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Pilgrims
Covenant Church
Public Ministry Update
April
13, 2010
Dear
Friends,
Herein
you will find a brief summary of our
PCC
Public Ministry work. This is obviously not
meant to be a comprehensive report on our church ministry or the godly
works we support elsewhere. Rather, this report covers that portion
of our work which is supported by gifts from outside our church. In brief,
this is the fruit of the gifts some of you have sent to the Public
Ministry. I might also mention that those on our mailing list who
would rather not receive such reports, or even would like to be off of our
mailing list entirely, should feel very free to let us know. We certainly
do not want to irritate any of you with unwanted, regular mailings, e-mail
or postal, and with regard to the latter, we do want to avoid any waste of
funds.
With
spring here, and summer on the way, opportunities for open-air ministry at
large public outdoor events greatly increase. Lord willing, we are
planning on a number of efforts, including passing out gospel literature
and perhaps doing some preaching to thousands at a "Tea Party" rally at
the State Capitol in Madison the same week this mailing is sent out. Also
on our "warm season" calendar of events is Monroe’s semi-annual "Cheese Days" celebration.
Believe it or not, this multi-day event, complete with the state's longest
parade, draws in 100,000 people from all over the nation and even the
world! Last Cheese Days, we gave out 7,500 gospel tracts, held Scripture
signs for the crowds to read, and also rented a very strategic billboard
on which we had placed a gospel message. We are hoping, and praying, that
we will be able to get even more tracts out this year and also rent a
billboard or two as well. This is an opportunity to sow gospel seed, one
might almost say to the whole world, or certainly among thousands from all
over our nation and a number of nations of the world. I hope some of you
will join with us in praying that the Lord would greatly bless our efforts
to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world amongst the
teeming crowds during Cheese Days.
Of
course, we are anticipating other open-air gospel ministry in-between the
two events mentioned, including a few outings to preach and hand out
tracts at the farmers' market in Madison. As it seems to happen every summer, there is
a good chance unforeseen situations will also arise at which we
will want to minister, situations such as "Rock the River" events last
summer. But rather than speak of what we hope, by God's grace, to be able
to do, please allow me to share some of what we have done since our last
report.
On
January 23, we set up a pro-life witness on the busiest
intersection in Monroe, which is the junction of a key street to the
business district and also a state highway. We used large, full-color
pictures of eight-week unborn babies. To those signs, we added signs
reading, "Thou shalt not kill. Exodus 20:13," and signs with gospel messages. We also
offered our pro-life tract, complete with a gospel message, to occupants
of vehicles stopped at the intersection. While we heard from a
few of those people who seem to think slaughtering innocent unborn human
beings is a sacred right, the vast majority of the response was favorable
and encouraging. Put simply, it was far different than the response we
received several decades ago.
On
March 6, we traveled to Madison,
Wisconsin to set up our gospel signs and hand out gospel
tracts to the crowds arriving at the field house for the WIAA
wrestling championships. We set up, complete with gospel
signs, at the only two field house entrances open to wrestling fans
and handed out at least 1,400 gospel tracts. Almost none of these tracts
were thrown on the ground, and we saw many go immediately into purses and
pockets. I hope this is a great encouragement to those of you who pray for
our efforts and those who also help underwrite the expense of printing the
thousands of tracts we go through every month.
On
March 20, we were set up on the two long, broad walkways leading up to the
Kohl Center
in Madison. The event was the WIAA boys' basketball
championships. During our time of ministry, we gave out at least
1,700 tracts, and of course, thousands read our Scripture signs. What is
wonderful about events like the basketball and wrestling championships is
that the crowd is predominantly high school age and each time out we are
able to share the gospel with thousands from many different parts of our
state. What a privilege and joy it is to take the gospel of Christ, "the
word of life," to a generation being deceived and corrupted from
every side. We had many encouragements during this witness, including
a sincere young man who requested some extra tracts to give out to others.
Another young man, in thanking us, said, "One sows, another plants, but
God gives the increase." This young man also said he was going to
give several of our tracts to others. This is just one more fruit of
open-air gospel ministry—it provides an example and encouragement for
other Christians to "go, and do thou likewise."
Tuesday,
April 6, two of our number handed out literature at a Tea Party
event in Madison, Wisconsin. The literature was a gospel tract combined
with the flyer enclosed in this
mailing. This outdoor rally, in spite of
less than ideal weather, being on a weekday, and also being just
one of a number of local ones, drew about four hundred people. Of these,
285 accepted our literature! The rally we are planning to minister at
in Madison is projected to have thousands in attendance!
