Paul and Bella Gervasi have been able to keep up with what is going on in the rest of the world. Their main prayer is that the Lord would work through these hard times to draw people to Himself.
Due to Covid-19 they were sheltering in the village they live in for a month. Now they can meet as a church again in small groups of up to twenty.
In order to follow the official order, they decided to have church in different houses on Sundays to control the numbers. That turned out to be a good thing for the teacher. Instead of having one person teaching on Sunday, pretty much all of the teachers, led a group. It was a different feel than meeting all together, but it was nice. They have just heard that they can officially meet again as a whole church.
Paul and Bella have continued to work on translation with their translation helpers. Paul also continued to make lessons to teach on Sundays. He has been teaching the book of Revelation on Friday nights; teaching the same lesson in a different location on Saturday nights. That kept the groups small enough.
Since the translation check, Paul and Bella have been working on the book of Daniel. Paul is finished with his part of that work. He has also drafted the books of 1, 2, and 3 John, Jude and Hebrews.
In their 40 years in Asia-Pacific, they have learned that one way to minimise the stress of doing what they do is to take breaks away from the village. Normally they just go out to town for medical work or to shop. With the recent restrictions, they have not been able to leave the village. This has now been the longest time they have ever gone without taking a break. The Lord has been very gracious to them and they do not seem to be too bothered by the situation. Paul needs to have an operation on one of his toes, so they are hoping they will be able to fly out for surgery sometime this year.
Thank you for your prayers for them. They know that God does answer prayer, and they have experienced God’s care for them in many ways. Thank you too for your prayers for the people. Even in the last few months, Paul and Bella have seen their growth.