11/27/2023 – FriendSpeak Winter Break!
Dear FriendSpeak workers,
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Our hearts were full of thanksgiving this past week as we witnessed Yuan Yuan and Angela gave their lives to Christ and publicly declared their faith through baptisms at Grace Fellowship Church!
Praising God for the wonderful works He is doing in FriendSpeak in bringing home Yuan Yuan (Whitney Yoder’s reader) and Yuan Yuan’s daughter Angela into the family of God and changing these lives for eternity.
❤️Welcome home Yuan Yuan and Angela!❤️
This week marks the ending of our Fall Semester for FriendSpeak. Thank y’all for doing an amazing job loving our international friends. It is truly a blessing and honor to be serving with you in FriendSpeak ministry. Please help inform your readers that FriendSpeak will resume on January 29th, 2024. However, you are welcome to continue your sessions with your readers during the holidays if you like.
When FriendSpeak resume, you will continue with your same reader and the lesson where you left off. If you are unable to continue in the spring, or you would like to take a break from FriendSpeak. It’s totally alright to do so. Just let your reader know that you are taking a break. If your reader would like to continue while you are taking a break, do let us know in advance and we will try to arrange another worker for your reader. Please feel free to reach out to us if there is anything you need. Thank you for your servant heart. Have a blessed Winter Break and a very Merry CHRISTmas!
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11/20/2023 FriendSpeak Week of November 20th – Happy Thanksgiving!
Dear FriendSpeak workers,
As we are getting ready for Thanksgiving, I am very thankful for each one of you to be used as God’s vessel of love touching the lives of our international friends making an eternal impact for His glory. I pray that you will have a great Thanksgiving and will be blessed by this week’s featured FriendSpeak@Grace testimonial:
Yuanyuan Kou (FriendSpeak Reader):
Whiney is a great teacher! She’s very serious, attentive, faithful and explains things clearly. What touched me the most is that I had to take a few breaks due to personal reasons or illness, but Whiney has always been there, never missing a session. The FriendSpeak sessions are very helpful. They not only include Bible stories but also provide a sense of spiritual guidance. Whiney is not just a teacher; she’s a wonderful friend.
Updates: We are thrilled that Yuanyuan and her daughter Angela have made the decision to follow Jesus and will be baptized at Grace this coming Wednesday (November 22nd @12 noon)!
Have a blessed week and Happy Thanksgiving!
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11/13/23 FriendSpeak Week of November 13th
Praying for the Light of God’s presence shines within you as well as upon you producing the Joy of the Lord that will be your strength as we begin a new week. May God bless your time with your readers and may you be blessed by this week’s featured FriendSpeak@Grace testimonial:
Natsumi (FriendSpeak Reader):
Susan is very caring. She always teaches me about the Bible, God and English a lot. I’ve no religion, but she understands me and encourage me. Actually I’m not confident to talk in English. But she always encourages me. I really appreciate her.
Have a blessed week!
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11/6/23 FriendSpeak Week of Nov 6th
Dear FriendSpeak workers,
Praying that you will delight in taking time to enjoy God’s presence as we begin a new week and for the Holy Spirit anointing upon you as you share the Word with your reader.
This past Sunday, Pastor Jim shared with Grace the new FriendSpeak video. Thank you so much to our wonderful FriendSpeak workers and readers who helped in the video production. Here is the link to the video:
https://bit.ly/FriendSpeakGrace2023
May God bless your time with your readers and may you be blessed by this week’s featured FriendSpeak@Grace testimonial:
Xuan Li (FriendSpeak Reader):
I love my FriendSpeak session with Linda George. She always take time to discuss and explain any concerns I have for the lessons. She is always very helpful and kind. The class is always fascinating to me. Although my grammar is atrocious, Linda can still understand me very well. Therefore I think Linda is brilliant! She is very patient and loving. I really enjoy my FriendSpeak time with my teacher.
On October 22th, Xuan Li gave her life to Christ and publicly declared her faith through baptism and it was such a beautiful blessing to witness Linda George baptizing her FriendSpeak reader Xuan Li. Praise God for the good work God is doing through Linda in bringing Xuan Li home. Welcome home Xuan Li!
Here is the link for the baptism:
https://bit.ly/FS-Baptism20231022
Have a blessed week!
