*7^ SofounHiitt^ itt"Byfaith they sojourned in the land...

looking forward to a city which has foundations,whose builder and maker is God."

HEB 11:8-10

Alan & Janet Bemo Forwarding Agent:FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY Linda GoerkeBox 108 3106 Summit Ave.Nongkhai 43000 St. Joseph, MO 64506Thailand (816)279-9978

February 27, 1997

Dear Co-Workers for Southeast Asia,

We are leaving today to go back to Laos. 0\ir main objective for being here these four monthswas to put together money and machinery for the soybean processing plant. Most of this goal hasbeen accomplished. We now have four grain bins, a power supply, an extruder, a cooler, augers,and many other miscellaneous items. We want to thank so many of our brethren who made thispossible. On Saturday, February 15th, we ran two batches of soybeans through the machinery andit worked perfectly. Brethren in Ginneil, Iowa are going to finish what is yet to be done. We cannotadequately relate to you how much the Grinnell Christian Church brethren helped us with thisproject and took care of us while we were working on this project. Ahouse to live in, meals, donatedmoney and equipment for the business, and volunteer help. Now the materials are sitting in aworkshop in Grinnell waiting for us to give the word for it to be shipped over.

You may already know that our permit to establish the business was given by the Laogovernment on December 21. Now, we have to get back because we have 90 days from that dateto start processing the license, which is supposed to take a couple of weeks. We praise God for thepermit and the way He has provided for all this. We have learned a lot about this process. Besidesall this God has provided for a lot of evangelistic materials which are being shipped back right now.We feel renewed by the quality time with our family and the body of Christ.

Our family in the States are all busy, doing their part in God's Kingdom. Rebecca returns toLaos this week, too, to teach another 6 months there before going for YWAM (Youth With a Mission)training on their ship Anastasias. It is hard to leave them all, though.

We'll share some pictures this time, and hope that the next newsletter will have a lot morenews to share. Continue your prayers for your brehtren in Laos, Southern China, and NorthernVietnam. We look forward to seeing them all again soon, but not to the corrupt world of bribes,communism and unbending government officials. Continue to keep this new adventure in yourprayers.

Several have asked about the best way to send contributions. They should still be sent toFood for the Hungry and written out to them, with a note that it is to be given to Alan Bemo. Ifyou would like to contribute to a certin ministry, such as Christian Literature or Chinese churches,put a note on mentioning that. Any monies sent to help with the business of Natural ProductsInternational should be sent to Natural Products International, %Paul Lang, 634, Hwy. 6, Grinnell,Iowa 50112. These monies are not tax-deductible, however, unless given through your church.Thanks so much for your interest and love for the work over there.

Together, for His Kingdom,

With Grandma & Grandpa BemoNate, Kate, & Phoenix

Family at Jon Bemo's

Our new/old diesel engine

•^1 '%•

Thai-Dam Church in De's Moines

Central Christian Church1501 N. Leonard RoadSt. Joseph, MO 64056

NON-PROFIT

U.S. PostagePAID

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTEDSt Joseph, MO

Permit No. 2223

Mission Services Assn

p 0 Box 2427

Knoxville, TN 37901-2427

I0(^

<XCr6 PQ>^"By faith they sojourned in the land...

looking forward to a city which has foundations,whose builder and maker is God."

HEB. 11:8-10

Alan & Janet Bemo Forwarding Agent:FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY Linda Goerke

Box 108 3106 Summit Ave.

Nongkhai 43000 St. Joseph, MO 64506Thailand 816-279-9978

March to May 1997 —

Dear Co-Workers,

We arrivedbackin Laosthefirst of March,expectingto moveup to Bokeoprovince ina few daysbutfound,contraryto whatwe hadbeentdd, thatour business permithad not beengivenafterall. We weretold,"Don'tworry. Your permitwillprobably be given in a week or two." Yes, we have been told that every week for three months now. So we have been"temporarily" living ina small afxutment inVientiane for three months. I keptthinking, "IH wait for a weekor twowhen weget the permit and thenFll writea newsletter." We havedoneeverything we can thinkof, including talk to the Americanambassador and nothing seems to havegotten results. So many things havehappened to make us believe that this businessway being inLaos isGod's will. Fornow, wecanstillgetbusiness visas to behere because wehave a business applicationin the works. We have learned some valuable things aboutbusiness in Laos during thiswaiting period, so that is good, and,as everybody keeps tellingus, we still haven't waitedthe normal 18months yet for the permit so...

