORGIVESALL SINS. My brothers and sisters, i fany of you are suf fe ring from GUILTbecause of s ins you have committed, please

d o n t l e t Satan fool you by te l . i ing youthat God wil l not forgive your sins. Allyou h ave to do is to confess your sins andHe wil l take them a l l away. I John 1;9)I'm so glad that God forgives and takesaway-a l l s i n s . Gregory Baptis te


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SOME FEELINGS WE D LIKE TO SHARE;During these l a s t three years asmissionaries i n Puerto Rico^ we havebeen trying (not always successfully) toful ly share with you back home our work.,our goals , our progress, our f r u s t r a t i o n s ,our exci tement , and our sense o f God'scall ing and leading. But somehow our i t c hto real ly get i t across never quite getsscratched because it i s so hard to conveyin timate depth-feel ings in cold reports-of-what*s-going-on . To answer how manyconverts have you had? gives SOMEindication o f p rogr es s, true, but measuresl i t t l e of the work of sustaining theconver ts , teaching them how to walk i n theSpiri t , or of preparing ground andplanting Seed of the Gospel. How welong to be able to adequately convey toyou some of the following feelings we*vehad i n o u r work h e r e ;FRUSTRATION... i n o u r l a c k o f means t oshare the l i t t l e indications of real progress , t h a t to us, mean more than the ya^sticks of success: tears of{gratitude on the face of a prisoner 'swife. Official parole board reports of atruly changed l i f e of a man formerlyhardened by c rime, d rugs , and sin. Arequest from a p r i s o n e r i n maximumsecurity for me to come and pray with hima ft e r s ix re qu es ts fo r me to come tol i s t e n to him gripe. A l e t t e r of commendation from the warden asking a l l guardsto coopera te w ith my work b ec au se h e s e e sthe d i f f e r e n c e i n the men's l i v e s . , ^ c l i i ^l o v e from s e v e r a l hundred men b e c a u s eJesus has loved them through me. Somewil l accept Him as Savior, some won't; buta l l wil l hear about Him and experienceH i s l o v e .

ANGUISH...at seeing new Christ ians leavep r i s o n , f a l l i n w i t h o l d f r i e n d s , andr e t u r n t o sin So f r a b o u t o n e in t e nhave been backsliding. However, the r e - r rest r te is a b o u t o n e in three for n o n -C h r i s t i a n s .GRATITUDE...at receiv ing f i n a n c i a l supportfrom you when t h e r e a r e so many otherplaces to put your money i n these hardt imes. God i s f a i t h f u l P h i l . 4:19) and

we p r a i s e Him each t ime we r e c e i v e a checkHe asked you to send.A T ^ . . . a t wi tn e ss ing a gai n the mirac le o fnew s p i r i t u a l b i r t h . Our g r e a t e s tmoments come a t seeing the Gospel taker o o t i n a l i f e plowed s o f t by t ragedy andf ilure

EXHAUSTION...partly from the t r o p i c a lc l i m a t e whose c o n s t a n t humidi ty d r a i n sth e body's energy r e s e r v e . . . p a r t l y fromthe early morning u n t i l l a t e a t nights chedul e bo th i n the pr ison and i n thecommunity. (We ve found i t s l i t e r a l l yt rue: The joy of the Lord i s ourstrength Neh. 8:10)EXCITEMENT...at seeing God do it a g a i n . . .and again. Excitement at seeing new doorsfor ministry open l ike the new church weare helping to begin in the riearfcycommunity of Dorado. (15 - 40 adultsmeeing weekly for worship in a hotel

.aiaditpxiian) PRAISE. . .a whole new dimension i n o u rministry t h a t s opened up the door tospiri tual power we had lacked before.ANGER...at some aspects of t h i s cul turet ha t d ir ec tl y opposes the Gospel:Spiritism, Coinmunism demon strongholds,idol worship, an unbel ievably highalcoholism r a t e , in tense problems fromoverpopulat ion.FULFILMENT...at having a s i g n i f i c a n tministry to accomplish t h a t i s too greatt o do on human power.APPREHENSION...concerning plans t h a t mustbe made t o cope with problems com ing upt h i s n ex t y ea r: the children w i l l have noadequate place to go to school a f t e r nextyear; our f inancia l s i t u a t i o n threatensto reach a c r i s i s point ; our car (has76,000 miles) has major problems and lackof t r a n s p o r t a t i o n i s becoming a s i g n i f i c a n tt h r e a t t o t h e s u c c e s s o f t h e m in is t r y h er e .(Continued on Page 3)