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10/30/23 FriendSpeak Week of Oct 30th
Dear FriendSpeak workers,
Praying for the peace of the Lord and the Holy Spirit’s empowerment over you as we begin a new week. May God bless your time with your readers and may you be blessed by this week’s featured FriendSpeak@Grace testimonial:
Yuanyuan Wu (FriendSpeak Reader):
My teacher is Ann Noack. She is very nice. We just had our session this afternoon. Ann helps me a lot with my pronunciation and the FriendSpeak reading content is very interesting to me. Ann also helps my understanding by expounding on the Bible stories that I don’t know and explaining the American culture to me. Today is the fourth class with her. I feel that my English has improved. FriendSpeak sessions with my teacher has helped train my listening and speaking skills. She is very attentive and patient. She is also very kind and friendly. I love my time with my teacher.
Have a blessed week!
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10/23/23 FriendSpeak Week of Oct 23th
Dear FriendSpeak workers,
What a blessing to witness 34 people gave their lives to Christ and publicly declared their faith through baptisms this past Sunday at Grace Fellowship Church! Praising God for the wonderful works He is doing in FriendSpeak in bringing home Xuan Li (Linda George’s reader) and Maggie Li (Brenda Pearson’s reader) into the family of God and changing these lives for eternity.
Welcome home Xuan Li and Maggie!
May God continue to draw nations to Himself through the good work each one of you are doing that is impacting your readers for eternity. May God bless the fruit of your labor.
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10/16/23 FriendSpeak Week of Oct 16th
Dear FriendSpeak workers,
Praying for God’s grace and strength to be upon you as you continue to pour into our readers with the love of Christ. Thank you for representing Jesus well. May God bless your time with your readers this week and may you be blessed by this week’s featured FriendSpeak@Grace testimonial:
Brenda Pearson (FriendSpeak Worker):
Good morning!
I just have to share what a blessing this program has been to me!!!
I have met with my reader 3 times now (2 for workbook lessons and once to help with something else). She is such a joy – she is so curious and appreciative and today she shared with me that she has accepted Christ and is going to be baptized soon at church! She is sharing Christ with her children as well. WOW, WOW, WOW! She loves learning and loves the Church – it is so rewarding to get to talk with her and experience her new faith and all the questions that brings. I just feel so excited each time I meet with her – I feel like I am getting more out of it than she is! Thank you again for the opportunity!
Have a blessed week!
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10/9/23 FriendSpeak Week of Oct 9th
Dear FriendSpeak workers,
Our hearts are full as this past weekend, Sarah and I were invited to speak at the LST/FriendSpeak conference in San Antonio. The attendees were encouraged and inspired by all the good works each one of you are doing in FriendSpeak ministry impacting lives for eternity. Thank you for your servant heart. Sarah and I are so blessed and honored to get to do ministry with y’all. May God bless your time with your readers and may you be blessed by this week’s featured FriendSpeak@Grace testimonial:
Daisy (FriendSpeak Reader):
I have taken about 7 classes with Pam. We read the Bible together and we also share interesting life stories of our friends and family with each other. We become good friends.
Friendspeak sessions have greatly benefited me. At the beginning, I was nervous to speak English for fear of making mistakes. Pam is a very kind and nice to me. She encourages me to speak up to overcome my fear. Now I have the courage to communicate with her. We read the Bible together during our sessions. Pam’s smile always makes me feel happy every time. Thank you so much Pam for being such a good teacher and friend to me.
Have a blessed week!
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10/2/23 FriendSpeak Week of Oct 2nd
Dear FriendSpeak workers,
Praying that God will renew and refresh you as we begin a new week and that you will be able to serve, give, and love others well out of His overflow. May God bless your time with your readers and may you be blessed by this week’s featured FriendSpeak@Grace testimonial:
Yuanyuan Kou (FriendSpeak Reader):
Whiney is a great teacher! She’s very serious, attentive, faithful and explains things clearly. What touched me the most is that I had to take a few breaks due to personal reasons or illness, but Whiney has always been there, never missing a session. The FriendSpeak sessions are very helpful. They not only include Bible stories but also provide a sense of spiritual guidance. Whiney is not just a teacher; she’s a wonderful friend.
Have a blessed week!
