Memorable Moments

• George spoke at a church conference on the subject of ‘Companionship in Ministry’. The high level of cooperation we have attained locally among Baptist churches has been cited nationally as an example for others to emulate.
• Together with our sister churches, we conducted a Family Fun Day outreach at a nearby park. Some 800 free burgers and sausages were served up as a group of 70 young people shared the gospel in word and song.
• Karen told her Afghani student “Sharon” the story of Jesus healing the woman with the issue of blood, encouraging her to trust Christ for healing. Karen told another student with a similar condition requiring surgery that she has been praying for her. The latest news is she is now clear and needs no operation.
• Grandchild #6 Elias was born to daughter Angelie on July 6th weighing 7lbs 10oz.

Prayer Points

• Pray for the spiritual aftermath of the Fun Day outreach.
• A team from a Canadian church is preparing to come and help lead two vacation Bible schools in August.
• George is leading a Muslim outreach course on Sunday evenings with participants from 5 different churches.
• We cannot over-state the importance of prayer for a breakthrough in Muslim response to the gospel. Consequently, we are putting time and effort into three separate Birmingham prayer movements. All have similar aims but operate in different parts of the city. God will work in answer to prayers, including yours!

Ministry Moments

• In Girls Club, Karen told the story of 4 friends who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus. Jesus surprised them all by saying, “Your sins are forgiven.” Many Muslims stumble at the idea that Jesus can forgive sins.
• We invited a local Muslim day school to tour our church. Students were fascinated by what they saw and heard. A few weeks later, they invited George to come to school to explain the Christian faith to them.
• One of Karen’s ladies asked how Christians earn God’s favour. Karen replied we don’t have to earn God’s favour because Jesus paid it all by his death on the cross. Our good works are simply gratitude in action. The cross is enough!

Prayer Points

• George will lead a Muslim outreach course for area churches on Sunday evenings in June and July
• The Fellowship of Believers from Muslim background will meet on June 18th
• With sister churches, we will do a July 23rd Family Outreach in a local park
• A team from a Canadian church is preparing to come and lead a VBS in August

Your prayers and support are much appreciated!

Yours ever,

George and Karen

Prayer:

• Please pray for the salvation of the unsaved husbands of 2 of our church ladies.
  • One husband has a terminal illness, but does not think it is yet the time to prepare to meet God.
  • One of these ladies (an Indian lady saved from a Sikh background) has recently been diagnosed with lymph cancer. Her husband remains hard against the gospel but her faith is holding strong.
• The son of one of Karen’s ladies has a recurrent brain tumour. Pray for Amna’s salvation as well as that of her son.
• Pray for opportunities to share what Easter means to us.
• We will miss the Lee family as they are on furlough from mid March- May.

Praise: we have a new grandson due in early July!

Thank you for your prayers and support,

George and Karen

I have a friend. I will call her Sami in this communication. Sami is a British Pakistani Muslim in her late 30s. We have been friends for over 6 years. When I first met her, she was very interested in seeing the inside of our little church building. She had lived almost all her life just doors away from the church and always wondered about it.

Through the years I have visited in her home many times and gotten to know her extended family. She attended my Mums and Tots group with her sons, helped me with my Urdu, assisted in my reading classes, and taught me how to cook some Pakistani dishes. Sami has visited in my home several times. Her husband attended the men’s English conversation classes at our church.  Her nephews and nieces came to our Holiday club and now attend our boys and girls clubs. I cried with her when she miscarried her baby girl and rejoiced with her when she later gave birth to a healthy baby girl. She has confided in me about personal problems.

Sami has asked questions about my beliefs. She has expressed on more than one occasion how much she appreciates our church and how we have helped her family. After a 3 week long illness, I realized I hadn’t spoken to Sami for quite a while, so I decided to text her to see how she was.

After some chit chat back and forth, to my surprise she confessed that because of all the recent negative media about Muslims she was keeping a distance! I quickly assured her that what bad Muslims do, does not affect my friendship and love for my Muslim friends and students. She was quite relieved. When I told her George said they missed her son at boys club, she admitted that she had intentionally kept him away from club to protect him from being discriminated against as a Muslim. I assured her that we are very intentional in our efforts to make our kids’ clubs a safe place where we respect each other and treat one another the way we ourselves want to be treated.

This was her response, “I know you guys are lovely, but it’s always in the back of our minds that maybe everyone thinks we are all the same as the monsters responsible for the atrocities in the world.”

Karen King (and George)