5 FEB 2001- PRAISE & PRAY from the HILLS of JAPAN "Precious in the sight of the LORD, is the death of His saints." Psalm 116:15 I have re-started this email several times now. Our grief is overwhelming, and yet God is sufficient. Bruce Morrison is my cousin. He, his wife Val & family have served in China teaching at Universities for 15 or so years intending this to be their life's work. Faithful witnesses, humbly serving, always believing God at His Word and living it. Being missionaries, our schedules rarely matched up. But I was always blessed by our fellowship. On one occasion, Bruce compared the thrill of witnessing for Jesus Christ to the "rush" his older brother got from skydiving. On another he compared his life's work in China to Proverbs 30 : 28, "a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings' palaces." One illustration of this follows. One day, they were having a regular Bible Study at the back tables of a fast food restaurant, the manager being one of the study group. On a particular day, aggressive foreign tourists out front of this location, who were passing out evangelistic tracts were escorted away by the authorities. Meanwhile, Bruce continued to lead the study undisturbed, in the "palaces" of China. You must understand that he lived with the people. His ability in the Chinese language was well known. but he was not "known" for that. Rather, for their humble, open, loving home Bruce and Val were famous. Thus they boldly, quietly, tactfully, appropriately, and uncompromisingly lived as ambassadors of Jesus Christ's love and truth. Bruce, was stabbed and killed in Wuhan, China on Saturday at 2PM. He had gone to the church to prepare for a youth activity. Someone he knew was the one who held the knife. His friends rushed him to a nearby clinic, but it was too late. Bruce did not suffer long. We praise the Lord for that. PRAY FOR: * VAL - She has 6 girls (7 years old and younger) to take care of alone. Pray that the Lord will help her make all the decisions she has to make in the coming days. Pray for her to be the witness for Christ that she wants to be for her husband's killer. * THE GIRLS - Hannah, Victoria, Esther, Loice, Charity, & Mary * PARENTS - Paul & Lenore Morrison in New Orleans, LA and Malcomb & Barbara Hughes in Albia, Iowa. * SIBLINGS - Mr. Tim Morrison, Bruce's oldest brother, Houston, TX; Mr. Phil Morrison, older brother, Concord, NH; and Mrs. Amy Little, older sister & missionary, Guinea, West Africa. * PRAY THE WORK OF THE LORD - that Bruce and Val have invested their lives in. The following is a quote from an email that we received from Val's father. "Val seems to be doing OK considering. She said that the Lord had prepared her that morning in Family devotions in Isaiah 54:4,5,13,17. She is holding onto the promises and is looking forward to a great harvest of souls from this." The following was the way Bruce signed off on the last email we received from them. "... Gratefully, Bruce and Val with Six Pillars Being Sculptured in Palace Style (Psalm 144:12) Hannah, Victoria, Esther, Loice, Mary, Charity Our current Scripture, Theme, and Quality: * Matt 5:43-48 * Loving your enemies is a test of protection. * Faith, which is confidence that doing the right thing will bring the best outcome, even when I cannot see how." So I say to you, PRAY for this harvest of souls. Also, "Beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field of China." The following was the way Bruce signed off on the last email we received from him. "... Gratefully, Bruce and Val with Six Pillars Being Sculptured in Palace Style (Psalm 144:12) Hannah, Victoria, Esther, Loice, Mary, Charity Our current Scripture, Theme, and Quality: * Matt 5:43-48 * Loving your enemies is a test of protection. * Faith, which is confidence that doing the right thing will bring the best outcome, even when I cannot see how." Pray for Cheryl & I and the kids as we mourn the loss of our beloved Bruce. Thank you for your ever faithful prayers. We praise God for you! Your Compatriots in Christ's Kingdom, The Hills: Abigail, Jeffrey, Cheryl & Leon PS Please continue to pray for Takashi Nakaminami and for his salvation! -- LHH