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SOME FEELINGS WE D L IKE TO SHARE c o n t , )SATISFACTION.., o f f e eli n g t h a t we a r ewhere God wants us r i g h t now,L O N E L I N E S S . . . f o r o u r f r i e n d s a n d f a m i l i e sin t h e States

LONGING.,,to be s e v e r a l people i n s e v e r a lplaces a t once. We j u s t c a n t do a l l t h a twe f e e l God i s c a l l i n g His people t o doh e r e . Yes, t a k e t h i s a s a c a l l f o r someoneto come to P.R. to help us. There's mucht o b e d o n e .

and Spir i t i sm to meet the hunger fors p ir it u a l r e al it y . The time to reacht h i s i s l a n d with J e s u s Gospel i s now.5. The overcrowding on t h i s is land hascaused a vast panorama of social tragedies,P.R. has one of t he h ighe st rates i fnot THE h ig he st) o f hard l iquor consumption per capita in the world. Alcoholismbeing far more dominant here than inthe States i s another symptom of therestlessness and s p i r i t u a l hunger here.The wor ld ' s c u r r e n t f i n a n c i a l c r i s i shas h i t even har de r her e than it hash i t the United S t a t e s because of PuertoR i c o s f i n a n c i a l dependency.6. The opportunities here cal l for aunique combination of ministries whichI believe God has been preparing us forfo r s evera l years,. and which meet ourneeds to m in is te r in r e a l l y satisfyingways. I especially appreciate the chancefor direct evangelism, teaching, andc o u n s e l i n g .

DID WE COME TO PUERTO RICO???. . . w e l l j b e c a u s e :

1. God c a l l e d us here; we may still havey e t to f in d o u t th e whole r e a s o n , and wea r e s t a y i n g open. to His f u r t h e r d i r e c t i o nand o p p o r t r u n i t i e s h e r e .2. P.R. has the denses t popu la ti on of anycountry on e a r t h . There a r e 875 peopleper s qu ar e m i le here (more than IndiaChina, e t c . ) . I t makes good sense goodmission stewardship) to go where you canreach the most people with the Gospel i nthe s h o r t e s t t ime, with the l e a s t amountof t r a v e l . The Apostle Paul ' s missions t r a t e g y was t o go to th e populat ionc e n te rs o f his known w o r l d . O u r s is t o o .3 . T h i s is a c r o s s r o a d s o f c u l t u r e s . Iti s p o s s i b l e t o reach i n t o many c o u n t r i e s(mostly is land nations and South America)by minister ing i n Puerto Rico. I f you arein the r i g h t place, God sends th e n atio nst o you Some o f t h e most e x c i t i n g cont a c t s h e r e have been w i t h people fromC om m un is t C u b a .

4. The changing c u l t u r a l and s o c i a lp a t t e r n s of P.R. and the high mobil i tyr a t e make Puer to Rico s t a t i s t i c a l l y one o fthe most f e r t i l e p o t e n t i a l s f o r thei^lanting of the Gospel. People here a r er e s t l e s s and looking fo r a new way ofSatan i s h e r e o f f e r i n g Communism if?- /

AN OVERVIEW OF OUR WORK HEREThe Fowler family of four now six) ^am^to Puerto Rico_in^:^ugust^;^^Vthe calling and authority ofjesus ChristHimself. During the 4 i ^ . . y m r , Brucet au gh t Bible and Pastoral Counseling inthe International Christian University a missionary-training col lege here inLevittown, Puerto Rico). Using theCommonwealth Penitent iary and the localprisons as aJlabiJ.ratory for the studentsfieldwork and t raining in preaching andcounseling ?.itj?ooa became^ thatthe p^s^n^ not the collie^/a^s.^hetiiat God was opening for. .fiur^jninlatryThrough many months of prayer and conf erences w it h government o f f i c i a l s , theGovernment o f th e Commonwealth o f P u e r t oRico c a l l e d Bruce t o work i n t h e p ris o nsystem on a voluntary basis no salary).He worked i n r e l i g i o u s c o u n s e l i n g ,

pa Bible s t u d y , and.t e a c t i i n g . Wbile t h e r e has beensome . o p p o s i t i o n among S a t a n s meni n t h e p r i s o n and i n some s e c t o r so f t h e g o v e r n m e n t , t h e s u p p o r t and.


