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!