Patrick and the children arrived in Fort Myers December 5th (A day early!!). I was so excited to have them home! Since they've arrived we've been incredibly busy moving into our duplex that we're renting while we have the baby (a family from our church has some wonderful rental units available that we're renting!), emptying and cleaning the motorhome to prepare to sell, putting up our Christmas tree, and decorating for the holidays. We've gone through so many boxes that we've had in storage for the past 2 1/2 years that it feels like Christmas! The baby is due in 16 days and the kids lay their clothes out every night in case I go into labor while they're sleeping. Since I have been home for over a month I was able to join our church choir again and practice for the Christmas Cantata. Sunday night was the night for the Cantata. I had such a good time singing in the alto section.
When my Mom took this picture, Taylin (my sister) said this may be the last picture of our family of 5. Exciting, but a little sad too. It's been this way for so long. But, we are so eagerly anticipating the arrival of our precious bundle. Tomorrow night is my shower that my sisters are throwing for me. Beth and Brenna have had a great time helping their Aunts plan for the shower. We're so thankful to be with our family and our home church during the holidays and the birth of our new baby. Our meetings start back up in mid-January and go through the end of March. We're still praying we can begin language school at the beginning of April. So much to look forward to! The Lord is so good!

Where Have We Been?

Pastor Caleb Silvertooth and his wife....along with the rabbit the kids caught in the parking lot after church!

The girls answering questions at Victory Baptist Church in Pierre Part, LA.

Pastor Jerry Rockwell and his wife. We had a wonderful fellowship at their home and some amazing Gumbo for dinner!!!!

It has been a couple of weeks from our last post. Kami has been in Florida for almost 3 weeks preparing for the arrival our new baby. The kids and I have been traveling around Louisiana and Texas finishing several meetings and Mission's Conferences. We leave tonight after the services (Wed - Dec 3rd) and make the 1100 miles trek to Florida to finally see Momma!!! We have had some wonderful meetings in Pierre Part, LA; Patterson, LA; Alexandria, LA; San Antonio, TX; and here right now at Central Baptist Church in Center, TX. We praise the Lord for 3 teenage girls who came forward after I tought the Teen Sunday School class this past Sunday. All 3 girls received Christ as their Saviour and one of the girls even got Baptized that very Sunday Morning! I also had the opportunity to preach in the school chapel services on Monday here at Central Baptist Church as well. I have included some pictures from the past couple of weeks. Thank you to those who faithfully pray for us!!!

Still Greatest Country On Earth!

We are currently in Statesville, NC at a Mission's Conference this week. We have taught our children to be involved in politics and showed them the need to pray and vote. We printed out maps and labeled each state's electoral votes. During last night's election outcome, the children colored each state red or blue according to the outcome of the voting.

Like many of you reading this, we were saddened that America has voted on such a liberal candidate. No Christian should have voted for a man who passes laws to kill babies, supports sodomy, supports the idealism of socialism and does not fully support Israel.

Needless to say, Mr. Obama is now our president. We still live in the greatest country on earth and our "commission" from our Lord and Saviour has not changed. Jesus' last command should still be our first concern! We have the same God who has not changed (Malachi 3:6) We must respect and pray for our President. We should respect the position of authority and pray for him and his family.
God Bless the President of the United States!!!

What Is Pure Religion?

Jas 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

In reading this passage the other day, the words "pure religion" jumped from the page of God's Word. We live in a day when "religion" and "Christianity" is blurred and encompasses much of the world's philosophy. God says that pure religion is two things: 1)Putting others before self. We must learn to deny ourselves, crucify the flesh daily, and become a servant. We live in a selfish society and we as Christians should be self-less. 2)Unspotted from the world. It only takes one spot for something to be spotted. For some reason, Christians across America are having a mindset that some "spots" are better than others (a lie straight from the Devil!). For instance, the average Christian accepts murder and sodomy as "spots" they would never allow into their lives. Yet worldly music, improper dress, improper behavior, and ungodly television shows are often times accepted as OK. God says that we are to be "unspotted from the world". Not one spot is acceptable. One spot is still a sin. We are commanded to come out from the world and be seperate. It all comes back to a matter of the heart.

