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Dear Faithful Supporters:

     2021 is here and must be faced. For some it begins with many difficulties, for others only the same old thing! For all, uncertainties are everywhere. One thing we can be sure of is the faithfulness of God. With that in mind we can move forward. Amen!

     The holidays were a bit different this year. The kids (grandchildren and great-grandchildren) came by, one family at a time. Lenora and I enjoy searching all year for little things that we can buy or make to use as gifts that will be beneficial, rather than the typical junk that kids use for a few hours and then throw away. I built puzzle boards with four shallow drawers underneath for two of the families who enjoy putting puzzles together. I am so glad my children and their families love to visit us. The greatest blessing is to hear them say they desire to serve God and are supportive of our work in missions.

     I have a special prayer request for our daughter-in-law, Beth. She has been diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer, and has been taking treatments. She is very sweet and is somewhat responding to medical help. Please bring her name before our heavenly Father. She professes to be a child of God, so we lay her at His feet for healing and grace.

     We are back on the road (slowly). In January we enjoyed being in churches in South Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky. People always treat us so well. We were pleased to meet a woman in South Carolina whose family we have known (from Mississippi) just about all our saved lives (and her since she was 2 years old). We are trying (little by little) to visit all supporting churches as well as presenting the mission field in new churches. Please let us know if there is a specific time you would like us to give an update. I believe we offer churches one of the best mission projects out there (an investment that really brings eternal dividends).

     The home we live in is a nice cottage on the property of my son-in-law and daughter. Even though it is small by some standards, it is comfortable. FOMMI is housed in a small room that is full of our desks, storage shelves, filing cabinets, bookshelves and broadcasting studio with equipment. Lord willing, we will begin adding a 34’ x 16’ addition on the north side of the cottage that will allow us to have more space as well as a broadcasting studio built with better soundproofing. This will be done little by little as God provides funds and workers.  Recently Lenora and I dug the footers and a special friend helped with the concrete pouring for the blocks to sit on. We hope to soon be able to invite you for a visit.

      Lenora thanks all who sent her birthday cards in January, especially the one that provided ice cream! Our seventh great grandchild (a girl) was born on January 26. That makes 5 girls and 2 boys.  My mother just had her 98th birthday in early February. Her care is still a part of our daily routine, more some days than others.  The USPS has been having some problems at their Mobile AL sorting center, and mistakenly sent back some mail intended for us at PO Box 400, Bon Secour AL 36511, saying it was undeliverable. Please know that is still our mailing address as it has been for over 30 years.

     Many have written saying they enjoyed the testimonies of the Bengali fishermen we have printed, and have inquired if fisherwomen are getting saved also. The answer is, yes! Read on for the testimony of Parul Das, a Bengali fisherwoman.

     I am Parul Das. I was born in a Hindu conservative family and I grew up in a cultural and religious traditional environment. As our traditional custom, I got married in my teenage years with Bidhan Das. In my husband’s home I did the same religious worshipping and cultural activities. My husband was a fisherman and made some household products with bamboo and sold it to local markets. We have two sons, the elder one is married and the little one is disabled. A few years ago when we were fishing in the river, we saw a boat and some people come to our village with some new speech that we did not listen to before. The headman of our tribe refused to listen to the new religious thoughts and their preaching. But I requested my husband to host them in our small hut type home. We listened to their preaching but did not understand the whole thing. So I requested my husband to invite them again, but our tribe headman was angry about my decision. As our customs, woman can’t decide anything; so I was helpless, but my husband felt my thirst and we met the preaching team several times at other places and finally, we received Christ as our Saviour. But sometimes my husband joined some of the Hindu traditional ceremonies to play the musical instruments for them, but when he came back home he became sick and it happened several times. Then we realized that as a Christian family we should not take part in the Hindu’s religious activities like we did before as idol worshippers. So I requested my husband not to play a musical instrument for the Hindus religious festival. We realized that there is no way or religion in the world that can help us to connect to the creator but only the Christ who is God himself, and who came to the earth to save us. As we started to pray for our villagers and especially for the headman to win their souls, the day came and finally many families including the headman’s received Christ. Bro. Lemon’s grandfather and Bro. Lemon baptized us all in the river. Now we have a beautiful church in our village and my husband is pastoring after four years of Christian schooling under Bro. Lemon’s supervision. My husband is also travelling with Bro. Lemon’s team to different villages to preach the Gospel and for new church planting. It is a very risky, painful, and troublesome mission work for the team, but when someone is saved the joy comes to the hearts of all our team members. My husband and I are very happy to be a part of this ministry. Please pray for my family, our village, our church, and for our church planting ministry in Bangladesh.

