Greetings friends and loved ones in the matchless name of the Name that is above every other name:  the Lord Jesus Christ.  Before him, every knee will one day bow (Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10).  As Keith Green once wrote in a ballad: “You know you’re gonna find out that He’s the way no matter which way you choose, but I pray you find out by His love for you.”

I trust every one of you had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends, remembering most of all an important truth:  What transpired in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago is less about a helpless baby in a manger and more about Almighty God becoming flesh (I Timothy 3:16) so that He could die, not for us, but AS us (II Corinthians 5:21; I Peter 2:24, 3:18; Zechariah 12:10).  Therefore, this new year, let those of us who claim the name of Jesus Christ depart from iniquity (II Timothy 2:19) and speak the Word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31; II Corinthians 4:13).

Well, ‘tis yet another eve of departure: the destination, this time, being Eastern Europe.  Please keep our evangelism team and the upcoming work in your prayers over the coming weeks.  On Wednesday (January 7), I will leave for Romania and Moldova where we will be witnessing on the streets and conducting several martial arts demonstrations as an avenue to preach repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21).  The next week, Jamie, my wife, will be flying into Bucharest where we will also rendezvous with a team of four from South Dakota.  The next two weeks will be spent in Romania, the Ukraine, Moldova, and possibly Istanbul in Turkey.  Pray for the safe arrival of all luggage as we are carrying in more than 20,000 Gospel tracts, over 150 Bibles and Scripture portions, various discipleship materials, and about 250 pairs of fresh socks for distribution amongst poor believers and on the streets.  Stay tuned for email updates from the front lines.

Pray also that the Lord makes provision for the financial burdens that FPGM will assume during this venture.  Any time one travels to a place where the Euro is the national currency (i.e. Romania), the prices relative to the United States can seem astronomical.  There will be a lot of traveling on the ground as the team targets key locations in at least three countries, and this will require hiring undoubtedly expensive transportation to carry us and all the materials around.  The LORD has always been faithful to provide, and we have never lacked.  Join us as we pray for such to be the case yet again.

On another note, Matthew and I ironically appeared on the front page of the Hickory Daily Record back on December 28th as some of Hickory’s “People of the Year.”  I guess the paper felt that our arrest for distributing Gospel tracts was worthy of year-end remembrance.  Thanks for praying about this per the request in my last email update.  I believe the article was favorable overall and that Christ received glory.  I had been asked to sum up the message that we preach on the streets, and the paper surprisingly quoted me exactly:  “Repent and be born again.  Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY to heaven.”  Also, Matthew was asked if we planned to continue taking the Gospel to the streets in Hickory.  He replied, “What we do is mandated by Scripture.”  On the front page, there was a huge picture of us holding forth Gospel tracts and Scripture portions with expression of resolve hanging form our brows.  The heading on the front of some Gospels of John that I was holding was very clear for all to see:  “Behold the Lamb of God.”  May the Word of the Lord not return void according to His promise (Isaiah 55:11). 

Well, I better wrap this up; there is much packing yet to do.  For those of you accustomed to long epistles, I am sorry to let you down on this occasion.  Rest assured, however, some more detailed updates will be coming shortly.  Pray for Jamie next week as she travels alone to Romania, and please pray for our children as we will be away from them for a couple of weeks.  Pray also for Jon Lane and Shawn Holes as their court date regarding the arrest for handing out Gospel tracts at the University of South Dakota is fast approaching.  In fact, Jon will be in court the day before he leaves with his team to meet up with us in Romania.  We are trusting that the failed and corrupt legal system of the United States will not prove a thorn in the side of this evangelistic venture into a part of the world where what we will be doing was recently illegal under Communist regimes and virtually guaranteed dire consequences.  Now, it seems, the door is wide open.  Praise be unto God.  

As I think about the state of things in America today (i.e. churchianity, widespread apostasy, apathy toward the things of the Lord, loss of freedom to proclaim the Gospel, etc.) in comparison with the unforeseen freedom to publicly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in other places around the earth, I am reminded of Paul and Barnabas’ bold words to the Jews at Antioch of Pisidia:  “It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy  of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46).  Even so, thus we endeavor to do in the dead of winter at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, in the Danube River Valley, and along the coast of the Black Sea.  So, help us God.

Stay tuned.

For the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ,

Jesse Boyd