Quarterly: Doug &

ISSUE XXI DECEMBER 2017

Mesi
L A S T C A L L M I N I S T R I E S

S P E C I A L
P O I N T S O F
I N T E R E S T :
The Mesi-sphere
 What’s New with Lately I haven’t updated Noah being four years teer two days a week at
Mesi…(right).
our supporters on what’s old and already at- the clinic in a local child-
 File-sharing Evan-
new with Mesi, my dear tending a local pre- care center that ministers
gelism News. Pg.
2 wife and helper in the school, Mesi has to orphans and the poorest
 International ministry. As many of you more time for other of the poor. The organiza-
Ministry. Pg. 3 know, Mesi graduated things. Instead of al- tion, Operation Rescue
 Parnter Ministry: with a BA in Nursing, but lowing her nursing Ethiopia (ORE), recently
Operation Res-
cue Ethiopia didn’t go to work as a skills to become dull took on an extra 200 chil-
(ORE). Pg. 3
nurse after graduation for too long, we dren. This has increased
 Support & Con- since not long afterward prayed about it and the demand for skilled vol-
tact Info. Pg. 4
she became pregnant decided it would be unteers to be on site with
 Addis Abeba Trip.
Pg. 4. with Noah. These days, great for her to volun- the children for all aspects
of their lives. Mesi, being
filled with God’s Spirit, lov-
ing people, and using her
giftedness, is serving
Pray for Mesi’s Wednes- alongside other locals to
days and Fridays at Op- minister to the children in
eration Rescue Ethiopia word and deed. Noah’s
(ORE) Clinic, where she school is right across the
gets to minister to chil- street, so every Wednes-
dren with her nursing day and Friday, he also
skills her practice of God’s gets to visit the center and
play there after school! For
more information about
Left: Mesi and her partner,
Birho, at the clinic ready to this childcare project, take
serve the Lord! a look at page 3! DM.
P a g e 2 Q u a r t e r l y :
F i l e - S h a r i n g
For over one year I traveled
throughout the region of Ti-
gray training and equipping
Evangelical Christians with
software to file-share the au-
dio New Testament, audio-
visual Bible stories and the
JESUS film, all in the local lan-
guage. I was on the road quite
a bit and saw several cities
and towns where the gospel
is being broadcast in this new
manner—file-sharing evangel-
ism. It is exciting to know that
God is using indigenous be-
lievers to share His Word with
their family, friends,
neighbors and countrymen in
a relevant way! Nearly 500
mini SD memory cards were
distributed to believers for the
spread of God’s Word. At this
time, our stock being de-
pleted, all trainings and fol-
While at the barber shop
recently with my son,
Noah, getting a haircut,
just after having shared
the audio-visual Bible
story files with a young
lady who works there and
was interested in having it
on her phone.
E va n g e l i s m
low-ups are postponed until
February, when we’ll look to
have our software stock re-
plenished by LCM partners
in the USA. In the mean-
time, I am busy studying the
local language (hard work!),
witnessing to locals and ex-
pats one-on-one (and using
the file-sharing method!),
leading an international fel-
lowship, teaching a Bible
study on marriage, and visit-
ing the childcare center
(ORE) to partner with them
from time to time. Of
course, Mesi is there at the
clinic two days a week, so I
have a great reason to go
up there! But, as already
D o u g & M e s i
N e w s
mentioned, our stock is due
to be replenished when a few
partners from the States
make a visit here. Lord will-
ing, 750 mini SD memory
cards will be in our hands,
and we will train more con-
gregations, small groups,
ministers, etc., to use the file-
sharing method to broadcast
these audio-visual Bible files!
Pray for us as we press on to
saturate the region with the
gospel message in a format
relevant to this generation
and in a manner most appli-
cable to this oral-learning cul-
ture. And pray for our part-
ners due to make a trip in
February. DM
I S S U E X X I P a g e 3

I n t e r n a t i o n a l C h r i s t i a n f e l l o w s h i p
Our international Christian fellowship is a venue in
which Christians from abroad may hear the word of
God preached, as well as pray and sing praises to
God on the Lord’s Day while they are away from their
countries, churches and homes. We have regular
Lord’s Day services, Tuesday night Bible study on
“Marriage and the Family”, and more. Our focus is on
teaching the Scriptures and reforming the under-
standing of our “members” in regards to Christianity.
Pentecostalism/Neo-pentecostalism, Catholicism,
Eastern Orthodoxy, Emergent “Churchism” and more
are among the backgrounds of those attending our
services. We delight to help fine-tune the various
views on Christianity by teaching the sound doctrines
of the Holy Bible. Many who come hear the doctrines
of grace for the first time, hear the Bible preached
expositorily for the first time, and hear the gospel
clearly presented for the first time. Many times, those
who have attended our services were not even aware
that they held views antithetical to Scripture before
hearing the preaching. Through this venue, we reach
Ethiopians, South Sudanese, Nigerians and other Afri-
can nations, Filipinos, Indians, Europeans and more.
Mesi cares for the children of those who attend,
teaching them Bible stories, prayers and praises. Pray
for us as we endeavor to glorify God in this fellowship.

O p e r a t i o n R e s c u e E t h i o p i a ( O R E )
The Clinic at which Mesi volunteers her heart and her time is a
childcare project called Operation Rescue Ethiopia (ORE).
Though we are not officially a part of this project, we have been
volunteering heartily for years through teaching the Scriptures to
the orphans and poorest of the poor who benefit from the pro-
ject. The project is maintained through sponsorship of the chil-
dren and their extended families who otherwise would not be
able to house the children or care for them. Sponsorship of a
child costs 40 USD per month and is donated either by mail or
Pay Pal. For details refer to the following website:
www.fieldsofpromise.org
L A S T C A L L About LCM: Last Call Ministries is a 501c3 Organization which
M I N I S T R I E S
began in 1997. For the last 20 years, LCM has been “proclaiming
the gospel of Jesus Christ, until He returns, in word, letter and
To Support: PO Box 5457, Shreveport, LA deed.” LCM is currently sponsoring Doug & Mesi, who are com-
71171 USA missioned by their home church: Heritage Baptist Church in
To Contact: Phone: 318-458-9602
Shreveport, Louisiana. All monies received are currently in sup-
Email: joespell@keptprivate.com (Joe Spell)
Correspond w/ Doug & Mesi: PO Box 1944, port of the budgeted work underway in Tigray. 2017 marks the
Mekele, Tigray, Ethiopia; 20th anniversary of the organization’s beginning. We rejoice in
Email: dglsmerrick@yahoo.com the years of God’s gracious extent of the gospel!

Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ un-

til He returns, in word, letter and deed!!!

LCM
We’re on Facebook! Go to: Or go to: Douglas Merrick ‘Add friend’
Partnership-Doug & Mesi Merrick-Last & then message me to request the
Call Ministries’ Mission Workers. . . Partnership Page for Doug & Mesi. . .

A d d i s A b e b a T r i p

The last week of 2017 to the first week of January 2018, our family took
its annual trip to the capitol, Addis Abeba, to renew my Residence Permit
(successfully!) and also just to rest from the constant activity of our minis-
try in Mekele. We lodged at a guest house sponsored by Indigenous Out-
reach International (IOI), hosted by Brian and Cindy Denker, who showed
us abundant hospitality! We also visited Korean friends, attended a wed-
ding and took part in ministering to a church plant in the countryside just
outside the city limits. It was truly a blessing. Thanks to God! DM