Keep us before the throne,

Dr. A.W. “Fisher” Mund
Fishers of Men Ministries International
PO Box 400
Bon Secour AL 36511
(251) 752-6474
[email protected]


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Dear Friends:

I begin the last two months’ report with a humbling experience. While working outside of our home/office, somehow I pulled the muscles in my lower back. My dad’s favorite phrase when we were working on his shrimp trawler was “give it a jerk”, so from time to time I have done just that, and guess what? It gives (not the rope coming untied, or the net freed, but) an injured back! Three weeks down with a fourth week only partially recovered, and for what purpose, I do not know, but God helped to get me on the other side of the injury. Many have said they pray for us and our needs daily…well, sometimes in God supplying our need, our need was “humility”.

RADIO—I still enjoy doing radio programs. Our audience has grown with the addition of podcasts. The response is always encouraging. Let me illustrate. A lady from Montreal emailed recently and said she had heard us on an internet station. Somewhere in the program I mentioned our mission work along the rivers in southern Bangladesh. Guess what? She is a native of Bangladesh, now a Christian, and has been praying years for God to save her people and get some local churches established there. What a blessing to hear from this sister in our vast, unseen audience. She has since offered to support our work there (“cast thy bread upon the waters”).

INDIA—Bro. Varghese says that COVID-19 is still alive and even worse in some areas there. The home church in Kerala will be allowed to open soon but with regulations. The Bible school in Orissa is continuing. The students are helping others in the community who are needy and this opens the door to tell them of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Regular classes are going well.

PHILIPPINES—The man who laid the Philippine foundation for FOMMI, Manuel Palit-Ang, went to be with the Lord in November. Our prayers go out to his family. Several years ago, his son, Jeph, picked up the torch. Bro. Jeph writes that recently their area suffered under a strong typhoon. Thankfully no damage, just flooding in the southern part of Luzon. COVID restrictions still prevent Sunday school for children, and social distancing is required for adults. They did have one baptism last month with two more to follow. Home Bible studies are discontinued as no door-to-door visitation nor visiting of the sick is allowed. The Bible school has been postponed until 2021 and perhaps will then only be online. Though the pandemic has halted much local church activity, it has not stopped the work of the Holy Spirit. He asks prayer for their continued good health.

BANGLADESH—God supplied the need for us to continue the building project close to the Vodra River in southern Bangladesh. Two floors out of a five-story building are now complete. This will give us home church, Bible school, and a small medical clinic. This building is accessible and in view to all river traffic (the only way to travel in that area). Bro. Lemon reports that all the little river churches continue on with new converts and a growth in grace for many. I received many comments from the testimony we printed in our last report, so we will give another one. Pray for these people; they excite me!

TESTIMONY OF SHOWPON SARKAR FROM NOLIAN FISHING FIELDS BAPTIST CHURCH—I am Showpon Sarkar; I am 61. I am married and my wife is Chopola Sarkar. We have two sons and one daughter, and two grandchildren. My daughter died last year while she was giving birth to her baby. When I was a little boy my parents came to this place where we are now living. They came here searching for their livelihood from the forest and the rivers. Our small house is on the Big Sibsha riverbank and the other side starts the Sunderban forest. We go for fishing in the deep forest where there are lots of canals and small rivers passing through to the Bay of Bengal.  In the rivers and canal waters are lots of crocodiles and on the land of the forest there is Mama (Royal Bengal Tiger). Mama is very dangerous and we lost many of our fellow fishermen for Mama. There is a two-footed Mama in the deep forest (forest robbers) who kill the poor fishermen who can’t give them money.