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encouragement fo r t h i s min i s t ry door to doo r in Dorado. The preach-have been gra t i fy ing , as the gospel ing on Sundays has been shared byhas been success fu l ly planted andmuch fruit has deve loped i n th el i v e s o f p r i sone r s amd t h e i r families. From all ove r . t he wor ld , yrehave been hear ing of a g rea t moveof God's s p i r i t w ith in p riso ns inmany c o un t r i e s a s we l l a s P u e r toRico and t h e U.S.. We have f onnd afreedom (and encouragement) to beage and l o v e o f J e su s to t h e s e whoneed no argument to convince themt hey a re s in n er s and s t and i n needof repentence. All l they want toImow i s How can I do i t ? , and ofcou r se , th e answer is J e s u s has al t h a t end?r e ady done it on th e c r o s s . Accep tHim. The Fowler Family:Bruce , Judy,. Cur t i s , Chr i s ty , Craig ,The order of priori t ies generally Cathy (and our-dog, Hallelujah )has been: (I) ministry to prisoners -and their families, (2) to business-Grace to you and peace from God ourtjjen, neighbors , and othe r s in th e Fa the r and th e Lord Jesus Chr i s t . Ioutside commun ities, (3) to govern - th ank my God in a l l my remembrancement o f f i c i a l s and prison author i - of you, always in every pragrer oft i e s . This i s done mostly. through mine fo r you a l l making mylprayersmal l group teaching and Bible s tud-wi th joy, thankful fo r your pa r tne r -ie s evergi day in the of f ice pro- sh ip in the Gospel from th e f i r s tvid6d_izL-Jihe-_peni-tentiary-ythraugh^ d^y-unti-X- now ^Jlnd-I - am- sure , t ha t -specia l ized mim istrie s (s uc h as de- he who began a good work in you will-l iverance from demons; a rea l prob- bring it to completion a t the day oflem on this i s land) , through preach- Jesus Chris t . It i s r ight fo r meing in va r ious churches and c iv i c to f e e l thus about you all because

I hold you in my hear t , fo r you ara l l par taker s with me o f grace bo thin my priopn minis t ry and in the def en se and con f i rma t i on o f th e Gospe lCurrently, we are helping to es tab- For God i s my witness how .1 yearnl i sh in a nearby for you a l l with the affect ion ofcoramuriity f^5Sm^>about 50 of Christ Jesus. And i t is my prayerwhose popula^ion^Ts American busi- that your love may abound mare andnessmen who came as execu t ives o f more wi th knowledge and a l l d i s ce rn -big American corporat ions based in ment, so tha t you may prove what i sForty or f i f ty families who excellent and may be pure and blame-,have at tended our se rv ices a t l e a s t less , fo r th e day o f Chr i s t , f i l l edonce have i nd i ca t ed t h a t they a re with f r u i t s o f r igh teousness .in need o f a church ( the community Phi l ipp ians 1 :2 - I Iof severa l thousand has no Engl i sh -speaking church) and have allov;ed us

bo visit in their homes- t o i n t r o d u c ethem t o J e s u s . Atjreaal. : one dav a.wee^JaasL-Jieen given to.teyangeiism

groups throughout Puerto Rico, andthrough home Bible studies ( in ourhome and othe rs ) .

