Steve Willis’ Medicine Hat Report
October 2008

Greetings
In the name of God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord we send you greetings; may grace and peace be multiplied to you (as Paul wished in most of his letters). We are so thankful that we have the fellowship of prayers of many of you and finances from some of you. We are also glad when we receive notes of kindness sent by various individuals and in some cases groups of individuals.
Our November weather has been amazingly warm. We've seen snow in the air a few days, but I've noticed a few times that, even after midnight, it has been above freezing. That's fine with me--it means no snow to push and safe roads and sidewalks.
Support
The US to Canadian dollar exchange rate has been favorable for me in the last few weeks, even though, apparently, the US dollar has taken a hit in other markets with the fall of the stock markets worldwide. This has helped as Shirley still has not been able to work.
I must let you know that in January I will be losing $200 US per month. The church which meets in Spencer, Indiana, is needing to free up some of their outside funding--which includes me--to take care of some things more local. They let me know in January, 1994 of their desire to help, several months before we moved here later that year. We have visited with the church a couple of times and spoke to the adult class during a vacation Bible school one summer. We wish God's blessings to continue with them and their elders.
A question remains: Can any of you help with all or some portion of what I will lack?
News of the Work
Last month, when I arrived at the church building to copy the Report for September, I realized that I left out part of the usual news of the work, my sermon topics. Still, I ran out of space, but let me mention some of those here: four sermons on "I Believe in God..." starting from Paul's remark in Acts 27, and more sermons on the resurrection. For October, when some were away, I summarized Paul in Acts, then had two sermons based on his Preaching the Kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 28), finishing up my Acts series. I also finished my series on the resurrection and preached After The Order of Melchizedek (two sermons).
I gave away another NKJV Bible for October, although I didn't reach the person until the first part of November. As usual I included the first lesson of the Know Your Bible correspondence course and this person has already returned that lesson for grading and is requesting lesson two. We give thanks to God for this response. This is the first person in a while to advance even to lesson two. We ask your prayers that a heart may be opened to respond to the gospel.
We have continued to be in contact with a person who has moved to town. He works 12-hour shifts that alternate from 6:30 am to pm, then pm to am. This makes it difficult for him to attend all our services, but he is still showing interest in our "studies"--as he calls our assemblies.
Our mid-week Bible study has shifted for a few weeks from the Gospel of John to the so-called Seven Words from the Cross. After these, we will continue in a harmony of the gospels study of the death, burial and resurrection. Our Sunday class is in the final chapter of 2 Timothy where we find the challenge to Preach the word... (v. 2ff).
Some time ago I acquired the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible. I saw that an ESV Study Bible became available in October. I have examined it and I'll probably buy one, although I'll still be preaching from the NASB with remarks from other translations where apropos.
Medical Update
There is not much to update for Shirley's conditions. I need to make a correction from a previous Report; her appointment later this month in Calgary is regarding an angiogram, not an angioplasty. I know that the -plasty often is done during the -gram, but I do not know that she needs the angioplasty.
She has seen a second surgeon about her near-knee condition. He wants to repeat a procedure she has had already, and some physical therapy, but has also suggested that he may do some "keyhole surgery" (his term) on each side of the knee joint. He would trust what he can see in that procedure more than what the MRI has shown. We wish she could have seen this doctor fourteen months ago. Keep her in your prayers.

We realize that we are nearing the end of the year. Happy (U.S.) Thanksgiving to you in November. May you have safe journeys if you are traveling. You have read some of our concerns this month. Please pray for us about them.
--Steve Willis

Our Present Address
Stephen P. Willis
18 Rossmere Court SE
Medicine Hat, AB
Canada T1B 2M3

Phone: 403-526-3404
Email: 2Swillis@gmail.com           
        (preferred at present)
     Swillis@memlane.com