Jones Journal Monthly e-Mailer for March 2002

Dear Friends,

Greetings in Jesus!

This monthly e-mail is for updates on ministry, family, praise and prayer. It's kinda like our newsletter, but sure costs less to publish.

We're definitely in the flow of itineration. We've got our travel plans down--assigned seats in car, mini TV-VCR mounted on armrests, with headphones for each kid, setup and tear-down jobs for each one. We've got our reports, stories, songs and sermons well-rehearsed.

Now, that doesn't mean it's getting boring by any stretch. We are about halfway between our arrival June 2001 and our projected departure August 2002. Since the budget isn't coming in as we had hoped, I am scheduling from August through December 2002. Please join us in prayer that this extension of fund-raising will not be necessary. Thanks.

To update on Latin America ChildCare (LACC) sponsorships, I just counted 33 new sponsors for children in Duíma, plus 19 more sponsors for other schools in Panamá for a total of 52 new sponsors this deputation cycle.

There are still many more children in Panamá who need sponsors. Feel free to contact us directly (contact info below), or the LACC website (www.lacc4hope.org), if you are interested in making a difference in the life of a Panamanian child in need. Special thanks to those 52 individuals, families and groups who are making life better for one such child.

Recently I was with Rev. Samuel White at the Cuyama CA Assembly of God. Pastor White founded this church in 1959 and has been faithfully ministering there ever since. He has been ministering on radio (US and abroad) since 1964.

We have been blessed to receive financial and prayer support from them (especially the WMs!) for the past 11 years. His family is actively involved with him in the ministry. That's a model I hope to follow. And he still exhibits the same enthusiasm and vitality that I'm sure he had when he began. His faithfulness and diligence exemplify our closing verse.

Through February we've held 70 services and had 46 appointments with pastors. Currently our monthly pledges are at $6082 of the $9937 needed. Cash budget is at $1046 of the $47,842 needed. The decrease from last report is due to School of Missions expenses applied to our account.

In services at churches we talk about what our kids are into. Celina we have currently pegged as our artist-in-residence, though all the kids enjoy drawing, etc. In addition to her coloring, painting, gluing, stitching, cutting types of crafts, she wrote the poem you can read below on 9/11. I've typed it "as is." While her spelling may be lacking, her perception is not.

I've also attached to this e-mail Anthony's drawing of the attack on the Twin Towers. Since we consider you as part of our extended family, thanks for allowing me to share our "frig art" with you.


2001-09-11_Terrorists_hit_New_York.jpg ----------
Terrests Atack
By Celina Jones

The terrests bloo up the bilding
The twin towers fell down
The people kept on falling
It was in New York town.

Osama did this all
He got some friends
And made it all fall
It was really aufaul

The put it on the news
And told it over
They sang baby blues
That is what happened.
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Allow me to repeat a prayer request from last month that comes from Manuel Miranda, our assistant on the National Children's Ministries Committee in Panama. We presented him in the Panamanian Profile you can find in our April 2001 newsletter. Go online to www.jonesjournal.org then click Newsletter and then the date.

In early March they will be holding a nationwide day of prayer and fasting by and for the children of Panama. Let's pray 1) that God will call many children to salvation, and 2) that those He saves will in turn reach many other children; 3) that He will supernaturally empower our current children's ministries leaders to effective service, and 4) that He will call many more adults to disciple children to reach other children.

Before the closing Word, let me say thanks again for your prayer and financial support that makes possible this ministry we get to call our life's work.

Haggai 2:4 `But now take courage, Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD, `take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,' declares the LORD, `and work; for I am with you,' declares the LORD of hosts.

Kirk for all