Dear Friends,

The following are excerpts from an email exchange with a friend in Iowa (slightly edited). I thought they might give you a glimpse into the life of the Boston ministry.

Fri 4/16/2010 4:34 PM Just finished a Bible study with “Tom” and “John.” “Tom” came to faith sometime over the last year but has recently become more comfortable identifying himself as a Christian. “John” also trusted in Christ about a month or so ago (probably a couple of months). They are babies in the Lord and need all the attention that babies demand. If you don’t give a baby the correct attention they die or are at least damaged in some way. When you don’t care for a baby Christian they become damaged and have a hard time growing in the Lord. What is needed is patience and consistency a thousand times over, just like God is with us. As I was writing this Jason came by my table (yup, Starbucks NEU). He has begun to attend Sunday morning Bible studies. He is one of two Chinese students who prefer coming to church Sunday morning to having an individual study. He along with girl friend were in the services last Sunday, and they both showed what seemed like true spiritual interest. They may soon be new babies. I’m starting to get revved up just thinking about it. The Chinese seem to be different than they were a few years ago, not quite as thoughtful but a little quicker to respond—interesting, eh?

Fri 4/16/2010 10:22 PM After I sent the last email, I had another barn burner of a study with Jianwei, whom I have talked about before. We were in Matthew 16 tonight. We study one chapter a week. He has agreed to teach the main Bible study the Sunday morning when I am in Iowa. I am absolutely pumped. A product of the Boston ministry, saved and baptized in this ministry, and now he is preparing to teach the whole group. Joelle (our intern) use to call him Pastor Jianwei.

On the way home (walking from NEU to North Station to remove the tubby) I talked with my hon on the phone and found out that Rob, Amanda, Robin, and Lola will be arriving sometime tomorrow night. A little later, while walking across Boston Commons, I discovered some workers assembling a carousel. I have plans for my granddaughters.

Finally I got news that we received a $1,000.00 gift for the basement project today. All in all, and after the great things that happened today, I about had a charismatic experience (just kidding) walking across Boston. I felt like the guy in “Chariots of Fire” when his mouth flew open and he was experiencing the intense joy of the Lord. Seriously, the Lord is wonderful and serving Him is awesome. I need to go to bed.

Fri 4/16/2010 10:27 PM One more thing, a Chinese Christian prof. at NEU emailed me this evening and asked me to teach a seminar this summer to a group of visiting high school teens from China. The subject is, “The Christian Roots of Western Civilization.” What an opportunity.

OK, good night. It’s nice to be able to share this with someone.

Bill Edmondson

This Week in Boston

I would like to introduce you to Adan, Heather, Silas, and Elijah. Adam and Heather grew up in Wisconsin, attended college at Northland International University, and have an insatiable desire to serve the Lord. They originally considered joining a ministry team going to a limited-access nation, then they sought to raise support in order to work with us, but finally decided to serve the Lord as tent-makers in Boston.

I will never forget the day Adam decided to visit the “bad part of town.” He was staying with Deb and me when he decided to take a tour of Dorchester/Mattapan. This area is what most would consider to be a crime-ridden, dangerous part of town (the most dangerous part). This wouldn’t be the place you would recommend for someone with a rural upbringing, like Adam. With all of this in mind, Deb and I became quite concerned when Adam did not return in what we considered a timely fashion. When Adam did return, he did so with a smile on his face and a satisfied heart—he had discovered his place of ministry.

Adam and Heather purchased a dilapidated house on the boundary between Mattapan and Dorchester, and went to work. The house had been abandoned for some time and had a homeless person living on the porch. You can imagine all the work that was needed—it was extensive. Adam and Heather have endured extreme conditions to say the least, but now they have established themselves as a presence for the Lord in a very, very needy part of Boston.

The area where Adam and Heather live is not only a needy area, it is also an ethnically diverse community. It is a potpourri of nationalities all in need of a gospel testimony. Adam and Heather are members of our fellowship, and co-workers for the cause of Christ in Boston. It is my prayer that God will put it into the hearts of some of those reading this today to join us in the Boston ministry—just like Adam and Heather.

Please remember to pray for this family, especially for Elijah (the energetic one) and Silas (the thoughtful one) and one on the way, (to be named:-)

Basement Update

Please continue to pray as we were not able to make much progress finishing the basement this week. A couple had planned on helping us, but my schedule became too full as to be available. Rob, Amanda, Robin, and Lola will be joining us in about a week to be mentored for city ministry. Our basement will provide elbow room for a full house, space for office ministry needs, and an overflow area for our Sunday fellowships. Please continue to pray. Our financial need for the house is now under $1,000.00. Thanks!

Bill and Deb from Boston where the Son always shines.