Whilewehave been waiting for thepermit, we have hada lotof timeto bedoing important things, which is therealreason we wantto be hereanyway. Mainly wehavebeenworking on evangelism withtheTaidam peojrfe. OurTaidam co-worker hascompleted hisdriver's training andhiswife is incomputer school right now. Onetract hasbeen translated andtwogospel recordings have beenmade. Hundreds pieces of literature have been brought intoLaos andVietnam. Tapes, Bibles,and tracts have beendistributed. Ourco-woricer hasmadetwosurvey trips intoTaidam country andsofar discovered 90,000people in 72 villages. Thereneeds to besome more survey workbutsofar I have beensurprised to learnthat thereareover200believers intwoprovinces andthattiwre arenoknown believers intwoother provinces. Thebelievers have noliterature,leadership, or training. Wewantto trytoarrange training forthem. Wewould liketofocus onoutreach intotheplaces wherethere are no Christians.

InApril, wewere aWe tomake a week's triptoHuaphan province. Wehad been wanting toseehow oldfriends therewere doing andtohave a chance totake Becky toseewhere weused towoik. Ron Barry, from Oklahoma, visited usand wasable to goon this trip with us. Wewere delighted tofindthatscHne people had become believers. Thehighlight of thetripwas spending the ni^t in aTaidam village where Ihad done an irrigadon project and given them some ideas about plantingcashcrops, likesoybeans. Thisvillage, which before theproject didnothave enough food toeat,now hasa surplus of riceandscJd 200metric tons ofsoybeans lastyear. I wanted todosome teaching but a Laofriend quiedy told me, "Give a tesdmonybutmake it simple. There are believers in this village now andthey listen tothe Lao Chrisdan radio broadcasts regularly, butthere are alsoconservadve Communist elements in the village who are watching, listening, and responding to everythingconcerning thegospel." These people were soglad toseeus. Wegottobedlate that night because alltheadults of thevillagecame overtothehouse where wewere staying tovisit They fedusandsang tous,andwedanced together, (don't getexcited-it was justa simfde folk dance.) Thenext morning people from twoother nearby villages, where wehad done projects, cameovertoseeus. They said, 'Whydo you like this village somuch that you come here andhaven't come to stay inourvillage.Come and visit us too." I explained that we just didn't have dme.

Another highlight of thetrip was going across theriver to visit the leper lady. Wehad notseen herinfouryears and

we were appalled at what we saw. Where one of her feet had been was just a huge raw ulcer. Her "house" was about to falldown. When Iwent upontheporch tositbeside her, the rotten bamboo flooring broke through. The grass roof leaked sobadlythat there was no refuge from the rain. She had not had a bath in two years, and there was no water, food, or firewood in thehouse. Wewept as we were overcome with a sense of helplessness. We tried to encourage herand promised wewould getthe FHI health worker over to see her the next day. The FHI staff were great! The whole team went over and "built a houseforJesus," andtookhersome food. They gottheball rolling, andsheisarriving inVientiane today to have herfoot amputatedand befitted with a prosthesis! Praise God! Local f)eople said, "Why do you want to help her? She isn't worth anything tosociety." Walter Ridgley told them. "Our religion demands we help her. We cannot seesomeone in that condition and justturn away and do nothing." The whole incident has made a great impression on the whole province.

Janet has been teaching English ten hours a week at a Christian English training institute. She has 34 studentsand isreally enjoying this outreach. Rachel is working at a Coffee Shopabout 15 hours a week and doing baby-sitting. Withworkand home schooling, she is keepingbusyand happy. I am helping a friend managea 120acre sugarcane and cashewfarmso am getting a lot of experience and contact with people.

