Greetings Dear Ones - It's a Girl - Newsletter

To Declare Christ

Colossians 4:3

Its a girl!!! Hadassah Louise Koehn
(See attachment for this picture.)

Greetings Dear Ones,

We thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf and our baby's. Praise to God! God's precious gift of a little girl that He has given us to take care of Hadassah Louise Koehn was born on November 13, 2011 at 2:22pm in the afternoon weighing 7 lbs, 11 oz with a length of 21.5 inches. She has brownish/black hair which may change we'll see! We are so thankful for her. We are a bit tired especially Bethany who had 29 hours of labor but praise be to God who gave her strength. Pray for a speedy recovery. She is doing great so far. You can find some pictures of her on our facebook account: JonathanandBethany Koehn and here are a few to look at. For those interested Hadassah is the Hebrew name of Queen Esther, and Hadassah means "Myrtle".

Hadassah shortly after birth. With Daddy & Mommy. Who's not sleeping here? :)
(See attachment for these pictures.)

Praise:

-Praise for Hadassah's birth.

-Praise for Family who loves us so much, and kept right on praying during labor.

-Praise for Lonnie who filled the pulpit part of our wonderful church family at Calvary Bible Church that has given us time to rest.

-Praise for the wonderful Midwives God gave us.

-Praise for the quiet home birth.

Prayer:

-For Bethany's continued recovery

-For Hadassah's growing

-Wisdom from God on how to raise His precious gift.

-Wisdom in developing a new schedule with a new family member.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. You make it possible that we can be your hands and feet here in the mission field of Utah.

In Christ strength Alone,

Jonathan & Bethany

--  -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jonathan & Bethany Koehn serving in the San Martín Projectin Coalville, UT. Serving God with http://www.tentmakersbiblemission.org  If God has directed you to support please go to  https://tentmakers.webconnex.com/giving/southamerica  Skype: jonathan.g.koehn  Facebook: JonathanandBethany Koehn  Email: JBKoehn@customgraphicwork.com  Website: http://todeclarechrist.customgraphicwork.com  ----If you would like to be removed ---- from our emailing please let us know, thank-you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

October Prayer Letter

Greetings in Christ,
Attached is our latest prayer letter and the text is below for those who cannot open the attachment. Thank you all for your prayers for us!! In Him, Jonathan & Bethany

To Declare Christ – Colossians 4:3
From Calvary Bible Church in Coalville, UT, and the surrounding area

Ministry: We are enjoying ministry here at Calvary Bible Church, and ministry in our home area.

At church we are getting to know some of the different ones bit by bit. One such opportunity was taking three youth, connected to church, to Frontier Focus at Frontier School of the Bible. We had a wonderful time getting to know them and seeing them get to know Frontier School of the Bible.

We have enjoyed the opportunity getting to have different ones over to our little house, we are so thankful for this privilege.

At church on Wednesday evenings we continue forward in Firm Foundation a chronological study series. This Wednesday we will be looking at God's creation of Adam & Eve.

On Sundays, we are studying 1 John in Sunday School which is a wonderful challenge and a great book on our fellowship/maturity with God. We will be getting into 1 John 2:14-17 this Sunday, Lord willing. During the main part of the service we are in the book of Acts, a wonderful book of transition. We will be in Acts 2:22-36, Lord willing, this Sunday.

Here is a picture (to the left) from Calvary Bible Church on a Wednesday evening of me (Jonathan) visiting with a Brother in the Lord.

Home: Our home area, where our house is located, is the little town of Echo. (Above picture is our little post office.) We sometimes have opportunities for hospitality with people from church and people from the little town of Echo. Please pray for us to get to know the people in our neighborhood.

Some of the people we are meeting and getting to know are Mike, our landlord, Beverly the post mistress, and Ann, a neighbor. Please be praying for them. We'd like to get to know more people in the area. Here are a few pictures (to the left and right) of our home that Bethany is wonderfully decorating.

Family: Bethany's health is doing well as we wait for our little one to arrive. We are waiting until birth to find out if the little one is a boy or a girl. Especially since this is our first child, we are waiting with nervousness because of the new roles God is giving us as father and mother. We know God will use this little one to stretch and grow us to be more like Christ. We are so thankful for this. Thank you for your prayers in this regard. And praise be to God that the baby and Bethany are healthy.

Praise & Prayer Requests:

Please pray for us in the ministry here. For God's wisdom with our little one. Praise God for the opportunity to be in ministry and the opportunity to study His precious Word each week.

