David & Jeannie Ferguson - USA

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Jan/Feb 2008

Dear Friends at First Baptist,

Brrrrr! It's cold in Cleveland right now! Summer special projects seem a long way off, but planning for ¡PlayBall! 2008 is underway. Hopefully this early update will allow you to "pray informed" for ¡PlayBall! and its 2008 campaign.

¡PlayBall! absolutely bursts with potential for all the criteria of special projects: amplifying gospel testimony, strengthening existing ministry and revealing Great Commission opportunities. It engages activity that goes right to the heart---boys and baseball in the Dominican Republic, to gain an attentive ear for the gospel. The national pastors with whom we're working are a great gang committed to reaching their communities while expanding church planting across their island. And each ¡PlayBall! participant directly encounters the opportunities crying out for missionary personnel. So while it's freezing cold in Cleveland, we're glad to be thinking about summer, baseball and special projects.

¡PlayBall! 2008 will enter another phase of development as we seek to develop a ministry that is effective, sustainable and reproducible. Last year we conducted 3-day instructional clinics for boys ages 8-12 in two cities, back to back. This year our goal is to conduct 5-day clinics in the same two cities simultaneously. That means we need to increase both our personnel and our equipment. We are very pleased to report that the foundation that provided the funding for last year's equipment has approved our 2008 request. Last year's team members demonstrate strong interest in returning this summer; we are hoping that most, if not all, will be able to do so. Recruitment of new members is underway and applications are available. Thank the Lord with us for the funding for equipment, and pray He will raise up the 24 people necessary to ¡PlayBall! June 27 -- July 7, 2008.

A very practical part of ¡PlayBall! is our desire to provide ball caps for each of the boys that participates. We anticipate about 600 boys this summer, so the financial need to do so will be about $2,000. Pray the Lord will allow us to meet this non-essential, but very beneficial, aspect of the outreach.

Everything's good on the home-front. Ian and Bryan both got home during the holidays. Bryan had a challenging fall semester, enduring both a fractured wrist that required surgery and a bout with chicken pox that required quarantine (we called it solitary confinement!). We sense there were good, non- scholastic lessons learned as he walked with the Lord through these trials. It was good to all be together. There was a lot of laughter under one roof, as you can imagine. The older boys are back at school now, and things are a bit quieter. Katie is in her final semester of her senior year of high school, so all the college questions are underway. Pray for her as she prepares for this transition in her life. Thanks for your prayers for all the Fergusons.

We remain, Your servants for Jesus' sake,
Dave and Jeannie Ferguson

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