It's about time...

Yes, it is about time I finally got an update on here!  My goal was to post an update at least once a month but I never imagined being so busy that our blog/website would fall behind.  So here goes the July to October in blazing speed!

 JULY

We had a great 4th of July Church Picnic, we had a great crowd with plenty of games and plenty of food!  The kids had fun with the sack race and the men played football!

Our VBS was a huge success.  We had as many as 35 kids in attendance from the local area.  The teenagers from Winkler Road Baptist Church conducted our VBS as a mission's trip and we are so grateful for their wonderful labor of love!

Joshua got engaged to a wonderful young lady named Tabitha Fisher.  Their wedding is set for January 6th, 2017 at Tri-City Baptist Church in Port Charlotte, FL.  All are welcome to come!

August & September

The homeschool activities have been a great time for the children and momma's.  They do them once per month and we had a great turn-out for the activity at the local Police Department!

We had a great mission's conference in September.  Our guest speak was Dr. Scott Caudill and our folks responded well to the preaching and Faith Promise commitments.  Because of the increase in Faith Promise that was committed, the church voted unanimously to take on the Florida Baptist College for monthly support!  This makes our 7th mission's project/family!

October

We had a "50's & Up" fellowship at our house.  There was a fierce competition between the men and the women in the Family Feud game!  It was a great turnout and fun fellowship!

We had 15 ladies who registered for an overnight Ladies' Conference.  We had to rent a van in order for the ladies to travel together and they had such a wonderful fellowship together. 

We prayed for Mr. Eric for quite a long time.  He was Joshua's co-worker and he trusted Christ as his Savior! 

We've had several baptisms.  Including this wonderful family!  They all accepted Christ on the same Sunday morning and were all baptized on the same Sunday evening together. 

We've also seen several of the children who ride our van to church to get saved in Junior Church!  We are excited to see what God has in store for these young people whom we have a part in their lives.

November & December to come!!!

An Amazing Answer to a Prayer!

I wanted to share a post that Kami did on her blog (www.adayinthelifeofamissionarywife.blogspot.com) about a huge blessing and amazing answer to one of our prayers! 

This is a 'copy & paste' from her blog:

"About a month ago, a dear friend of ours called to tell us that he wanted to pay for a tour trip for us in Israel. We would just need to come up with the $ for the plane tickets. He wanted to pay for the tour, bus tickets, food, hotels, etc. Wow! Israel? Patrick and I had never really thought too much about seeing the Holy Land because of the expense. It's just not in the budget at the moment!!
He said that going to Israel and seeing where Jesus walked changed his life.  He said that he wanted to "hold the preacher's hands up" like in the Bible.  What a blessing!  The problem?  We didn't have the $2,000 for the plane tickets.  We began praying, "Lord if you want us to go, please provide." 

Well, the $$ didn't come in, so we called and told him that it's just not feasible for us to go.  He said, "Let's pray a little longer and watch God work."  So.....I went to a Youth Conference a couple of weeks ago.  Beth and Brenna were super excited to meet Bob Gray!!  He is one of their favorite preachers that we watched via internet while in St. Barths.  They were so excited to finally meet him!

After a great preaching service, we all waited in line to have him sign the girl's Bibles.  There were a lot of kids snapping pics and meeting him.  It was loud and chaotic!  When it was the girls turn, we snapped a pic and spoke to him briefly.  He looked at me and said, "Where are you all from?"  I said , "Florida."  And then, for some reason I blurted out, "We're a new church plant."  I don't  normally say that.  He looked at me strangely and said, "Really?"  "I have a check for you for $2,000!"

He called Patrick the next day and told him all about what had happened and why he was giving us the $$. The day of the conference a man from his church gave him a check and said, "There will be someone come to you at the conference.  They will tell you in these words "We are a new church plant."  That's the family that has a need, that's who to give the check to and for them to use it for their family." 

Can you believe it!!!!  I don't normally blurt out to random strangers, "We're a new church plant!"  It's so exciting to see God work and provide!! So.....I guess I'm going to Israel!! :)

Spring updates @ VSIBC!

Here are a few more updates & pics from the past few weeks here at VSIBC. 

On Mother's Day, we had a special blessing.  One of the Mothers who had recently accepted Christ, followed the Lord in believer's Baptism on Mother's Day!  We praise the Lord for Mrs. Kellie.  Her 17-year old daughter also just accepted Christ as her Savior last Sunday (May 29th)!

We had a great Mother's Day service.  As we did last year, we provided flowers to honor our mothers and the mother of our children.  Each person was able to come forward, take a flower, and then present them to their mother/mother of their child.  It was a sweet service.  We also provided all the moms present with a free book from a book table we set up in the back of the auditorium.  It was a great day!  Here are a few pics from Mother's Day:

We were also able to celebrate Kami's 40th birthday as a church at our Sunday Evening service on Mother's Day! 

Kami's parents were able to drive up from Fort Myers and surprise Kami for her birthday. 

We also had a 50+ Fun Night at church on May 28th.  It was a special activity for all those 50 years and older.  We provided the fried chicken and the rest of the folks provided all the fixings & sides.  We had funny songs and hilarious skits for the evening as we enjoyed a special time together!

As for right now, all of our kids have finished their school for this year.  It has been a great year with many "up's & down's" and we are glad to have a summer respite from school work. 

Kami, another lady from church and 5 teenage girls will be leaving on June 8-11 to attend a Teen Conference in Gulfport, MS with Faith Baptist Church.  Everyone is so excited about the trip and this Pastor wishes that he could go hear exciting preaching!  But my job during that time is to 'hold down the fort' and take care of 3 little ones: Silas, Callie & Micah.  I just hope the house holds up under my watch!!!

