Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia

Teaching on Soul Winning

We had some great meetings this past week. I was asked to teach the soul winning meeting on Saturday morning at Pastor Gregg Nash's church in Mechanicsville, MD (Gospel Light Baptist Church). I had a great time going out soul winning with his people on Saturday morning. My wife and I both were able to lead someone to Christ while we were out knocking on doors. 

Then Sunday morning I drove over to Freedom Baptist Church in Front Royal, VA. The pastor is Hollis Hillman. He is the founding pastor and is doing a great job. I was able to teach the men's Sunday school class while my wife taught the ladies. Then I preached the morning service. They are getting ready to move into a new building in a couple of weeks. The sky appears to be the limit for this church. I am excited for them. I was also excited when the pastor told me they will be interested in supporting us after they get settled into their new building.

Pastor Hillman

Then Sunday evening I was back in Mechanicsville, MD at Gospel Light Baptist Church. Pastor Nash had me present my ministry and then preach the evening service. After I showed my video the pastor got up and had the church vote to take us on for support. That had just happened the weekend before at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Pasadena, MD. So we were very excited to see this happen two weeks in a row!!! Praise God our support will start in May and we are excited to be partnering with Gospel Light Baptist Church!  

Pastor Rabon

On Wednesday evening we were in Beacon Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC. It is a wonderful church being led by Pastor Tim Rabon. I was able to give a testimony to the church and it was a blessing to be in  their services. I had a great time visiting with the pastor and some of his people after the service. They have several Asian folks in their church who had a great interest in our ministry! Please pray for us as we transition toward a month of meetings in Texas.

Great Meetings in Maryland

Pastor Arcand

Pastor Gascon

We have been having great meetings here in Maryland. This past weekend we were at Lighthouse Baptist Church with Pastor Paul Arcand in the Severna Park area. I was able to go soul winning with them on Saturday. During that time I was able to lead a lady named Michelle to Christ whose husband is in the military and just got transferred into the area. My wife also led several to Christ including a lady named Ashley who couldn't come because of health issues, but is planning on attending the church next Sunday. The Sunday services were awesome with a very good crowd at the church Sunday morning. I taught Sunday school and Pastor Arcand preached the morning service.

During the announcement time something special happened. Pastor Arcand had the church vote to take us on for support. The vote was 100% in favor of supporting us and now we are missionary partners with the Lighthouse Baptist Church. This is a great honor and something very special as this sort of thing doesn't happen very often. The church treated us very well and we felt blessed by the people. I was also glad to have the opportunity to preach the Sunday evening service. God is using this church to reach this area!

The Wednesday before this we were honored to attend the Solid Rock Baptist Church with Pastor Kevin Gascon. He has been the pastor for a little over six months here in the Hughesville area. I was honored to have a chance to meet this fine man and his family. I enjoyed the opportunity to preach to his people for the Bible study that night. They also took excellent care of us. I believe this young pastor is going to do an excellent job down the road. Please pray for us as we continue our travels...

Catching Up with Old Friends

Pastor Erickson and family

This past Sunday night we were able to catch up with old friends in New Jersey... more about that in a moment. First we started out the weekend with Pastor Sergio Ali in Bay Shore, New York. He is the pastor of Iglesia Bautista Fundamental de Bay Shore. I preached the bus meeting Saturday morning and then went out bus calling with their bus director Brother Carlos Ventura. He is an excellent soul winner as I saw him win several people to Christ throughout the day. Our family also had several make decisions to trust Christ as their Saviour. 

I preached a special service on Saturday evening where I got to present our ministry too. Then on Sunday morning I taught the teen boys during Sunday school and my wife taught the teen girls before I preached their morning service. We also saw one follow the Lord in believer's baptism. Pastor Ali has done a fantastic job these past 25 years since he started this church.

Then Sunday afternoon we drove to Galloway, NJ to attend Jersey Shore Baptist Church. It is pastored by one of my old Bible college friends; Pastor Phil Erickson. He was one of my good friends when I attend Texas Baptist College. It was good seeing him and also Brother Ted Stahl who is his song leader. Brother Stahl also attended Texas Baptist College. 

Pastor Erickson is doing a great job with the church and came here about the same time I started the church in Lincoln. I was able to present our ministry and preach a message. Afterwards I had the opportunity to visit with a young man from Cambodia and his girlfriend who is from Hong Kong. I have a real heart for Asian people and always enjoy getting a chance to visit with them when I can. These young folks aren't members of his church but occasional visitors here. Please pray for both of these churches as they are striving to reach very needy areas for Christ!  

Pastor Ali and his wife

Brother Ventura

New and Old Acquaintances

Pastor Fowler and Dr. Gray

We started out the weekend going soul winning on Saturday with Heritage Baptist Church in Canal Winchester, OH. Pastor Tracy Fowler has been the pastor there for 20 years and is doing an excellent job. While we were there Dr. Bob Gray came and preached all day Sunday and Monday and Tuesday night. Dr. Gray was my pastor in the late 1990's up until I went and started a church in 2002. I was trained in his college and ordained in his church. What a blessing to spend some time with him. I was able to present our ministry while there and Pastor Fowler mentioned to me that they will want to support us in the future.

Miss Stacey

While we were there we also saw Miss Stacey Withers who use to be a worker on my bus route with my wife and I when I was at Longview Baptist Temple. She is and has been the music coordinator at Heritage Baptist Church for over 15 years. She has done an excellent job with the music at this church. It is very top notch!

Miss Jessica

While we were staying at Canal Winchester we had several saved out soul winning, but my wife was also able to lead our cleaning lady to the Lord at our hotel. Her name is Jessica and she was very open to the Gospel. Please pray that she will start attending the church there. She seemed very open to attending when she isn't working so we will be praying about it to. We also witnessed to the other cleaning lady and the assistant manager who both had good testimonies of salvation already.

Pastor Mike Lamb

A special thank you to Pastor Mike Lamb of the Landmark Baptist Church in Parkersburg, WV. We were able to stay in their missions house before shoving on toward New York City. We also attended their Wednesday evening service and I got invited to come back and present our ministry at their missions conference the beginning of next November.