Wel l, Christ mas & New Year

are past us and we are wel l

int o 2013 ! Our hol iday sea-
son saw t he privil ege of pur-
chasing 3 0 new bl anket s f or
our Poor Friends minist ry.
Each mont h we visi t several
homes of t he poor and
needy, bringing provisions of f ood and t he word
of God. We ve been at it now f or more t han six
years, going t o each home t o speak of sal vat ion
by f ait h al one in Christ al one, t aki ng
al ong wit h us t he evidence of God s good-
ness and mercy. From t ime t o t ime t hat
has incl uded bl anket s f or t he col d sea-
son. Mekel e is nest l ed in t he hil l s of
nort hern Et hiopi a and t he wint er t ime is
dry and col d. Many of t he bl anket s we d
given in t he past are al ready t orn apart
by t he dry weat her, being hand-washed
and dried in t he sun of a high al t it ude
area. We d received many request s f or
bl anket s as t he col d weat her had al ready
set in, and so Mesi and I prayed f or pro-
vision t o be abl e t o meet t his need. God
answered swif t l y and a much-needed gif t
came in t he same day! The next day, I
was of f t o t he whol esal e suppl ier of bl an-
ket s wi t h a young Fil ipino named Marwel l
who at t ends our Lord s Day services. He and I
haul ed t he bl anket s back t o my home in t he 3-
wheel ed Bajaj t axi and st acked t hem up. The
very next morning, Mesi and I were of f t o Poor
Friends homes again wit h warm gif t s! DM
~ A W A R M G I F T ~
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2 :10
I N S I D E T H I S
I S S U E :
A Warm Gi f t cover
On Mi ssi on w/ Mesi 2
Expect i ng a Baby! 2
14t h IOI Conf erence 3
Cont act Inf o 4
Sport Fri ends 4