     One day in 2016 when I am coming home from fishing I saw a boat and some people sitting in my house. Our fellow fishermen introduced me to Bro. Lemon and his team. We greeted them and hosted them with our cooked fish and crabs as our village tradition. But when I understood that they have come to preach a new religion, then I was fired and refused them and insulted them. They went back but returned again the next month and I saw many of our families were listening to some stories (Bible stories). I was surprised to see my wife sitting there; even my mom was there. I sat beside my wife and try to listen to the stories from Bro. Lemon. It was the story of the ark of Noah and the flood. After the story, Bro. Lemon told us there is another event that is coming and we are going to be destroyed forever, but there is an ark that can save us from eternal destruction. As a fisherman, I understand the value of a boat or a floating thing that can save us from sinking in the water. So I was eagerly waiting to know the ark that can save us from the final destruction. Finally we understand it is not a boat or big ship or ark that we imagined, but a man who looks like us. He is the Son of God who came to our earth more than 2000 years ago to save our soul. If we believe in Him we will be saved. When the meeting was finished I went to Bro. Lemon and told him that I and my whole family will receive Christ as our Saving Ark. Now we have a bamboo and tin shed church house and we have some more families who received Christ and join the church. I told to Bro. Lemon and his team about many villages where they can go and preach the gospel. Please pray for us and for Bangladesh.

VICTORY BAPTIST PRESS—In 1984,Thomas Woodward, founder and pastor of Victory Baptist Church, expressed his compelling desire to see the Scriptures printed and distributed on mission fields around the world at no charge to those who received them. So with nothing more than his strong faith in the God that doeth all things well and a willingness to work at the task, Victory Baptist Press became a reality.

     In May of 1994, Bro. Woodward passed away, and on his recommendation, the church called Tim Fellure as their next pastor. Shortly thereafter I was appointed general director of the printing ministry. Through the years, time has demanded many changes, but at least two things remain the same---our location is still at 4000 Avalon Blvd. in Milton, Florida, and there have been literally millions of Bibles or Bible portions of some sort printed in at least twenty languages and shipped to at least fifty foreign countries and every state in the U.S. with no charge for any Scriptures that VBP has printed.

     In almost every Newsletter that we publish we use the slogan, “Those who support Victory Baptist Press prayerfully and financially are helping send the glorious gospel of Christ around the world in its purest form.” Please pray for the continued blessings of our good Lord on the VBP ministry.  --VBP Director Jim Fellure

EDITOR’S NOTE:  The home church for Munds and FOMMI, Victory Baptist Church,  is the homebase for VBP. Check out their website--victorybaptistpress.com.

Thankful for your prayers and financial support,

Dr. A.W. “Fisher” Mund
Fishers of Men Ministries International
PO Box 400
Bon Secour AL 36511
(251) 752-6474
[email protected]


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Dear Friends:

     We (Lenora and I) were finally back to travelling for meetings (no international flights) and were in the Scranton, PA area.  Lighthouse Independent Baptist Church (Clarks Summit area) and Pastor Don Tantanella have faithfully supported us through the years without me ever being in their church. I enjoyed speaking five times there to some hungry believers, who in turn took excellent care of us.

     We were travelling on to Beaver Falls, PA to be in Valley Baptist Church with Pastor Jeff Seivers, when we got the weather report that Hurricane Sally was threatening the Gulf of Mexico. She switched directions and speed many times, finally landing right in our back door at Gulf Shores, AL on Tuesday night, September 15---a CAT 2 with 105+ winds. We called my daughter and son-in-law to get a report. They had survived with no structural damage to any dwellings (we live in a mother-in-law cottage on their property), but there were two large oak trees leaning against our cottage. After speaking with them we decided to continue with the Wednesday night service at Valley Baptist Church, but to cancel the remaining meetings in Ohio and head home. Pastor Seivers and the members of Valley Baptist Church treated us royally.