Wonderful Mission's Meetings!

Just a quick update to let everyone know about our past week. We have just finished our third Mission' s Conference in just over two weeks. We have truly been blessed and well taken care of! We have had the oportunities this past week at Calvary Independent Baptist Church in Chattanooga, TN to preach in their high school chapel, present our ministry to the church, elementary and high school chapels as well. Our family has sang in all of the conferences and had wonderful fellowship with God's people! Each of the churches has taken care of our lunches and dinners and the food could not have been finer! We are about to head to Mississippi and North Carolina so please be praying for us!

I Went To Prison!!!

This past week, I had the opportunity to preach in the State Prison in Clinton, Illinois. We had a full house to preach to and we had a wonderful singing and preaching! I was able to preach on "There Is None Other Name" and praise the Lord, a young man came forward and accepted Christ as his Saviour!!! At the end of the services, I held a testimony time and asked the men to share their personal testimonies of when they accepted Christ. It was great to see these men share their testimonies. Several young men were saved as teenagers and testified that they had made some wrong choices along life's road. Some of the men gave testimonies of getting saved right in the prison services held by First Baptist Church of Clinton. We had a wonderful time.

Joshua and I were also able this week to lead a 9 year old boy named Dillon to the Lord. There is nothing more exciting than someone getting saved. However, it is extra special when you get to lead someone to the Lord with your own son next to you!

I'm Thankful !!!

I am so thankful to have a family who wants to work in the ministry! This past week, my whole family worked in Sunday school and Junior church. Each of my children told sang, put on a skit, and told about what life will be like on the Mission field of St. Barths! We had an exciting time working together and at the end of the day, two boys accepted Christ as their Saviour!

Missions Conference in Clinton, Illinois

We had a great meeting at First Baptist Church of Clinton, Illinois. They had so many fun ideas for the missions conference. The first night all of the choir members came wearing the clothing of different countries they have missionaries in.

They fed us for lunch and dinner. All of the food was so delicious. On Sunday Patrick taught 3rd and 4th grade Sunday School which consisted of 39 children packed in a small Sunday school room!, Patrick also preached in Super church to 103 children and praise the Lord, two boys came forward and accepted Christ as their Saviour! Over the past several weeks, the workers were teaching about Missions and reading Missionary stories. The kids were excited to meet a "Real, Live Missionary!" We praise the Lord for such a great meeting.

Josh read his Bible through in one year!

We are so proud of Joshua! He started on his Bible schedule to read through the Bible this year, and he did it! He started last October, and finished a couple of days ago. This is his 2nd year in a row to read it through in a year. Way to go, Josh!

Bear Ye One Another's Burdens

We are so thankful for Bro. and Mrs. Dunn of Grace Baptist Church in Decatur, IL. When we pulled into the parking lot of the church with our motor home this past Saturday, we met with Pastor Jerry Shirley and he showed us where to park. As I tried to start our motor home ("Deppy") to park it in our spot, the starter had died. With a little help from a hammer, we where able to beat the starter into subjection and moved "Deppy" into place! When Bro. Dunn found out about the bad starter, he took it upon himself (he happens to be a retired police officer, firefighter, and mechanic) to come by first thing Monday morning to replace the starter. He arrived at 8 AM and took a look at "Deppy", was called away to put out a house fire, came back and in a matter of one hour had replaced the starter. He took it upon himself to "bear ye one another's burdens" and paid for the starter. He then went home and picked up his wife and they even took us out to lunch at Olive Garden. As we spoke during lunch and shared testimonies, we found out that they have faithfully worked in the bus and youth ministry for over 30 years! Mrs. Dunn even works at a pregnancy crisis center which has a 97% rate for girls who were thinking of having an abortion and choose life! She has had the opportunity to lead many girls and women to Christ through this ministry. We praise the Lord for this faithful family!!!

