December 2007
Hi friends,
First let me say Merry Christmas! It seems as though I begin every letter with an expression of disbelief as to where the month or year has gone. So we’ll just leave it right there. Thank you for your continued prayers as we’ve done the work God has placed before us.
Dad and I had a great trip seeing the relatives in KY and IN at the first of this past month then we saw 8 professions of faith in one engagement and a great bit of movement in the last revival as people followed in obedience to His call on their lives.
Now, we look to several opportunities coming our way to celebrate our Savior’s birth. Beginning with a concert on the 2nd and ending on the 21st with a program for under-privileged children, we’ll be quite busy traveling from Columbia, AL, to Ft. Worth, to Houma and Mathews, LA, before heading back to Enterprise.
Now I come to you with a heavy heart. As one of our prayer warriors, I’d like to ask a special favor. While in the midst of lifting this ministry and it’s needs to the Lord, remember Cindy and Zeke Tatum. Their dad, Joey, traveled with me for 2 summer schedules several years ago and then I used him as an extension of this ministry for 2 more years as he took those engagements I was unable to take due to previous bookings. Most recently, Joey was pastor of Rolling Hills Baptist Church in McNeill, MS and planning to start up his evangelistic ministry part time with a blessing from his church. I had contact with him Friday after Thanksgiving. He preached Sunday, not feeling well and went to the Dr. on Monday. On Tuesday, Nov. 27th he underwent an angioplasty where he died having a heart attack during the procedure. He was 39. He leaves his wife Cindy and their 6 year old, Zeke.
Thank you,
John
November 2007
Hi friends,
Wow, what a month. We had a number of opportunities and saw 10 (several others were in follow-up counseling) professions of faith. We praise the Lord for that and thank you for your continued prayers.
While on our way to our first meeting of October, we had a rear tire blow out while driving on a 4-lane. Man, it was just like NASCAR. Stuff going everywhere as I tried to keep things under control and get off the road. When the tire came apart it dented up the rear quarter panel of the truck as well as the fender of the trailer. It was something to see. About 45 minutes later we’re back on the road with the spare (fortunately it was a full sized spare) and we arrive at the church. On Monday, the pastor took us to a body shop owned by a member. The man pulled out the fender, put new clips that hold the trim on and we were on our way. Didn’t charge us either. Your prayers kept us safe during the event and provided help following everything.
A week later we are in a town ministering and I ran to Wal-Mart to pick up some things and when I got back in the truck it wouldn’t crank. Oh well. What can I say…it’s tired like me. Turned out, of course, to be the battery. A fellow jumped me off and I drove it around to the repair shop and got it replaced.
I tell you all of this to remind you to continue to pray for us and to thank you for doing so. God provides and we are grateful. The travel continues so pray for each opportunity.
You can check out our updated web page to see pictures from our India friends as well as a personal word.
Stay in touch,
John
October 2007
Hi Friends,
I know this letter is a week early but we leave tomorrow for the revival at Wade Baptist Church, Wade, MS, and will not be returning home for a couple of weeks.
Thank you for your continued prayers. Our time at home and ministering on weekends in some of our local churches has been a real blessing. We’ve been trying to get some exposure in this area for some time now and with a few exceptions have been unable to do so.
On Friday, I was contacted by the area newspaper, The Dothan Eagle. I was told they were interested in doing a profile of this ministry. It seemed that the journalist on staff who writes the religion section that comes out each Saturday heard of my scheduled appearance this past Sunday at a church there in Dothan. She, along with a photographer, came to the event. Then on Monday Patty and I met with her for an interview. The piece is due out tomorrow so I don’t have any more to report just pray that it accomplishes what God desires.
My web master told me that the calendar link I told you was unavailable is now ready for you. You can look as far ahead as December 31, 2008, to see our availability and plan your next event. Understand that the date you see may not be open if we’ve received a recent call and have not updated the calendar, so you need to contact us as soon as you get an idea what you’d like to do and if possible we’ll work it out. www.johnyatesministry.org (click the left page icon, Calendar)
Your prayers are really important to us so please remember us daily.
Blessings,
John
September 2007
Greetings, friends, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for your continued prayers as we fulfill His direction and plan for our lives. We saw a number of decisions for Christ in both the adult and kids events.
A number of you have asked about Dr. Paul Devakumar (India For Christ) and how things are progressing in the work in Bangalore. I heard from the ministry a few weeks ago to hear that Paul had undergone open heart surgery. We were concerned about him while we were there. He is a man with such a passion for reaching these people that many times he doesn’t eat correctly or sleep much. We have heard that he is doing well and would appreciate your remembrance in your prayer life. He also had no report on Charles Simon, the missing minister in Chennai, who was kidnapped and beaten and has not been heard from since June.
