(a recent prayer letter received from Grant and Rebecca Skelton, Hong Kong)

We kicked off August with our 2nd annual VBS with 30+ children in attendance. Despite the ongoing uncertainty concerning Covid during the spring and summer months, we decided in faith to proceed with our VBS plans. We were also so happy to have more church members volunteer to serve as teachers and group leaders during the week. Overall it was a great time to grow together as a church and to plant the seeds of the gospel. On VBS Sunday, after two years of our neighbor, Meredith, attending church with us, we were overjoyed to see her mother, Jennifer, attend our worship service. Meredith had always told us her mother wouldn’t come, but after finding the VBS flyer in Meredith’s bag, Jennifer came on her own accord. We ate lunch together afterward and found out that she attended Christian schools as a child and used to attend church. Please pray we can reach Jennifer and her husband for Christ. We also have had one new family begin attending as a result of the VBS. Please pray for Ivan, Grace and Trinity, that we will be able to develop a relationship with them and make sure they are on their way to Heaven!

On a Saturday in August, we hosted our first Expat (International) Ministry fellowship. Even though our church has primarily consisted of Hong Kong Chinese and Filipinos in the past, we have unintentionally attracted a number of English speakers from other countries. Some of them are already Christians and some of them are open to studying the Bible with us. Because Sundays are so busy for everyone, and we are unable to have Sunday School right now because we lack the space, the fellowship was a great way to get to know everyone better. We look forward to seeing how God may grow this ministry in the days ahead. Please be praying for Jason and Laura, an American couple with whom we’ve been studying the Bible.

The last Sunday in August, Grant had the privilege of baptizing two dear sisters. Candy, our Chinese neighbor from our previous neighborhood, received Christ over a year ago around Easter time. She studied C2C with us and went through all 17 discipleship lessons. Because of Covid, we were only able to have one outdoor baptism last year and she was not able to attend. The Sunday she was baptized, she stood before our church and gave a powerful testimony in English and Cantonese. Pray for her husband, Chris (German), and her daughter Carina’s salvation.

We also had Filipino sister, Charlene, trust Christ just weeks before and she also wanted to be baptized. Praise the Lord the next Sunday she brought a friend to church and wanted someone to share the gospel with her!

On September 6, we traveled back to the states after serving in Hong Kong for almost four years. We originally intended to visit two years before, but because of flight cancellations, quarantines and other uncertainties regarding Covid, we stayed in HK as long as we could in fear we wouldn’t be able to get back. We praise the Lord that in our absence, the church continued on as normal, we had enough guest speakers to cover for the five Sundays we were gone, and some of our members stepped up into new leadership roles. We had a great time reconnecting with our American family and sending church. We also were able to attend Bible Baptist Church Mission’s Weekend in Savannah, Georgia and report on the work in HK. It was also good to get back as we were looking forward to seeing our people and returning to the work to which God has called us. Upon return, we immediately learned of a new opportunity that a couple in our church has for starting a new C2C study group with a mainland couple!

We do plan to return to the states February – May 2023 for a time of reporting to the churches we have not been able to visit in over six years and do some additional fundraising. Please pray for Bill and Debbie Crawford, replacement missionaries with the BBFI, who have agreed to come and take care of our church while we are away.

We have several goals for this upcoming furlough:

• Visit some of our supporting churches that we didn’t see our last furlough.
• Secure new prayer and financial partners.
• Raise funds for an upcoming renovation of our current space to provide more meeting rooms for growing children’s ministry and adult small groups.
• Promote Hong Kong as a mission field and identify potential teammates to join us in the ministry. We have opportunities for working with Cantonese speaking, Mandarin speaking, and Filipino/English ministry.

PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE: theskeltonfamily5.com

Prayer Requests:

• New C2C Studies – pray for souls to be saved.
• Developing local leaders – pray for discipleship and training opportunities among our Gateway members.
• Please pray for our current VISA renewal.