A New Name Written Down In Glory

We arrived in Decatur, Illinois on Saturday. While we were waiting for the Preacher we saw a bunch of kids playing in the parking lot. We began talking to them and found out their names and ages. They have a clubhouse they play in by the church. (It's actually a ditch next to the road) Patrick talked to Billy and found out he was 12 and not really sure if he was going to heaven when he died. Patrick took him through the plan of salvation and Billy accepted Christ! He was so intent to listen, and at the end he knew he needed to be saved. He said that now he's going to heaven! Praise the Lord!

Our home for the week...Jackson, TN

We had a wonderful week at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Jackson, TN. We stayed there from Saturday-Friday. It was so nice to be in one place for a bit. When we arrived on Saturday the pastor and his family (The Wade Cash family) took us to The Old Country Store Buffet for lunch. I think this was one of the best buffets we'd ever been to. They had fresh fried cracklin' cornbread. WOW!! It was amazing! Services were great Sunday am and pm. Patrick was able to preach for both services. Everyone was so friendly. We praise the Lord for the lady that came forward Sunday morning to accept the Lord as her Savior. Sunday night Patrick preached a message from II Kings on "Don't quit". It's a great message that talks about keep serving the Lord, don't give up. Wednesday night a lady came up to Patrick and said it's just what she needed to hear. She had planned on leaving her husband, but after hearing the message from God's Word, she decided to not quit. Praise the Lord!
They had breakfast in between the morning services and we fell in love with the brownies that the Pastor's mother had made. That night she brought us a whole pan of them! MMMM!!
We had such a good time with the Cash Family. They are truly a close family that loves being together. Whenever the Pastor and his wife took us somewhere, the kids would show up there, too. They love fellowship and love being together and working in the ministry together. They were such a good example to us! The last night we were there they had a bonfire at their house and we roasted hot dogs and made smores. What a great week!

Macedonia Annual Conference

This week we were able to be a part of Macedonia World Baptist Missions Annual Conference. It was a terrific meeting held at Corinth Baptist Church in Loganville, Georgia. We were able to see so many of our missionary friends, supporting Pastors, and hear some excellent preaching. We felt as if each message was directed to us! Thursday night there was a "Changing of the Guard" where Dr. Scott Caudill became the new president for Macedonia. Dr. Don Richards had been the president, but was stepping down after 26 years of faithful service. Both men are such Godly examples to the missionaries of Macedonia and we're so thankful for the influence they've had. We praise the Lord for such a great week!

To Be or Not To Be French...That is the question!

We received a phone call from the French Consulate in Miami this morning. Mrs. Caroline (the lady working on our French Citizenship process) called and told us their is a problem and we cannot be registered for French citizenship. I was told that I must attain an Affidavit of Paternity from the Government of the Virgin Islands if one even exists (which one doesn't exist). There were several other things that we needed and things didn't look good. I had my mother (who speaks French) to call and confirm everything because I had a hard time fully understanding Mrs. Caroline's French accent. Later this afternoon I called Mrs. Caroline and she was so excited on the phone. She said, "Didn't your mother tell you?....You are French already!" Apparently my mother had forgotton that when I was born, she had registered my birth with the French government, and Mrs. Caroline held in her hands my French Birth Certificate! The next step is to send my French Birth Certificate to an office in France to update it and then I can register my family for French citizenship. We praise the Lord who works to accomplish His will in preparing our family in reaching the lost souls of the French West Indies!

Wonderful Folks At Emmanuel Baptist!