     After two long days driving we arrived home and the property looked as if a bomb had exploded (trees down everywhere, debris blanketing the waterlogged ground).  The driveway had been cleared by my two daughters and sons-in-law, so we drove in. They also had worked to clear the leaning trees away from my cottage. What to do?  We changed clothes and went to work. It was hot and humid, with mosquitos biting and ants hiding in the debris to attack there. The next day three of my grandchildren (two boys, one girl) and their families came from Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee with chain saws and other tools, and ice chests of food and water. Everyone, even the kids, picked up, piled, raked, and ran chain saws (even the ladies). We had no electricity for about a week, but a generator was able to maintain our freezer to keep from losing the stored food there (we shared it with my daughter’s freezer…12 hours/12 hours). After a week’s work with chain saws, rakes, and a tractor with a grapple to move and stack piles for pickup, the area looks somewhat back to normal minus about 30 trees. The hand of God was seen often. Just to be alive and saved brought peace, and knowing storms don’t last, you clean up and keep moving forward.

       On the bright side, while storms are in one place, calmness is in another. Our Bangladesh representative, Bro. Lemon, sent us a couple of testimonies that put the fire back in my bones. You will enjoy reading one of these; they are a product of YOUR investment.                                                         

TESTIMONY OF SHEKHOR GOLDER—I am Shekhar Golder. I am a fisherman. My parents and all my brothers, friends, and relatives are fishermen from generation to generation. We live in a village on a riverbank beside the Sunderban mangrove forest. We catch fish and crabs from the rivers in the big forest which is the living place of the big Royal Bengal Tiger, crocodiles, snakes, deer, lots of birds, and other animals. We also collect honey from the forest. We lost many of our relatives and friends who had been attacked by the tigers and crocodiles. Sometimes we lost our children, cattle, and pets and we know who are the killers. Though we live in many problems, still  we love the rivers and the forest because they are the sources of our livelihood.

     We were the idol worshippers and believed that our idol gods will save us from the dangers of the forest, rivers, and natural disasters. Every morning we start our journey in the forest by worshipping the Goddess (we call her Bonodebi) of the Forest. Our forefathers sacrificed the children to her. We had some stories, rumors, and local mythologies that made us obedient idol worshippers and we tried to make happy our different gods and the goddess.

     A few years ago Bro. Lemon and his team came to our village. We ignored and teased him and did not care about what he was saying. Eternal life; Jesus; gospel; salvation; repentance were the new words to us and funny too. It was so funny to us when one day the team introduced themselves as the “Fishers of Men”. After day by day, we started to realize the meaning of those words from the funny Fishers of Men. My wife and I felt hungry for eternal life and we invited personally Bro. Lemon and his team at our small hut and we finally received Christ as our Saviour. We helped Bro. Lemon and his team to reach many unreached villages where the gospel did not preach yet. We are very thankful to our heavenly God who is not only the God of the forest but of the whole universe to save our lives by sending His son, Jesus Christ. And we are very happy to be a part of the Fishing Fields Baptist Church, and to spread His kingdom to our locality. Please pray for me, my family, and the new people we need to introduce our Christ as their Saviour.

     I have personally met this dear brother. Thank God for the gospel that still is the power of God unto salvation!

Continuing on,

 
Dr. A.W. “Fisher” Mund
Fishers of Men Ministries International
PO Box 400
Bon Secour AL 36511
(251) 752-6474
[email protected]


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Dear Friends:

Locked at the Dock—Lenora and I have been dock-side for the last couple of months. This was not by choice but by caution for these 76-year-olds. God has proven good (again) to protect us through this time. Thanks so much for the special concern many have shown. Your care is appreciated and welcomed. We are still spending a lot of time with my 97-year-old mother, caring for her and driving her to doctor appointments, etc. The thing I have been involved in during this time (besides staying close and in touch with all our mission projects) is developing a study on the nation of Israel--a special piece of land where it all began and where it will all end (where is the land, who owns it, and prominent features like major cities, mountains, rivers, trees, animals, etc.). A study in these areas will familiarize and open up the Bible as never before, making Bible reading more enjoyable and understandable. Lenora is keeping it all typed for me. I am about 20% complete at this time.

