Dear Team ... Bill's Update

Dear Team,

Peter Hammond’s newest book, first launched at the Ministers Conference at KwaSizabantu last month is a “must read.” If you are confused by what is happening in the Muslim world and alarmed by the militant (not to mention ruthless) spread of Islam, this easy-to-read book Slavery, Terrorism & Islam will fill in all your knowledge-gaps. It is also a primer on how to witness to Muslims about your faith in Christ. You can order one from ITMI.

Piotr Zaremba is safely back in Poland and writes: “This last trip to America was probably my best one. I met [a] significant number of people who want to get involved with me in prayer. I happily pick up the challenge with assurance that before Christ [returns] we will make couple of changes on this messy planet.” He is teaching a new course in Hebrew at the university and requests us to pray for the students that don’t know the Lord. “Our prayer may soften their hearts to receive the Savior, who was first sent to the Hebrews.”

Family news: A Tale of Two Lenoras. Lenora Gaderer is our granddaughter and lives in Austria. She and her husband, Alois, have just presented us with our second great-grandchild – Matthias, who will soon be chasing his brother Johannes all over the farm.

“Modesty – The Undressing of Our Youth” is a message our daughter Lenora gave at the Cape Town Summit Conference in January. Her premise: “Parents should take the time to train and ‘dress the heart’ before the body is dressed. Modesty is a heart issue.” It’s in printed form (available by e-mail) and on CD. Lenora and Peter are home schooling their four children. The name Lenora has been in our family for 5 generations.

We Welcome Ron Smith to ITMI’s home team as our new Administrator. I look forward to meeting him this summer in Arizona. He has a terrific telephone voice!

We’re really going to miss Kristi. She always seemed to see the BIG picture and keep that in clear focus. I want to personally thank her for keeping my feet to the fire on a few occasions until various jobs were finished. In doing so she made me look good – better than I deserve. Her sense of responsibility as Administrator and keeping us all “accountable” is truly irreplaceable.

We called her Kristilein. We knew her before she moved up in the alphabet from “M” to “B”! It was so special to see her friendship with David grow and mature into love and result in marriage. Our prayers will go with you both, Kristi and David as you continue to follow His leading in your lives.
We won’t say “Goodbye” – it means things can never be the same.

We love you far too much, so instead we’ll say auf Wiedersehen…
And, “be sure to keep in touch!”

The first half of this month I’m in Europe for ministry in Poland, Germany and Austria. Your prayers will be very much appreciated.

This brings up a point: I’d really like to have a quicker and more directly personal contact with you. It’s possible: just e-mail me at bill@intouchmission.org. I’m building a special Team Bulletin group list. If you’d like to be the first to know with a firsthand report and occasional commentary on contemporary events, please e-mail me. Put “Group list” in the subject line and a simple 1-liner with your name and mailing address in the body of the letter. A phone number would be handy too, but that’s optional. Seriously, let’s keep in touch.

Yours in His grip,





Bill Bathman