Robert, Michal and Jamie Swain along with their partner and friend Barbara Oliver make up the team of workers of Gospel Opportunities, an evangelistic mission effort by the church of Christ. Gospel Opportunities provides opportunities, tools and encouragement for Christians in the Spanish-speaking world to evangelize their own homes, villages, cities and countries. The Swains are under the oversight of the elders of the Mars Hill congregation in Vilonia, Arkansas and Miss Oliver is under the oversight of the elders of the Winona congregation in Winona, Mississippi. If you are interested in knowing more about this ministry or would like to schedule a visit, please contact Gospel Opportunities at (501) 733-5485 or Michal

Greetings from Vilonia, February 17, 2011

I pray that this newsletter finds you healthy and active in God’s service. We are fine, keeping busy and trying to avoid the winter colds and snow. I started writing this newsletter while we were at the Freed-Hardeman lectureship in Henderson, TN. I put it on hold to accomplish a couple of other objectives and I’m just now getting back to finishing. Continue reading →

Greetings from Winona, January 2008

Another year of newsletters! I appreciate those of you who tell me that you actually read these things! I’m always amazed that you have that much interest in what I have to say. Anyway, thank you for your interest, support and prayers for us over the past four years of mission work.

Prayer Requests

We were informed that Brother J.C. Choate passed way today (February 1^st). When I saw him last, he was very ill and bedfast. We had a prayer together. Please pray for Betty, their children and the World Evangelism Ministry. Also pray for the Bates and Rushmore families who are working for them and the two other families that will be moving to Winona to work for them also.

My Uncle Randy Swain, who has severe heart problems is in the hospital in Houston, Texas. He has just been notified that he is a candidate for a heart transplant. Please continue to pray for him and his wife Terri.

I would like for you to continue to pray for the new congregation in Vilonia, Arkansas. They are having close to 50 on Sundays and have baptized a young man already! This is a great effort for evangelism in Vilonia!

Romania

I had the opportunity to conduct a class at this year’s Albania & Romania Conference that was held at the Levy building in North Little Rock. For the past couple of years I have been making one trip a year to Romania with my good friends Ted, Barbara and Marty Knight. Although our main focus will be the Spanish-speaking world, I will continue my assistance in Romania. In May of this year I have been asked to head a nation-wide effort to bring young people from around Romania together to plan and prepare for the future of the church in Romania. If we can find the funding, Michal has been asked to come and speak to the young ladies at this camp. Pray for this effort!

Your Prayers for Support

In the last eight months we have lost $400 a month in our living support. Most of it had to do with changing budgets of the churches that for whatever reason needed to cut down on their outreach. Within the last two weeks we lost $100 from a church that is having internal problems but regained our loss from the new Vilonia congregation within 24 hours! God does truly look out for those who are trying to do what is right! Please pray that we can find the funds to cover this loss and pray that the remainder of our support stays intact.

Barbara

We are working again in Barbara’s house. She is trying to finish the never-ending job of caulking around trim, windows and doors. I am building kitchen cabinets at the moment. We have high hopes that the little house will be ready to paint in February or early March. Right now the cost of the kitchen cabinets and the money for a furnace unit are our big challenges. Not only is she trying to find help to finish her house but we are still all out on the road seeking her living support. Please keep her and her search for her living support in your prayers. At the current time she has $1,100 dollars of the $1,500 that she needs for her support.

Our Books

The news of the commentary on the Gospel of John is spreading through the Hispanic part of our brotherhood. Thanks to those of you who have taken the Adoption Program to heart and have purchased copies for ministers in Central or South America. We are geared to work on the next volume in the series – Enrique Martorell’s commentary on Revelation. We have international requests for books almost weekly and we even have a church in Scotland who wants to help send these commentaries to South America! If you are interested in helping, please contact us and we’ll get the ball rolling. We need to sell as many of the John books as we can to have the funds to publish the Revelation book! Working on a shoestring budget can be challenging!

Y.O.U.

On January 25^th through the 27^th the fourth annual Youth Outreach University was held on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas. About 500 young men and women came to prepare themselves to learn to evangelize their friends and schoolmates. I taught two classes at this event and had an information table about the Gospel Opportunities Ministry.