We want to thank the wonderful folks at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Brunswick, GA. Pastor Johnson has been very gracious to allow us to park our motor home at the church for a week and a half. We have enjoyed dropping in on a couple of services with them and we even had a wonderful time of fellowship when we joined their Sunday school fellowship at a local steak restaurant! Pastor Johnson invited us to present our ministry last night, sing, and allowed me to preach. Thank you so much for the wonderful hospitality!

News and Updates

We have traveled quite a bit in the last 3 weeks and many good things have happened that we would like to share with you.

1. We traveled to Miami, FL to the French Consulate and turned in our paperwork for French citizenship. We had all of the necessary paperwork and it seems as if everything is going through! The government official said, "I am going to register you and send you your 'Levrite de Famille' book." This book is a book proving our French heritage and once we receive this book, we will register the children and I believe we can then apply for French passports.

2. Our laptop computer crashed last Saturday and we lost all of our information. Yes I know this seems bad, but my Heavenly Father stepped in! We took our laptop to Circuit City (on Saturday) and they checked it out and all seemed lost, they couldn't even get it started. I had to buy a new laptop and we began the slow process of reinstalling all of our needed programs. On Sunday we began to ask the Lord to provide the money to pay for the laptop and our love offering that evening was equal to the cost of the new laptop! I took both my old and new laptop back to Circuit City on the following Tuesday (yesterday) to try to see if they could get any of our files from our old laptop's hard drive. We spent a total of 6 1/2 hours at Circuit City and they said there was no hope. However, my Heavenly Father stepped in! When we were about to leave, the technician plugged in our old laptop (which wouldn't even start up before) and everything came on. We were able to transfer ALL of our information and we lost nothing. The total cost of Circuit City's all-day work was $0! They didn't charge us for a thing!

3. Regency Baptist Temple in Jacksonville, FL took us on for support right in the Sunday evening services. We praise the Lord for Pastor Ralph Flowers and Regency Baptist Temple! This makes 6 churches in the past month and a half that have taken us on for monthly support right in the services!!!

All we can say is "Praise to our Heavenly Father"!

Praise the Lord (2 More Supporting Churches)!!!

We just learned that 2 additional churches took us on for support last month. We praise the Lord for Pastor Shawn Smith and Heritage Baptist Church (Dewitt, MI) and for Pastor Gene Rowell and Gantt Street Baptist Church for taking us on for monthly support. We praise the Lord as we get closer to starting language school next spring!

Our New 'Green' Van!!!

Yes, I know...it's not actually green. But our good friends, The Green's, gave us our 'new' to us van! Thus the name, the Green Van! We love our new van and look forward to having plenty of room when the new baby arrives! This will be our primary vehicle when we start language school next Spring. Thank you Green Family!

No Girls Allowed!

Josh and I took our trip to get our "new to us" van! We left Jacksonville, FL and flew to Plattsburgh, NY (Home of my old Air Force Base!). We had such a wonderful father/son time as we traveled! As you can see in one of the pictures, Josh even got to be the co-pilot! We were both thinking the same thing during the flight, 'What happens if the pilot conks out?'........We stopped along the way at Shane's Rib Shack and played plenty of the ABC game, Goin' On a Picnic, and 20 Questions! Not to mention that Josh brought along his joke book......you know where I'm going with that one! We stopped for church at Fourth Crossroads Baptist Church and the preaching was great! I love my son and he is truly my best bud! I love my time with him! Thank you Josh for being such a Godly young man!!!

45 "A"s in 14 Days!!!

As some of you know, we try to reward our 3 children for their hard work in school. Whenever they take a test or quiz and get an "A", they earn a star. When they have totalled 45 stars, they earn a particular reward. Tuesday, they earned their reward...A trip to go Blueberry Picking!

