Another small update

Greetings a small update on the open doors God has given to share.
March 8th Sunday Evening -- Southland Bible Church, Washingtong, UT, PM
March 22nd Sunday Morning -- River Valley Bible Church in Mesquite, NV, 10:30 AM
March 25th Wednesday Evening -- family sharing in Mesquite
March 29th Sunday Evening -- Green River Bible Church in Green River, UT 6PM

April 1st Wednesday Evening -- Rocky Mountain Bible Church, 6:30pm
April 5th Sunday Morning -- Bridgeport Community Church 9:30AM
April 8th Wednesday Evening -- ?
April 12th Sunday Morning -- South Dakota AM
April 15th Wednesday Evening -- Open
April 19th Sunday -- Grace Bible Church, Treemonton, UT 10AM
April 22nd Wednesday Evening -- Provo Bible Church, Provo, UT 7PM
April 26th Sunday -- Mountain View Bible Church, LaVerkin, UT 9:45 AM
April 29th Wednesday -- Open

May 3rd Sunday -- ?
May 6th Wednesday -- ?
May 10th Sunday Morning -- Morning Star Community Church, Red Feather Lakes, CO AM?
May 13th Wednesday -- TBM Candidate School
May 17th Sunday -- Crawford, NE
May 20th Wednesday -- Open
May 24th Sunday -- Open
May 27th Wednesday -- Open
May 31st Sunday -- May be open, but possibly traveling to Peru around this time Lord wiling

This is what the schedule is looking like so far the ?
means there may be something that falls on that day already.
I hope to update the schedule when more information comes in.
If anyone has questions, or is interested in
the opportunity God is opening up in Peru please let me know at Jonathan@customgraphicwork.com or 435-201-3747

Updated Sharing schedule

Greetings a small update on the open doors God has given to share.
March 8th Sunday Evening -- Southland Bible Church, Washingtong, UT, PM
March 22nd Sunday Morning -- River Valley Bible Church in Mesquite, NV, 10:30 AM
March 25th Wednesday Evening -- family sharing in Mesquite
March 29th Sunday Evening -- Green River Bible Church in Green River, UT 6PM

April 1st Wednesday Evening -- Rocky Mountain Bible Church, 6:30pm
April 5th Sunday Morning -- ?
April 8th Wednesday Evening -- ?
April 12th Sunday Morning -- ?
April 15th Wednesday Evening -- Open
April 19th Sunday -- Grace Bible Church, Treemonton, UT 10AM
April 22nd Wednesday Evening -- Provo Bible Church, Provo, UT 7PM
April 26th Sunday -- Mountain View Bible Church, LaVerkin, UT 9:45 AM
April 29th Wednesday -- Open

May 3rd Sunday -- ?
May 6th Wednesday -- ?
May 10th Sunday Morning -- Morning Star Community Church, Red Feather Lakes, CO AM?
May 13th Wednesday -- TBM Candidate School
May 17th Sunday -- Crawford, NE
May 20th Wednesday -- Open
May 24th Sunday -- Open
May 27th Wednesday -- Open
May 31st Sunday -- May be open, but possibly traveling to Peru around this time Lord wiling

This is what the schedule is looking like so far the ?
means there may be something that falls on that day already.
I hope to update the schedule when more information comes in.
If anyone has questions, or is interested in
the opportunity God is opening up in Peru please let me know at Jonathan@customgraphicwork.com or 435-201-3747

To Live is Christ - Newsletter 3-3-09

Greetings in the name of our most Precious Savior Jesus Christ, 3/3/2009

Much has happened since the spring of 2008. I had the opportunity to go to Tarapoto, San Martin, Peru for 21 days with a short term team from Frontier School of the Bible. My desire was to get into more teaching, preaching and church planting. God was opening doors in His timing. While I was there, the door became open to return for 3 months while Delwin & Techy Fowler and their family were in the US to share about the ministry while on deputation. This was a big step for me, but I was thankful that I was not alone on the field. Another missionary came to prepare for working with Delwin & Techy's children.