L A S T C A L L M I N I S T R I E S
Quarterl y: D oug & M esi
Partnershi ps
FEBRUARY 2013 ISSUE X
Mesi, my bel oved hel per in l if e and min-
ist ry is absol ut el y indispensabl e. God
has t horoughl y equipped me t o be on
t he mission f iel d by put t ing me on mis-
sion wit h Mesi! Her nat ural command of
t he Tigrinya l anguage, her l ove f or t he
Lord Jesus, her personal t est imony of
having suf f ered need whil e maint aining
a generous disposit ion and her gif t of
rugged endurance are qual it ies she sup-
pl ement s t o our ef f ort s: she makes
much of t he name of Jesus Christ ! On
December 21st , 201 2, she and I ven-
t ured t o several of t he homes we have
f requent ed over t he years and dist ribut -
ed t he bl anket s in t he name of t he Lord
Jesus t o each of our Poor Friends. The-
se are t he phot os we t ook. On De-
cemeber 24, t he f oll owing Monday, bet -
t er known as Christ mas Eve, Mesi went
t o a l ocal cl inic f or a check up. She had
been f eel ing quit e dif f erent physical l y,
and was compl aining of an upset st om-
ach. Back f rom t he cl inic, Mesi was al l
smil esshe said she wasn t real l y sick
but had some new condit ion. I t ol d her
t o just t o l et me have it ! Wit h an ear t o
ear t o smil e she excl aimed t hat she was
pregnant ! Mesi and I are expect ing a
chil d, probabl y bet ween July and August
of 2013, Lord wil l ing. This new devel op-
ment has begun t o charact erize our ac-
t ivit ies and our l ives even now. We
praise God f or His marvel ous grace and
providence in gif t ing us in t his way! Me-
si is going t o be a mot her. DM
O n M i s s i o n w i t h M e s i
P a g e 2
M esi i s
expect i ng a
chi l d!!!!
Q u a r t e r l y : D o u g & M e s i
enant and showed the r eason for the captiv-
ity and the need for an unfailing divine cov-
enant head. I am happy I was assigned the
subject for I believe many minister s ap-
pr oach Lamentations with a sense of intimi-
dation. Some of the minister s exclaimed
they wer e encour aged in looking at the
study and wer e stimulated to study their Bi-
bles mor e in light of the understanding re-
ceived. Pr aise the God of all light who gives
under standing, knowledge and wisdom to
those who ask Him! Dur ing our tr ip to Ad-
dis, Mesi & I also r enewed my passpor t ( its
been 10 years!) , the contr act on our house
in Mekele, and applied for a 5-year r esi-
dence per mit for me. All things wer e suc-
cessful, with the r eceipt of the r esidence
per mit pending to a later date! DM
P a r t n e r i n g : I O I 2 0 1 3 ( 1 4 t h )
A n n u a l C o n f e r e n c e
P a g e 3 I S S U E X
M esi praises the Lord with past ors &
evangel ists f rom dif f erent parts of
Ethiopia
Januar y 2013Mesi & I joined par tner s in min-
istr y, I ndi genous Outr each I nter nati onal ( I OI ) ,
in Addis Abeba for the I OI 14th Annual Confer -
ence. The subject matter assigned was God the
The Covenant Keeper , with speaker s teaching
on the divine covenants of God with man, spe-
cifically, The Abr ahami c Covenant, the Davi di c
Covenant, Babylon: Capti vi ty & the Need for
Redempti on, the New Covenant, and the Holy
Spi r i t. Over all, the confer ence was ver y helpful
in its r eview of Gods r edemptive dealings with
men, and Mesi and I wer e absolutely honor ed
and thr illed to be included in the schedule. The
par t assigned to me was Babylon: the Capti vi ty
& the Need for Redempti on. I n this, I attempted
to unfold the covenantal r eflections in the poet-
r y of Lamentations. I t r eflected upon the sover -
eign bond in blood instituted in the Mosaic Cov-
I OI Partners Patrick Beard & Negash Gemeda
info@ioiusa.org
www.ioiusa.org
represented through a variet y of teach-
ings from the Bible, through games,
t hrough drama, etc. We had such a
great t ime forging relat ionships with
kids of all ages and enjoyed the pro-
spect of future conversat ions and in-
fluence granted t o us t hrough such a
comprehensive sport s evangeli sm
program. We continue t o hold weekly
Bible studies with the players and t he
local Sport Friends Rep, Rezana, on
Monday nights. It is to several of the-
se players also t hat we have recent ly
handed out New Testament s in t he
Tigrinya language, praise be to God!
Please pray for Rezana, for us, for t he
players here in Mekele, and also for
t he efforts nation wide through sport s
evangelism. DM
For the last 3 years, Mesi & I have sponsored local
foot ball (soccer) teams among t he youth, endeav-
oring t o have an evangelist ic t hrust . We gave out
t racts, New Test aments and even held meetings in
our homes in which we preached the gospel t o the
young people. Beginning last year, we began part -
nering wit h the local Sport Friends Rep, Rezana,
an evangelical Christ ian who has spent around 5
years working wit h local foot ball t eams and shar-
ing God s Word wit h them. It has been a joy t o
partner with him and see the Lord use us all t o
reach t hese young people with the message of
salvat ion t hrough faith in Christ alone! For three
days, the Sports Friends Internat ional reps from
Camp Langano in southern Et hiopia came to work
with Rezana s t eams and hold a training camp. It
was physically int ense, and required us to spend
t ime focused on the kids in sports activit ies as
well as more int imate spiritual discussions based
upon the themes for each day. Daily themes in-
cluded Unit y, Faithfulness and Trust. These were
To Support: PO Box 4203,
Shreveport, LA 71134 USA
To Contact: Phone: 318-458-9602;
Email: joespell@keptprivate.com
To Correspond w/ Doug & Mesi:
PO Box 1944, Mekele, Tigray,
Ethiopia; Email:
dglsmerrick@yahoo.com
About LCM: Last Call Ministries is a 501c3 Organi-
zation which began in 1997. Its inception rose out of
a growing fellowship of believers interested in gospel
evangelism primarily within the inner city of Shreve-
port, Louisiana. Currently LCM partners with several
gospel mission works around the world, including
Brazil, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Mexico, & Bayou Du
Large ( S. Louisiana ) . LCM is currently sponsoring
Doug & Mesi, who are commissioned by their home
church: Heritage Baptist Church in Shreveport, Loui-
siana. All monies received are currently in the sup-
port of the budgeted work underway in Mekele, Ethio-
pia.
L A S T C A L L
M I N I S T R I E S
P a r t n e r i n g : S p o r t F r i e n d s
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
Local Pl ayers wi t h Trai ners f rom Sport Fri ends
I nt l Reps, February 1 , 2013
LCM
Wer e on
Fac ebook! Go
t o:
Par t ner shi p-
Doug & Mes i
Mer r i c k -Last
Cal l Mi ni st r i es
Mi ssi on
Wor ker s