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| What a difference a week can make. Everyone is well
now and the head-colds are gone. The tour of PCC went well, and
we enjoyed seeing everything they have to offer. I was awed at
the size of the campus church. We enjoyed a wonderful service
this past Wednesday at Berean Baptist Church in Elberta. We had
dinner with the pastor and his wife before service and then had a
great service with the congregation. It was truly a
blessing. Thursday morning (6:00am flight) I left the family in
Pensacola while I flew up to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and then drove
down to Elkton, Maryland for a short visit with Maranatha Baptist
Church. Their conference began Thursday and was running through
Sunday, but I could only make Thursday and Friday. I had a great
time while I was there and felt right at home in this family of
believers. The church was receptive of our ministry and
interested in us personally as well. I stayed in the men's
dormitory for their Bible College and had excellent meals each day
with the other missionaries, staff and students! On Saturday
morning I drove back to Philadelphia to catch another early morning
flight (7:00am this time) back down to Pensacola. I arrived back
to the RV park around 12:15 and the family was already sitting in the
truck with the house all packed up, ready to go. We hit the road
as soon as I attached the house to the truck (the one thing Melissa
still won't do.....) and we made the trip up to Dalton, Georgia,
arriving around 9:00pm that evening. We are staying (once again)
on the grounds of New Life Baptist Church here in Dalton. Bro.
Spence is a wonderful host and continues to make his RV hookups
available to our family each time we are in the area. They are
truly a blessing. We will be here for the next week-and-a-half
as we have other meetings in this area. Yesterday morning we had
services with Iglesia Bautista Palabra de Vida here in Dalton.
As you can tell, it is a Spanish-speaking church. I met Pastor
Gamez last year during the conference here at New Life Baptist Church
and he invited us to come back whenever we would be in the area.
I knew we'd be here today, so he allowed us to come and be with
them. I did preach during the morning service, while Pastor
Gamez translated. I attempted to use what Spanish I knew, and
the people seemed to understand everything I said, so that was a
blessing! After service I left (the family stayed in Dalton) for
Liberty Baptist Church in Church Hill, Tennessee. It was a
little over 4 hour drive. I enjoyed an evening service with
them, wherein I presented our ministry and preached as well.
After service they had a monthly birthday celebration and I was able
to stay and fellowship with the people for that. I utilized
their prophet's chamber last night, rather than make the 4 hour trip
home in the middle of the night. I arrived back here in Dalton
around 1:00p. As a side note, I will mention that my luggage,
which left with me from Philadelphia on Saturday, arrived here in
Dalton this afternoon as well! It did not make the connecting
flight in Memphis, Tennessee and has been steadily working it's way
back towards us. We are glad to have it back because our
missionary display was part of the luggage that was missing! On
a closing note, I was notified today that we also have a new
supporting church. Temple Baptist Church in Statesville, North
Carolina became our newest financial partner, bringing us up to
43.48%!
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| Street
sign for Berean Baptist Church in Elberta, AL |
Outside
of their main building. |
Sanctuary
for BBC in Elberta |
Addie
played with Bethany before service. |
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| Some
of the missionaries supported by BBC. |
Another
missionary display, this one highlighting the prayer cards of supported
missionaries. |
Signs
above the door as you exit the sanctuary at BBC. |
Addie
found another friend. This is Bethany's sister, Hannah. |
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| Braden
poses for a shot on the campus of Pensacola Christian College. The
college water tower is in the far background. |
This
is the main sanctuary for Iglesia Bautista Palabra de Vida (Word of Life
Baptist Church) in Dalton, GA. |
Street
sign for IBPDV. |
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| Today was a travel day. We are currently
"suffering for the Lord" just outside of Pensacola,
Florida. Tomorrow is supposed to be a frigid 66 degrees....oh
wait, that's not all that cold! We are thankful to have finally
found a little warm air down here in the deep south. It's felt
like we were much farther north for the past week or two. But,
it's not to last. This coming Thursday I am leaving the family
here in Pensacola while I fly into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and then
drive down to Northern Maryland, for a mission conference there.