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9/25/23 FriendSpeak Week of Sep 25th
Dear FriendSpeak workers,
Yesterday, as Pastor Jim’s shared about how God used the life of Hudson Taylor to raise up thousands of missionaries to China that leads to 110 million Christ-followers in China today, my heart is grateful for each one of you for saying YES to becoming a Christ ambassador to our FriendSpeak readers. May God bless your time with your readers and may you be blessed by this week’s featured FriendSpeak@Grace testimonial:
Megan (FriendSpeak Reader):
Hillary and I met for FriendSpeak, and I love it. We talked about life, faith and kids. This program is way better than I thought. I feel that I’m not in a session. I just talked with a friend I could trust and didn’t have to worried about my speaking. I also learn about culture difference and about God.
Have a blessed week!
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9/18/2023 – FriendSpeak Week of Sep 18th
Dear FriendSpeak workers,
Praying for joy of the Lord to be your strength as we begin a new week. May God bless your time with your readers and may you be blessed by this week’s featured FriendSpeak@Grace testimonial:
Joshua Oletu, our FriendSpeak volunteer has been meeting online with his FriendSpeak reader in Brazil for 2+ years. Joshua is excited to share with us this recent email from his reader:
Hi Joshua,
I hope you have a great day!!
Please, let me share with you other very important moment in my life.
Thank you for all, you had and have help me in my decision. Thank you 🙏🏾
God bless
Victor Pessoni
Praising God for the good work God is doing through Joshua and each one of you to help readers like Victor and making eternal impact for His Kingdom. Have a blessed week!
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9/11/2023 – FriendSpeak Week of Sep 11th
Dear FriendSpeak workers,
Hope you had an amazing weekend. Pastor Jim’s sermon on Heaven and the 46 baptisms celebration yesterday served as a great reminder of the eternal Kingdom impact each one of you are doing as the ambassador of Christ to our international community. Hope everyone gets to connect with their readers and begin their FriendSpeak sessions for the Fall semester. If you need a new workbook, please let me know.
Be sure to check out the FriendSpeak Resources page at https://FriendSpeak.net/help/ that contains:
- FriendSpeak FAQs and Tips
- Sample Questions and Seed Thoughts for Luke Workbook
- FriendSpeak Calendar
- FriendSpeak Weekly Updates
May God bless you and grant you overwhelming joy and love as you share God’s Word with your readers this week. Have a blessed week!
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9/4/2023 – FriendSpeak Fall Semester 2023
Dear FriendSpeak workers,
Happy Labor Day and welcome back to FriendSpeak as we begin our Fall Semester 2023 this week.
Calendar for Fall Semester 2023
Below is the Fall 2023 calendar and it is for your reference only. Please feel free to modify it to fit your schedule.
- Week of Sep 4th Session#1
- Week of Sep 11th Session#2
- Week of Sep 18th Session#3
- Week of Sep 25th Session#4
- Week of Oct 2nd Session#5
- Week of Oct 9th Session#6
- Week of Oct 16th Session#7
- Week of Oct 23th Session#8
- Week of Oct 30th Session#9
- Week of Nov 6th Session#10
- Week of Nov 13th Session#11
- Week of Nov 20th Session#12
- FriendSpeak Winter Break – will resume in the Spring (January 29th, 2024)
Completing the FriendSpeak workbook?
If you are close to completing your FriendSpeak workbook with your reader, please contact us and we will arrange for you to pick up the next workbook.
Welcome to all our new FriendSpeak volunteers!
Praising God for blessing us with these wonderful FriendSpeak volunteers. Special thanks to our good friend from LST, Ben Woodward for conducting another outstanding FriendSpeak Training, inspiring and empowering us to outreach to our international friends with English and Friendship for HIS Kingdom!
As this semester begin, we ask that God will continue to cultivate and bless your FriendSpeak relationships with your readers and to draw us all to JESUS and help us to experience the ultimate love, joy, and peace that can only be found in CHRIST! LORD of the harvest, we thank you for your faithfulness in bringing us the workers. We pray for another semester of fruitful harvest with many lives coming to know JESUS as their personal Savior and LORD!
My house shall be called a House of Prayer for all Nations. – Isaiah 56:7
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. Thank you for your servant heart!
Have a blessed week!