In Christ, Jonathan & Bethany Koehn

--  -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jonathan & Bethany Koehn serving in the San Martín Projectin Coalville, UT. Serving God with http://www.tentmakersbiblemission.org  If God has directed you to support please go to  https://tentmakers.webconnex.com/giving/southamerica  Skype: jonathan.g.koehn  Facebook: JonathanandBethany Koehn  Email: JBKoehn@customgraphicwork.com  Website: http://todeclarechrist.customgraphicwork.com  ----If you would like to be removed ---- from our emailing please let us know, thank-you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Praise the Lord!!

Dear Friends,

We would like to share a huge praise with you so that you too can praise God with us!! On Sunday, August 28, Calvary Bible Church of Coalville, UT voted to have us come as Pastor and wife! We are so excited about God's clear direction for us and are reminded of Proverbs 16:9 "The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps."

We will be ministering in Coalville for a year interim after which the church and we will see if God's is directing for a longer stay. Jonathan will begin preaching on the Sunday of September 18^th. We have already enjoyed getting to know the church in Coalville for a short time and we look forward to the time to come with them! We are also excited about learning about the community of Coalville and the relationships we know we will develop. The people in Coalville, like so many around the world, need Jesus Christ and we are grateful and humbled by God giving us the opportunity to be able to reach out to them with His love. Please pray for us as we move into this ministry and thank God for giving us this wonderful opportunity!!

Another small but important praise we want to share is that God has provided us with a good and reliable car. We are so thankful for this blessing!

Please pray for God to direct us to a house to rent. The possibilities we were looking into have not worked out and so we are still looking for a place. Please pray that we will find a place soon.

Lastly, we want to thank you all for your prayers, love, and financial support. We will be continuing as Tentmakers Bible Mission missionaries and are so thankful for your prayers and financial support which enable us to be able to minister in Coalville as missionary pastor and wife. Your lives are such a blessing to ours!

Excited to Declare Christ in Coalville,

Jonathan and Bethany Koehn

--  Jonathan & Bethany Koehn serving in the San Martín Project in Peru.   Serving God with http://www.tentmakersbiblemission.org If God has directed you to support please go to  https://tentmakers.webconnex.com/giving/southamerica Skype: jonathan.g.koehn Facebook: JonathanandBethany Koehn Email: JBKoehn@customgraphicwork.com Website: http://todeclarechrist.customgraphicwork.com ----If you would like to be removed ----from our emailing please let me know, ----thank-you.  

To Declare Christ -- August -- New Beginnings

Greetings in Jesus Christ,
    Please see the attached .pdf file for the newsletter with pictures or you can read it below without pictures.
In Christ,
    Jonathan & Bethany Koehn

To Declare Christ

~ August 2011 ~

God's Gift – A Little Life

The Koehns are growing!! We are excited to announce that we are expecting an addition to our family! We are expecting a young one at the end of October. We're looking forward so very much to this new little one and give praise to God for him/her!

Thanks be to God for our first year of marriage which we celebrated on June 5^th. We are so thankful for the blessing our marriage has been to us and look forward to many more years together!

God's Gift – Time with Family

Fun times with the Estells

In Montana: We got to spend time up in Montana with our family getting to know them a little more. We enjoyed days with Mom and getting to go uptown with her and chatting with her this summer. Also, we enjoyed the time God gave us with the Estell siblings and getting to know them and make memories with them.

Some of you may have heard about the fire this summer in Montana that injured Jonathan and took Mom's house. Please pray or continue praying for Jonathan's healing (he's doing really well and healing wonderfully) and that Mom and our siblings would continue to recover emotionally, etc (God has provided a new house for them and been so good to them in all this). Thank you for your prayers.

Enjoying dinner with the Koehns

We also praise God that we got to share how He has been directing us with our home church in Buffalo, Mt and also with our supporting church in Denton, Mt. We are so thankful for these Brothers and Sisters and their faithful prayers and love for us!

In Utah: We have enjoyed the time God has given us to spend with the Koehn side of the family here in Utah. Getting to spend time talking with Dad and Mom has been wonderful for us. We are so glad to see the Koehn siblings again and have loved being able to spend time with them this summer. We look forward to spending a bit more time with them this summer before we head to where God is directing us.

We are thankful to the Lord for giving us the opportunity to share with our home church here in Richfield, Ut as well this summer. Again, we praise God for the Brothers and Sisters He has given us in this local body of believers and are so thankful for their faithful prayers and love for us.

God's Gift - Direction

Where: God has been leading us onward to Utah. We are praying about serving the Lord in a small church in Utah and have been looking into that possibility. We will be able to share more information with you about this later on as God continues to direct us.