During my time in Peru, I saw how God had prepared in advance a young man named Martin Ramos to be my translator. He is a kind, godly, and humble young man who is very talented in learning languages. Through his father, a Gideon, we got to distribute many New Testaments in schools. This trip turned into an amazing evangelism opportunity.

God also brought Ricardo & Asucena (Techy's parents) into my life. They were such an encouragement! They would come over quite often to prepare and eat supper with me. I also got to go to Asucena’s restaurant in the market where we spent time talking as best we could, and I enjoyed the wonderful food she prepared.

I enjoyed working with the youth group there. God stretched me in different ways and taught me many lessons. One lesson which I must always remember is that I need to get out and see the people more – there in Peru, as well as here in America.

During my 3 months in Peru, I was praying about returning to serve there full time – a decision not easy to make, because I am very close to my family, praise God. I also wanted my next ministry step to be someplace where I could settle in and minister for awhile. Adventure is fun, and I'm sure I'll have much of it in Peru, but spending a longer time in one place works better for long term effects. You have much more time to invest in people’s lives, and departures are not always looming.

When I returned to United States, I continued to pray about this decision. I really got hung up on wondering just what the call of God really meant. But by talking with various people, I started to understand that the direction of God isn't something mystical that cannot be grasped. God was already directing. He was telling me to go back to Peru. How? The people in Peru were asking me to come back. Delwin & Techy were asking me to come back. The opportunities are there to work with youth, to preach and teach, to plant churches, to do camp ministry, and even perhaps to one day help start a Bible school. I even enjoy the food and love the scenery. The weather is a bit hot sometimes but, well, some things I will adjust to (hopefully)!

So I have started taking the steps to return to Peru full time, Lord willing in June of this summer. I stepped down from One Way Evangelistic Ministries (OWEM), the mission organization that helped get me started. OWEM is an excellent mission, especially in the areas of evangelism, discipleship, and coming alongside church planters. This is a wonderful focus, because the field truly is ripe to share the Gospel! Because my heart is focused more on the role of church planting, I have become an official missionary with Tentmakers Bible Mission, Inc. (TBM).

TBM is another wonderful mission organization that is dear to my heart. I have known many of the men on the TBM board through my years in Utah because many have ministered there. I also got to know other TBM members through my time at Frontier School of the Bible. Their focus is church planting, which ties into other aspects of mission work such as evangelism, discipleship, camping, and a Bible school. All these various opportunities will help to stretch me and keep me busy. An added blessing is that Delwin & Techy Fowler are also TBM missionaries.

Ministry:

My first year of ministry involvement (Lord willing):

• Learning Spanish. (Porque español es muy importante para ministerio en Peru.)

• Leading a youth group

• Helping setup a camp

• Preaching and teaching

• Doing whatever else God may bring

• Please pray for me to learn the Spanish language. To be most effective, I must have a full grasp of this.

Future ministry involvement (Lord willing):

• More involvement in the training of nationals

• Continued work at camp – children, youth, retreats, training, missions retreats

• Helping to start a Bible school – training of nationals

• Being involved in church planting – there is a need for 3-4 more churches in the Tarapoto area alone, and that’s not even counting the rest of the San Martin Region.

• Possibly learning Quechua, the other official language of Peru.

• Doing whatever else God may bring.

• Please pray for me to remain flexible because things often do change a lot on the mission field.
  
  

To the Field:

• Peru: Lord willing, I would like to step onto the mission field in Peru sometime this summer (2009), Lord willing when the mission team from Frontier School of the Bible goes down during the month of June.

• Here in the US: I would love to share with anyone and everyone – even one on one – about the opportunity God has given me to serve Him in Peru. And I also want to minister here however and whenever God directs. Please pray that I'll be faithful day by day.
  

Praise:

• God's ability to get things done very fast and in His perfect timing.

• God's faithfulness

• God's continued direction
  

Prayer:

• Please pray for opportunities for me to share this ministry with individuals, in churches, and wherever else God may provide.

• Please pray that I would be a usable tool in God's service. That I will serve in His strength.

• Please pray that more people will come serve as missionaries in Peru, and as missionaries across the world by becoming involved however God would lead them. Matthew 9:37-38 says, “Then He said unto His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.’”

