John's First "Official" Message

Thank you for your prayers for John!! Wednesday night was very special as it was the final night of the missionary conference at Saylorville Baptist Church, and as many of you remember, the night that John would preach his first "official" message. Praise the Lord, things went well (even when two strong men lifted him wheelchair and all up onto the stage and down off again!!) and John was able to proclaim what God had placed in his heart to the over 500 people in attendance. Once again, we appreciate your prayers for him. What a thrill it is for us to see God continue to use John's life for His glory.

Many have asked about our e-mail address, and since we knew that it would soon be changing, we delayed sending it to you. We now have one that is up and running which is prayforjohn@msn.com. We will do our best to answer our mail now, and we appreciate your patience with us during this time. Please do not write to our old "aol" address since we plan to use only our new one as of today.

John will be speaking once again this coming Sunday, but it will be via telephone connection to Faith Baptist Church in Perry, OH. He was supposed to be the "key-note speaker" at their missionary conference this week, and it is unfortunate that it will not be possible for him to be there. However, we are thankful more than ever for our "telecommunications network" which has enabled John to keep in touch with our churches and loved ones throughout this time of hospitalization/recuperation. Once again, please pray that God will use him for His glory this coming Sunday.

Speaking of "telecommunication," in recent days, the Lord has allowed us to speak with a member of one of our churches in Brazil via "Skype." We are excited about this since the opportunities that John will have to keep in touch with the work down there will be nearly "limitless." We have already considered "connecting him" so that he can preach Sunday messages live, teach Sunday School, disciple new believers, counsel pastors, participate in decision-making church board meetings...etc. This is at exciting for us, and we ask that you once again join with us in praying that the Lord would make all of this a possibility.

We can't thank you enough for your prayers for us. We could go on to speak of more blessings that God has bestowed upon us, but time will not allow. Until next week...

Sincerely in Christ,
John and Bev Leonard

Recovery of Missionary Shot in Brazil

WHO TV 13
www.whotv13.com

Des Moines, October 20th, 2005 - Back in June, WHO-TV 13 told you about John Leonard. The local missionary was clinging to life at Methodist Medical Center after assassins tried to kill him in Brazil. Leonard is still virtually paralyzed from the neck down, but Wednesday night he was able to attend his church's missions conference.

"I was supposed to be in the hospital for six months. I got out in less than three," said Leonard. It was a shorter than expected hospital stay, which is just one of hundreds of miracles John Leonard has witnessed in the past few months. He wasn't supposed to be here with his family and his church family Wednesday night. If the assassins who shot him had accomplished what they set out to do, John wouldn't be alive.

"God closed one door. He opens another," said Leonard. Leonard built five churches in Brazil and carried the message of salvation to the masses. He took two bullets and is too humble to retire. "I didn't wanna just lay around the rest of my life. I wanted somethin' to do," Leonard says.

John inspires people and he has some advice for anyone who's ever risked their life for a career they felt called to do. "Put it on the scale and weigh it, but if your heart is into it, follow your heart," he says.

Things are "winding up" now instead of down!!

Things are "winding up" now instead of down!! Today we are going to show our presentation at Sunday School at Saylorville Baptist where their missionary conference is being held. Jerrod is busy right at this moment setting everything up and making sure it is in working order since our last meeting was at Winifred Baptist in Winifred, Kansas in June. Looks like it is still fine, although a lot has happened in our lives since then. It almost brings tears to our eyes as we see John standing at the front of our church telling about all that the Lord has done, and also to see shots of him preaching, teaching, working with the children...etc. It is a little hard to watch, but once again, we can do nothing but bow our heads in prayer and thank God for His goodness. John's life has been spared, and tonight he will have yet another opportunity to minister to people. Thank you, prayer team, for your faithful prayers for John. As we have said so many times before, He has answered and continues to hear and answer your petitions. Please pray for us as we minister for His glory especially in the upcoming few days. Tomorrow is a busy day for John. He starts out the day with an interview on one of our local Christian radio stations (KWKY) at 8:00 a.m. At noon, he has a doctor's appointment down at the hospital, (regular check-up) and at night we head to one of our local restaurants where a special room is reserved for other missionaries along with John to give their testimonies. It is a time of outreach to the unsaved and also a time of getting to know the missionaries better. Wednesday night is the night that we would especially like you to pray, since John will be speaking "officially" for the first time at closing meeting of the conference. We are asking that souls will be saved and that lives would be surrendered to the call of missions. Please pray with us.

We heard from Pastor Lindoan that there will soon be a baptismal at the fishing village church of 13 people! We are so thankful for this, and please continue to pray for this work. He is also in the process of making up a web-site so that we can refer you to it and even though you won't understand the portuguese language, you can look at the pictures and probably figure out a little of what is going on.

The family is doing fine. Josh went this past week to visit the Iowa School of the Blind. Many of you know that most of his eyesight was lost because of his surgeries in 2002, and we were recently informed by a sister in Christ that they would be able to aid Josh in learning a "trade," get a job, and will also help out with his college education. He is excited about this, and it looks as if this is the way the Lord is leading Him. The desire of his heart is still to be a missionary to Brazil, and we are praying that this "dream" of his will eventually become a reality. We ask that you continue to pray for Josh. His appetite seems a little better, and his spirits are also "higher" than before.

The other kids are doing well. Yesterday (Saturday) we took the time to try to organize some of our "stuff." Yes, that is right--it has already built up in these short six months that we have been here in the States. We are thankful that we have gotten some of the things in place and we once again praise our Heavenly Father for His goodness in providing this wonderful home. We also had our first "family outing" the other night. We all went to Walmart together!! John seemed to enjoy himself, and of course we did as well.

Must close for now...the Lord bless each one.
Sincerely in Christ,
John and Bev Leonard