Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!!

Greeting from Grand Turk,

            Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”  As we look forward to what God has ahead, we look back and thank Him for performing exactly as promised in Numbers 23:19.  We feel blessed to be able to report what God is doing in Grand Turk.

            Ten months have gone by rather quickly as we have watched God perform His perfect plan.  Quickly, God placed a core group of people into our lives, people whom God has used mightily to advance the work here in Grand Turk.  We started out with 150 pens to give to new attendee’s over 18 years of age, and we now only have 15-20 pens left.  With a population of 3,700, we have had nearly 10% of the population visit the church this year.  This is particularly exciting because the majority of visitors have come by invitation from that core group.  From that group we have two young men working our van route for Kids’ Church.  Demarco drives the van while Shard keeps control of a rowdy 20-25 kids on the van.  We have two ladies who often help in Kids’ Church by leading songs and doing games afterwards.  We have another young man, Shavau, leading Sunday evening song service.  The week before Thanksgiving, Demarco started a Bible study in his office, an extension of the church.  We are so excited at what God is doing!!!

            In January we have a work team coming to help with Spaulding issues.  Our structures here are block with concrete pillars every 20 feet connected to a concrete tie beam that goes around the whole building.  The salt content in the air has caused the rebar in the concrete to begin to rust causing large cracks in the walls.  It has become a serious issue and we faced $4000-5000 in supplies and labor.  It was in the moments of trying to decide what to do that a good friend called, who has much experience in building, offering to raise the funds for supplies as well as bring a team to help repair all of the Spaulding.  PRAISE GOD!! 

             As we look forward, we realize that the battle is far from over! We want you to know that we are relying heavily on your continued prayers and financial support. To each of you who has prayed, thank you. We have sensed and seen your prayers at work.  To each monthly financial supporter, thank you for following through and investing in Grand Turk.  To each person who has contributed a little or a lot, thank you. Your giving is making an impact in Grand Turk. 

Yours for Christ,

The Lopers

Follow us on:  facebook: – Rob N Martha Loper Blog: – Loper Bunch

Call us: Stateside number 937-867-0953

News from November

Greetings in Christ’s Name,
      Adjustments are the new normal in our lives. The challenges of Island living and missionary living are two separate challenges merged into one. Where do you go for a vacation? How about a day trip to town? Where can we go where we’re not Pastor? What do you do with time, when projects cost money and you have none? How do you escape 110-degree heat without A/C? Then you must deal with cultural differences. What do you do when the neighbor boy is at your place and it’s time for supper? What do you do when that same boy’s parents head to town and leave him with you without asking? What about unexpected visits at all times of the day? What about uninvited guests inviting themselves into your family time around the dinner table. How you deal with these kinds of things will make you or break you. (Sometimes we feel broken.)
     In coming to Grand Turk, we knew our God-given assignment. God defined clearly to us that we were to see to the establishing of the church. We have found the task to be much different than pastoring stateside. We started at zero numerically on March 4, when we arrived! Our first Sunday we had three “Belongers”; the last Sunday of October we had 67 “Belongers.” (Special service) We have started at zero when it comes to Biblical understanding and living. This has proven to be a challenge as it is absolute, very basic teaching. It’s here that we work much differently than in the States. Stateside we’ve pastored established churches, here we are challenged to develop and make disciples. God is blessing in these efforts.
      We are working with Mr. Demarco, a young man who has the capacity to be a strong spiritual leader. It is a thrill to see God working in his life. He recently stated, “When I’m struggling, I hang around godly people.” (Now, we know why he visits so often.) We work with Mr. Garret who recently was saved and baptized. Mr. Demarco now has taken Mr. Garret and is teaching him what he has been taught, creating another disciple. The last Sunday of October, I watched as an old friend of Mr. Garret came to church. It was so interesting watching a newly converted believer reaching out and beginning to teach what he had been taught. Mr. Garret recently stated, “I just feel like I’ve found a new family.” As is common with missionaries we tend to leave out the hard times. Times like when a young lady states, “I want to get saved, but I’m not ready to give up some things”; then watch her strong interest for God fade as she becomes very cold spiritually.
     Yes, we are adjusting! God is blessing! But, please understand we need you! We need your prayer covering daily! We need your words of encouragement! We seriously need your financial support! we add as well, thanks for your prayers, encouraging words, and financial support. Thanks for your investment.