We are excited about visitors in the next few weeks. The Randy Gariss family, from College Heights Church, isplanning on visiting usinJulyif Randy doesn't start training horses again this year. (Joke! He was supposed tocome last yearand fell offhishorse.) Also, Sarah isplanning onvisiting this summer after her baby isbom. We are looking forward toseeingthem! Wejustwish we could getout of the "temporary" mode and be a little more settled in. Actually, weareall strangersonthis earth, justpassing through. Anotherexciting bitof news isthat weareimpatiently waitingfor Adkins grandchild numberfive to be born anyday now. Pray for Beth and Sarah during these "waiting" days.

Please continue to pray for the work here. Weappreciate you somuch. You aresuch animportant part ofeverythingthat is going on here.

Your co-workers in Laos (so far),

Alan, Janet and Rachel Bemo

Central Christian Church

1501 N. Leonard Road

St. Joseph, MO 64056

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

HiBBion ServicsB Aaan

P O Box 2427

KnoxviHe, TN 37901-2427

NON-PROFIT

U.S.PostagePAID

St.Joseph, MOPermit No. 2223

the Sojoumings"Byfaith they sojourned in the land..

lookingforward to a city which hasfoundations,whose builder and maker is God."

Forwarding Agent: Heb. 11:8-10Linda Goerke

1306 Summit Ave.

St. Joseph, MO 64506816-279-0078

June through October, 1997

Dear Friends,

I am hoping that the heading of this letter will be familiar enough that you will know who is writing. Because tliiscommunique has some sensitive material in it, I am trying something different—to tell you some things that arehappening without giving you specific names of people and places.

In April our co-worker, KS, and I went to a Christian recording studio outside this communist country where we areworking. He made two gospel recordings in his own native tongue, which is ofan unreached peoplegroup we havetargeted. Wecamebackintothe country anddistributed themin several provinces. KS madeanextensive survey tripin the north, finding out the location and populations of villages of his peoplegroup. He alsodiscretely passedoutseveral of the gospel recordings he had made. He was able to locate a few Christians in three different villages,thoughthey had suffered greatlyfor their faith. While on this trip, he made a sidetrip to visit a resettlement villagewherethere were many Christians. Their church building and literature had beentakenfi'om themand their pastorhadbeen murdered. When KS got there he found that they were out of food andthe government was continuing torepress them, making it impossible to rise out of poverty. Hecame back to report this, and after meeting withanotherChristian, we devised a plan to get relief to them. He went back and, though he had a close brush with localauthorities, was able to secretly distribute $1,200 worth of rice within a week's time.

One ofthehighlights ofthese lastfew months wasavisit from thepreacher and his family, from one ofoursupportingchurches. They arrived around the first of July and were in the country for a little over three weeks. I was in theprocess of getting our housefixed up when they came andtheyspent a few days helping paint. Thenthey, KS, myyoungest daughter, and I, went on an exploratory trip across the north. We traveled'in five provinces to exploreplaces I had been wanting to check out for a long time. Wetraveled bypickups, 6-wheel trucks, and boats over somepretty rough terrain, it being during the rainy season. Two villages, we went to, had neverbeen visited by a whiteman. In one village we were able to meet with someChristians who have been persecuted fortheir faith. Theyhadtheirchurch building torn downandtheir Bibles takenfrom them but have been trueto Christ even thoughthreatened.We went to several new locations and made contacts which we hope to follow up later. In other villages we metpeople who had been contacted by KS on a previous survey trip. In one location we stayed at our dwelling andprayedwhile KS was teachinga family who had askedhim to come. OtherChristians hadbeenteaching them andhadgiven them one of the gospel recordings which KS had made andpassed out in April. After teaching he came backwith the good news that the whole family had expressed a faith in Jesus Christ. That was a real thrill. Anotherhighlight of the trip was when KS said, "Here we stand in thisvillage on the border. This wasthe village I came tothirteen years ago when I ran awayfrom one oppressive government to another one. At that time I was a worldlyman. I did not know God and was veryselfish, just looking out for what would help me. I neverwanted to comeback this way again. Now, I am a Christian and God has called me back to give up my life and tell others aboutsalvation in Jesus Christ."