Fi r s t Chri s t i an Churc ^'^^^1801 College Blvd.Boise , Idaho 83706

s eve ra l laym en and mis s idnar ies , i nc lud ing Bruce .A t least t v / i c e a vfe'ek there are.kQmg^.-Sibl-6 studleS)--.-one 0 f whi c hhas been e sp ec i a l l j i p roduc t i v e - av^omen's B ib le stu dy in^Do^sado invfhich _^JiTd y has-been instrumental .The^children too, have had opportun-s t r a igh t fo rward in tak ing the mess- i t i e s to evangel ize in t h e i r schoo l ,and h av e d e d i c a t e d t h em s e l v e s withth e r e s t o f th e fami ly to be ing tot a l l y used by God to spread the nev;so f His l o v e and s a l v a t i o n . Wi l l youcon t i nue to lift us up i n p ra y er toWe app r ec i a t e you-.

W,. E . McGILVSY3 6 0 0 ROCKFORD LN .ifdlCOMl), IND. 4o901

Non fi 'ofit Org.U.S. postage pa idPer i^^. No.. 29Boi'Mfildaho


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MISSION MESSAGES from t h e F o w l e r sPaseo Alfa 2081, Levittown, PUERTO RICO 00632August September, 1975

MEET YOUR NEW BROTHER... GERALDIt was Monday, and I hadbeen i n jail f o r one week. Thatwas the day I v/as t o go t o cour tto get my b a i l reduced, and thenbe b a i l e d out by my boss . But whenI l e a r n e d t h a t t h e b a i l was n o tlowered enough for him to pay i t ,the bottom dropped out of my fr ag i l e world. I f e l t t rapped andcaged. What a day t o get the mes-*age t h a t my f a t h e r had j u s t beenrushed t o t h e h o s p i t a l with aheart at tack^ Although I am very

c l o s e v/ith my p a r e n t s (who l i v ei n the . U . S . ) T h a d n t n o t i f i e dthem of my a r r e s t , t o p r o t e c t themfrom worry and adding t o t h e i rp h y s i c a l , emotional , and f i n a n c i a lburdens. To toi) it o f f , the mar-s h a l l t o l d me I could g e t 15 y e a r sf o r e a c h o f t h e t h r e e c o u n t s o fs m u g g l i n g f o r which I was a c c u s e d .There I v/as, accused o f bein g invplved i n organized drugsmuggling o f which I had no linow-1edge), unable t o r a i s e b a i l moneyall a l o n e i n P u e r t o R i c o u n a b l et o speak the language, facingf o r t y - f i v e years i n j a i l , and myf a t h e r dying from a h e a r t a t t a c k .B e c a u s e I h a d . n e v e r b e e n arrestedb e f o r e , I was u n f a m i l i a r b o t hw i t h - t h o l e g a l al tei rnat- ivesand-t h e tactics u s e d to s c a r e a c c u s e dpeople i n t o p l e a d i n g g u i l t y o r i n - ,forming on o t h e r s . ^^Tliat littlehope I had had d r a i n e d away u n t i lI j u s t gave u p .

Monday n i g h t , discouraged andh e l p l e s s , I decided t o take myl i f e . I c u t my w r i s t twice i n o rder t o l o c a t e an a r t e r y . Then Isaw it p r o t r u d e from my v r r i s t . Onelast c u t was all I n e e d e d , Iremember s t a r t i n g on it b u t I n e v e r f i n i s h e d . Nov; I Imowa Power g r e a t e r t h a n mysel f s t o p p e dme from c o m m i t t i n g s u i c i d e .

The n e x t t h i n g I remember isb ei n g t a ke n by a g u a r d t o t h e roomused here a s a h o s p i t a l , then Iselngp u t i n s o l i t a r y c o n f i n e m e n t . Asa c h i l d and even a s an a d u l t , Ialv/ays s l e p t w i t h ray d o o r open; s owhen t h e door o f t h e s o l i t a r y c e l lclanged s h u t , I wondered if I

