Dear Brethren,

We thank each of you for your prayers and your continued support. We know that you look forward to our reports, but we delayed our February report upon receiving some shocking news. On March 3, we received an unexpected call with news about the death of my oldest brother, Emerson Laurence, 62, who recently moved to Denver….. For the first time I didn’t know what to say. It was unexpected and no one saw it coming, not even the doctors can tell us what caused his death. Only we must wait for the results. It’s never easy losing a member of the family especially when you see the children who loved their daddy so much. I am reminded that I must take every opportunity to share the truth while time allows and to live everyday like our last. Please keep the children and grandchildren in prayer and that we can all use times like this to draw closer to God.

Our Report

It’s always encouraging to see people coming back for more Bible studies. In January  two ladies from Ganado began coming to our evening Bible lessons, that is if the roads were safe for travel.  They are mother (Laura) and daughter (Larena Watson). They normally gather with the church in Kinlichee, Arizona. In February they attended most of our evening classes and even join us for our Sunday morning Bible study and worship a couple of times.

One Sunday evening while studying the gospel they did not want to stop, so we continued with our study that evening and after an additional hour and half or so, Larena said “I have been going to the church of Christ since I was baptized at the age of Sixteen and never have I understood the gospel the way I understand it tonight.” I asked her what she meant by that and she explained by telling me that she was invited to a youth camp and was asked…..Do you wanted to go to heaven? …and she said, what was I suppose to say? Anyone would say yes! and so I was baptized without understanding the gospel. And she asked me if she needed to be baptized again. I told her that I couldn’t be the judge of that because I was not there at the time, and if she felt that she did not obey the gospel for the right reason, it wouldn’t hurt to make absolute sure. On the other hand if she isn’t “in Christ” this would make everything right. I gave her the time she needed to think back and she made the decision to put on Christ because she now understood what obeying the gospel is all about. This is another reason why attending Bible studies is so important. 1 John 5:13 tells us that we can absolutely know for sure through God’s word that we have eternal life. And so let us make every effort to enter that narrow gate.

The Study of Genesis continues

These classes continue to draw interest and we are very happy to see that almost all the congregations of the Lord’s church here on the Navajo reservation are making the effort to attend every month. What’s even more encouraging is that there are other congregations outside the reservation from Morenci, AZ and even from Clarendon, Texas who have joined us in these lessons. February’s class was held in Kayenta for the second time and for the month of March we gathered together in Hogback, New Mexico where we studied about Abraham. If it’s not out of your way we encourage you to join us, our next meeting will be in Crownpoint, NM. April 16-17.

Ladies Class

The ladies class continues to be taught by Arlinda Biligody who does a great job with the lessons. She normally has 3-6 ladies in class. Among them are Pam Laurence, Cheryl Thomas, Emma Silentman, Larena Watson and her mother Laura, and also my mom Laura Laurence.

We have also started a men’s class and I am teaching on “Leadership.” We have at least two men attending the class each week, but there was one night we had up to five men. We thank God for giving us the opportunity to step up, and we pray and trust God that He will cause the growth.

Lilia Loves Devotions 

One of Lilia’s favorite gatherings is devotional night where we all gather in our home to sing songs and hear a short Bible lesson. Lilia would begin setting up the chairs in a circle and placing song books and bibles on every chair. Her excitement just lifts everyone all up (Her Kindergarten teacher tells us she loves to sing at school). I think this has helped everyone come out of their shell. We really enjoy everyone’s fellowship. And when it’s over no one is in any big hurry to leave. 

Final Words

It’s amazing how the Word of God can bring a joy and peace we can find nowhere else, to our hearts even in our most difficult times. We thank you all for being there for us and may God our Creator bless you for all you do in Him.

With love in Christ,          

Terry & Pam Laurence

 

 

 

Fort Defiance church of Christ

PO BOX 556

Fort Defiance, AZ 86504

Phone 928-729-2165       Cell 480-634-0124

 Email Address:      laurence_terry@yahoo.com