Last Call Ministries

July 2013 Issue XI

Quarterly:Doug & Mesi

Central Baptist, Bossier City

your care of me has flourished again ~Philippians 4:10

Inside this issue:

JOY IN CHURCH CARE

Month of May, 2013: I was in ShreveportBossier Area, my hometown, for renewing my Ethiopian Visa, visiting supporting churches and individuals and also family and friends. Meanwhile, back home in Mekele, Ethiopia, Mesi held down the fort, assisted by a Nigerian couple, Abba & Lydia, who serves and worships with us faithfully. While in the USA for almost one month, I experienced a great outpouring of church care in regard to our ministry in Ethiopia. Especially since Mesi is pregnant and very near to giving birth (due in August), the blessings we received from the four churches represented on this page were timely and very m uc h ap pr ec ia t ed . Receiving instructive books on childbirth, ch i ld -re arin g and parenting, as well as tangible gifts in cash, clothing, prenatal vitamins, and more, we feel confident to see the birth of our child right here on the field where we live. Mesi and I just want to say THANK YOU!!! to the churches for the loving care flourished toward us! At this time, Mesi is happy, healthy, and in her ninth month of pregnancy. For your comfort of mind, I also want to rejoice that God has providentially provided us with fellowship with a handful of health professionals here in Mekele who worship with us each Lords Day. We are getting great advice and loving care from all sides! DM

Church Care KBLG The Real Deal Married. . .

Cover
2 2 3

Unexpected Corners 3

Contact Info
Tech-savvy

4 4

Special points of interest:

How do I approach people to witness to them? Tech-savvy, Pg. 4 Establishing a listening group...a heart language ministry, Pg. 2 Update on our TBS Ministry to the Orphanage: the Director is married!! Pg. 3

REDEEMER COMMUNITY

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Quarterly: Doug & Mesi

Issue XI

Small Beginning: Great Expectations

South Koreans! They are a joy to know, and especially those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Far from their churches and familiar surroundings, Korea n Christians working and volunteering in Mekele, Ethiopia have become good friends and ministry partners for me and Mesi. Meanwhile, English as a working language for them is still not their heart language. Mesi & I have encouraged the Korean Christians who worship w/ us on the Lords Day to begin a weekly Korean audio B ible L istening Group. This was met with a hearty response, and while it is now only a few who meet to sing, pray and listen to Gods Word in the Korean language, we are expecting a larger group of Koreans to come to our city We are praying that God may use this act of Christian obedience to draw those Korean volunteers who dont know Gods message, to hear of and believe in Jesus Christ our Savior. With two of our Korean friends, who are also the other two constituents of this effort, leaving Ethiopia soon, the sole hostess of this venue, Eun-ji (Sally), needs your prayers for much grace as she opens her home to be a haven for the gospel of Christ! May the Lord be pleased to use us for His glory as we minister to Koreans in Ethiopia. DM

L to Rt: Eun-ji (Sally), Mesi, Doug, Jeong-min (Alem)

Eun-ji (Sally) needs your prayers for much grace as she opens her home to be a haven for the gospel of Christ!

The Real Deal

Another reason I want you to pray for Sally & other Koreans who volunteer in Ethiopia has to do with the stark reality of the world. Ex-pat volunteers & workers are often unappreciated, mistreated, and disrespected constantly due to a lack of ethical understanding in this country, because ex-pats are d if fe re n t, and altogether because of sin in the human heart. Expats like the Koreans are often targets of pickpockets, con-artists & thieves. Many of the Koreans have had their cell phones lifted, and one Korean compound was robbed twice this year. This happens to other expats, also, but as Sally opens her home for the gospel & comfort, I want you to know how to pray for her & the other internationals to whom we minister! Your prayers are essential to our success in reaching many who are repressed all around us! DM

Quarterly: Doug & Mesi

Issue XI

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Married with (Lots of) Children