PERSONAL K EWS NOTES;Bruce waa i n v i t e d t o s p e a k lastweek a s a p r i s o n c o u n s e l o r a t t h elocal C h r i s t i a n Women s C l u b Lun^-.clieon. ten of the 70 v/omenresponded to t h e i n v i t a t i o n t o i nv i t e J e s u s t o b e L o r d o f theirl i v e s , and s e v e r a l c o u n s e l i n g opp o r t u n i t i e s and speaking invitaft i o r i s Y/ere p r e s e n t e d . The Holy S p i r i t s p e c i a l l y blessedt h e L a d le s B ib l e s t u d y i n Dorado.yesterday a s Judy l e d them i n a ^s tudy on prayer . A good way t o .t e a c h people t o pray i s l i k e J e s u sd i d : l e a d them i n a c t u a l l y d o i n git not j u s t t a l k about doing itBruce h a s befen s p e n d i n g two daysa v.eek c o u n s e l i n g t h r o u g h th e S a lv a t i o n Army program w i t h p a r o l e e s ,a l c o h o l i c s , drug a d d i c t s , and l o n el y men v/ho need J e s u s . There isa need and o p p o r t u n i t y t o g e t muchmore i n v o l v e d i n t h i s p a r t i c u l a rareal Pray with us about p r i o rities and t h e problem o f many needsa n d fev/ h o u r s . V/e c a n t b e g i n t oansv/er all t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s t h a ta r e knoc.k ing .--The new Dorado congregat ion i sp r o g r e s s i n g v j e l l . At l e a s t two

-nevf-ami1 i e s - a t t e i i d e a ch- v /e ek . . t-Ofte baptism so f a r : Mr. JackrSLchuler, v/ho is a s k i n g your p r a y e r sabout th e p o s s i b i l i t y o f h i s goingi n t o f u l l t i m e m i s s i o n a r y e v a n g el i s m t h rough Campus Crusade o rsome o t h e r m i s s i o n a r y o r g a n i z a t i o n .P r a y f o r him now w h i l e you a r et h i n k i n g o f it^^Craig w i l l be tv;o years o ld i nNovember and is t a l k i n g up a s t o r m ,Mixing Spanish and Engl ish i n t o a Fov/lereze-Spanglish . V/e b u i l ta f i v e - f o o t fence t o keep him o u to f th e s t r e e t and th e ocean, b u th e s l e a r n e d t o cl imb it a l r e a d y iSeven m o n t h - o l d Cathy is c r a w l i n gand h a r d l y looks l i k e a s o p h i s t ic a t e d young l a d y when she t r i e s t ofeed h e r s e l f . They send t h e i r g r e e tingsI thijk.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS;


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MEFT YOUR BROTHER Gera ld(Continued from frontpage)h is name mentioned by the other prisoners, I was s t i l l reluctant Iiglseeking his, help.- I d idn t have to approach him, because before verylong, he approached me. Thankful il was. He offered .me help I neededas he did everyone else. Just talking to him made ii e feel better. Af- t e r he l e f t , I s ta r ted rea din g th e Bible . Opening the book fo r thef i r s t t ime, I turned to Job. Afte r reading about his suffer ing and h isf^demption, I fel t relieved. I then went, on to read other scripturesBruce gave, me, and other books and test imonies of Chris t ians who endured suffer ing. One vs^ritten by Mile Warlike \i(ho found love throughChrist gave me s t rength and hope. Because of my t roubles, I had a hardtimeL^slee-ping^^l-VK)uI iiave-nightmares' every ,night .. too manydemons live in prison. One day, Bruce asked me to join him and his friends fora talk in his office. conversed a few h6tirs about myself, things that hadhappened to all of iis, and things that could happen if we had faith. heya l l 'prayed fo r me, and me for them, and then I asked Christ to; forg ive some fo r the s ins I had commit ted. Afte r I submitted: myself and.wy l i feto him, I fe l t a t peace with myself. Since then, the nightmares seemto have disai^peared. I aiu continuing to read the Bible and prarlisg, aad am v/aiting fo r my ba i l to be posted. The next day a f t e r praying inBriice's office, my lawyer to ld me tha t my .boss somehow got., the moneytogether tha t was needed to get me out . Perhaps they wil l re lease me today, or maybe tomorrow. As fo r my l a s t note:

Yes, ?i l l have s i nn id ; all f a l l s ho r t of God*sglor ious idea l . Yet, now God declares us no t. ^ilty of offending him if v;e t rus t in JesusChr i s t who in h i s k indnes s f r e e l y t akes av/ayo u r sins. Romans 3:23 ( The Way )

. Ge r a l d Vl a s a k v

AND NOV/ A W ORD FROM THE CHILD BEN...F i r s t , Chr i s ty ; *

I m 10 years old and go to a school tha t teaches in English here inPuer to Rico, ca l l ed Puer to Rico Chr i s t i an School , Most of . the schoolshie re are in Spanish and are crowded and dir ty. They also haveproblems l i k e drugs and f igh t ing and the te ac he rs no t coming to c l a s s ,so I 'm thankful t h a t God has a be t t e r scho j l fo r me to go to , I canspeak some Spani sh and I l i k e b ein g h ere in Puer to Rico.

