Betty and I are still in Bridgeport and God is allowing us to be used of Him. I thank Him for the chance to preach and the chance to be with such wonderful people.
On Thursday night I preached on “Now or Never” were the children of Israel had their chance to go in to the Promise land and take the promises of God but made an irreversible mistake and missed out on God’s best for their lives. We do not want that to happen in our lives. One mistake led to them wandering in the wilderness for the next 40 years and never truly enjoying the abundant life that God had for them.
Yesterday I played golf with the men of the church. I didn’t embarrass you too bad but it was pretty pathetic. I did have a good time of fellowship and they are a great group of men. I heard several testimonies of how they came to Christ and really always enjoy hearing people tell their story.
Last night I preached “Getting totally involved in the work of God” and used Acts 18 and the life of Aquila and Priscilla. I showed them that all through the book of Acts we find God using regular people to get the job done. Though the book of Acts is about the great work the Holy Spirit did through the apostles and the preachers laypeople just keep popping up on every page and being used of God. Without the participation of everyone we will never see this world evangelized and so everyone needs to find out what God wants them to do and get plugged in.
Today there will be a brunch with the pastor and the missionaries at 11 AM and I will be preaching after a cookout and barbeque tonight.
Yesterday while I was on the golf course and just before my phone battery died I got a call and it looks like we may be buying a bus for the church. I am going to need lots of help with this.
We will need some drivers to help us pick up people on Sundays and maybe other services. If God has given you this talent it would sure be a good way to be a blessing to people.
Also we are going to need to paint and put a beautiful mural on the bus so that it can act as a sign for our church since we are unable to put a sign on the road in front of our church.
Then we are going to need people who will work a bus route every Saturday to bring people to Sunday School and church. Pray about it and find out where you fit in.
Please also pray for me that I will preach and teach in a way that will honor and glorify God in this wonderful church.
Lord willing, Ed Dunlop, will arrive to be with us tomorrow. We will be starting our Children’s Crusade. I want to ask you to be much in prayer that God would work and children will be saved. I hope you will arrive early and bring a friend with you. I am asking you to do all you can this week to see the gospel gotten out to every possible person.
Brother Dunlop knows how to present the gospel and to teach and excite the kids. This is going to be a wonderful week. Invite and pray. Let’s see what God will do if we are all busy trying to get the gospel out.
By now many of you may know that a young lady in our church has experienced a tragedy in her family. Rachel B lost her brother yesterday. It was a tragic ending to life. I want to ask each of you to be much in prayer for her and her family.
I wish that I were there to at least offer some help but thank God that we have a wonderful church staff and church family that will be doing everything possible to be a blessing to Rachel and to her family that live in another state.
This literally makes me know that we as a church have to do more to reach out to people and especially the troubled young people of our area with the good news of Jesus Christ. People deal with the sin in their lives in many ways, they hurt quietly, they use drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography and other things while they could have peace and joy through Jesus Christ.
We must reach out to people. We must love them. We have the answers in the Word of God and must work at sharing them.
This is one reason I am so happy about Reformers Unanimous operating at our church. I want there to be so much more that we can do to reach out and begin touching lives.
Pray for Rachel especially in these days. Ask God to work in her life and family.
I am “fixin” to go play golf with the pastor and missionaries here at the conference at Grace Baptist Church in Bridgeport, WV. Now this is going to be embarrassing. I play a little and enjoy doing so with my friends but even they know that I stink.
The last time we played Philip told Betty that I have the weirdest stance. Now how do you think that I am going to feel with these men that I do not know.
Anyway pray for me that I will play golf and not look to bad and then pray for me that I will preach with power and wisdom tonight.
I sure heard great things about Vision last night. Thank you and thank the Lord for what He is doing at Vision
God has been so good to us while we have been here in Cochabamba. Kevin and Beth White and their teammates Jorge and Jennie Montenegro are doing a great job here.
We were able to have a family conference on Sunday AM, PM, Monday and Tuesday evenings. On Monday through Wednesday morning I spoke to the pastors and leaders for 3 sessions of 45 minutes and then answered questions for about another 45 minutes
After that I had the privilege of sitting and talking to pastors, missionaries, and young men that want to be in ministry. It was great.
There were 15 people here from Peru. I knew most of them very well from our church in Arequipa, Iglesia Bautista Fe. It was great to see them and made me realize how much I love them and miss them. I can’t wait for October when I will be able to be back in Peru and to preach and teach there.
However I must tell you that I missed our church very much and each of you. I can’t wait to be back in our church on Thursday evening. God has been so good to us as a church and I am super grateful.
The following are some quotes about the Deputation Manual. I sure appreciate them taking the time to right. It definitely encourages us!