Itis hard to explain how much we were encouraged by this preacher family's visit. There is alot going on here but wecan't tell many people about it. We can't be open with our sharing ofthe gospel and are under constant pressure. Weare still coasting ontheboost which wegot from their time with us!

Another highlight was that in July one of our daughters (our fifth child) came to visit us with her one-month-olddaughter (our ninth grandchild). We wish we could have this much quality time to spend with all our grandchildren,watching them develop and playing with them.

We were sad to see our second daughter leave atthe end ofJuly after completing her teaching contract here.

More news about KS: Hejust got back from another trip to the provincewhere we used to work. We had sent thetwo gospel recordings he made up there to people we had witnessed to and taught. When they heard the tapes, thewife wept and had agreat longing to hear more. The husband made a special trip to find KS and later KS went tovisitthem. The whole family accepted Christ as their Savior and were baptized. Praise God!

JWdiave been paying forJCS's wife MX togo tocomputer/accounting school. She has graduated with top grades andwe purchased her a computer. She is now using this to keep the records of our business and put out Christianliterature for theirunreached ethnic group.

We have finally gotten our business license which is good for fifteen years, so we are able tohave visas tothis countryfor that long. After ayear and ahal^ we have finally been able to move tothis northern province ofthe country. Wehave been here forfive weeks and aregetting acquainted with thecommunity. We have started construction of ourmill and hope to start doing business by April of1998. We have been able to meet afew Christians and be mutuallyencouraged. We have faith that our next letter will be filled with the exciting things God iscontinuing todohere. Ourgoal isto see at least two orthree believers inevery village ofthe people group wehave adopted^

I hope you understand the necessity ofus writing a letter in this feshion. I am planning on writing a different sort ofletterfor Christmas-one with names andpictures. Perhaps every otherletterwill haveto be like thisone sowe willbe able to share moreof the things God is doing.

Your fiiends and servants ofChrist,

Central Christian Church

1501 N. Leonard Road

St. Joseph, MO 64506

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Mission Services Assn

P O Box 2427

Knoxville, TN 37901-2427

NON-PROFIT

U.S. PostagePAID

St Joseph, MOPermit No. 2223

*7^ Soi^oc{n*twt^ utLAO PEOPirs DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

:• A \. Nsv-.-^ ♦ :^U.. y

muMA^ . * }

A-Tt'''I

e*o**

M} ^ ^ ^/ J S""""

"By faith they sojourned In the land...looking forward to a city which has foundations,

whose builder and maker Is God."

Alan & Janet BemoP.O. Box 87

Chiangkhong 57140Thailand

December 9, 1997

Dear Partners In the Lord's Business,

HEB 11:8-10

Forwarding Agent:Linda Goerke3106 Summit Ave.St. Joseph, MO 64506(816)279-9978

r-'

^ ij. Christmas Greetings from the nice warm country of Laos across the seas. Howr fiovncEi WITH eHuacMK - . . . . , . • .

xve rejoice as we sing the Christmas carols and remember again the Lord Jesus Christ

^ __ ) c! a Babe coming to the earth to give HOPE and LIFE to every creature, includingnui^-iT " ' the dear ones of Laos. What a privilege to be here among them.