Church Visits

The New Year started out with me visiting the congregation at Grandview, AR on the 5^th and 6^th. On January 13^th I visited the Jerusalem, AR congregation and attended the monthly youth gathering for Central Arkansas. This was held at the Mars Hill church in Vilonia and I was able to visit with many of our supporters and friends there. On the 20^th, Michal, Jamie, Barbara and I visited the congregation in Greenville, MS where our good friends Danny and Mary Holman have moved to work and preach. Danny and I served together in Conway for many years and I consider him a very close friend. That evening we visited the Monticello, AR church. We have a number of friends and supporters there that we got to see. The last weekend of the month found me once again in Arkansas for the Y.O.U. I reported and preached to the Bigelow, AR congregation where my one-time intern Taylor Francis preaches. I have many dear friends and fond memories of this little congregation! Besides what was mentioned above, Barbara visited the ladies’ class at the Batesville, MS congregation on the 23^rd. We have really kept the road hot and the gas company profits rolling in!

Future Visits

Here are some things I would like for you to pray for… my trip to Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama in February or March. In May, pray for our return to Cluj, Romania to head a countrywide youth encampment. And in July Michal, Barbara, Jamie and I will be assisting with a group from Mars Hill going back to Costa Rica. This list does not include any of the pending church visits for us. Please pray for these efforts and for us as we travel.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. Let’s all pray that God can use us mightily in 2008!

On Behalf of Gospel Opportunities

J. Robert Swain

If you ever have questions regarding our work, travel or finances, I will be happy to answer those questions. I try to plan a trip to our supporting congregations at least once a year and to visit whenever I am asked to. We want you to feel confident that this work is active, productive and sound. Thank you so much for your help and for your prayers! J.R.S.

I apologize for the tardiness of this newsletter.  It seems to happen every year, with the holiday season being so busy, Jamie being out of school and us traveling and having visitors, I just get behind.  I hope that this report finds you healthy and happy.  I can’t believe that 2007 is over already!

 

Prayer Requests

Brother J.C. Choate is still not doing well.  All of their children were able to come home during the Christmas break.  Please pray for him and Betty and the World Evangelism Ministry.  Also pray for the Bates and Rushmore families who are working with them and the two other families that will be moving to Winona to work for them also.

 

My Uncle Randy Swain, who had some severe heart problems last month, is doing better.  Please continue to pray for him and his wife Terri.

 

Another thing that I would like for you to pray for is the new congregation that has started in Vilonia, Arkansas.  Please pray for this effort and for evangelism in Vilonia!

 

Making a Correction

In our November newsletter, I mentioned that Vilonia, Arkansas was the largest city or town in the state that did not have a church of Christ within its city limits.  I have heard this for a long time and had never looked into it, assuming that it was so.  I have recently found out that Vilonia is not the largest but that there are other towns in Arkansas with a greater population that also need churches in town.  I wanted to clarify this.  I did not intend to mislead anyone by making a incorrect statement.

 

Your Prayers for Support

It seems strange to ask people to pray for money.  The loss of $300 a month in our living support over the past eight months has greatly affected what we are able to do.  Please pray that we can find the funds to cover this loss and pray that the remainder of our support stays intact.  Also, pray that we can find the remainder of Barbara’s living.  Right now she has about $900 per month coming in.  I could also use your help in getting our newsletters into the proper hands at church and encouraging your leaders to help us arrange a visit to your congregation soon!  Please talk us up if you can!

 

Barbara

Due to the holidays, visitors, and also being out of town, we put working on Barbara’s house on hold for most of the month.  We need to hurry and finish the caulking so that the walls can be painted.  I am trying to design her kitchen cabinets now and will attempt to build them starting in January.  Right now the cost of the cabinets and finding the money for a furnace unit are our big challenges.  Like us, Barbara spent a good portion of her December in Winona.  She did visit the Ackerman, MS church with us on the 16^th and also visited the White Station congregation in Memphis, TN on December 2^nd.  Off and on throughout the month she nursed a cold but is much better now.  Please keep her and her search for her living support in your prayers.  At the current time she has $900 dollars of the $1,500 that she needs for her support. 