Religion: The local religion in the area we are looking into is the same as the religion in the majority of Utah which is Mormonism which was founded on the writings of Joseph Smith from the 1800s. Our desire is to share the truths of the Gospel and God's Word in love with the people of Utah.

Church: We are praying about working with a small church in a small town in Utah. This church is the only evangelical church in the town of some 1,400 people. There are three other nearby towns as well without any evangelical churches. We are praying about being Pastor and wife in this local church and look forward to God's direction. Please pray for us and these local believers to clearly see God's direction in this matter.

Fun water games at VBS

Hispanics: We are also greatly encouraged by the local hispanic population. We've enjoyed already getting to visit in Spanish with some of the local Hispanics. We look forward to God's direction for us in the area of Hispanic ministry! Who knows, perhaps down the road we would be able to hold a Bible study in Spanish with them!!

Vacation Bible School: We enjoyed leading the Vacation Bible School at Richfield Bible Church for a week this summer. We also enjoyed leading another week of Vacation Bible School in the small town we've seen God directing us towards. The lessons we shared with the kids were centered around the Lamb, Jesus Christ. And we enjoyed so much sharing Christ, getting to know the kids, having fun, being challenged, and working with different people to make these VBSs happen!

Jonathan sharing the Gospel at VBS

Praise & Prayer:

-Praise to God for His protection during the fire

-Praise that Jonathan's legs are healing quickly

-Praise for God's provision for the Estell's

-Praise to God for the time He has given us with family this summer.

-Praise to God for the opportunities He is giving us to serve Him

-Praise to God for His direction and His continued leading

-Prayer for God's continued direction (after August 28^th we should know more)

-Prayer for a house to rent wherever God directs us

-Prayer for a car to purchase soon

-Prayer for our baby who is due the end of October

We thank each of you for your prayers, love, and support for us as we serves the Lord wherever He takes us!

Seeking to always declare Christ,

Jonathan & Bethany Koehn

--  Jonathan & Bethany Koehn serving in the San Martín Project in Peru.   Serving God with http://www.tentmakersbiblemission.org If God has directed you to support please go to  https://tentmakers.webconnex.com/giving/southamerica Skype: jonathan.g.koehn Facebook: JonathanandBethany Koehn Email: JBKoehn@customgraphicwork.com Website: http://todeclarechrist.customgraphicwork.com ----If you would like to be removed ----from our emailing please let me know, ----thank-you.  

To Declare Christ - May 2011

“To Declare Christ”

May 2011

“At that time Jesus declared, 'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding

and revealed them to little children;'” Matthew 11:25

It is important to remember, along with Paul (I Cor. 2:1-5), that our salvation is not based in our own wisdom but in the power of God. Praise to God that it is through His power, and not our wisdom and understanding, that we have salvation. Dear believers, please learn, along with us, that as believers we need to stay rooted in God's power and we need to be careful not to rely on our wisdom and understanding (not that we don't study but, we recognize it is GOD's Word and not our word) in the life God has given us.

Celebrating Hugo's Birthday (who is in the middle) (To see this picture ask for a PDF copy of this newsletter)

Brotherly Fellowship – We have been enjoying lots of fellowship time with our Brothers and Sisters in the Community Bible Church here. One day after church we all headed to the river in a small rented bus. We had a great time eating, swimming, enjoying the sun, playing soccer and volleyball, and just sitting around talking together. We have also been celebrating quite a few birthdays (including our own) amongst all the Brothers and Sisters here lately and that has been a fun way to get together and enjoy celebrating the lives God has given to us.

The team came from all over the USA (To see this picture ask for a PDF copy of this newsletter)

Short-term Team – A team arrived from the USA in late February and was here for about 10 days. They ministered through a Pastor's Bible Conference which was held for 3 days. They all shared in the plaza (town square) and we enjoyed their sermons and testimonies here in the local church. We are thankful for God bringing them here for a time. We'd like to thank each one of them who encouraged us in the Lord during their short time here. We were very encouraged by you!!

Jonathan praying at a dedication service in the church (To see this picture ask for a PDF copy of this newsletter)

Keeping Busy – Jonathan is now preaching through the book of Ephesians and we have enjoyed all the deep truths found there and grown through studying this book in the church. Please pray for Jonathan as he preaches. Satan's attacks come unexpected at times and they can cause very interesting situations. But God has been teaching us, recently, that through Satan's attacks we learn to hold up the shield of faith “. . .with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:15)

We have also begun selling things and packing. Please pray for everything to sell that needs to sell. Also, we appreciate your prayers for us to have wisdom as we pack because when moving from one country to another the packing can get tricky :)

Praise & Prayer:

~ Praise for all the rain and cooler weather God has been giving us lately.

