Dear Prayerful Friends and Supporters,

Greetings in the name of the Altogether Lovely One, our Lord Jesus Christ. We wish we could sit down with each of you and chat a while. But we can only say with Paul, "For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ". (Col. 2:5)

PHILIPPINES REPORT

I (Randy) left Huntsville, AL, on December 22 for two full weeks of ministry on the Island of Mindanao, Philippines. This is one of the largest and southern most Islands, There are over 7,000 islands with a total population of 90 million souls. Most of these are Roman Catholic and so I have a special interest in reaching them with the saving, life changing, Gospel of Christ, having been Catholic myself for the first twenty years of my life.

I arrived in Cagayan De Oro City early on the morning of December 24. We drove through the devastated areas of this city on to the City of Iligan which also sustained heavy damage because of storms and flash flooding. Most of you heard the news of the death and destruction via televised news casts. This was a first for me to see such things only a week after they happened. There were 1,249 confirmed dead with many still missing. There were 12, 520 homes totally destroyed and another 29,520 partially damaged. It was interesting to watch the clean up and relief efforts of the Philippine Army, Philippine Red Cross and World Vision, a Christian humanitarian ministry. The Philippine Army had a "staging" area for relief work right in the parking lot of the hotel where I stayed in Iligan. There were several in the church at Iligan who suffered damage themselves or had extended family members killed or losing their homes. The pastor's son's wife, lost her 30 year old sister to Denge Fever, the disease that plagued these two towns as a result of the dead animals and contaminated water supply.

My first week was spent preaching a combination missions conference and pastor's conference at Bible Baptist Church Fundamental with Pastor Ludik Babia. This faithful pastor will be 79 years old in February and still going strong! These conferences ended Wednesday night and we continued the rest of the week through the next Sunday in an evangelistic campaign. We saw a total of 12 souls responding to receive Christ as their Saviour.

From Iligan, I took a ten hour bus ride to Davao City. This is the second most populous city in the Philippines, after Manila. I worked with Pastor Bobby Abella out of International Baptist Church. I preached another Pastor's conference. I also preached at the Police Academy to over 300 cadets. We saw several of these aspiring police officers profess faith in Christ as Saviour. We ended with a ministry at Charity Baptist Church in Davao. I have preached three different meetings at this church over the last four years.

Overall, we saw twenty plus souls responding to the preached Word of God for Salvation. Thank you for your prayers and support as this "Fruit abounds to your account" (Phil. 4:17). All of these ministries have invited us back for future labors.

AFRICA-EUROPE MINISTRY

On January 30, Randy will leave for two weeks of ministry in Nairobi, Kenya working with American missionary, Bro. Mickey and family. This will be my first time in Kenya. I have worked before in Central African Republic and Zaire (now Dem. Rep. of Congo) many times. I was to have ministry in South Africa for two weeks before Kenya, but the American missionary had to cancel for personal reasons. Pray for African souls to be saved. We have just learned that Kenya is in the news with reports of expected terrorist activity. Please be in prayer for wisdom as we follow the news reports but ultimately trust in the leading of our Heavenly Father.

From Africa, I will fly directly to Toulouse, France, where Grace and Jonathan will meet up with me. We will minister with American missionaries, Dave and Melissa Price, who are supported by our home church in Huntsville. We will then move on to Hamburg, Germany, to work with missionary friends, Ray and Marleen Virtue. This will be our third time to work with these veteran missionaries who have labored for thirty years among the German people. Bible Baptist Church in Hamburg is the largest German work we know of with 140 in attendance on Sunday. We will also have a meeting in Nordeustadt with the Tim Peterson family. Following this time in Germany, Grace and Jonathan will head back to the States, while I go on to Timisoara, Hungary, to work with national pastor, Ilie Tundrea. From Romania, I will proceed to Budapest, Hungary, for a meeting with Jim Knies in Budapest. Then I will travel to Pecs, Hungary, for meetings there with Pastor David Potter. I am scheduled to return to the USA on March 23.

ALSO THIS YEAR

This year will be busy in the States of MN, SD, IA, ID, NV, SC, AL, WA, CA, WY, and NE . We also have trips to Peru and Brazil scheduled for July-September. I am planning on hosting another Israel tour beginning November 26 and returning on December 11. I have 17 slots to fill and many are interested. If you desire more information, click the Israel button on our website (www.evangelistrandychovan.org). We would love to have you tour the Land of the Bible with us!

Thank you again for all your love, friendship and encouragement. Remember 1 Thes. 5:25, "Brethren, pray for us". May our Father continually lead you into the center of HIs will.

Evangelist Randy Chovan Family