• Please let me know how I can be praying for you. As a missionary, I am so interdependent with you, the Church. I need you. I can never be independent for then I fall; I fail. If I get to be the hands or the feet, you are the heart, the body that keeps me going through prayer and encouragement and many other ways. Let's stay connected.

• Please pray for me to remember that I'm never alone. Hebrews 13:5 says, “…for He [God] hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

• Thank you all so much for praying, and for how you've encouraged me so much. If you have any questions please let me know.
  

Contact Information:

Mission Board:

Mailing:
Tentmakers Bible Mission, Inc.
P.O. Box 4983
Frisco, CO 80443

Phone:
1-888-TENTMAKERS
(1-888-836-8625)

Email:
info@tentmakersbiblemission.org
Website:
www.tentmakersbiblemission.org

Peru:

Mailing:
Delwin & Techy Fowler
c/o Jonathan Koehn
JR. Jose Pardo 317
Tarapoto, San Martín
Peru, South America

Email:
Jonathan@customgraphicwork.com
Website:
www.customgraphicwork.com
Skype:
jonathan.g.koehn
Facebook:
Jonathan G. Koehn

Personal Stateside:

Mailing:
Jonathan Koehn
P.O. Box 570050
120 Lariat Dr.
Sigurd, UT 84657

Cell Phone:
435-201-3747

Email:
Jonathan@customgraphicwork.com
Website:
www.customgraphicwork.com
Skype:
jonathan.g.koehn
Facebook:
Jonathan G. Koehn

If God would direct you to be part of this project, perhaps in prayer, in visiting the field, through support, or however else God may direct, please direct financial gifts to: Tentmakers Bible Mission. In the memo line please put San Martín Project. Please mail it to Tentmakers Bible Mission, Inc. P.O. Box 4983, Frisco, CO 80443. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Tu hermanito en Jesús Cristo,

Your little brother in Jesus Christ,

--  Jonathan G. Koehn  serving in the San Martín Project in Peru.   Serving God with http://www.tentmakersbiblemission.org Skype: jonathan.g.koehn Facebook: Jonathan G. Koehn Email: Jonathan@customgraphicwork.com Website: http://jonathankoehn.customgraphicwork.com

Mailing Address Updates Needed, Thank you

Greetings in Christ,
I'm hoping soon to send out a paper newsletter with prayer card Lord
willing.
However for many I don't have mailing addresses or they are out of date
mailing addresses.
If you could please update me on your mailing addresses, and any other
contact information
that you would like me to have. I'd appreciate that.
Also if you know of someone else who would like to be put on the
email list, please let me know.
If you could also indicate your preference, email or mailing. Please
note email is more often.

1. Mailing Address updates
2. Interest in email list
3. Email or Mail?

Thank you so much,
Tu hermanito en Jesus Cristo,
Your little brother in Jesus Christ,
Jonathan