They are calling for a lot of snow and very cold temperatures during
that time, so I'm going to get a blast of winter weather for
myself! In other news, we did enjoy a couple of good meetings
yesterday. Our morning meeting was at Bellingrath Road Baptist
Church in Theodore, Alabama. This was a very friendly church and
we enjoyed our time with them, both during the service as well as
after the service during lunch at the pastor's home, with a few of the
other church members. Then, as we did not have an evening
meeting scheduled we "dropped in" at Shelton Beach Road
Baptist Church in Saraland, Alamaba. I had just recently found
their information on the internet and wanted to take the opportunity
to meet them personally. They were very receptive of our
ministry, and you could easily see that they were a mission-minded
church. We will be keeping in touch with them and look forward
to the possibility of coming back to visit them again, and in
presenting our ministry fully. Tomorrow we are planning a short
field-trip to Pensacola Christian College. Melissa and I (and
the children) want to see the campus firsthand. We've heard a
lot about it, and of course the children use Abeka so it is referenced
to on occassion. We are looking forward to this
opportunity. On wednesday we will be meeting with Berean Baptist
Church in Elberta, Alabama (not as far away as it sounds). Melissa and I are both trying to fight with a slight head cold still,
but other than that everyone is well.
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| The
kids just finished setting up the display for our morning meeting at
Bellingrath Road Baptist Church. |
The
main sanctuary at BRBC. |
I'm
speaking with one of their guests (a long time friend of the pastor) prior
to the service. |
Another
member helps me with getting the sound system connected for our
presentation. |
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| One
of their two missionary displays, this one highlighting recent letters
from their missionaries. |
Another
missionary display, this one showing cards and locations of their
missionaries. |
This
Blue Angel jet is on display at the welcome center, just across the
Florida/Alabama state line. |
Our
new home here in Milton, Florida, just east of Pensacola. They
really cram you into this spaces! |
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| We moved yesterday from Decatur, Alabama down to Theodore,
Alabama (right on the Gulf of Mexico). It is COLD. But,
God was gracious in allowing us to leave the "northern" part
of Alabama, where they are expected to receive a few inches of snow
today. Here it is just the watery form of precipitation!!
This past Wednesday we enjoyed a return visit with Greenbrier Baptist
Church in Madison, Alabama. We had the opportunity to visit with
them last year, and they asked us to come back when we were in the
area, so we took the opportunity. Now we are on the grounds of
Bellingrath Road Baptist Church here in Theodore, and will be with
them during their Sunday morning services tomorrow. We are
anticipating a walk-in visit with another church in Saraland, Alabama
tomorrow evening. Everyone is doing well. We continue to
thank God for everything He has provided for us, and are looking
forward to our move to Texas in August.
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| Our
"home" at Point Mallard Park in Decatur, Alabama. |
Addie
Grace enjoys getting a bit of warmth from the hot air register at
Greenbrier Baptist Church. There were just a few snow flurries as we
were arriving! |
The
main sanctuary at GBC. It's hard to see in this picture, but Pastor
Lowery and I are standing up front talking. |
August
and Addie are reading some tracts while waiting for the service to begin. |
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| Our
"home" sitting behind Bellingrath Road Baptist Church in
Theodore, Alabama. |
The
front-left side of the church. It just stopped raining a little bit
ago and water is standing everywhere! |
Street
sign for BRBC. |
The
other side of the church (front-right side). |
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| Our "longest day" is over and we are basically
recuperated. Yesterday was a great day, but it was also very
long! We began the morning with a relatively short 30 minute
drive from Decatur, Alabama to Somerville, Alabama for a meeting with
Community Baptist Church. This was a unique meeting in that I
never called this pastor about scheduling a meeting. Somehow,
and I'm really not sure how, he got on our list to receive our email
prayer letters. He had been receiving them for quite some time
and they were a blessing to him, so they invited us to come in and
present our work. The services went wonderfully and Pastor Bond
indicated that the church would be voting on whether to partner with
our ministry in the next couple of weeks, with the odds being very
high that they would vote to do so. That is certainly a
blessing! After this meeting we hit the road for a 4-hour drive
down to Troy, Alabama and a meeting at God's Way Baptist Church.
