Click below to see Stephanie's Baptism Video Warning-large file.	Clothing Room at the Church	Jared in a field of heather and Gorse.
Happy Easter from Turkey	Fields blooming	Rhododendrons in Bloom

Baptism

On the 31^st of March Stephanie Lowden, the daughter of John and Amanda Lowden chose to put on her Lord in the waters of Baptism.  This was a very special day as we have known Stephanie for most of her life and can still remember her being a small baby.  It is wonderful to see children grow up in the Lord.

Asylum Seekers

The number of Asylum Seekers coming to Washington has continued to grow at an incredible rate since December.  There are now more than 150 people in about 50 family units in Washington.  These people are introduced to the church as son as they arrive.  The housing representative, from the governmental structure, tells them about us, and the drop-in and support facilities that are centered at the church building each week.  We now have 4 families that attend church on a regular basis.  They are from Iran, Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Uganda and Zimbabwe.  Please continue to pray for these people as they await a decision from the government about being allowed to remain in England.

Visitors

            Stu Childre came to visit on the weekend of the 19^th of April.  He helped me with many things during his time her, not the least of which was my persistent problem with getting access to the web page.  Our family and the church here in Washington were truly blessed by Stu’s visit here.  We truly cherish the time he gives to us here. 

            We were also able to have Igor Ustyuzhyn, originally from the Ukraine, now attending the British Bible School in Corby, England, come and stay with us from the 18^th to the 26^th of May.  He was able to help with those Asylum Seekers who speak Russian.  Can you believe it, one of the Russian speaking men from Azerbaijan attended on that very Sunday.  Igor was able to explain, in detail, who we are, what we believe, and much about what was going on.  Because of this, Solomon has continued to attend, despite speaking and understanding only a few words of English.

Building Update

            There has been some movement on the building front.  The local education authority has finally decided to build a new school on the field behind the church building.  This has been what we have been expecting for 6 years.  They have applied for permission to build the school, but someone has objected and so this will delay things further, but they are hoping to have the new school built and open by September 2003.

            This should open up the opportunity for us to proceed with the purchase of the building.  Please continue to pray that the Lord will make them favourable to offer us the building at a very low price.  We will keep you informed of progress.

Family News

            Michele has had it confirmed that she has considerable hearing loss in one of her ears due to an infection that started on our last visit to the States.  She has also developed Tinitus, which is a horrible ringing in the ear.  This was giving Michele real problems, but things seem to be much better now.  She seems to have adjusted to this change in her life and we have learned to speak a bit louder to her.

            The kids are all heavily into school with exams of alls sorts coming up.  Jonathan, Joshua and Heather are planning to come and spend a few weeks in Lubbock and in the mountains again this summer.

            We want to thank you all so much for your continued support in both prayers and in funds to work here.  We are truly privileged to be your partners in this mission.

The Thomas family