July-September 2015
UNEXPECTED Ready for Change One evening in July I received a simple but very unexpected text message from a young man in our Thrive ministry. It read: "I need to seriously talk to you about baptism. I am ready for a change in me." I haven't seen him much since he got a job earlier this year, but we spent some time talking together a couple of days later & he was sincere. He was ready to make a change once and for all and to be a positive example to others around him. He said, "I've always wanted to follow God, but I've never been born again. I want to be born again." On July 26th, in an inflatable pool in our backyard, our new brother was buried and rose again as a new man!
Work Permit Answer As you know, we applied for a two year extension on our work permits in March and have been waiting as patiently as possible ever since. They finally came back to us & the answer
was a little unexpected. We received the two year extension we asked for (valid until July 31, 2017), but we were also told that it is not renewable at the end of those two years. This is a big surprise to us and we are now looking into what this means for the future. We will see what we can do to appeal & what is the likelihood of winning an appeal. In the mean time, Sandy and I are praying about this and seeking out God's direction. We want to be careful to follow His lead and make sure we are listening to what He might have to say. Please pray with us during this time as well. Pray for wisdom, guidance and peace for our family. What we do know is that we have at least the next two years in Namibia. There is still a lot of work to be done and we will carry on by doing what we've been doing all along... Discipling and empowering Namibians & establishing sustainable church planting/community development programs. David & Sandy Echols – 3940 Oberding Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80911 –david@3measur.es
Prayer Needs For new believers as they strive to grow in Christ Pray with us about our work permit For us to find a good car Pray that we find a preschool for Reese Please continue to pray for the young ladies that Sandy is working with. They have all had their babies by now. Pray for volunteers to come join us in Namibia For our continued evelopment efforts in Sonder Water
Special Dates
Oct 7— Reese's test
Jan 15-May 17— - Estimated dates for Melissa to volunteer
To keep up with us between these newsletters, check out our new website and blog:
www.3measur.es