One of the first recorded instances of Jesus preaching, portrays Him in the synagogue on the Sabbath day (Luke 4:14-21). This moment took place after His wilderness temptation experience. The Bible says that He began to read from Isaiah 61:1-2 —the prophecy regarding the Messiah’s mission of preaching to the poor and deliverance to the captives, healing the broken hearted and giving sight to the blind while also setting free those in the prison of darkness. This mission of the Messiah promised amazing results. What is one of results that this type of ministry will produce?  In the very next verse in Isaiah we read, “...garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” (Isaiah 61:3).  What kind of garments produce praise?  In verse 10 we are told, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10 NKJV).  Part of Christ’s mission was to proved the garment of salvation for every one who would receive it. This garment is Christ’s robe of righteousness. It produces praise for those who wear it. Not only does one find joy in being clothed in the garments of Christ’s righteousness, but there is even more joy as he joins in laboring with Christ to offer His free gifts to others. This year, we have so much to be thankful for and to praise God for as we have had the privilege of serving in the field of service where God has placed us. It has been a joy to witness over 100 people make decisions for baptism and re-baptism as they commit to marrying Jesus.

This fall, we conducted our last two evangelistic meetings in Ooltewah, TN and Dodge Center, MN where, combined, nearly 50 precious people made decisions for baptism.  In TN we had so many beautiful experiences take place. One in particular stands out as we reflect. There was a couple who left God and the church over 30 years ago. Without the Lord, they lived lives void of the true happiness. They sought fulfillment in passing pleasures and satisfactions that this world can offer.  Within the last year or so, they moved to TN and started attending the Ooltewah church for the first time since their long absence from any kind of spiritual life. No one knew their testimony, no one knew that they were coming back to church and to God.  When this older couple decided to be baptized, some were shocked, not knowing their past testimonies.  There was much joy and praise in the house of God as the church learned of this couple’s personal revival.

In MN, we finished our 5th evangelistic series of the year.  At the end of this series, I had completed a total of 150 preaching segments for the year.  I was tired.  But there was no better church that I could think of to finish off this year with. The Dodge Center church is one of  the most committed, zealous churches I have encountered in my 12 years of evangelism work. They are very active, leaving no means untried to reach the community and those around them. I have seen God’s hand at work in a marked manner, through this church. One individual who was baptized in this series, found out about the church through a canvasser who also signed him up for personal Bible studies. While this man was hesitant at first, God kept softening his heart. He agreed to having Bible studies with the pastor. The pastor studied with him for a couple of months. Not long after our evangelism series, this man entered the waters of baptism. The Lord blessed us with so many miracle stories that there is not enough room in this newsletter to write them all.

We must move on to share with you praise stories from yet another venue. Two precious individuals were baptized this year as a result of studying our Bible study guides.  One of them wrote us and said this,

“I had tried other studies before but those all seemed like just another person telling me what was right and wrong. However, these Revelation of Love studies helped me dive deeper into my Bible than I’d ever been before. I had to learn that God is telling me what to do so plainly, I could have never put all the pieces together on my own and these studies did exactly that for me” (DR).

Lastly, perhaps the biggest praise of this year was the opening of our school of evangelism.  We had 4 precious people that attended and became family over our two-month time together.  By God’s grace, they learned many things from canvassing and medical missionary principles to Bible work methods and church leadership.  They were able to go out into the field and apply some of the things they have learned.  One of our students was re-baptized at her home church after the summer was over. At her baptism, she said,

“Nothing comes close to the joy from being surrounded by constant prayer, learning and fellowship.  This summer I spent it at the Bible Institute. I now have a strong desire and calling to share God’s Word with the world.  And I never have felt so confident in what I believe and so confident in the truth” (MP).

This year, we feel wrapped in this garment of praise the Bible speaks of.  We know that you have been part of making these miracles happen in our ministry.  We want to continue to praise God and continue to see Him work in amazing ways.  If you desire to help us train, equip and inspire others to give their lives to Jesus, here are some of our needs:

We are working towards making our school of evangelism available online. We have received many requests for this to be a reality, however, this is a very expensive and time consuming venture.  At the very minimum, it will cost $10,000 to make this a reality.  Secondly, our student worthy fund needs supporters.  We have had requests from people wanting to come to our school but who are lacking some of the funds needed in order to be able to attend. Thus, we have opened a fund where you can donate towards helping future students who are in need of financial support. Lastly, we need to build more accommodations for future students.  If you would like to help in any of these areas or become a monthly donor, please submit the following clipping back at the end of our newsletter or donate on our online website.

Take a moment and consider, what kind of garment are you wearing today?  Anciently, it was customary for people to wear garments of sackcloth in mourning (Esther 4:1).  Today, we invite you to put on the garments of praise. Refresh your soul with the realization that Jesus died for you and invites you to wear His robe of righteousness and work in His field.

Thank you for your prayers and support,

David & Abby Machado