OUR CITY

This Week in Boston

Scripture: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Matthew 23:37 “Jesus wept.” John 11:35 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30

The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

These three portions of Scripture reveal that God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are personal and have emotion. This reminds me that God cares about what happens in “Our City.” He is particularly concerned that those who are His be concerned for the city and that this concern be translated into effective Great Commission ministry. Our Savior, who comforted His disciples with the words “All authority has been given unto me,” has exercised His authority by gathering “all the nations” into global communities like Boston. Our love for God compels us to not “grieve the Holy Spirit of God” by neglecting to join the Son of God in the building of His body in the global city.

Our Greatest Need: Recently I received an email and a phone call, both with the same request. The enquirers wanted to know the most important prayer need for the Boston ministry. In both cases, I responded with the same answer, our greatest need in Boston is to develop evangelistic relationships and evangelistic Bible studies. Evangelistic relationships may be defined as those genuine friendships which a Christian seeks to develop with non-Christians that hopefully result in opportunities to share with non-Christian friends the love of God in Christ Jesus (the Gospel). If we are to join our Savior in the building of His body in the global city, then those of us who are members of the International Baptist Fellowship must develop these kind of friendships. Please pray for us.

Bolin is Going Home: We became acquainted with Bolin when she arrived for the first time in the United States. In fact, Deb and my son Dave went to pick her up at the airport upon her arrival in the United States. From the very beginning, Bolin was very inquisitive about Christianity. She began to attend Bible studies and then church as faith slowly began to dawn upon her soul. Finally, Bolin was able to affirm that her faith was in the Lord Jesus Christ. Soon Bolin followed the Lord in believer’s baptism and is now a faithful member of the International Baptist Fellowship. A while ago Bolin’s parents came to visit. It was indeed humbling to hear Bolin tell her parents that Deb and I are her American parents, and it was exciting to share the gospel with Bolin’s parents at our kitchen table (with Bolin translating). At the beginning of May Bolin will be going home for several months. Please pray for our sister in the Lord as she takes her new faith home with her.

Basement Update: Since I communicated the need to finish our basement several people have responded. One person sent a financial gift to help defray the construction cost, a pastor is working to bring a team of workers to help with some of the labor, and a married couple has expressed interest in helping financially as well as with the actual labor. After receiving some financial help and after reevaluating the cost, we are still in need of around $1,000 to complete the project. Remember that making our basement inhabitable will help in two ways. 1. It will make it easier for my son and his family to live with us as they are mentored for city ministry. 2. It will make more more for our church family to fellowship on Sunday afternoons.

A Trip to Iowa: I will be in Iowa to take a seminary module at Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary the week of the 23rd of May. Perhaps, while there, I could make contact with some of you who are our ministry partners. If there is any interest, I am free on Wednesday evening to give a ministry update.

Thank you for being our partners in the Boston ministry,

Bill Edmondson

Greetings from soggy Boston where the Son always shines,

This is one of two prayer letters which I have prepared recently. Deb vetoed the first attempt, explaining that while informative, it was boring. :-) So, if you would like to be filled in on some of the more boring details of what is happening in the Boston ministry, just go to our website and check out both “This Week in Boston” prayer letters for March 31st, 2010.

In this letter, I would like to tell you about one of our disciples who will be going back to China soon. Kai came to Boston about two years ago to study at one of the universities here. We became acquainted with Kai when he had a dental problem. (Deb and I have a friend who helps care for the dental needs of the international students within our Bible studies). Kai was in great pain. His roommate, a participant in our Bible study, asked us if we could help. I was out of town, so Deb ended up taking him to the dentist. She was able to share the gospel with him and he responded immediately. In our experience, this quick response to the gospel by one from China is very unusual.

Typically, our evangelistic Bible studies will go for a year or more before a decision is made, so Kai was very atypical. Our followup for Kai included twelve lessons explaining salvation and six lessons explaining the importance of baptism. Kai has now been baptized and is attending church most of the time. But now, in a month or less, Kai is headed back to China where there does not seem to be much hope for Christian fellowship.

This is great opportunity and also a great prayer need. The opportunity is that Kai could possibly be an effective witness for Christ. If he is to be such a witness, he will need web-based discipleship and a gospel-centered pioneer spirit. This is also a great prayer need. Kai faces all the obstacles of any young believer with the added pressures of taking Christianity from our Western culture into his Chinese culture. If he is to succeed, it will partially be because some of us pray regularly and persistently for Kai. Will you pray?

Prayer Request

Our son, Rob, his wife Amanda and their two children (Robin and Lola) are moving to Boston on April 21st. They are coming to be mentored for ministry, and initially will be living with us in the ministry home. This makes it even more important to finish the construction on our basement—we desperately need the room.

We also need the room for our Sunday afternoon fellowships. As you may remember, we invite our whole fellowship to our home for lunch every Sunday. It is important that we create more room for people to spread out.

Therefore, it is very important that we finish the basement. In order to do so, we will need to install a sump pump, paint the ceiling, cement the floor, among other things. The work will cost around $1,800.00, and a lot of manual labor. Please pray that we are able to do this work soon. If you are able to give towards this project it would also be very helpful.