Pray for these men and women of God as they continue the work despite such resistance from the Hindu government. If you are interested in giving to India for Christ, contact me and I will tell you the channels to go through to assure your gift gets there.
If you are planning an event and need calendar information go to www.hbce.org, click onto Staff Evangelist and once on my page, go down the left side to click onto Ministry Calendar. My web page, www.johnyatesministry is available for downloads but the calendar is not as updated. Something to do with uncooperative software or something like that!!
Your thoughts and support mean so much to us and we thank you for every remembrance.
Blessings,
John
August 2007
Hi Friends,
Thank you for your continued prayers during our travel and events in July. We saw 41 children make professions of faith while ministering in AR. The first week I was the camp pastor for the kids and the worship leader for the youth camp going on at the same time. Your prayers for vocal and physical strength were much appreciated as we made it through, 4 services a day, somewhat exhausted but fine. Then the second week I was just the camp pastor. Of course, most of you are aware when I work with a camp as Camp Pastor, I am doing the entire worship service for the kids, music and preaching.
We are looking at a very busy August so keep praying. God is working in many ways and we need our prayer warriors to really cover us as we travel and continuously do the work to which we’ve been called.
Blessings,
John
July 2007
Greetings, friends, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
By the number of calls or e-mails I’ve received, you noticed that our June schedule was not typical. Due to a scheduling conflict with our Texas camp we were unable to be with them. We missed being there as they have been a part of our lives for about 10 years.
The remainder of our schedule was busy with lots of preparation and travel. Our time in Baton Rouge saw about 40 children and 1 college age summer day camp employee come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. That was the coolest thing.
Then on to Raytown, MO, on the outskirts of Kansas City. Prior to our final service (it’s Friday morning and this VBS is being held in the evenings) we look to have 54 professions of faith. It’s just the greatest thing to see these young lives make a decision to follow Jesus.
Following our time here in MO, we’ll head to Yazoo City, MS, for a visit with family a few days before heading home. We’ll need some rest before gearing up for a very busy July. Thanks for the continued prayers. God is faithful. We’ve had strength and safety and my voice is remaining strong. I’m telling you all this first to give credit to the Lord and secondly to thank you and encourage you to continue to pray for us. Your support and remembrance means everything.
Blessings,
John
June 2007
Hi Friends,
Here we are at the start of a busy summer. We’ve not recovered from India even though we’ve managed to get a bit of rest in between engagements and our time away for a few days was nice.
We’ve had several opportunities to share about our trip and it’s such a blessing to see the excitement in people when they see God working. The picture presentation we’ve done tells a great story. Right now we have a “media guy” in South Carolina working on a professional grade presentation using some of our photos and some video footage. That will be really nice when completed. Pray for Greg as he undertakes this enormous task.
You can now go to the church web site; www.hbce.org, and once you get on the main page, click on the left side icon “Staff Evangelist”. On my page, down on the bottom left side you can click onto Ministry Calendar. There you can see my entire year’s calendar (as it stands right now) and know better how to pray for us.
Speaking of web sites, my ministry web site has been reworked. Check it out! The web master, John Wills, has done a super job.
Thank you for your continued prayers as we go about doing the work God places before us. As usual, we pray for vehicle dependence and continued vocal strength. Pray especially for VBS in Raytown, MO. Lots to do and not sure how to go about it.
Blessings,
John
May 2007
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I’m sorry I’m a few days late but it’s been quite a busy last 6 weeks. We appreciate your prayer while in India as we saw some supernatural things including over 700 professions of faith.
We saw some Hindu women who came to our Good Friday service “just to check on what was happening” and 5 of them came to the Lord. Another village where all the members of this small church had left on a truck to go into the local town and work by the time we arrived had the young pastor dismayed. We began singing and about 15 to 20 hindu women and men came over to see what was going on. They all began asking questions in the midst of our presentation, something that had not happened in the other villages and at the conclusion made professions of faith. Totally God. Stories like that became almost a daily thing and it was because of your prayers.
We’re having a bit of difficulty “catching up” on our rest since we began the home road work within a couple of days of our arrival back in the U.S., as most of you are aware. God has been faithful and we’ve seen Him work in each of the 2 revivals we’ve been a part of thus far. Continue to pray for strength, concentration, safety and rest as we head out Saturday for a Bible Conference in MS.
Blessings,
John