“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)

In a world where strife, war, dissension, crime and hatred run rampant, it is at times difficult to find much that is positive.

Wherever we go, we find so much heartache, grief and pain. But as believers in Christ, saved by His grace, we have so much to be joyful about. Our God is great, and has everything in control. He wants us to have a life full of abundant joy which everyone can have by being reconciled to Him through faith in His Son. That is the message we have all been entrusted to share with folks around us. It is a privilege as well as a huge responsibility. Our prayer is that we be found faithful, and the light of His love, and the joy of His Spirit will be evident in all we do.

Ministry Update:
In the summers, most of our ministry centers around singing at various places, and this summer was no exception. We ended the spring months with a northern Alberta tour—lots of packing, traveling, unpacking, setting up, singing, etc. We did that numerous times over and over. Then, a few weeks later, we did a southern Alberta Tour in July, where we sang at the Redcliff Gospel Jamboree, and then went on to Vauxhall, Taber and Picture Butte. The Redcliff Jamboree is put on by the local EMC congregation, as an outreach to the many Mennonites who are moving into the community from various places. This was the third annual Jamboree, and by far the best attended to date. We had the privilege of speaking with, and praying with several people during the weekend. We can see that the need is great. Many of these folks come from the colonies in South America, and are hungry for the Word, and are aching for a change in their personal and family lives. The music has a way of reaching their hearts, and this helps them open up and talk about their struggles, and ask for help. The communities of Vauxhall, Taber and Picture Butte are all close by, with many Mennonites moving there as well. The evangelical churches there have a huge field to harvest. Pray that there would be workers committed to bringing it in.

The rest of the summer, we concentrated on more local events, as well as moving forward with the work on our studio, music room and new office. We are almost ready to move into the office, and will hopefully very soon be in the studio as well. We have a little more sound proofing left to do, and the installation of all the equipment. The music room is already being used for practice, lessons and much more!

In a previous newsletter, we reported that we had started translating two children’s devotionals a week and sending them to Bolivia for use in the schools as Low German reading material. We have kept that up during the summer, and have been receiving very positive feedback from Bolivia. We started printing them out and making them available on our CD tables for a voluntary donation. We were very surprised at how often we had to restock our supply. We have since had numerous requests from private schools, one public school, and several churches in western Canada for them to receive them regularly. There is also a church in Mexico that has requested we send them. The churches have begun using them for Sunday School. It is encouraging to know that this resource is being put to good use. We have enough of them now to start assembling them into a small book, so that is a project for this coming winter.

Change…
The summer has flown by, and as the seasons change, we are also experiencing change in our home, and consequently in our ministry.We are so very thankful that our sons have been such willing partners in this ministry. We have been blessed by them, and we know many of our listeners have been blessed by them. And we hope they also have received rich blessings through their faithful service.

As some of you already know, our oldest son, Andrew has moved to LaCrete, Alberta, and is starting a new life there. He is not sure how permanent this move is, but he, and all of us are at peace that this is where he should be for now. Our prayer is that he would continue to be a blessing there, and serve in whatever way God might call him to.

Jason is in his second year at Steinbach Bible College, preparing for future ministry. He will continue to join us in our bookings whenever possible.

Matthew has taken a position at Winkler Bible Camp and is very much enjoying that. He,too, will continue to sing with us as his schedule allows.

Mark, our youngest, is in grade 11, and the only one of our boys living with us full time this winter. That makes for a very empty and quiet house, compared to what we are used to! But we are fully convinced that we are all where the Lord has called us to be. There will inevitably be changes in the ministry, as not all of us will be at every booking, but we plan to continue with the singing, recording, translating,etc, to the best of our abilities. We hope to continue in this work as long as God enables us.

Praise:
Praise the Lord for safety in all our summer travels. We have traveled many miles and seen many faces, and the Lord has kept us through it all. He is faithful. Praise His holy name.

Praise the Lord for guiding our boys as they have started moving out into their own places of ministry. It is good to see them walking with the Lord, and choosing to live for Him, wherever that may be.

Praise the Lord for finances to keep on in the ministry. Although it has been a test of our faith, God has provided all our needs.

Praise the Lord for giving us new opportunities to minister.

Prayer:
Please pray for upcoming invitations, as it involves lots of travel. We need discernment to know where to go and what to do.

Please pray for finances to cover continuing costs.It has not always been easy but God has always provided. We will trust Him in everything.

Please pray for wisdom to know how to reorganize when the boys cannot all be there. We have to find new songs and rearrange old ones to make it work with a smaller team.

Please pray for the boys. Our hearts desire is for them to always, in every way, walk with the Lord and please Him in everything they do.

For Your Information:
We have a basic website where we give information about the ministry we do, our singing schedule, etc. Feel free to visit us there–DFriesens.org.

You might also be interested in our YouTube channel for Low German music videos.

Also, some people have asked about making online donations to our ministry account. Simply click on this link Multi-nation Missions Foundation to be rerouted to the Missions Foundation that we serve with. Click on their Donate page to start the process. In the first section, click on the box to designate this donation to a specific fund to find our name in the missionary list. We are simply listed as Friesen’s. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us directly.