Mission Lockdown
PHILIPPINES—Bro. Jeph Palit-Ang reports that Fishers of Men Baptist Church has been able to operate at 50% and hopefully at full power in a couple of months. His mother, Rose, underwent heart valve replacement in late July and is recuperating well. She is a special woman, having helped in the forming of many local churches. I have been with her and her husband (Manuel) in many services (outdoor/indoor) where the outcome was a local church being established. We rejoice to see her taken care of by FOMBC, and rejoice to see this self-supporting church continuing on.
BANGLADESH—Bro. Lemon (our national representative) was able to get back to laboring among our 15 small river churches in word and deed. Some had lost all income, food was scarce, but most grow rice and live next to the rivers, giving access to seafood. The new converts are growing spiritually and among them some have even risen to the point of special calling to the ministry. This is exciting because this gives leadership in the new churches. It will be my blessing to see these new workers and help to train them in God’s word in the future. Our two-story church/office/bible school is in the “finish” mode. My next trip (?) will be the dedication of it. I will be glad to put my feet on this special spot. I trust literally thousands of souls will pass through this facility God has given, to hear the word and come to know the true saviour and be trained to reach others. Pray God will give us wisdom to work in this darkened place where Satan does not want truth presented or received. Your help financially has helped us turn the light on in villages, and there has been good response (souls saved).
INDIA—Bro. Varghese writes that the six men (students) who began classes at FOM Bible Institute in October 2019 (2-year program graduating October 2021) continue on with many restrictions due to COVID-19. Bro. Varghese has not been allowed to travel to the school, so his teaching has been only through online Zoom meetings (he lives in Kerala and the school is in Odisha). However there is a good team of faithful area pastors that keep the classes progressing. He mentioned that the Bible Institute students are holding children’s programs weekly (very cautiously). Most of these children come from non-Christian homes and are responding to the gospel. All secular schools are closed due to the virus, and online classes only are available. However very few have laptops or an internet connection, so their education is on hold. Please pray for those Bible school students who try to faithfully visit village after village. (One young pastor was killed recently by an opposing group.)
Literature—Recently we heard from a friend in Massachusetts who teaches a new believers class. It was his second time around using the Anchors of the Faith book. He said he enjoyed seeing the hunger for the word from his students, who completed the eight tests and mailed them to us. Upon completion we offer a certificate (which we sent to them) and congratulate those for their study. This brother’s letter was encouraging. By the way, we still have a stock of AOF before reprinting. Let us know if you would like this correspondence study book and we will make it available to you. Currently most requests come from prisons.
Radio—For many years the programs have been recorded in our office studio, then mailed out to our radio station partners, originally by cassette tape, then CD, and eventually we were able to make the programs available for download online. One of the outreach limitations of the radio ministry has been the varying schedules of each station—it is hard to keep up with what’s on the air when and where. In order to make the programs more rapidly available, we began uploading the programs to podcast platforms just over a year ago. This platform makes all of the programs available in perpetuity in an on-demand fashion so you can listen to the program you want, when you have time. Since there are so many podcast platforms available, we leveraged a service that publishes the programs to almost all of them so that you can access the programs on the platform of your choice. Search for us on your favorite podcast app, or visit this link to find a shortcut to the programs on your preferred app https://anchor.fm/fisher-mund-speaking. If you would like to see this ministry grow, consider sharing this link on your social media pages.
Conclusion—Lord willing, we will leave the dock for the highway in September (new meetings and updates to supporting churches). Please pray for our safety. Even while dockside and only travelling locally, God has been extra good to give us added supporters. Thanks to Lighthouse Baptist Church (Pastor Enfinger and members). It looks like 2020 will be our best yet since 1989. This comes from the investment of prayer and finances from all our supporters, as we cast the bread upon the waters. Special thanks to Fishermen Baptist Church that hosted this ministry for thirty years; there is no way we could be where we are today without them. Victory Baptist Church, Milton, has now stepped to the plate to help us complete our journey (rapture soon). Together we move forward.

