Last Call Ministries

Quarterly: Doug & Mesi

JUNE 2017
ISSUE XIX

Broadening the Sowing of the Seed

Praise the Lord! Our fresh means of being and a 47-minute audio-
File-Sharing Evangel- relevant to their techno- visual Bible story pack,
Inside this issue:
ism Method Training logically attached socie- all in Tigrinya, are pre-
(FSET) Sessions have ties. In an oral-learning loaded onto the 8 GB
broadened from their culture, it is important mini SD memory cards
Broadening the Sowing Cover
of the Seed three original centers: that constituents of that which we are distribut-
Axum, Adwa and Adi- culture hear the mes- ing in each training ses-
Photos of traveling and 2 grat. We now have two sage of Gods Word for sion. Workshops con-
training sessions training centers in an informed decision to clude the sessions for
Mekele, one in Wukro even be possible. With help with installation,
Relevance: Jesus & the 3 and one in Dohan in audio and audio-visual discovery of the files
Samaritan Woman
the far northwestern files of an evangelistic and practice sharing
region of Tigray nature on their phones them. With this method
Contact Info 4
Erob. That gives us ready to be shared, being trained and the
seven training centers these Christians are trainees being
About LCM & Mission 4 in all, where follow up poised to be the socially equipped, we are
Statement sessions are due to run. relevant frontline wit- broadening the sowing
Two men from Adigrat nesses of the gospel for of the seed of Gods
Review of the New Strat- 4 have answered the chal- their region and espe- Word in this region.
egy lenge to be fellow train- cially for this genera- Pray that Gods Word
ers of this method, tion. Thats because would run swiftly and
which has helped with our training sessions be glorified (2 Thessa-
Of Special Interest the promotion of the not only train, but also lonians 3:1), and that
Advice from the method and the in- equip the trainees with we may be able to con-
mission field on crease of its capacity to the tools necessary for tinue equipping and
reaching your
generation with
sow the seed of Gods approaching their fami- encouraging those
the gospel (pg. Word. The response lies, friends and sharing Gods Word in
3) has been the rejoicing neighbors with the gos- Tigray. For support of
of these Christian train- pel. For, not only the this ministry, please see
ees delighting in the audio New Testament, pg. 4. DM
fact that they have a but also the Jesus Film
Page 2 Quarterly: Doug & Mesi ISSUE XIX

Photos of Travel &Training Sessions

With this method being

trained and the trainees
being equipped, we are
broadening the sowing
of the seed of Gods
Word in this region.
Quarterly: Doug & Mesi
Relevance: Jesus & the Samaritan Woman
Christians have often been
met with the challenge of
relating well to the societies
in which they live. Once a
believer, the sense of being
set apart and outside the
stream of society is an all too
familiar feeling. But we re-
member that we are sent
into the world, though not of
the world. (John 17:1518).
The challenge remains with
being relevant, though radi-
cally sanctified. It is not,
however, a contradiction of
our identity in Christ to be
relevant to our world. If we
would share the gospel, be-
ing relevant is the art of ap-
proach. In John 4, Jesus met
the Samaritan woman at
Jacobs Well. She was there
to draw water for her daily
needs. This was her life.
Jesus Himself, being thirsty,
asked her for a drink. And
then, because Jesus was
most definitely relevant to
His society, He guided the
conversation to transcend
the natural properties of wa-
ter so as to touch upon spiri-
tual thirst, truth and eternal
life. He simply employed
what was already in her
hand in being relevant to her
world and its preoccupa-
tions.
It is not so different for us to
relate to our world. We sim-
ply need to have our eyes
and ears open, as we prayer-
fully approach the world in
which we live and into
which we are sent. The
question for us to answer for
ourselves concerning how
we relate to our society is as
simple as what is in their
hands? And, I think, most
probably, that will help us in
a variety of ways to ap-
proach a world perishing
ISSUE XIX Page 3
without the Savior. A gross
misconception is that we
must be so separate that we
relate in no way whatsoever
to the world. We are not to
go out of the world, as was
characteristic of Christians
in the Monastic Period. We
are sent into it, as Jesus
Himself was; and we are to
model His relevance in pro-
claiming the good news of
salvation from sin and the
gift of eternal life. The con-
cept of relevance is the key!
This is all we are doing with
file-sharing evangelism and
training the method: recog-
We simply need to have
nizing and helping the
our eyes and ears open,
church in the third world to
as we prayerfully
have a heads-up about the
approach the world in
world in which they live and which we live and into
the preoccupation of their which we are sent.
fellow-men. We are attempt-
ing relevance after the fash-
ion of Jesus Christ as we
find it in Johns gospel. DM
 Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ until He returns,
Last Call Ministries
in word, letter and deed!!!

About LCM: Last Call Ministries is a 501c3 Organi-

To Support: PO Box 5457, Shreveport, LA 71134
USA
To Contact: Phone: 318-458-9602
Email: joespell@keptprivate.com (Joe Spell)
Correspond w/ Doug & Mesi: PO Box 1944,
Mekele, Tigray, Ethiopia;
Email: dglsmerrick@yahoo.com
zation which began in 1997. For the last 20 years,
LCM has been proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ,
until He returns, in word, letter and deed. LCM is
currently sponsoring Doug & Mesi, who are commis-
sioned by their home church: Heritage Baptist Church
in Shreveport, Louisiana. All monies received are
currently in support of the budgeted work underway in
Tigray. 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the or-
ganizations beginning. We rejoice in the years of
Gods gracious extent of the gospel!

LCM Were on Facebook! Go to: Or go to: Douglas Merrick Add

Partnership-Doug & Mesi Merrick- friend & then message me to
Last Call Ministries Mission Workers. request the Partnership Page for
.. Doug & Mesi. . .

The Vision: Review of the New Strategy

The implementation of the new strategy of LCM, brainstormed in a think-tank of seasoned gospel ministers who
took on the challenge of evaluating our previous mission orientation, is the fruit of a unified devotion to seeing the
world come to the light of Jesus Christ through the knowledge of the Scriptures. Over the last 11+ years, we have
endeavored methods of sharing Gods truth in a number of ways. Those of you who follow us know our work
well. We focused intently on ministry to the poor, orphans, the blind, football teams, and ex-pats in Ethiopia.
Much of what we did focused on pools of people mainly in one citythe city of our residenceMekele. The new
strategy, focused on file-sharing evangelism training, has, like a whirlwind, picked me up out of the former ministry
orientation and set me down on completely new ground. The focus is now a much broader scheme, training be-
lievers in various cities. Of course, I do still evangelize & teach. However, the mainstay of the new strategy is fo-
cused on multiplying witness & amplifying access to the word of God, reaching a far greater number of people
over a larger area. It has been a challenge, I admit, to reorient myself from the longtime practice of other methods,
methods which so easily attach themselves to ones heart. But I am confident that Gods will is being accom-
plished as I walk in missions with this new vision and as, by His grace, I cultivate this new ground on which I am
set for the sake of the gospel. Please be in prayer for our family, as this means much more personal travel and
hours away from them. May Gods word be glorified! DM