' We have been here in Hweixai for three months. During this time we havegotten our house fixed up, gotten acquainted with the community, finished some moregovernment paper work, started working on the mill property, passed out some seed

for planting, and done some spiritual ministry work.The land-fill is finished at the mill site and a small house is about 3/4s finished. This house will either be for Khamson

and his family or for the Hewittfamily(a retired Christian couple from Tennessee wanting to help; he's a mechanic, she's a nurse).If Khamson decides he wants to live in this first house we will startconstructing the Hewitt's house soon, they plan to arrive in February. Ihope we can start construction on the mill itself the first of January.Westill do not have a legal agreement for the 15year lease ofthe property. "1The land office has been waiting till the rice patties are dried up so theycan do the final survey. Now it is dry but the land owner has got to getup here to get it finished. I don't want to order our equipment from thestates

contracts with Lao farmers for 500kilograms of soybeans rice patties. All the rice is harvested now andthey are ready. This a new thing. No one has ever planted soybeansin Bokeo province in the dry season. It is done a in Thailand andthat is where I got the seed and the advice as to how to do it. I amplanning on spending a lot of time looking after this crop. I want it todo well. If it does, we will have more people wanting to grow than we •• - r rf.Jcan handle next year. This first batch of soybeans will be stored for seeds Soybean Mill land filled inand smallguard/storage house being buUL

to be planted in the rainy season (around May).If Tomorrow weare planningon leavingforVientiane fora few

' • days. Our visas are up and have to be renewed for another vear.. m We also have been using Walter Ridgley's Mazda pick-upand havo

- a ^0return it to him. This truck is licensed in Thailand and we have• M kept it parked over on the Thai side, using it for trips to dentists

shops. While we are on this trip we hope to be able to startjjUL using the old Toyota Crown station wagon we bought from FHI the

don't know if the paper work on it is finished

A J, We havebeenhavingEnglish Churchin our home onSunday^ ^ mornings. Twice some ofthe foreigners have attended and twice a

y ' Christian. We are enjoying visiting in people's homes andsometimes witnessing in the villages where we are doing soybean

' I business. We have attended one underground church service but

1 have to be careful doing that. Janet has about twenty EnglishI . •' students and is becoming friends with them. She had them over

' I ^ Thanksgiving feast explaining to them what it was all aboutprayed before we ate. She has invited them all again for

Christmas snacks and an English Christian video. Many want to

\ ^ Lao Christian lady has asked for our Lao Jesus FilmI r . r 1. . . L ~ . video. She is planning on having a Christmas nartv for her coin front ofournew Hweixai home with our Lao Christian friend, Kanecsa. .trrtrL-ofo or./T ,IrOT^fc I- V. 4-1. 'J *. 1 J. il. 1Alan, Rachel, Janet, Afton.Kaneesa And Sarah workers and wants to show the video to let them know what

Christinas is all about. We are celebrating Christmas with the foreign

Lao fri^^ is n^ so many times anSarahandAfton again. She is growing into a beautiful, wise, young Christian lady. She.had

her 14th birthday in October.Elizabeth and Moo and their beautiful five young'uns seem to be doing great and very busy. Beth has started a Pioneer

Girls Club^for the community and finding it achallenge. Little Faith, the same age as Afton, also has two little teeth. AnotherJon, Michelle and Aissa seem to be thriving in Florida. He was offered filSPSI

a job to supervise a new wastewater plant being set up in Taiwan, but doesn'tfeel he is up to such a big task yet. He wants to finish up ten years at theSt.^Fetersburg plant first. That will be two more years and he promised to

Nathan has only one more semester before he finishes his businessdegree. He'd like to take another semester and finish offanAssociate inBible, Jtoo. With a wife, two kids, a 40-hour job and two skatepark businesses he m 'w/MmKhas started. I'm not sure how he does it,butyouth plus God, find a way. iB

Thanks to all the church families out there, who have taken our '5children to heart and been such great mentors in their spiritual lives. PraiseGod for His family. We love and appreciate you all and what you have meant ^ ^

that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been

Yours, because He is Christ the Lord,Alan, Janet and Rachel Bemo

Central Christian Church1501 N. Leonard RoadSt. Joseph, MO iHBB

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Mission Services Assn

p o Box 2427

Knoxville, TM 37901-2427

Faith Charity Adkins

NON-PROFIT

U.S. PostagePAID

St. Joseph, MOPermit No. 2223