I explained the circumstances surrounding this meeting in my last
post! This meeting went equally well and was a great blessing to
our family. Pastor Teal informed me that the church would be
voting on partnering with our ministry on or before February 1st, and
again it looks very promising that this will be a "yes"
vote! So, two meetings yesterday and possibly two new supporting
churches in the next couple of weeks. That is always a
blessing! After the services last night we drove 4.5 hours back
to Decatur, Alabama, arriving home around 1:30a.m. this morning.
The first 2.5 hours of the drive weren't too bad. The next 30
minutes weren't too good. But the last hour was simply
miserable, as I was very tired. But, as much as I did not like
the drive I thank the Lord for the opportunities that he is opening
unto us. We have been praying that He will allow us to finish
deputation in 2 years, and we are making plans to depart for language
school in August in conjunction with those prayers. I believe
that He is opening these doors unto us in response to those prayers,
and I am grateful for His provision in this way! This coming
Wednesday we have a meeting scheduled with Greenbrier Baptist Church
in Madison, Alamaba. This is another follow-up meeting, much
like the one at God's Way Baptist Church, where we were asked to come
back for one last meeting with the mission committee prior to their
vote. On our prior visit a few of the members were absent and
they would like to hear our ministry presentation. We look
forward to the way in which the Lord will use this opportunity, as
well, to provide the support that we need for this ministry. The
photos below are of our meetings yesterday, and we trust that they will
be a blessing to you.
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| Street
sign for Community Baptist Church in Somerville, Alabama. |
The
outside of the main sanctuary at CBC. |
The
inside of the sanctuary |
Missions
board for CBC. |
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| I'm
busy hooking up the audio for our presentation at CBC. |
August
and Braden sitting as I walk up while we wait for the services to begin at
God's Way Baptist Church in Troy, Alabama. |
Church
covenant at GWBC. |
Missions
Board at GWBC. |
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| Dedication
stone for GWBC. |
Street
sign for GWBC. |
The
outside of the center of the building at GWBC. It was dark when we
arrived, so outside pictures didn't turn out very well. |
The
inside of the sanctuary at GWBC. Everything about this church is
very well built and maintained! |
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| Following
the service, Pastor Teal performed a baptism for a young lady who was
recently saved. |
Pastor
Teal's wife plays the piano for the services. |
Some
of the members fellowship following the service. |
I'm
speaking with one of the members at our display after the service. |
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| Pastor
Teal's wife with their daughter waiting in the foyer following the evening
service. |
The
children were fascinated with the large spider on our display. |
More
children admiring the spider and other "bugs" on the display. |
Addie
Grace plays with the other kids after the service. |
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| Good morning from Statesboro, Georgia. I wanted to
take a moment and give an update as to how things are going for us
down here. God is blessing and things are going very well.
Most of my time is being spent making phone calls to finish filling
our meeting schedule through August of this year. Since the 1st
of the year I have been able to schedule 13 more meetings. This
includes a couple of special meetings which were scheduled yesterday,
one of which I'd like to share with you. Last year we had an
open Sunday so we stopped by and visited with God's Way Baptist Church
in Troy, Alabama. Pastor Teal proved himself to be very
hospitable and provided me time to preach and share our ministry with
him and his church, although they generally only have missionaries in
during their mission conference. They then had their conference
in the fall and were able to take on all of the missionaries
present. He called me yesterday to say that the Lord has blessed
them abundantly and they are going to be taking on missionaries
mid-year, which is another unusual action for them. He
remembered our visit and has been receiving our prayer letters and
wants us to come back this coming Sunday evening to give an update to
the church and meet the missions committee! That is quite a
blessing. These types of unusual events continue to clearly
demonstrate the Lord's provision for our ministry through His unique
methods. In other news, we are still here in Statesboro, having
arrived on Monday. The church is having revival services this
week, so we are being able to participate in those as well. The
services conclude tonight, which is also when I will be presenting our
ministry. It's a long story, but it's another unique situation
that the Lord opened up and through which I believe He will bless our
ministry. Melissa and the kids are well, though they seem to be
trying to pass around some sort of slight head cold. Please pray
that this would not be a distraction. Please also pray for our
meetings this coming Sunday. We will be staying in Decatur,
Alabama and have a morning meeting in that area. However, the
evening meeting in Troy (mentioned above) is a 4-hour drive from the
morning meeting. It's going to be a long day, but it was a
God-given opportunity that we could not pass up on, and we look
forward to what He will do through it.