We took the kids on a 20 minute drive to a blueberry farm and picked to our hearts content! Look at the size of these blueberry bushes! It was so much fun. Brenna gets the "award" for
eating the most blueberries and the "award" for the least amount of blueberries added to our bucket! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

5 Churches in 2 Weeks!

(Pastor Steve Pope with Joshua, Elisabeth, and Brenna)

We just want to praise the Lord! We have had 5 churches take us on for support right in the services in the past 2 weeks! We are honored by Calvary Baptist Church (Pastor Steve Pope) in Union Grove which took us on for support in the services last Wednesday evening. I was able to preach and the family sang. The altars were full and we had an amazing service.
We are also honored by Walters Grove Baptist Church (Pastor Jeremy Simpson) in Lexington, NC, who took us on as one of their missionaries in the services last night. Pastor Simpson preached an amazing message that I believe every Christian ought to hear, "Why Should I Keep Going On?" The church was filled with shoutin' and "Amens" as God moved in our hearts. Thank you Walters Grove Baptist Church!
After the services, my family went to eat at a Chinese storefront restaurant. We began a conversation with a lady named Jennifer W. As we witnessed to her, it was evident that she was saved but out of God's will. I was able to counsel with her for about 20 minutes as we learned that she is discouraged by the loss of her husband and children (divorce). She needs our prayers as she is blaming God for the troubles in her life. After we spoke with her, she admitted that she was being foolish by being mad at the Lord, who is the only one who can help her. She admitted she needed to give her love and affection back to the Lord and to get her heart right. Please pray for her that she will do this very soon. She used to be a faithful member of a solid Independent Baptist Church.

Is This Really Recess?

On Tuesday, we noticed that our motorhome was in urgent need of a wash. So the kids were invited to take a "break" from school to help wash "Deppy II", our motorhome. Somehow, Kami disappeared...we later found her at Wal-Mart!

Turn Your Radio On.....

We had a meeting with Emmanuel Baptist Church in Marble, NC. Pastor David Panther and his family are from Ft. Myers, FL (where we are from) and were on staff at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Ft. Myers in the early 90's. We spent some time talking about Florida and remembering friends that we have in common. They also have a radio station and the preacher said that we should be on later that evening during the program. This would be the first time we have been on the radio! We sang, presented our ministry and Patrick preached. We had a wonderful service!

Guitar Lessons, Preaching, and Mexican in one night!

We had such a wonderful time at Mt. Nebo Baptist Church and we thoroughly enjoyed a amazing Mexican meal with Pastor Gary Crisp and his family! We were able to present our ministry, sing, and Patrick preached. Pastor Crisp even gave Patrick some quick lessons on the guitar (the 'F' chord is a tough one to get down!).

Calling All Women!!!

For all of the women who wanted to be able to cook dinner, check your mail and get your hair done all in your bathrobe, this may be for you!!!................"Jerries Beauty Shop and Trailer Park"

Western North Carolina = Amazing Scenery!

We had a wonderful time in Western North Carolina last week. We had wonderful meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and twice on Sunday! As we traveled we saw wonderful scenery along the way. Here are some pictures of the beautiful mountains!

Charity Hill Proves Their "Charity"

Once again we write this post humbled by the faithfulness and love of God's people. Last night (Tuesday, August 5, 2008) we were part of the Charity Hill Baptist Church's Mission's Conference. They have been participating in Faith Promise Mission's Giving for 2 years and are so excited to see God provide in such faithful and unusual ways! We presented our ministry as a family and Dr. Scott Caudill (Pastor of Canaan B.C.) preached an excellent message titled "And Thou Shalt Remember Your Ruin, Redemption, and Responsibilities". Pastor Cardwell stepped out on faith and the church took us on for support as well as the Campbell Family who are missionaries to Louisiana. We praise the Lord for Pastor Cardwell and Charity Baptist Church!

Harvest of Faith!

We had a wonderful meeting with Pastor Donald Gant of Harvest Baptist Church in Statesville, NC. We kicked off their Mission's Conference on Sunday and had a wonderful meeting. Patrick preached and we presented our ministry. The altars were completely full and we praise the Lord for what He did! Pastor Gant got up afterwards and in tears told the church that they needed to step out on faith as a church and take us on for support. The church was in agreement and we praise the Lord for a church stepping out on faith to kick off their Mission's Conference. Thank you Harvest Baptist Church!