 

Our First Book

The news of Gospel Opportunities’ first book, the commentary on the Gospel of John has been well accepted and is spreading through the Hispanic part of our brotherhood.  This past month we had orders for 15 books!  Some of you have taken the Adoption Program to heart and have purchased copies for ministers in Central or South America.  We need to sell as many as we can to have the funds to publish the next book.  We are about to start the next volume in the series – Enrique Martorell’s commentary on Revelation. 

 

Adoption Program

(I am keeping this in the newsletter to encourage you to consider helping.)  I know that many of you will not be able to read a Spanish commentary on the Gospel of John but would still like to help this ministry re-coop the expense of publishing this work.  We are asking individuals, families, youth groups, kids and adult classes at churches, ladies’ and men’s groups, retiree’s classes and entire congregations (did I leave anyone out?) to consider adopting a preacher in Central and South America.  Many of these men cannot afford to add a book like this to their library and this new ministry cannot afford to give them away as we would like to.  We could use your help in sponsoring or adopting a faithful preacher by providing this volume for him.  The book (250+ pages) will sell for $8.95 plus $3.75 for shipping and handling.  Tools like commentaries will help him become a better preacher and in return help the church grow.  If you do not know an Hispanic preacher, here or abroad, let us help you.  We have many, many contacts already who could benefit from your kindness.  Let us know that you want to adopt!

 

Our Holidays

We had a nice holiday season for the most part.  It is fun to have Jamie out of school for a while.  He is still very excited about Christmas and his excitement spread to the rest of us.  Michal’s mother and stepfather, Janet and Harry Cybulski, came to Winona and stayed almost a week.  After they got here, they got sick with a stomach problem.  I felt so badly for them.  When I am sick I want to be at home!  They finally recovered but on Christmas eve Michal came down with it and spent most of Christmas day in bed.  Jamie and I played all day and built a plastic model of the USS Arizona that he got for Christmas.  After Christmas we visited my family in Arkansas.  My sister, Tracy Rowell, was in from Texas.  We spent the last part of the holiday back at home working and Jamie returned to school on January 7^th. 

 

Church Visits

We did not have any long trips in December as we did in November.  On December 2^nd (Michal’s birthday) I spoke to the Greenbrier, AR congregation and at Mars Hill in Vilonia, AR.  I came back to Conway early so that I could attend the Alpha and Omega preaching school advisory board meeting on the 6^th.  On the 9^th I visited the R&C congregation in Conway, AR and also the Oak congregation at El Paso, AR where I presented our Powerpoint report.  The 16^th found us at Ackerman, MS where I told about our work.  We stayed in Winona on the 23^rd due to visitors and sickness.  I preached at Winona that morning.  On the last Sunday of the year, Dec. 30^th, I preached morning and evening for the new Vilonia congregation in Vilonia, AR.

 

Future Visits

The next couple of months will be very busy for us, especially in traveling.  I was at Grandview, AR the first Sunday of the year.  I will be speaking at the Romania and Albania Conference in North Little Rock on January 17th.  I will also be a speaker at the Youth Outreach University in Conway, AR on January 26^th.   Upcoming in February is a trip to Central America, Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama.  In March I am looking into a trip to Peru.  In May, I will be returning to Cluj, Romania to head a countrywide youth encampment for college age Christians.  And in July Michal, Barbara, Jamie and I will be assisting with a group from Mars Hill going back to Costa Rica.  That is all that I can think of off of the top of my head, but I am sure that there are more trips than this.  This list does not include any of the pending church visits for me as well as Barbara.  Please pray for these efforts and for us as we travel.

 

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement through a rocky and challenging 2007.  Let’s all pray that God can use us mightily in 2008!

 

                                                                                    On Behalf of Gospel Opportunities

                                                                                                J. Robert Swain

 

 

If you ever have questions regarding our work, travel or finances, I will be happy to answer those questions.  I try to plan a trip to our supporting congregations at least once a year and to visit whenever I am asked to.  We want you to feel confident that this work is active, productive and sound.  Thank you so much for your help and for your prayers!