~ Prayer for God to direct us exactly where He wants us to minister for Him in the States.

~ Praise for the growth we have seen in our lives and the lives of the Brothers and Sisters here!

~ Prayer for God's provision for our upcoming needs as we move to the States – car, house, appliances, etc.

~ Praise to God for all the friendships and experiences He has given us here in Peru!!!

Thank you all for your prayers and support for us in so many ways!!

In Christ's Love,

Jonathan and Bethany Koehn

--  Jonathan & Bethany Koehn serving in the San Martín Project in Peru.   Serving God with http://www.tentmakersbiblemission.org If God has directed you to support please go to  https://tentmakers.webconnex.com/giving/southamerica Skype: jonathan.g.koehn Facebook: JonathanandBethany Koehn Email: JBKoehn@customgraphicwork.com Website: http://todeclarechrist.customgraphicwork.com ----If you would like to be removed ----from our emailing please let me know, ----thank-you.  

Declaring Christ -- Special Edition --

 Greetings Family, Friends, Supporters,
    You will find below our newsletter, but to see it with pictures please open the attached .pdf file.
In Christ's Love,
    Jonathan & Bethany

“I will instruct you and

teach you in the way which you should go;

I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”

~ Psalm 32:8 ~

Taking Youth to Camp

Since we first landed here in Peru it has been a wonderful place of growing and changing and learning to be more like Jesus. Jonathan first came here in summer of '08 and Bethany in summer of '09. Then, we arrived, in God's direction, as a married couple on July 2, 2010. We planned on staying as long as God directed us. We never knew how long He would keep us here but just like Proverbs 16:9 says “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”God has used the believers here to encourage us, challenge us and love us. Each person He has brought into our life here has taught us something! We are so encouraged by how God has been strengthening us as a married couple here too! All in all, the time God has given us in Peru has been tremendous and we won't take any of it back.

Our friend
Katty Melendez's 21st Birthday Party

Since December, we have been praying for the Lord's direction about our next step as missionaries. After much prayer and seeking godly counsel, God has shown us that His next step for us is to move to the USA. God has shown us this is His next step for us through several means. We would like to share a few with you now. We have seen that there will soon be a huge transition time in our life. We began to see that when our fellow missionaries, the Fowlers, arrive here we will need to find a new house and also a new ministry as we have been filling in for them while they've been gone. We saw that God was pushing us on to something else. We also began to pray and think about building stronger relationships with our closest supporters, our families, in the States. After our marriage, we were not able to spent the needed amount of time with them in order to the build strong, lasting relationships that we desire with them. We saw God instructing us to move to the USA in order to build stronger relationships with them. We have a great desire to be heavily involved in a church-centered ministry serving as missionary pastor and wife. We love one-on-one discipling and the close relationships that are developed between a pastor and wife and a local church. We know there is need for pastors/church-planters in the States and so God taught us that He wants us to minister in the USA. Do we still see a need in Peru? Of course!! There is always a need everywhere. Lord willing, we hope to come to Peru, in the future, on some short-term training trips. However, we see that the combination of what God has instructed us and taught us is leading us to the USA to minister, as long as He directs.

We are so thankful for our team here, Delwin & Techy Fowler, who are presently in the states working on Techy's citizenship, and Daniel & Mattie Melendez, who are working alongside us here in Peru. We've enjoyed getting to know Daniel & Mattie over the last 8 months or so. They are a godly couple seeking to serve the Lord. Delwin and Techy have been such a blessing to our life and have become dear friends. We know God will continue to use Delwin & Techy and Daniel & Mattie in the ministry here. Please continue to pray for them in the work here as God uses them. 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” They have a very valuable ministry.

. . . continued on next page

Some things you should know:

We love the ministry!! We desire to stay in long-term ministry where ever God leads us. We will be staying in ministry, will be staying with Tentmakers Bible Mission, and will be staying in the service of the LORD!!! We will also still be missionaries and are so thankful for your continued support in this next step of God's will.

Still planning. . . We are, of course, still in the planning, packing, planning, packing stage so, we not every detail is ironed out. We are praying about and looking into ministry in the Utah/Idaho mission field area.

Going forward!! We know that this is not a step back for us. Oh, NO, this is a step forward for us in God's will for our life. Thank you so much for being with us in your prayers and your financial support!

When? Lord willing we will be arriving in the states on June 1^st.

Prayer Requests:

~ Please continue to pray for us as we seek the Lord's direction about the specific place He wants us to minister.

~ Thank you all for your prayers as we continue the Lord's work here in Tarapoto. Please keep praying for Jonathan as he preaches and teaches here in the church. Pray that our Spanish would only get better and better.