I l i k e l iv in g r i gh t nex t to th e ocean . , Some t i n e s our fami ly v/alksalong the beach a t nigh t , and v/e watch the b ig ships coming in to theS^n Juan harbor near oui: house. . The ships come from a l l over the v/orld,but mostly they have tou r i s t s from the United . 'States.I guesc my favori te scr ip ture i s John 3:16 because I l ike to ioiowthat. .God loves me enough to die for my sins. God loVes each of you too.He has a plan for .^c t t r l ives ju s t l ik e He does minebut I rea l ly don tWov; what God has planned for my l i fe yet, Has He showed you yet v/hat

He want s you to do? , _ ; ,When, my parents to ld me t h a t we were going to move to Puerto RicoI v/as really happy because I- had never l ived in another country. I had


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(Page 3)SQiietimes I liV,e living, in Puerto Rico and sometimes I don t . I ti s crov/ded and polluted and noisy. I like to by by myself sci::etimes,away from people, ane that s pretty hard to do here. There are threemillion people here. But I like i t because v/e are close to the beachand r;e go sv/iiniaing a lot . And I like the weather; i t rains a lot .Many ooople here think they are good enough just because tney go

to church all the tine. But they don t teally act ^liko ^tlisy areChristians, and they don t really Icnow Jesus as a friencu.. or eventhat he s a roal person. But there are other /people here v/ho arcreally excited about the Lordmore than I reaieiabered anybody in theUnited 3tatod being excited about Hira I mainly mean the kids; Idon t reallv knov; about the adults. Some of us in school talkabout Jesus some of the time, and you can just t e l l the ones who areC h r i f i t i a n s a n d t l e o n e s who a r e n o t .

Some of t le pe.^ple here have stran^ê ideas about v/ho Goo is and clsj/-, a n dvrhat He does. I v/as morn.ns a~la\ni f u r - a -thÎ asked her i f she wanted me to cut dovai a bunch oi ATeeds thai, \fcis inher yard. She said, Oh no] Those weeds protect me irom the evils oirits. They helped me to get well when I v/as sickj A lot ofpeople here believe in things like that, like charms aroundtheir neck (voodoo), and having statues of saints in their yards and intheir c.ir (Spiritism), If that lady r/anted to be healed sho shouldhave asked God for i f . V/eeds and charms and statues can t protect usor give us the love oi God. Only Jesus can do that, I guesL bhat^s\ e tscrr.e to Puerto Rico: to t e l l the people here about Jesus and thatthey don t need all their superstitions ans silly charms and things,I d l ike to be an archeologist when I grow up. . .or a historian.I l ike to disc over nor; things, Sonio of the things I discover arereally old, but they are nev; too: like the truths Oi the Bible, They

are as old as God s love, but I m discovering them brand new in ray l i fe,Curtis

f

We love you and pray for you individually, as you each come to mind: o miss you and hope to se:. you soon. Thank you for supporting us andfor sharing in our ministry in many v/ays. Hay God grant you strength todo that which n f i l i n g vou to do, and may you stêp outboldly in the power of His :ioly Spirit to claim the victory that Jesushas a l r e a d y Paid f o r . The Fov/lersBruce, Judy, Curt is , Christy, Craig, and CathyFirst Christian C h u r c h1801 C o l l e g e BoulevardB o i s e Idaho 83706

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EcGILVSY ^00 R o c x r - r r ^ ^KOKOMO, IND. 40-^01

N o n - P r o f i t Org.U . S . POSTAGEP A I DP e r m i t N o . 29B o i s e I d a h o

Fowler Bruce Judith 1975 PuertoRico

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