Boy that book sure is a good one. Thanks for taking the time to work on it to help those like me. I needed that.
The book “The Deputation Manual” came in the other day and I picked it up and read about half of it this morning. It is very good.
Thanks,
From a missionary in Brazil
Might I suggest you contact Bible Colleges (using the contacts among Pastors you already have) and see if they would sell them through their bookstores. You might even try sending one free copy to the Head of the Missions Department of schools like Baptist Bible College, MO, Pensacola Christian, Bob Jones, Heartland, Northland Baptist Bible College, Crown, West Coast, etc., and encourage them to read it and see if it is something they would like to see in their bookstore or even require as part of their course.
We also loved Aaron’s book “Ramblings.” Pastor purchased 15 copies and required all of our Deacons to read it so that they would better understand the daily trials and victories of our Missionaries. They have all finished the book and were instructed by the Pastor to give the book to someone in the congregation with the stipulation that they read it and give it to another, and so on until everyone had a chance to read it. Maybe that’s another good suggestion for the Pastor’s you know. Just a thought…
I loved the Manual. You made some really great changes in it since I’d seen it last. I thought the end result was excellent. In fact, we have already ordered (and received) 10 more copies. Our Senior Pastor wants to have them on hand in our Bookstore to give to every Missionary that comes through on deputation or furlough
Two different emails from a Pastor in Indiana.
Thank you so much for writing. God bless each of you
I have been super busy and really unable to make phone calls or post blogs. I do apologize because you are missing out on what God is doing in a great ministry. I am so very proud of Kevin and Beth White as well as Jorge and Jennie Montenegro.
We have been having over 150 each night. Sunday I preached 3 times and spent several hours counseling, talking with leaders, and motivating young men to serve God. Monday I preached 4 times, answered questions, and talked to missionaries, pastors and church people for several hours. Today I will be preaching 4 times, Lord willing.
Tomorrow I will preach 3 more times and then get on an airplane to be ready to preach at Vision Baptist on Thursday night.
I have been having a blast. Preaching and teaching is what I love to do with all my heart. Last night I preached for 1 hour. You better pray for these poor people–but they loved it and didn’t leave after the services any way.
I am very impressed with what God is doing here in Bolivia. The congregation has turned into a church. People are picking up there responsibility. Beth, Jennie, Kevin, and Jorge are working very hard but the people are doing tons also. I am very proud of them.
Please pray for this ministry. Pray also for Jeff Bush who is here also. The ministry in Argentina is going great. I thank God for what He is doing here in South America.
I hope that you will be praying that God will raise up new workers for the mission fields of the world. I hope that you will be praying that God will send forth laborers. It is so important that we pray, give and go.
I have heard wonderful things from Sunday at Vision. I am just praising the Lord and floating in the air over what God is doing. Thank you for being so faithful.
Now you tend to do better when I am out of town so I want to be there when you knock it out of the park so how about this.
I tell you that I will be out of town Sunday. You work hard like I was going to be gone and then I show up any way and get to be in on what God is doing.
I can’t wait to be at Vision this Sunday. Please be praying for the messages and for God to work. We are in on a great thing. We are watching God do miracles. I hope you will never forget that.
God is moving in Northern Ireland. We have seen God doing some really exciting things in the lives of Travis and Teri Snode. They are our own staff missionaries from Vision Baptist Church. It was exciting today to get another report from that area of the world and see what God is doing.
Stephen and April Baker are there for a few short months helping Martin Wickens. God is really moving. Several teens have accepted the Lord Jesus and surrendered their lives to Him. Here is a picture of the meeting after they got saved.
They came back to the church. They seem to be genuinely interested in the gospel. This is an act of God. I hope you will take the time to click here and go read what God is doing through Stephen and April Baker. Brother Tony was there for the start of this move of God. What an awesome privilege. April was a member of our church before she married.
Tonight I had the privilege of preaching in the Youth Meeting at the Iglesia Bautista Vision (Vision Baptist Church, Pastor Kevin White) in Cochabamba, Bolivia. We had about 30 young people from 16 and up and the average age was about 20.
Then the group from Peru came in and I was able to see them, give them all a hug and sit and talk for about an hour. That was a wonderful time.
I also went to the airport to pick up Jeff Bush–our missionary to Argentina. He is sitting right here with me. It is always a blessing to see him.
You are not going to believe the pizza that we are about to eat. It is from a place called Eli’s. It comes in a square box that is about 32 inches by 32 inches. The biggest pizza box that I have ever seen.
Thanks for praying for the meeting here and for being in your place at Vision. I was also excited to hear of the good times the men had at the golf outing with Victory Baptist. I hope we can do it again when I am able to be there.
