The sixteenth issue of "Reformed News Asia" has been released by the Christian Literature Ministry (CLM) of our sister church in Singapore, the Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church. Once again you will find an issue filled with informative and profitable content (for information on the previous issue, #15, visit this page)!

One of the special resources made available in this issue is the daily devotions, which continue a series covering the Heidelberg Catechism (LDs 14-18). Written by Rev.A.Brummel and Rev.J.Kortering, these devotions on the "HC" take you through the month of April and into May (April 2 - May 6). You will find great spiritual profit in using these devotions day by day (By the way, you may also find these same HC devotionals on the PRC website.).

Significant too in this issue are reports on the recent trip of Rev.A.Lanning and Elder Leong to Kolkata, India, as well as the visit of the church visitors on behalf of the PRC - Rev.S.Key and G.Eriks along with their wives (see pictures below). Plus there is a special advertisement of the annual Good Friday Gospel Meeting, the purpose of which is to "invite your friends and family to hear the good news of salvation which Christ accomplished on the cross".

For more information on events and activities in the CERC (including the latest visitors from the U.S.), as well as on life in Singapore, with lots of great pictures and descriptions, visit the "Stories from Singapore" blog of the Lannings.

To subscribe to "Reformed News Asia", visit this link.

Our sister church in Northern Ireland, Covenant PRC, Ballymena, has just released her latest newsletter. In this March 2015 issue Rev.Angus Stewart reports on the latest activities inside and outside the congregation, with special mention of their biennial trip to the States this summer and the 2016 British Reformed Fellowship Conference at a lovely castle in N.Ireland.

Rev.Stewart also reports on his busy activities in the congregation and the work of spreading the Reformed faith through the CPRC website - especially the many translations, including a first pamphlet in Polish!

Be sure to read this newsletter below to be better informed of what our "sister" and her pastor are doing in the British Isles. This newsletter is also attached here in pdf form (see below).

On Sunday, March 22, 2015, it was announced in Peace PRC (Lansing, IL) that Rev.C.Griess (Calvary PRC) had declined the call extended to him on March 2.

May the Lord grant this congregation contentment in His will and confidence of His continued Shepherd-care for her.

The following news items pertaining to our sister church in Singapore (CERC) was found in the bulletin of Grace PRC this Sunday (March 15, 2015), as well as reported in CERC's bulletins in the last few weeks:

SINGAPORE: The [PRC] Committee for Contact with Other Churches was asked by our sister-church in Singapore, Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church, to conduct church visitation with them. To this end the Contact Committee is sending Rev. G. Eriks (Hudsonville) and Rev. S. Key (Loveland, CO) there, leaving this Thursday [March 19] and returning on the 30^th.

INDIA: For almost two years there have been almost weekly Skype meetings with a minister in Kolkata, India named Emmanuel Singh by Rev. B.Woudenberg, Rev. J.Kortering, and our pastor [Rev.R.Van Overloop]. About six months ago Rev. A. Lanning along with an elder and a deacon of Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church in Singapore have joined these meetings. Rev. Singh and his wife have visited the saints in Singapore. Covenant ERC is sending their pastor and an elder (Rev. A. Lanning and Elder Fai Chong) to Kolkata, India for a week to visit Emmanuel Singh and to evaluate his work with a view to taking spiritual oversight of that work.

This is how the CERC reported it in one of their recent bulletins:

The Session of the CERCS will be sending a delegation of Elder Leong and Pastor Lanning to Kolkata, India this month as part of Session’s ongoing labour of investigating the possibility of CERC overseeing Emmanuel’s work in Kolkata and the surrounding villages. The delegation will depart 19 March (Thursday night) and return 25 March (Wednesday morning). The main work will be a two-day conference consisting of several speeches. Other labours will include discussions with Emmanuel and others about the work and evaluating Session’s ability to oversee the field. Let us pray for wisdom for the delegates, as well as for Emmanuel and the saints in Kolkata, as we heed our Lord’s command to “teach all nations” (Matthew 28: 19, 20).

Let us remember to pray for these men as they travel to Singapore and India and conduct the labors for which they were sent. May the Lord of the church be with them and bless their work.

From the bulletins of both the Provident Christian Church and the PRC of Bulacan we find the following significant news items relating to the work in the Philippines, this being the final Sunday Missionary Rev.R.Smit and his family spend on the field:

Rev. and Tricia Smit and their family are scheduled to leave the Philippines this week in order to make their home and take up their work in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Sometime in April, the Lord willing, Rev. Smit will be installed as the pastor of the First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids [April 19]. We thank the Lord for providing this call to Rev. Smit. We are also thankful for the faithful labors of Rev. Smit here in the Philippines over the past six years, and for the blessing of coming to know and being able to enjoy fellowship with the Smit family. We pray God will keep them safe as they travel and bless them as they adjust to their new life and work in His church. “The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand” (Psalm 121:5).

Rev. Daniel Holstege recently declined the call to serve as a missionary in the Philippines. Doon PRC has since formed a new trio of Rev. Allen Brummel (Heritage PRC in Sioux Falls South Dakota), Rev. Nathan Decker (Trinity PRC in Hudsonville Michigan) and Rev. Garry Eriks (Hudsonville PRC in Hudsonville Michigan). The congregation plans to vote from this trio on Friday, April 3.

Rev. D.Kleyn’s preaching schedule is as follows:

< March 22 – Maranatha PRC in Valenzuela

< March 29 – Provident Christian Church

< April 5 – Maranatha PRC in Valenzuela

< April 12 – Provident Christian Church

Shall we remember to pray for the Smits as they depart - and continue regularly in prayer for the Kleyns - and Doon PRC - and the saints in the Philippines?

UPDATE: It may be added that the Smits family made it safely to their "new" Michigan home (First PRC's parsonage) late Wednesday, March 18 and are settling in. We thank God for these safe travels and pray for grace as they settle in to their new abode and the labors in First PRC. Rev.D.Kleyn and his wife updated their blog about the Smits' departure from the Philippines after seeing them to the airport. To see pictures of the other side of this trip, visit their blog (below is one image taken at the airport).

The Reformed Book Outlet in Hudsonville, MI has published its March 2015 Newsletter, with a number of special items featured once again - from good Christian music to sound Reformed books.

Read the RBO newsletter below (also attached in pdf form), check out their website (also to check on business hours), visit the bookstore, and benefit from the good Reformed literature, music, cards, and other resources available.

On Sunday, March 8, 2015 it was announced in Doon PRC, the calling church for the PRC mission work in the Philippines, that Rev.D.Holstege (First PRC, Holland, MI) had declined the call to serve as second missionary there, for the replacement of Rev.R.Smit who will be leaving the field this month.

May the Lord of the harvest be pleased to provide a man for this field in His time according to His perfect will. And may He assure the Kleyns and the Smits that He will provide for all their special needs during this time of transition.

The following notice appeared in a recent bulletin of Hope PRC of Walker, MI concerning their labors in Myanmar:

The Council has approved a delegation to Myanmar this Spring consisting of Rev. D.Overway and Elder D.Jessup.

The purpose of the trip will be to hold a seminar for theological instruction and to follow up with work that we began during our trip in November. Topics for the seminar are “God’s Covenant” and “The Importance of Our Creeds”.

The trip is being planned, Lord willing, for March 5–18.

Please remember the delegation and the saints in Myanmar in your prayers. 2 Timothy 2:2, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

For more on this labor and the previous visit made (November 2014), visit this news item.

Let us too remember to pray for these men as they travel afar and conduct these labors on behalf of their Council and congregation. May the Lord richly bless their work in this part of the world.