Your for Christ,
The Lopers

September Newsletter

Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands

Greetings in Christ’s Name,
Six months have passed since our arrival here in Grand Turk. As we look back, we can see

the hand of God at work both here in Grand Turk and in our lives. The adjustments haven’t always been easy, but God has comforted us through the people He has brought into Bible studies and Sunday services. Since our previous newsletter some exciting things have taken place. We’d like to quickly share them with you.

For several weeks leading up to June 23, the church had been making plans for a church dinner after church. During the week leading up to this date, the Turks and Caicos radio station asked to broadcast our service live. When Sunday June 23 came, the church parking lot was filled, nearly all seating was filled, and most importantly God came. We had over 70 in attendance, and the church was introduced to all of Turks and Caicos. What an exciting time!

From March to June we didn’t meet on Sunday nights. Sadly, the tradition here is that every Sunday night is family night. (A good idea but on the wrong night.) On July 7 we had our first Sunday night service. Our service isn’t like yours; there’s no preaching, offering taking, nor set way of doing it. We sing a few songs or choruses, have a praise time (testimonies), time of sharing needs to help pray for one another through the week, then we study God’s Word. For the last nine weeks, we’ve been studying James 1. We’ve been blessed with 12-16 people in attendance.

One July afternoon, Demarco came by the church with Shards. Shards had been coming to Bible study for weeks. The Wednesday prior to his coming with Demarco, he had stated, “I’ll never be able to give up rum.” Demarco said four words that afternoon, “He’s ready to pray.” With tears and prayer to God, God came and delivered Shards. For six weeks, Shards has been rum free!! Please pray for Shards. His home is full of evil influences that fight him constantly about his choice to go with God.

As I close, I extend to you our thanks for your continued prayers and financial support. We deeply appreciate you partnering with us. To you who helped with Youth Camp expense, thanks. To you who helped towards needed A/C units, thanks. To the monthly financial supporter, thank you for giving and encouraging us through your giving. Monthly supporter, you’re the backbone to the work here in Grand Turk.

Blessings, The Lopers

June Newsletter

 Greetings in Christ name,

    “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” (Psalms 127:1) That’s exactly what God is doing here in Grand Turk.  God is rebuilding His work and establishing it in a powerful way. 

    A visit to The Lighthouse Church means a visit to your home!  It was through this practice that God began rebuilding the house.  During one of these visits came these words from Renessa, “Pastor, I really desire to know more about God, can we start a Bible Study?” Exciting words as God was opening a door to begin midweek services.  Here’s how it s working; 1^st week no one came, 2^nd week 1 came, 3^rd week 4 came, 4^th week 8 came, 5^th week 10 came.  At the end of one Bible study one asked, “Is it wrong to be anxious?”  Asking why, she replied, “The Bible says, ‘Be anxious for nothing,’ and we are so anxious to come to Bible study.”  Another claimed, “I look forward to this like I do for Christmas.” God is rebuilding His house in Grand Turk.