Beth Finished Reading Her Bible!

We are so thankful that our children have a heart for the Lord! Beth finished reading her Bible through entirely. She is excited to start reading it through again and this time she informed us that she wants to read it through in one year. We are so proud of you Beth!

The Sparks of Revival Are Spreading!

We enjoyed a wonderful service last night at Meadows Baptist Church in Walnut Cove, NC, with Pastor Rick Craig. We were able to present our ministry, sing and Patrick preached a message the Lord laid on his heart about revival (it wasn't the original message he was going to preach). The altars were full and the preacher explained that the message was right on target. They were experiencing the beginnings of revival in the weeks prior. The week prior the guest preacher was unable to preach his message as folks began to flock to the altar and 8 folks were saved! You could tell that God's people wanted to hear from God and enjoyed preaching! We were truly blessed to be a part of the services at Meadows Baptist Church. We also had the opportunity to see a past member of our home church from several years ago, Mrs. Caroline Miller. Her husband passed away in 2005 and she moved from Florida to be closer to relatives in North Carolina. It was good to see her again. Thank you Meadows Baptist Church for allowing us to be a part of your services!

Currytown Revival!

What a wonderful meeting we had at Currytown Baptist Church in Lexington, NC. The Lord provided for Kami to travel to Michigan for a family reunion over the weekend. She had the opportunity to attend the services on Sunday at Metro Baptist Church and Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Belleville, MI. Patrick and the kids had a scheduled meeting at Currytown Baptist Church with Pastor Mike McDaniel. The services were amazing and revival began to spark in the Sunday morning services. Pastor McDaniel asked us to turn to the day's scripture text and people began to give testimonies and flock to the alter. Pastor McDaniel was not even able to preach his message, he just let the Holy Spirit do the preaching. There were tears and rejoicing as God's people dealt with the Lord. Patrick and the kids presented the ministry and sang before one of the most "Amen-ing" churches we have ever been to! The folks here truly love singing and preaching! We praise the Lord for what God is doing at Currytown Baptist Church!

True Vine Baptist Church

We had a meeting at True Vine Baptist Church in Mount Airy, North Carolina, Sunday night. We loved being at this church! They had posted all over the auditorium every country and their population. Then, they highlighted the ones that they support. It was really moving to see the population of the world is so great. What a need there is to reach the lost for Christ! We presented our work and sang, then Patrick preached. Patrick said it was so easy preaching and the people really seemed to enjoy preaching. The altars were full. At the end of the service they took us on for monthly support! Praise the Lord! What a blessing!

Closer Walk Baptist Church

We had a blessing when we dropped into Closer Walk Independent Baptist Church in North Carolina. I'm actually not quite sure what town it's in. The church was started a few years ago and they are doing a wonderfully work. They are reaching people for the Lord and making a difference. They have a really excited VBS coming up that we'd like to try and take the kids to. It was a great service!

Trinity Baptist Church

We had a fabulous meeting at Trinity Baptist Church in Mocksville, North Carolina. We had met their preacher, Bro. Darryl Cox, at a meeting we had almost a year ago in Canton, Georgia. He invited us to come to his church to present our ministry. This church is a very missions minded church and were very interested in the field of St. Barths. Bro. Cox preached a great message on forgiveness, very practical, and very needed. Praise the Lord for such a great meeting!

School is Here

The 2008-2009 school year is underway for the Gimenez Children. We started July 16th which is very early for us, but we figured we needed a head start this school year. We have a baby coming in Jan. which will mean an extended Christmas vacation, and then a major move to Canada for language school. The children were very excited about starting. We use the Abeka DVD program and they LOVE their teachers!