In fact, last year there were over 8,000 there. I would imagine, as the
concern for the growing tyranny of the Obama administration has grown, so
will the crowds. At least, one can hope that is the case! May
the Spirit of the Lord be pleased to lead many to Christ Jesus, who
alone can make them "free indeed."
From
what we hear, the Heart of the Matter program continues
to be a blessing and a valuable resource for Christians in many parts of
the world. One of the best parts about that program is that it has been
used many times to introduce faithful brethren to others in their areas,
including faithful pastors. We sometimes feel as if we would like to give
more time to the production of HOM, but for now it seems evident the time
we give it is far better than giving it none! If HOM is being used to some
extent to bless and edify the body of Christ, then we feel very blessed to
be able to broadcast it.
I
might mention that Mike Foht continues to evangelize almost weekly at one
place or another, to lit drop, and also to be a biblical witness at the
abortion clinic in Madison. Mike takes care to stay obviously separate
from the Roman Catholics if they are there. Janet and Joy continue to do
yeoman's work for both this Public Ministry and also the church, often
from behind the scenes but also in our public witness and in their regular
gospel lit dropping in Monroe. Others in our church, in spite of families
and jobs, are also very faithful in the Lord's work. And that is a great
blessing to this pastor.
May
our sovereign Lord, who will most certainly vindicate and bless the
proclamation of His Word with success, bless you and strengthen your
hearts with grace.
Sincerely,
Pastor
Ralph Ovadal
Click
here to read The Indispensable Foundations of Liberty
flyer handed out at Madison Tea Party events
PCC
Lit Distribution Summary—January 14-April 13
The
following literature was distributed by
PCC
in the following places:
• Heaven
or Hell?: Milwaukee area and the Milwaukee School of Arts,
Wisconsin; Orangeville and Rockford,
Illinois; rural areas in southern
Wisconsin and northern Illinois. •
The
Value of Our Souls: Juda,
Madison, and Monroe, Wisconsin. • What
the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality:
Hudson and the University
of
Wisconsin-Stout (Menomonie),
Wisconsin; St. Paul
and Woodbury,
Minnesota. • "Warning"
tract: Cottage Grove, Greenfield,
Janesville, Jefferson, Madison, Milwaukee area, Milwaukee School of Arts,
Monroe, Orfordville, Waukesha, and West Allis, Wisconsin; Chicago area and Orangeville,
Illinois. • No
Excuses!: Monroe, Wisconsin.
PCC
provided quantities of literature free of charge to trusted brethren
for distribution in the following places:
• An
Urgent Plea to Roman Catholics (English):
Omaha, Nebraska. • An
Urgent Plea to Roman Catholics (Spanish):
Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Omaha, Nebraska. • What the Bible Really Says about
Homosexuality: Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim,
Northern Ireland. • "Warning" tract: Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim,
Northern Ireland.
PCC
provided our literature for cost for distribution in the following
places: • Heaven or Hell?:
Racine, Wisconsin; Merritt,
Michigan; La Vista and Omaha,
Nebraska. • The Value of Our Souls:
Palmyra and West Bend, Wisconsin;
Merritt, Michigan. • An Urgent Plea to Roman Catholics
(English): Kewaskum and Palmyra, Wisconsin; Merritt,
Michigan. • What the Bible Really Says about
Homosexuality: Palmyra, Wisconsin. •
Homosexuality:
The Truth: Palmyra
and West Bend,
Wisconsin. • "Warning" tract:
Milwaukee and Palmyra,
Wisconsin; La Vista, Nebraska;
Lynchburg, Virginia.
Click
here
for an order form for the items listed below.
Books/Booklets
Romanizing
America through Illegal Immigration by Pastor Ralph Ovadal
(booklet)—gift of $.75
More
Than These: A Call for Reformation by Pastor Ralph Ovadal (270
pages)—gift of $8.00—free
online!
The Antichrist: A Biblical and Confessional View by Rev.
David Silversides (booklet)—gift of $2.50
Tracts
Heaven
or Hell? gospel tract—gift of $.06 each
The
Value of Our Souls gospel tract—gift of $.06 each
An
Urgent Plea to Roman Catholics—gift of $.07 each
SPANISH
An Urgent Plea to Roman Catholics—gift of $.07 each
No
Excuses! PCC's pro-life/gospel tract— gift of $.06 each
NEW!
"Warning" tract—gift of $.03 each
What
the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality—gift of $.06 each
Homosexuality:
The Truth—gift of $.08 each—currently unavailable
Subscriptions
Sermons—8
weeks on CD for gift of $13
Heart
of the Matter—8 weeks on CD for gift of $13
Heart of the Matter/Sermon Combo—8 weeks on CD for gift of $19
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