Kami's Health: Kami has had a difficult time with her health situation.  She recently learned that the last blood test came back negative for a particular condition that the doctor was looking for.  Having another negative test really took the wind out of Kami's sails.  It was really discouraging for her as her symptoms were taking their toll on her physical and emotional state over the past couple of weeks.  After asking several folks to really be in prayer for her, she has had a very good week as I write this.  The doctors are not quite sure what to look for next and Kami's next doctor appointment is in July. 

Please keep our family and the families of VSIBC in your prayers.  Many of the families at VSIBC are going through some great physical, financial and emotional trials right now.  As a missionary pastor, it is difficult to watch as some families go through the growing pains of faith and Christian growth.  Prayer is what we need most.

Until next time...

 

With so much going on, finding time to post on this website has been more & more difficult.  But we have so much to write about! 

 

On April 28th, Elisabeth and I took a trip to the Florida Baptist College in Tampa, FL.  I was able to preach to the school chapel and to the college chapel as well.  Then I had the privilege of teaching the Practicum course to the young men.  It was a great time of fellowship and I am glad that the Lord opened up this opportunity.

 

Kami had a very (and I mean very) difficult couple of weeks with her health.  She has been on 4 new medications since I last posted and the doctor said that she is a "guinea pig" right now as they search for answers.  She is doing better today and we praise the Lord for these 'good' days.

 

Here are a few more pics & posts: 

 

Joshua works at the Fort White Hardware store as an assistant manager.  On their Grand Opening to an ACE Hardware, we were invited to set up a booth for a fundraiser.  The ACE Hardware paid for all of the food and drinks.  We simply supplied the workers and sold sausages and drinks for $1 each.  We were also able to pass out our Church tote bags and Gospel tracts as well.  In the end, we were able to raise $584 for our Teen Youth Fund!

 

This is Rod.  When Kami and I were on our way to Peoples Baptist Church in McDonough, GA., we stopped at a gas station where Rod had run out of gas.  I filled up his tank and witnessed to him.  He asked, "What is today's date?"  When I replied, "April 22."    To that he replied, "April 22 is a great day to get saved!"  We bowed our heads and he trusted Christ right there at the gas pump!

 

Bro. Jerry Nye helped us in building this portable baptistry.  The kids were super excited when we started filling it with water!

Mr. Tom is a veteran Army drill instructor.  We met him while knocking on doors and he came to church on Easter Sunday.  He accepted Christ that very morning in our Easter Sunday service!

 

He asked for a Bible and has been coming to church faithfully.  This past Sunday (May 1st) he was baptized in our new portable baptistry!  Afterwards, he said to me, "I want to start going with you on visitation."  Amen!

Here are some of our folks witnessing the baptismal service.

Mr. Abraham is the wife of Mary.  She has been coming for some time now and had said that she doesn't think that she'll ever get her husband to come to church.  Bro. Jerry Nye and I had the great opportunity to lead him to Christ on January 31st while he was in the hospital.  He started coming to church and we gave both he and Mary a new Bible. 

The next step was baptism and he was so excited to do so!  He simply asked us not to drown him!

 

 

This is Mary.  She just giggled and smiled that her husband was getting baptized.  She joined on the same Sunday by testimony.  They are a sweet couple who are eager to learn their Bibles.

 

 

We also had another lady to join this past Sunday, May 1st.  Her name is Mrs. Donna.  Her husband passed away just before Thanksgiving and she wanted to make VSIBC her home.

 

We praise the Lord for what He is doing here in little High Springs, Florida.  Keep praying for us!

Great past week!

Our Easter Service was a great day in the Lord! 

 

We had 62 in services that morning with 5 visitors. 

At the invitation call, 2 precious souls came forward to accept Christ as their Savior! 

 

Here are few pics from Easter Sunday:

These 2 were at our very first Easter Service at VSIBC last year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Marine Corps-Vette came to High Springs @ VSIBC!

 

Evangelist Dave Sommerdorf brought his 1992 Marine Corps-Vette to put on display before our Wednesday evening service.  An article was written in our local newspaper about the Vette honoring those who gave their lives in the fight against Terror.

 

We displayed the car from 5:30-6:30 and had quite a few folks come out to see it.

There are over 6,000 names on the trunk alone of those who paid the ultimate price for our freedoms!

 

 

 

 

Everyone that came received a DVD entitled "A Car, a Country and a Cross" that talks about the car and gives a clear presentation of the Gospel.  Folks also received a Gospel tract and an invitation to church.

Some of our youth enjoying snacks at the car display!  We always have snacks at VSIBC!

 

We had 46 in attendance on our Wednesday evening service after the Vette display.  We honored the 9 veterans in the service and then Bro. Sommerdorf preached an amazing message on the subject of Prayer.  It was a great day!

 

 

 

 

Picture Update...

 

Here are a few pics of what's been happening at VSIBC!

 

Elisabeth graduated! 

On March 19th, Elisabeth received her diploma and we had her graduation at the church.  It was a great ceremony and we are so proud of her!  You can find more pics and details on my wife's blog at www.adayinthelifeofamissionarywife.blogspot.com

It's been 1 year since the very first service at VSIBC!  We had our 1-year anniversary on March 20th with 92 in services!

 

Dr. Bill Rice III was also in our services.  He attended Elisabeth's graduation service on Saturday and then came for our 1-Year Anniversary service on Sunday morning.

We set up tables and chairs in the shade and enjoyed great fellowship and food after the services.

We had a bounce house for the kids that was a huge hit!

 

We had a children's choir sing for the Big Day and they did a great job!