First Update on Yellow House Ministry

Hello church,

Introduction

Thank you for your willingness to stay connected to our ministry. I didn’t have much time to share, so I’ll share some ways to know a bit more. You can find information, photos and videos about our Pakistani ministry on our website yellowhouseministry.ca/pakistan.

I asked pastor Josh if I could share with the church about what is going on as our ministry is growing and the persecution is increasing. I started to feel overwhelmed and am hoping to expand our network here to work together on advancing the light of Christ in those spiritually dark places.

My goals with the email is to give updates to share what is happening and with specific needs that show up. I want to be as transparent as possible about all that is happening.

Afghan family

As you heard, at them moment our most urgent need is to bring the Afghan widow and daughter of Naveed to safety: ’name hidden’ and Zainab.

[Photos removed for safety reasons]

I was feeling helpless at first, but by God’s grace I have encountered a few people that have experience in those situations. I came in contact with people from https://capc.life.

This led me to an ex-US soldier who was stationed there and who has helped many refugees to make it out of the country. He is about to close that chapter but has agreed to help me with this family.

He needed to check if his network was still able to do this and I received this message this morning:

// Why is this procedure so expensive?

As I talked to him earlier, passports are really hard to obtain at the moment and take a long time. So by knowing the right people that know people, you can get expedited passports and the right visas to get across the border. It is mostly about adding cash on top of the application to get it done. Then the crossing of the border comes with risk and those that are risking their life are paid for their services.

As there are quite a few people willing to help out, many bits will get us there.

Once we get them safely to Pakistan, with my team there we will rent a place for them and provide them with an allowance to buy food and other necessities. Once they are in Pakistan, we can start with a refugee application into Canada. One of our church members has mentioned she will provide housing for ’name hidden’ and daughter, praise God! I’m all uncertain how long this all takes and if it will all work out, but I must remember God is in control and His will be done. We are His hands and feet and all we can do is do what we can and let God use our offerings for His Kingdom.

Pakistan

Currently, because my local partner Adish was in contact with Naveed about Jesus, he is a possible target for the Taliban. When they arrested Naveed, they go through his phone and from what I heard, they possibly also question him about his christian connections using “unorthodox methods”. There has been suspicious activity around his place and we are concerned for his safety. My plan is to bring him to Canada for a while until everything settles down a bit.

In the mean time, Taliban is continuing to persecute Christians in Pakistan across the country. Right now the situation is very heated and Christians are having to be very cautious.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• Continual protection for ’name hidden’

• Safe passage to Pakistan for ’name hidden’

• Wisdom and protection for Adish

• Wisdom and increased faith for me

• being able to raise all necessary funds

Stay in Touch

If you want to talk more or ask more questions about all this, I’m available to talk in person or over the phone. My phone number is 250 280 6155.

If you want to chat or talk with Adish in Pakistan, no problem, just let me know and I can give his contact info as well.

$ Donations

Options:

· E-tranfer to [email protected]. (Please make a note “Yellow House Ministry”)

· For convenient monthly donations or one-time donation: https://pages.donately.com/yellowhouseministry/donate

· Cheque: Steven Bauwens, PO BOX 1515, Merritt, V1K 1B8

Other Help

If you want to help in any other way or you come across connections that could help in any way, please let me know as well.

In Christ,

Steven