A major adjustment was not having Sunday night services.  Upon arrival we tried in our timing to open this, but no one would come.  We have been praying for nearly 4 months that God would give us Sunday night services.  Through Wednesday night Bible study we developed a great friendship with Demarco.  Demarco loves to fish, so fishing has become a part of our home!  While fishing Demarco unburden his heart stating, “Pastor, when I leave on Wednesday nights, the next Wednesday night seems so far away.”  God was answering a prayer and opening a door.  Asking of his interest for a Sunday night Bible study/ service he stated, “If you do it, I’ll be there.”  Father’s Day, we ask about interest in this and we had 4 strongly affirm, “We’ll be there,” “when can we start?”  God is rebuilding His house in Grand Turk.
            We ask for your prayers in several ways:  1. There is a strong desire for a youth ministry but we need more local involvement.  2. Pray for Wednesday and Sunday night Bible study.  3. Pray for a need of a Sound System for the Church – it is very difficult leading services without this.  We seriously rely on you pulling on the ropes of prayer for us.  We count on numerous ones lifting our family and the ministry up daily in prayer.
            We praise God for several things beyond what we mentioned above: 1. Supplying $7,500 of A/C for our home.  2.  Supplying funds for Josh and Mike to attend Youth Camp.  3.  Monthly supporters following through with their pledges.
Yours for Christ,
The Lopers
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/LopersMissionPage or  theloperbunchblogspot.com
Contact us at State-side # 937-867-0953

 Demarco

 Renessa

 "J"

 Tresha

May Newsletter

Greetings from Grand Turk, 

Broken into! Yes, our first night here we had a startling break-in! Outside of the back bedroom window footsteps of the intruders could be heard. Suddenly, around 4:00am they abruptly and rudely awoke us out of our sleep with loud braying under the bedroom window. What a surprise! 

If God can use a donkey to preach a message, couldn’t He use one to “open the door” to a community? He can and He has! One week after the break-in, while eating supper, we noted a donkey frantically running down the road with two boys in hot pursuit. Soon they returned laughing until Rob jokingly asked, “Where’s my donkey boys? Why did you chase him away?” The frantic donkey had opened a door! The next night we had 13 neighborhood kids playing baseball in our yard. 

When we arrived we had several assignments that pressed upon us. First, the mission vehicles were in need of repairs, inspections, and insurance to be legal to drive. The church van insurance cost is $305 yearly. The inspection and license cost is $240 yearly. While at the Government Garage, Rob met the Prison Chaplain who asked if he was willing to preach at the prison. In less than a week we had a prison ministry! Our second assignment was to get our legal papers. The task has proven very expensive: $250 yearly for adults and $300 yearly per child which equals out to $2,300 per year. Unfortunately, we only figured this cost in our budget as a one-time fee. Thankfully it’s God’s bill, and He always pays them on time. 

The church was our third assignment! Without completing the first two we couldn’t legally live here and legally use the vehicles for outreach. When we arrived March 4, the church had been closed for eight months. We have found out since being here, that the church was rarely open on a regular basis over the past few years. With it being closed eight months and infrequently used over the past few years, we’ve had to overcome some hurdles. God has blessed and to Him we give glory! Over the last month we’ve averaged over 22 in our services, with a high of 28 in attendance for a service. To God be the glory! 

In closing, we want to thank everyone who has been involved with our ministry here in Grand Turk. We have felt your prayers as we adjust to a new culture. We have sensed your prayers as God has opened numerous doors of ministry. Thank you for praying; we are relying on your prayers. Thank you to each of you who have given financial support in the form of shares. Your giving has enabled the ministry here in Grand Turk. We heavily rely on your continued financial support. Thank you who have given for project expenses. We still need a sound system for the church. We are also raising funds for A/C in the church and in our bedrooms. All giving is tax-deductible when given through H.I.M. 

Yours for Christ, 

The Lopers    

Kids gearing up for a spirited baseball game.  In a matter of weeks our yard went from having grass to mostly sand.    Doesn't matter though,  you can't take a yard to heaven with you!!

Our very first service March 4.  We had 13 in attendance.  God has been building a Church and to Him belongs all the glory.  We have started a kids church and average over 24.  Next week we are starting a Bible Study in our home.  God is at work.

You just got to love Bro. Vaughn!!  He is such an excellent example and leader.  We really love him!!!

Happy Birthday "4" Eli