                                                                                                            J.R.S.

I hope that this report finds you healthy and happy. I also hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know that we certainly did. Let me fill you in on our November ramblings.

Prayer Requests

Brother J.C. Choate is still not doing well lately. Please pray for him and Betty and the World Evangelism Ministry.

Also, my Uncle Randy Swain, who had some severe heart problems last month, is still not doing as well as he would like. Please continue to pray for him and his wife Terri.

Another thing that I would like for you to pray for is a new congregation that has started in Vilonia, Arkansas. Vilonia was the largest city in Arkansas without a church of Christ within its city limits. Now there is one! I’m excited about the prospects of how this can help the church grow and for people to come to know Christ! Please pray for this effort and for evangelism in Vilonia!

Your Prayers for Support

It seems strange to ask people to pray for money. The loss of $300 a month in our living support over the past six months has greatly affected what we are able to do. Please pray that we can find the funds to cover this loss and pray that the remainder of our support stays intact. Also, pray that we can find the remainder of Barbara’s living. Right now she has a little over $800 per month coming in. I could also use your help in getting our newsletters into the proper hands and helping to arrange a visit to your congregation soon! Please talk us up if you can!

Wenasoga Meeting

In the October newsletter I started by saying that I had just returned from Wenasoga, Mississippi where I held a gospel meeting for them for the fourth straight year! The Wenasoga congregation is a group of great people! The meeting started on November 4thth. Michal and Jamie were in Wenasoga for Sunday but had to return to Winona for Jamie’s school. I was fortunate to stay with G.W. and Sherra Childs. G.W. serves as the preacher and one of the elders there. During this week I had the opportunity to do some things that I love. I got to revisit the Corinth Civil War exhibits and to visit the Shiloh Battlefield just across the border into Tennessee. On Wednesday I was invited by Steven and Sherri Perkins to metal detect on a piece of land belonging to their family. This land was part of the defensive entrenchment line around the city of Corinth. I was able to find some Spencer bullet casings, a piece of a sword, lots of farm nails and poison ivy. I had a great time though! and went through Wednesday the 7

Barbara

We’re still working on Barbara’s house. We are so close to being ready to paint that I can taste it! If only we could stay home long enough to get it done! Barbara has been working in her house caulking cracks around trim and baseboards. She is also still out hitting the trail, like I am, seeking her living support. On Nov. 2nd through 5th, she visited friends in Bastrop, Louisiana for Lexie Harper’s 80th birthday. She helped her friend Janice Harper throw the party! While there she met with the Swartz church of Christ. The next weekend, Nov. 11th, Barbara, Jamie and Michal visited the Greenville, Mississippi church of Christ. I was out of town. Our good friends Danny and Mary Holman have just moved there to serve that congregation. The last part of the month Barbara was with us visiting the churches in Michigan and Ohio. At the current time she has $818 dollars of the $1,500 that she needs for her living support. Please pray for her and help her if you can.

The Books Are Here!

Opportunities’ first book is finally in hand! In fact, 38 boxes of books were delivered to our offices today. The commentary on the Gospel of John is a book that is the first of its kind in the churches of Christ, a New Testament commentary directly from the ancient Greek into the Spanish language. In our fevered excitement to make sure that there were as little grammatical errors, we failed to add Enrique Martorells’ photo to the book… sorry Enrique… we’ll get it right in the next volume. We have already sold almost a hundred.Some of you have taken the Adoption Program to heart and have purchased copies for ministers in Central or South America. The next volume in the series is Enrique’s commentary on Revelation.

Adoption Program

(I had this section in our last two newsletters but I want to encourage everyone to participate.) I know that many of you will not be able to read a Spanish commentary on the Gospel of John but would still like to help this ministry re-coop the expense of publishing this work. We are asking individuals, families, youth groups, kids and adult classes at churches, ladies’ and men’s groups, retiree’s classes and entire congregations (did I leave anyone out?) to consider adopting a preacher in Central and South America.Many of these men cannot afford to add a book like this to their library and this new ministry certainly cannot afford to give them away as we would like to. We could use your help in sponsoring or adopting a faithful preacher by providing this volume for him. The book (250+ pages) will sale for $8.95 plus $3.75 for shipping. Tools like commentaries will help him become a better preacher and in return help the church grow. If you do not know an Hispanic preacher, here or abroad, let us help you. We have many, many contacts already who could benefit from your kindness. Let us know that you want to adopt!

