OCT-NOV-DEC 2008

Dear Christian Friends,

We are writing to thank all of you for your faithful support in prayer and in giving throughout this year. You have helped us to reach out to hungry souls for His Kingdom’s sake and we rejoice in what the Lord has done!

We just want to recap what the Lord has done over the past 3 months as well as what He has planned for us in the near future so you can keep it before the Lord.

On August 9th as many of you already know I spoke at “Jam Fest” at Highland Park in Rochester. I was one of several speakers as well as musical groups who participated. Two of the groups, The Christian Brothers Band and Dangerous Undertow were from our own church, Living Word. The bad weather that was forecasted thankfully held off until nearly the end of our time in the park. Many food donations were made to give to the area food pantries. But the real thing of great worth was that two souls came into the Kingdom! Hallelujah! All the effort was certainly worth it! We also were given the opportunity to speak at New Life for Girls in Dover, PA on August 31st. What a tremendous time in the Lord we had as we met with Him. My wife spoke to the women about “the Gadarenes” waiting for us after the Lord touches us (see Mark 5). He set many girls free from fear about their future once they leave the program. While in PA my wife was also able to meet cousins of hers on her dad’s side that were previously unknown to the family. What an emotional meeting. The only way my wife could describe how it felt was like this: “It feels like how I believe it will be in heaven when we meet all those unknown to us here on earth yet we know we belong to each other because we are family.”

September 21-23 I was invited to speak at two churches in New York City. One church was in Brooklyn and the other was in Spanish Harlem by one of my old “hangouts” where I would look to get drugs. Now it is a place to get LIFE! God sure has a way of turning things around! That same location now has a thriving church on it! Who could ever imagine? ONLY GOD! While speaking at the church in Spanish Harlem the Lord really moved on the people with His healing power. A lady with a hunched back for a long time received a healing and was walking upright as she went back to her seat! Isn’t our God good? Another lady who walked with a cane was also healed and was able to walk unassisted! A friend of ours who attends the church said these women were like this for many years. Yet God was not finished. Our friend who had been overwhelmed with the effects of Hepatitis C (for which there is no cure) which resulted in a liver transplant went to his doctor two weeks after I left. He called me to share the doctor’s report and to say that the Lord had miraculously touched him. Up to this time he had been doing very poorly. Now the doctor is saying he cannot believe how well he is doing with the lab work to prove it. We serve an awesome, healing Jesus and He still heals today! (Hebrews 13:8).

October found us ministering together with friends of ours who came from California and we took them to a church in Buffalo. There the Lord ministered to many of His precious people setting them from afflictions and one soul came to Christ when he saw what the Lord was doing.

November has already found us busy as we get into a time of year that has many of us making a lot of plans. We went to Orleans Prison on the 15th. After encouraging the men about who Jesus is and needs to be in their lives, my wife continued to share from Lamentations 3:21-25 reminding them that it is only His mercies that are new and that it is only His compassions that never fail. Many of them expressed how they needed that reminder. I then spoke out of Philippians 1:1-13 in which I shared that when we come to the Lord we need let Him “take off our masks and change our sacks”. That way He can perform what He wants in us, changing our inward man and changing all of our “baggage” for His. We are also expecting our son, Jesse and his wife, Mindy home for this Thanksgiving. She will be coming to stay for the year while Jesse is in Afghanistan. So please keep them and us in your prayers as well as all of our military. While here she will be having their firstborn, a daughter whom they have named Mariah during the first week of December. We are being told at this point that Jesse will have the leave for that but will be deployed just before Christmas. With Thanksgiving comes the reminder to do just that: GIVE THANKS! While we know so many are affected by this current financial difficulty and with the outcome of the elections still troubling to many in our nation we still have much to be thankful for and a command from the Scriptures: “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”(1st Thessalonians 5:18)

In December the Lord gave us favor with the administration at Butler Prison. They will let us conduct a special Christmas service there and allow us to bring in treats from various churches. This has never been done before so we know the Lord is at work. Please pray for these men and all inmates and their families at this challenging time of year.

We want to close with wanting the very best for all of you as look to serve Jesus now and in the New Year.

BE ENCOURAGED IN THE LORD! (PSALM 118: 14-16)

Your servants in Christ,

Herman & Sandra