Eastern
Home Missionary Newsletter
Rev. Jai Mahtani
216 Thornberry Drive
Pittsburgh PA 15235
Tel: (412)
371-2299
E-mail: jaimahtani@msn.com
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of
the world. Amen.”
Matt 28:19-20
December
2004
To:
Council & Congregation of
Southwest Protestant Reformed Church,
PR congregations, denominational mission fields
& contacts in eastern US
Dear friends and fellow saints,
Greetings from Pittsburgh
Greetings from your eastern home missionary and from the saints in Pittsburgh. The Lord in His faithfulness continues to uphold us and bless us in the work of missions. Thank you for your prayers, your visits, and your letters and cards. We appreciate them very much.
Sad News from Southwest
We received news on the last Lord’s Day of October 2004 that the pastor of our calling church, Southwest PRC, had accepted the call to Faith PRC. This news came as a shock to the saints in the PR Mission of Pittsburgh who have come to know Rev. Cammenga, and who have appreciated his good leadership in supervising the work here. A couple of days later we were given the tragic news of the sudden death of Rev. and Mrs. Cammenga’s son Daniel through a car wreck. Our brother went to be with the Lord at the very young age of sixteen. With the Cammengas and Southwest, and indeed with all the family, friends and fellow saints, we were reminded anew of the beautiful words of Job when he lost everything, including his children: “…the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). May the God of all comfort continue to give strength and peace to the Cammengas. May God also uphold the congregation of Southwest, and in His good time grant to them another faithful under-shepherd.
Reformation Celebrations 2004
We were richly blessed at our 7th Annual Reformation Celebrations. A three-hour radio interview the day before the
celebrations elicited many phone-calls and emails. As
anticipated, there were about one hundred and fifty in attendance at the lectures Friday
evening, forum sessions throughout Saturday, and worship services on Sunday. In addition to the presence of saints from
Pittsburgh, PA, Fayetteville, NC, and Allentown, PA, there were several Evangelism
Committee representatives from some ten of our churches.
Two members of the DMC were also in attendance.
Because so many have requested the material presented at these celebrations, we
have asked Bethel PRC, who helped us organize our Reformation Celebrations, to make a CD
album of all the recordings. Attached with
this newsletter is a letter which we are sending out to all our churches. Please take note of how you may acquire a copy of
the material. May God be pleased to continue
to bless our mission labors at home and abroad as we strive together for the faith of the
gospel.
Supervision of Southwest & DMC
Delegates from Southwest PRC and from the Domestic Mission Committee visited us recently in two separate visits. The elders and deacons from our calling church came in October and we had such a nice time with them. The wife of one of the elders said I could mention this story in my newsletter only if I not give out the name. We had to start our very first meeting late because one of these elders had to run to Starbucks for his coffee. It is not that we did not serve coffee at our home. It is just that some people are addicted to Starbucks! So this particular elder’s wife picked out a book for our little Martha at a local library. We introduced the elder Sunday evening at dinner fellowship with the title of the book: “All because of a cup of coffee!” Needless to say, Monday morning we joined them at Starbucks before they left. Pretty good coffee. The delegates from DMC came in November, and this time Rev. Bruinsma & Elder Gary Boverhof brought along their wives.
This was especially encouraging for my dear Esther as it gave her
the opportunity to visit with these sisters.
Light Up Night
The DMC delegates were also able to participate in our mission office open house held recently in conjunction with “Light Up Night” here in Forest Hills. The shops, offices, and restaurants were lighted up that evening, and we decided to do the same. We had our banner up, with a reception table, and invited our visitors to browse through our material. We gave away free pamphlets and tapes and introduced people to the Reformed Faith. We even had an ongoing Bible study that evening, with Rev. Bruinsma and myself leading in brief devotions on various passages to give our visitors a “taste” of Reformed expository preaching and teaching. Coffee, lemonade, and homemade cookies were prepared by our ladies. Another way to spread the word of the gospel of grace here in Pittsburgh.
Calendar 2005
One of the best ways to understand what takes
place on a mission field is to make a personal visit.
I realize of course that not everybody is able to do this. But those who have visited the Pittsburgh Mission
(and there have been hundreds in the last few years) would agree, I think, that their
visit was helpful in giving them a deeper appreciation of what goes on in the life and
work of the missionary and of the saints on the mission field. For the sake of all our readers, both members of
our churches and contacts in eastern USA, we are once again attaching a calendar of
activities for 2005. Perhaps you want to
take a few moments to review it with your family and pencil in a date on your calendar to
visit us in 2005?
Visitor Information
In the past, many of our visitors took
advantage of the special rate we have had with the Holiday Inn, Monroeville. While we continue to enjoy a good relationship
with the Holiday Inn, we want to let you know of another motel closer to our home and to
our place of worship at Trinity Christian School. Enclosed
please find two pages of visitor information: one for Holiday Inn, Monroeville, and the
other for Comfort Inn, Penn Hills. We have
included directions from both these motels for your convenience. It is not easy to give directions in Pittsburgh
over the phone. Please do carry these
written directions with you when visiting us.
Special Services
As we approach the end of the year, we
look forward to our special services: Thanksgiving,
Christmas, Old and New and Years’. By
the time you get this newsletter, Thanksgiving will be over. By the way, we decided not to have a Thanksgiving
dinner at our home this year. The group was
getting too large for us to
handle, and I decided that it
is time to discontinue the ping-pong tournament before someone took my crown! J Attached
please find flyers for our Christmas, Old and New Year’s services. We usually get
visitors to these services since many churches in this area do not have such special
services. Another reason to have these
special services: that we as God’s people might not only rejoice in the faithfulness
of Jehovah towards us and our children, but also seize the opportunity to preach the
gospel of grace in the hearing of family and friends, neighbors and colleagues.
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Besides occasional visits to Lanham, MD
and Fayetteville, NC, your eastern home missionary continues to develop the labors in
Allentown, PA. In September 2004, I was
accompanied by Ron Bauman, a member of the Pittsburgh Steering Committee. It was decided during this visit that our Bible
Studies focus on the Five Points of Calvinism. The
Lord willing, Gary Boverhof and I will return to Allentown December 17-20, 2004. Attached please find a flyer for this upcoming
visit. If you know of friends and or family
who live in that area, please feel free to make copies and pass the word around. We wait on the Lord to direct us in what continues
to be a small beginning with a very small core group.
Family Matters
Many of you have said to me that you
appreciate the brief family updates given in these newsletters. Well, we look forward in the summer of 2005 to
another graduation. Ben is in his senior year
at Trinity. Jon and Dave continue to enjoy
pre-seminary courses at Grove City. Sam hopes to get his driver’s license
beginning of the year, which means we will have six drivers! Peter becomes a teenager in February 2005, though
he thinks that happened already. Titus is an
avid reader; whether he is eating, riding, or in the bathroom, he is reading! Mary and
Martha are very good friends, and are like two little black-haired dolls in church. If any of you believe in match marriages, we are
open to all sorts – even Dutch! J
Closing Words
We thank you for your prayers and words of
encouragement. You in the PR churches are
very dear to us. Also our contacts in eastern
USA whom we have come to know are very precious to us.
This newsletter is being read by many, far and wide, also by family and many
friends worldwide. We wish to take this opportunity to wish you all a Blessed Christmas
and New &Year 2005 of our Lord Jesus Christ
In His Love,