Texas

I rushed home from Winona and had one day before I was on the road again. This time I was hitting spots in East Texas. I had personal business in Marshall, TX on Saturday so I left home on Friday. Saturday night I drove southward and was able to worship with the church in Conroe, TX in the morning. That evening I was able to speak at the Deer Park congregation in Deer Park, TX just east of Houston. I had a special reason for being there.This congregation had supported my friend Reggie in Sri Lanka for many, many years.The last time I spoke to Reggie he asked that if I ever found myself in the Houston area if I would go to Deer Park and personally express on his behalf how much their love and support meant to him. I was glad to fulfill that promise to my friend. Reggie died earlier this year. Over the next two days I was able to stay and visit with my sister Tracy in Victoria, Texas. I was also able to visit with my Uncle Randy whom we almost lost to his heart problems. Wednesday I returned home for a few days before hitting the road again.

Michigan

I returned home in a terrible rainstorm the night of the 14th and on the 16th we were on our way to Michigan to have Thanksgiving with Michal’s parents and to visit more churches. Barbara went with us. Our van’s cruise control is not working and we have started to have a problem with the dash controls for the heater. I was not prepared to travel that distance with those problems. The four of us crammed our persons and our luggage into my little blue Blazer and took off. The trip was a good one in spite of so much togetherness. We had a good visit and Thanksgiving with Michal’s parents, Janet and Harry Cybulski. We also visited the Dexter, Michigan congregation on the morning of the 18th and that evening we visited the Ottisville, Michigan congregation. I was fortunate to speak at both places. On Wednesday night we visited the Bristol Road congregation in Flint where Michal grew up and where we were married. On Friday Jamie got to go to Owasso, Michigan and see the steam engine that was used as the basis for the Polar Express. On Saturday we said our goodbyes and crammed ourselves back in the little car and headed for Cleveland.

Ohio

We had made arrangements to visit the Broadview Street congregation in Parma, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Michal’s cousin Roger Pace is the preacher there. Roger had been a navy chaplain for over twenty years and Jamie asked him a thousand questions about Navy ships. I was able to preach and talk about our work there too. After a slightly late lunch we headed for home with one short stop in Columbus, Ohio so that Barbara could visit her brother Mike. The very heavy holiday traffic, some traffic jams that caused slow-downs and complete stops on the interstate, plus some really nasty, rainy weather really slowed us down. We did not want the cost of hotel rooms and Jamie needed to be in school the next day, so I drove all night getting to Winona at about 6:30 am as the sun was coming up. What a way to end a trip! The remainder of the month looks kind of boring, off the road and working in the office!

Please keep us in your prayers!

On Behalf of Gospel Opportunities

J. Robert Swain

If you ever have questions regarding our work, travel or finances, I will be happy to answer those questions. I try to plan a trip to our supporting congregations at least once a year and to visit whenever I am asked to. We want you to feel confident that this work is active, productive and sound. Thank you so much for you help and for your prayers!

J.R.S.

September 2007 Newsletter

Your Help at Harvest Time

My, hasn’t this year flown by!  I can’t believe that fall is here and it’s budget time for churches again.  It’s interesting to chart a year on the fund-raising trail, visiting churches.  The year starts off with some churches having interest in your work because the new budget has included additional monies for one time help for good works.  By March, most of that money is gone and no one is looking towards next year’s budget that early.  I call this the dry period of the year.  I usually try to make contact with our congregations that are already supporting us during this time.  By September and October, it’s time to hit the trail trying to find those few mission-minded congregations that will help us with this good work.  Please pray for this “budget time” to be bountiful.  I could also use your help in getting our newsletters into the proper hands and helping to arrange a visit to your congregation soon!  Please talk us up if you can! Continue reading →