Greetings!
Much has happened since our last news letter in early November. I've tried to summarize the major events below.
We thank you so much for your continued prayer support on our behalf.
In His Grace, Bryan & Emily Bell Grace Dental and Medical Mission, Inc.  |
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India
 November 4th - 21 we served in Pailapool, Assam, India. Pailapool and the surrounding towns are primarily Hindu (50%) and Islamic (48%), and so our ministry focused on serving these people. We arrived during "Puja", a time of religious celebration and homage of various Hindu deities. The spiritual darkness was astounding as we passed elaborate temporary shrines in the hundreds. This darkness further manifested itself as we shared the light of the gospel with individuals so deeply conditioned by darkness that they rather close their eyes to the light then yield to its truth. Praise God for the fruit that did abound from this ministry. Our hosts, Brother Selungba and Dr. Lamina Singh, and there many fellow laborers are doing a fine work there.
Southeast Asia  In December we served in a Southeast Asian country still under the control of communism. Only Dr. Jack and I participated on this trip. We served over a hundred patients, most of them children in poorer tribal communities. Our services were provided at a primary school with some 500 children. The Lord gave us grace in the eyes of the school officials and teachers so that they received gospel literature. Follow up discussions were able to be held. Even the communist official charged with our oversight softened and picked up the literature on a couple occasions. These are seemingly small steps to us, but they stand as mile markers to the missionary with whom we work.
Papua New Guinea
 Our journey to Papua New Guinea was to begin at 7:00am on Friday, January 21st. Anticipating the latest snow storm we tried to get a flight on Thursday night to Detroit (our connecting point to Tokyo and PNG). Providentially all flights were either grounded or full in airports up to 4 hours away. Friday morning, after making it to Boston Logan, we waited until 10:15 when we were cleared to board and proceed to Detroit. After deicing, etc it was 11:00 before takeoff, putting us into Detroit just as our connecting flight to Tokyo backed away from the gate. Getting to Tokyo was not the problem, our dilemma lay in the scarcity of flights from Tokyo to PNG. After having investigated the possibility of rearranging our itinerary to reach PNG via Singapore, Manila, or Cairns, with great disappointment, we determined it was necessary to cancel the trip entirely. We contacted Jennifer Pearson, our host in PNG, who was vary gracious. It is our prayer that God would use this seeming disaster to draw us and those who expected our care closer to Himself. |
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Thank you again for your faithfulness to the Lord's ministry committed to our care. We need your prayers for the days and months ahead.
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