--
Jonathan Koehn
Website: http://jonathankoehn.customgraphicwork.com

God's Wondrous Love

Greetings in our most Precious Jesus Christ, who shows His Love in
wonderful ways,
In my last email I shared I was at Frontier School of the Bible and
I praise God for that. Let me follow up with God's Wonderful love. When
you are around many Christians, and begin to make friends, and renew old
friendships, throw in other reasons as well and it is very painful to
depart. God showed His love through His people. Monday as myself and
Daniel were getting ready to leave many came and said goodbye, talked,
and I got to pray with a few, treasured moments. God was saying, "see I
have my children who care." God's children really do care about you,
please remember this with me, God's wondrous love. My brother Daniel and
I had a safe drive back home quite fast in fact, and full of
conversation between us from time to time, God was growing us closer
together. Please remember with me how God grows people closer to you,
God's wondrous love.
As I slept off and on during that ride back I struggled within
myself, but God is always nearby. We stopped and talked with a Pastor,
and He encouraged me to write emails especially during times of trouble,
people want to pray. God showed His wondrous love again. We came back to
our mom's birthday at church, then went home. That night was truly hard,
especially the next morning as the storm within me hit hard. However God
is always near, He reminded of a passage I had heard recently about
Jacob struggling with God. (Genesis 32:24-29) He also reminded me of
Elijah running in fear from Jezebel after such a great victory on mount
Carmel over the prophets of Baal. (1 Kings 18:19-19:3) God is always
near in His wondrous Love. (Hebrews 13:5) Monday &Tuesday God reminded
us about "being here on earth," as a friend shared with me. We want to
be in heaven, here on earth is so so much sin, whether talking with your
mom at work and someone in the background is going to bad websites
hurting himself, sin abounds.
God showed His wondrous love again that Tuesday night please read
Luke 18:1 ". . . men always ought to pray and not lose heart." what
comforting words to go to sleep on. The next morning bringing new
struggles, but God is always near reminding what Paul says that ". . .
to live is Christ, and to die is gain." So often in our own lives we let
something take our main focus and it tears us up inside. Please remember
with me that "to live is Christ" Philippians 1:21-26 there are days and
will be days when you want to be in heaven to escape the pain here on
earth but we remain as Paul did because "to live is Christ" there is
much, much to do here. Jesus Christ speaking through Paul in Philippians
1:25 tells it all "And being confident of this, I know that I shall
remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith." I
get to be here in Utah because there is much to do, and only because God
has given the opportunity to serve Him. Please remember with me that we
are here to for all for their progress and joy of faith. God has a
purpose for me and you in His wondrous Love. I was also reminded of a
verse Adam Danielson shared with us on Sunday evening in Chapel Hebrews
12:2 "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
. . . " Jesus didn't focus on the cross but looked to the joy. Please
remember with me not to focus on the pain but on Jesus Christ, focus on
why He has us here, as it tell us in Philippians 1:21. Finally this
morning in God's wondrous love He brought my mom to say have faith, God
will bring about the desires of your heart, she said something like
this. Praise God for His wondrous love, please join me in remembering
dear believer in Jesus Christ that you are never alone. God's Wondrous Love.
Thank you all so very much, for your tender words, your prayers and
your love.
Your little brother in Jesus Christ,
Jonathan

Frontier School of the Bible -- Utah

Greetings in Christ,
I am presently back in Utah, God continues to direct it seems at time a good dose of patience is necessary. While at Frontier School of the Bible for two weeks, I had my interview with Tentmakers Bible Mission, Inc. more news hopefully soon on this.
I enjoyed time sharing in a few classes, sharing with a family in Colorado, getting to share at Mitchell E Free Church, and sitting in much of Missions Conference which was an encouragement for me. Also I had the opportunity to attend a Missions Retreat by Send International. I praise God for the many people He sent my way that encouraged me in so many ways from kind words to kind actions thank you so much.
I hope to have some more news very soon, and I thank you all so much for your prayers for safety in travels. We had a very good drive back home today and it went quicker than normal it seemed.
Please keep in touch and let me know how I can pray for you.
In Christ,
Jonathan

In God's Timing: A Time of Change

Greetings in Jesus Christ,
Time has sped swiftly by and my emails have been less lately. The reason is, I was in a time of praying, seeking advice, and praying for the next step. I believe the Lord is directing me to return to Tarapoto, San Martín, Peru as a full time missionary. I am also applying to Tentmakers Bible Mission to be a missionary with them. You can find out more information about them here. http://www.tentmakersbiblemission.org/
Also at the same time I have resigned from One-Way Evangelical Missions (OWEM). I truly appreciate how God used OWEM in my life. Jerry & Kathy Singh, John Cook, and Kenny Detamore
they really helped me step into the life of a missionary teaching me in many ways and praying for me in many ways. They were with me through thick and thin helping me understand and I learned a great deal about evangelism and the gospel from them. Please continue to pray for their future ministry, God is growing the ministry in many wonderful ways.
If anyone has any questions about this time of change please let me know, or any other questions. Or if anyone would like me to come and share about ministry in Peru, and how I may be involved in God's work there, please let me know. I should have an email in the future regarding applying to Tentmakers Bible Mission.
Thank you all who prayed and offered advice during this Time of Change.
Tu hermanito en Jesús Cristo,
Your little brother in Jesus Christ,
Jonathan