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| August
poses for a quick shot before service. |
One
side of the main sanctuary here at Bible Baptist Church in Statesboro. |
We
are at our display after the service on Tuesday evening. |
A
special banner announcing the revival services. |
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| Another
view of the foyer as people fellowship following the service. |
I'm
speaking with Bro. Ralph Cepce, missionary to Trinidad sent from this
church. |
Our
house, sitting behind the church. They have a very nice wooded
section back here for us with water and 50amp power. |
Another
shot of our house. |
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| Hard
to make out, but this is their sports-field, with what looks like 2 full
size soccer fields. |
This
is the back-side of the church from the playground. You can see the
front of the church in the poster above. |
Their
playground There is more equipment off to the left which is not seen
in this photo.. |
Their
activity bus. |
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| Greetings from what is NOW warm, sunny Georgia! As
we looked forward to 2008 we were grateful that the Lord was going to
allow us to spend the first couple months in the deep south,
protecting us from the frigid temperatures of the north.
However, when we arrived near Atlanta last week the highs were only in
the 30's, with lows at night in the teens (and in the single digits,
with wind chills). That was definitely not what we were
expecting. But, all is well in the world now. Today the
high is going to be above 70, and I just checked the weather forecast
and was pleased to see that the high every day for the next 5
days is above 70, with lows in the 40's. That's much more like
it!! At this moment we are sitting near Jackson, Georgia, at
High Falls State Park. We will be leaving here this afternoon
and driving to Statesboro, Georgia. Where is Statesboro?
Find Savannah, Georgia on your map and go about 55 miles NW and you
will see Statesboro. So, that will put us within about an hour
of the Atlantic Ocean. Since entering into 2008 we have had the
privilege to present our ministry 3 times. The first was last
Wednesday at Landmark Baptist Church in Loganville, Georgia. The
meeting went well, but unfortunately we have no photos to share with
you. The other 2 meetings were yesterday. The morning
meeting was at Freedom Baptist Church in McDonough, Georgia.
This is a 1-year old church that is growing very well. We
thoroughly enjoyed our time with this group of believers. We
were also very surprised and excited when they voted immediately
following our presentation to begin immediately supporting our
ministry! With another small change that we had to make this
month to our support level we are now past the 42% mark. It's
going to take a big step, but we're praying that the Lord would allow
us to pass 50% in the month of January. Thankfully, we serve a
BIG God, and if this is His will it will not be a problem for Him to
provide! Our evening meeting yesterday was at Victory Baptist
Church in Macon, Georgia. This was another excellent
meeting. After the service we had the opportunity to fellowship
with the church at a reception they were holding for one of their
members, who is leaving Friday to begin training for deployment to
Iraq. Please continue to pray for us during January, as we have
8 more scheduled meetings, including one that I will be flying to on
my own (I'll explain that one more as it draws closer).
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| Our
house parked at High Falls State Park in Jackson, Georgia. This is a
beautiful park, and one that we would love to explore if we had more time! |
The
river running at the base of the "mountain" that we are
beside. The low water level here in Georgia certainly makes it less
attractive, but it still looks like fun. |
These
are some of the lower falls. We could see the high falls from the
road, but not well enough to get a good photo. |
Another
view of the lower falls. It's hard to make out in the photo, but
their is an old abandoned building to the left. It is begining to
cave in, which actually adds to its charm. |
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| This
dam is just before the high falls and crates a large lake for the
community. |
This
is the section of the river just past the dam. It is almost barren
because of the low water level. I can only imagine what it looks
like after a good rainfall! |
Road
sign for Victory Baptist Church in Macon, Georgia. |
The
front of their main building. There are two seperate buildings, one
to the left and one to the right, attached by enclosed walk-ways. |
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| August
is preparing for an exam tomorrow while we wait for the service to begin
(we were an hour early). |
The
inside of the main sanctuary, showing the right 2 rows of pews. |
People
are beginning to arrive. I changed one of the settings on the camera
and forget to set it back, so several of the pictures are going to be a
little blurry! |
Jim
Waters (the man heading to Iraq) and I speak following the service. |
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| We
only saw one side of the sign coming in. We saw this on the way out
and of course had to get a quick picture! |
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