~ A team from the States will be arriving on February 26^th and staying through March 7^th !! We are anticipating there arrival and wrapping up details for their stay so, we covet your prayers about this.

~ Please continue to pray for the field here in Peru as there is still a great need for training the local believers here.

~ Please pray for the people to whom we will minister next and whom will minister next to us. Pray for God to direct us to them and them to us and all our hearts to be open to His will.

Final Note:

~ Please feel free to email and ask us if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing back from you.

We love you all and are thankful for you love for us!! ¡Muchas gracias por tus oraciones! Thank you all so much for you prayers!!

In Christ's Love,

Jonathan & Bethany

--  Jonathan & Bethany Koehn serving in the San Martín Project in Peru. Serving God with http://www.tentmakersbiblemission.org If God has directed you to support please go to https://tentmakers.webconnex.com/giving/southamerica Skype: jonathan.g.koehn Facebook: JonathanandBethany Koehn Email: JBKoehn@customgraphicwork.com Website: http://todeclarechrist.customgraphicwork.com ----If you would like to be removed ----from my emailing please let me know, ----thank-you. 

Seeking to Declare Christ

Greeting Family and Friends,

    We pray that things are going well for each of you. Please let us know if you have prayer requests you would like us to be praying about.
We've attached a copy of our latest newsletter and the text is below for those who can't open the file.
Thanks to each of you for your support and encouragement!!
In Christ, Jonathan and Bethany

“At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ . . .”

Colossians 4:3

Teresa & Naomi – When we first arrived here in Tarapoto we began to build a friendship with a young woman who works in a grocery store that we frequently go to here. Her name is Teresa. Slowly but surely we have been growing our friendship and trust with her. One day, after the tragic death of one of her co-workers, we shared a Gospel tract with her. Then, we decided to invite her to our house last Monday. When she and her daughter arrived Bethany and she visited for quite awhile and we enjoyed time with her little girl, Naomi. Then she invited us to go with her to see a resort where her brother works. We spent about 5 hours with her eating lunch, walking around, seeing beautiful jungle animals, boating around a little lake, and taking pictures. She seemed to really enjoy it and we very much enjoyed being with her.

Please pray for her to trust in Christ. She does understand that God has a purpose for her life as He saved her from dying from an overdose. And He indeed does have a plan for her life! Please pray that she would stop depending on herself and her works and see her need for Christ. Please also pray that we can continue to build a trust and friendship with her.

Ministry here and now – Life is keeping us on our toes and has not been anywhere near boring lately :)

Jonathan will soon be finishing preaching in Spanish from I Corinthians after roughly 6 months of filling in. He picked up in chapter 11 at the end of July. We are in chapter 16 and will be starting a two part series about the travels of Paul, Timothy, and Apollos from I Corinthians 16:5-12. We are learning about how Paul desired and planned to come visit the Corinthian believers to collect their donations for the church in Jerusalem. But, God had other plans for Paul and he did not arrive in Corinth until quite some time later, much later than he expected to be there. “A man's heart plans his way but the LORD directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

Last Saturday Bethany finished a discipleship class with two godly young ladies here in the church. This class has been a wonderful encouragement to Bethany and, we pray, to Katy and Paola as well. Please continue to pray for these two young women. Katy as she heads to Bible school in Lima, Peru and Paola as she continues to work and live here in Tarapoto.

We are also looking forward to different things going on with members of the church here. These include some of the youth going to camp this next week and a church outing to a nearby river for fellowship and lunch together the following Sunday!

Upcoming excitements – We are looking forward to and prepping for the arrival of a team from the USA. They will be arriving on February 26^th and departing on March 7^th. While they are here they will be teaching a Pastors/Church Leaders Conference for about 3 days. They will be ministering in the church here and they will also be involved in evangelist outreach here. We are excited to have them here. Please pray for their health, both physical and spiritual, while they are here. Pray that God will work effectively through them.

We are so thankful for each of you and your prayers for us!! Thank you for standing with us to be lights in this dark world.

Declaring Christ,

Jonathan & Bethany Koehn

--  Jonathan & Bethany Koehn serving in the San Martín Project in Peru. Serving God with http://www.tentmakersbiblemission.org If God has directed you to support please go to https://tentmakers.webconnex.com/giving/southamerica Skype: jonathan.g.koehn Facebook: JonathanandBethany Koehn Email: JBKoehn@customgraphicwork.com Website: http://todeclarechrist.customgraphicwork.com ----If you would like to be removed ----from my emailing please let me know, ----thank-you.