Dustin Medicus

Praise and prayer request update from Ecuador! Shuiling, who had been hospitalized and in critical condition with acute pancreatitis, has been discharged from the hospital and returned home to continue her recovery. A family member provided the following joyous update: “By God’s grace for His glory, and for the sake of Shuiling and those of us who love her, Shuiling has returned home after 111 days. After numerous surgeries to remove the necrotic pancreas, the doctors were able to remove all the affected tissue, and the infection has been stopped. She still has an ileostomy, a tube, and a drain; she is severely malnourished, but her body has begun to recover significantly. The doctors say she must now continue her recovery at home. We are deeply grateful to the Lord for all the good He has done for Shuiling. At first, the doctors gave her no hope of survival, but the Lord’s mighty hand has brought her home to us today, with the miracle of saving faith in her heart. We thank everyone who prayed for Shuiling. Today, she is yet another testament to the fact that the Lord is merciful and answers our prayers. To Him be the glory for her salvation and healing. He does far more abundantly than we ask or understand. Thank you to HeartCry for your unwavering support in this providential event; we feel deeply loved by the Lord through you. In particular, thank you to the mission coordinator for Latin America, who was always attentive and ready to help us. To all who helped and prayed for Shuiling, we pray that the Lord will remember the good you have done for us. Please do not stop praying for Shuiling; the process is still ongoing, but every day we see God’s grace in her. Those who looked to him were radiant, and their faces were not put to shame. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him and delivered him from all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and defends them. Psalm 34:5–7⁩”

Meet Pastor Naphtally Ogallo, from Eldoret, Kenya. Naphtally serves as the pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Eldoret. Below is a short account of his testimony of conversion and call to ministry. “I was born in 1954 to a religious family, but the religion of my parents only made me a hypocrite. Early in 1971, God used the gospel preaching during a “Challenge Weekend” to show me that I was not prepared to meet Him in judgment. On the same day, He opened my eyes to see my desperate need of Christ Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. I repented of my sins and put my whole trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save me. From that day, I began to experience peace with God, a growing desire to please Him, and an increasing hatred for sin. When the Lord saved me, He also put within me a desire for His Word. This desire was not just for personal reading and study of the Scriptures; there was a growing longing to teach and preach. In 1975, I met a pastor named Keith Underhill in Kenya. Together, we started Trinity Baptist Church in Nairobi, and I joined him in the eldership in 1984. I worked with Trinity Baptist for 22 years, but in 2006, I had to move to Eldoret due to a family illness. I now pastor a new congregation called Grace Baptist Church Eldoret.” In addition to his pastoral duties at Grace Baptist, Naphtally also oversees several like-minded young churches. He has a passion for discipling and mentoring young men so that the work of the gospel will continue across generations. Naphtally has been a partner with HeartCry since 2011.

Tom Allen, pastor of Eastbourne Grace Baptist Church in England and HeartCry-supported missionary, recently shared the following letter of thanks with HeartCry: -- In 2024, my family and I were seeking simply to be faithful, yet we were deeply discouraged and unsure how we could continue. We were laboring to serve the Lord in the church we believed He had called us to revitalize, but the financial pressures were so great that, at one point, we could not even afford shoes for our children. We had truly reached the end of our store of endurance... and yet it was precisely then that we discovered that God's giving had only just begun. God used HeartCry to minister to us in our time of need. At a human level, HeartCry not only made it practically possible for us to remain in the work God had called us to, but it also became a fresh reminder of the loving care of our heavenly Father, reviving our hearts. For us, HeartCry has been far more than practical support — it has been spiritual encouragement. The European mission coordinator has become a precious brother and friend, and my wife and I often say to one another that the prayer, counsel, and fellowship have been as invaluable to us as the financial help that keeps us here. We know that HeartCry is what it is only by His grace. Yet we will always hold HeartCry dear in our hearts and remember HeartCry in our prayers, for the love shown to our young family through God’s provision. England is, spiritually speaking, a barren wasteland. There are so few young men preaching the whole counsel of God, and humanly speaking, had HeartCry not come into our lives, I wonder whether I would have been another casualty of burnout. But praise God — we are still here, seeking to win souls to Christ and build up His church. We pray continually that God would give fruit to the ministry here as a reward for the investment HeartCry has made in our family and in the work of the gospel. Warmly in Christ, Tom Allen & Family

“Give Me a Bible! I Want a Bible!” The following report is from HeartCry missionary and Pastor Plinio Orozco in Caracas, Venezuela. Plinio and his church continue to provide aid and preach the gospel amidst the devastation of the recent earthquake. As we do every week, we had arrived to La Guaira in the middle of a hot morning to distribute more than four hundred breakfasts, bring tools for the rescue workers, and share the Word of God. On one of our recent trips, we got out of the truck carrying several boxes of Bibles. Before we could approach the people there, they began running toward us, raising their hands and saying: “Please give me a Bible! I want a Bible!” It was an unforgettable moment. They did not want water. They did not ask for breakfast. They were not looking for clothes, as had happened on other occasions. At that moment, they only wanted a Bible. Those who received one held it in their hands with a smile. In fourteen years of pastoral ministry, I had never witnessed a scene like it: people who had lost their homes, family members, and possessions—and who did not even know whether food would arrive in time that day—running to receive the Word of God. Afterward, several brothers from our team were able to sit down with them, open the Scriptures, explain their message, and proclaim the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We spent several hours there. When it was time for us to leave, we could still see some people sitting there reading the Bibles. As I watched that scene, I thought, “not everything is lost.” Suffering can harden the heart, but God can also use it to tear down our idols, remove false securities, and remind us that our hope cannot rest in material things. Houses can collapse. Possessions can disappear. Plans built over many years can be buried in a matter of seconds. But our hope does not rest in a house, a bank account, or the stability of our circumstances. Our hope is found in a person: Jesus Christ. Those people needed physical food, and we had come to share it with them. Yet they also needed the food that sustains the soul: the Word that reveals who God is, exposes our true condition, and shows us the way of salvation in Jesus Christ. As our Lord said: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” — Matthew 4:4 Now we pray that those who ran looking for a Bible will not only read its pages, but through them will come to know the Christ who is able to save them. We pray that the Holy Spirit will work in every heart. We pray that God will continue to use this season of suffering to break down self-sufficiency, awaken consciences, and draw many people to His Son. We pray that those who have lost so many things will discover the treasure that no earthquake can destroy. Among the rubble, there are still open Bibles, people listening, and a church proclaiming that in Jesus Christ there is forgiveness, reconciliation, and eternal life. Not everything is lost.