 
Continue on,
 
Dr. A.W. “Fisher” Mund
Fishers of Men Ministries International
PO Box 400
Bon Secour AL 36511
(251) 752-6474
[email protected]


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Dear Friends:

    I know most of our readers are as we are, tired of hearing about the viral pandemic that has shut down this globe in some ways. The news media has not given accurate reports of such, so much of the world is left unsure, unprepared and unsafe. While I am not an alarmist, nor an expert in bible prophecy, I can see the handwriting on the wall. This world, especially the nation of Israel, is set to see a fulfillment of Revelation 6-19. I am so glad to know the One who is in control of the future and He has promised to evacuate me before the storm hits (pre-tribulation rapture--1 Thessalonians 1:10, Revelation 4:1).

     Please be assured Lenora and I are well here in Bon Secour. The only suffering we experienced was my hair getting on my ears!  Most everything is open now and hopefully we will soon be back on the road here in the USA and making plans for out-of-the-country travel.

     Let me give you some news from our labor in the fishing fields of southern Bangladesh. China is involved heavily in the seafood industry there. It took days for travel in and out of the country to cease. (It is like a boat going down the middle of the river—the movement of the boat through the water makes waves, but it takes time for the waves to get to the beach.) It wasn’t long before thousands were infected, and the government has not been factual in reporting the total infections and deaths. However, in our fifteen small river churches, no one seems to have developed any symptoms, neither has the ministry staff. (I wonder how you could have social distancing in a country the size of Florida, with 162 million population?  Florida has only 22 million population.) The problem believers there suffered was Cyclone Amphan, a very strong cyclone that hit the Sunderban district on May 21, with winds of 100-120 mph. Our representative said thousands lost their homes (most right on the rivers). The country was already in lockdown, so no work, no income, no food. Some of the church facilities (bamboo and tin construction) were also destroyed. Thankfully there were no deaths and our ministry was able to help with food and other necessities.  One church had already constructed a concrete building, and it was safe. In the future we hope God will provide funds to help build concrete structures for all the small churches so they can withstand the inevitable storms of the future. Our ministry building (concrete) is about half complete and was a great help in providing emergency shelter last month. Our enemy is trying hard to gather the souls of men. He will use every circumstance of life to bring a person to death’s door unprepared. What a wonderful Saviour we have who has given more time to rescue the lost.

     In retrospect (last letter about FOMM Radio), some have asked how they can hear our programs when no station reaches their area. If you can access the internet, simply go to our website (fomm.org) and click on “Audio” and follow instructions. Both programs are available on Apple Podcasts and other platforms.

     Thank you for your faithful prayer and financial support. The hour is late; let’s ….

Continue on,
Dr. A.W. “Fisher” Mund
Fishers of Men Ministries International
PO Box 400
Bon Secour AL 36511
(251) 752-6474
[email protected]

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Please take a moment to read our current prayer letter and The Cast Net. Thank you for your faithful prayer and financial support for this ministry. We would like to hear from you. See our contact information.

Click these blue underlined links to read or save a copy of our prayer letter and The Cast Net.

Keep fishing!

Dr. A.W. "Fisher" Mund
Fishers of Men Ministries International

Please take a moment to read our current prayer letter and The Cast Net. Thank you for your faithful prayer and financial support for this ministry. We would like to hear from you. See our contact information.

Click these blue underlined links to read or save a copy of our prayer letter and The Cast Net.

Keep fishing!

Dr. A.W. "Fisher" Mund
Fishers of Men Ministries International

Please take a moment to read our current prayer letter and The Cast Net. Thank you for your faithful prayer and financial support for this ministry. We would like to hear from you. See our contact information.

Click these blue underlined links to read or save a copy of our prayer letter and The Cast Net.

Keep fishing!

Dr. A.W. "Fisher" Mund
Fishers of Men Ministries International