Fikre Assefa is the Director of HAB, the Organization that is the basis for the Orphanage at which we conduct our weekly TBS (Truth Bible Study) programs. For some time now, we have prayed that God might lead him to a good Christian woman to whom he might be married. Weve encouraged the children to pray for him also. Sunday, July 14th, Fikre was married! Our TBS Group was invited to attend as special guests of the wedding reception. The wedding was excellent for many reasons. Fikre was my best man when I married Mesi. Also Mesi was secretary of his orphanage when we met 8 years ago! This is also a superb event in Fikres life that supplements well what we teach the children. Marriage is a creation ordinance, established by God. This will edify well teachings about true love, Christ and His Church, faithfulness, and what it means to mature in their community with a Christian worldview. Therefore, we celebrated very heartily with Fikre, his new wife and his many children from the orphanage, all full of happiness & excitement at this blessed and encouraging event. DM

.a superb event in Fikres life that supplements well what we teach the children.

Gods Way: Unexpected Corners...

Ministering to, not only Ethiopians, but also expats, we have often been blessed by those who would commit to giving a tithe or offering to us during their stay in Mekele, to help us with the many needs of ministry. This has helped us to expand and reach more of the poor & needy with Gods blessings. Upon the departure of these ex-pats, however, we accept that what was previously being given goes with the cheerful giver to another place of ministry. At those times, our dependence upon the Lord was felt more closely. In answers to prayers, God through His way would supply our needs from unexpected corners. Such was the love offering to our ministry of a woman from Congo from whom we have recently received help. Many thanks to Doudou Mondaoko, sister of our friend in Christ, Bijou Mondaoko. Bijou was instrumental in 2012 in helping us obtain this laptop on which I am working right now! We are so thankful for the provisions God has provided in His way of supplying all our need: Unexpected cornersevidence of Gods riches in glory by Christ Jesus. We used this offering in two ways: (1) to purchase flour for distribution to the poor, and (2) to purchase 24 SD Memory Cards on which we are able to copy the audio file of the New Testament in Tigrinya & other languages for distributing to those with smart phones. Glory to God for this enlarged capacity of reaching the world with the name of Jesus Christ! Thanks be to God for this gift! DM

Last Call Ministries

To Support: PO Box 4203, Shreveport, LA 71134 USA To Contact: Phone: 318-458-9602; Email: joespell@keptprivate.com To Correspond w/ Doug & Mesi: PO Box 1944, Mekele, Tigray, Ethiopia; Email: dglsmerrick@yahoo.com

About LCM: Last Call Ministries is a 501c3 Organization which began in 1997. Its inception rose out of a growing fellowship of believers interested in gospel evangelism primarily within the inner city of Shreveport, Louisiana. Currently LCM partners with several gospel mission works around the world, including Brazil, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Mexico, & Bayou Du Large (S. Louisiana). LCM is currently sponsoring Doug & Mesi, who are commissioned by their home church: Heritage Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana. All monies received are currently in the support of the budgeted work underway in Mekele, Ethiopia.

Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, until He returns, in word, letter and deed!!!

LCM
Word of God, and putting those Scriptures within arms length. Please pray as locals and ex-pats begin to listen to the word of God in their own tongues all around us. DM

Tech-savvy with the Divine Word

Were on Facebook! Go to: PartnershipDoug & Mesi Merrick-Last Call Ministries Mission Workers
Upon my trip to the US, LCM Director Joe Spell suggested we visit a ministry in New Mexico called Faith Comes By Hearing. One of our close partners in ministry, JR Bucklew and his wife Feven are there overseeing FCBHs deaf arm of ministry, in which they promote the Bible in visual, digital format for smart phone apps and other d e v i c e s to m i s s i o n s ministries across the globe. We were blessed to see our friends again! One of the greatest benefits of this trip was learning about sharing the Scriptures to a techa rme d 2 1s t Ce ntury . Everyone, even urbanites in the third world, are sporting smart phones. The open window is this: the Holy Scriptures, text or audio, can be uploaded to a tiny memory card that fits inside the smart phones. Most people, if you notice, are handling their smart phones incessantly. Handing someone a book is a great thing to do, no doubt. But in our age, most people are warmer toward techfriendly materials. A great gift to give here is an SD memory card loaded with Gods Word in audio. With audio files in Amharic, Tigrinya, Chinese, Sudanese Arabic, Tagalog, Korean, and more, Mesi & I are tech-savvy with the Divine