From Norman, Oklahoma to Wichita, Kansas

Pastor Raymond Ullery

We started out the weekend soul winning with the Northgate Baptist Church in Norman, Oklahoma. Pastor Raymond Ullery is the pastor there. I have never met the pastor before, but found it interesting that he actually left Texas Baptist College two years before I got there. I enjoyed spending time fellowshipping with him while we were out pounding doors and witnessing to many folks on Saturday. 

On Sunday morning I taught the adult Sunday school class and then presented our ministry during the morning service. I also preached the morning message as several came forward to make decisions. Brother Ullery took over a church under tough circumstances and has done a wonderful job turning it around. The auditorium was very full on Sunday morning. God truly is blessing his efforts!

Pastor Jon Swope and his dad

Then Sunday afternoon we drove to Wichita to be in the evening service with Bethel Baptist Church. Pastor Jon Swope has been the pastor there since 2011. He took the church over from his father Brother Ted Swope who was the pastor here for 41 years. This Sunday was Brother Ted Swope's 81st birthday. I was able to present the ministry in the evening service and preach the message. We were treated very well by the church and I was extremely impressed with the great interest in missions the people of church have... it was a blessing. After the service they showed a video of their VBS they finished up earlier this week. They had a high day of 206 and saw 32 children trust Christ as their Saviour. Praise the Lord for the great work the church members did in their VBS!

Mei Kaw

Thursday night while out knocking doors in a very upper scale neighborhood my partner and I knocked on the door of a Karen family. I was a little bit surprised to see them living in this neighborhood but was excited to meet them. Mei Kaw has lived in America for ten years and before that he lived and was born in Thailand. He said he was a Christian but had no idea how he would ever get to heaven. He said he hopes maybe he will be good enough. His wife gave an answer that sounded about the same. 

I was able sit down with them and take my New Testament and show both of them how our good works play no part in our salvation at all. I showed them that we are all sinners and we deserve Hell as payment for our sins. I also showed them how Christ died for our sins and has given us the gift of eternal life. However, we only get this gift if we receive it by receiving Him as our payment and fully trusting Him and Him alone to get us to Heaven with no good works. They both said that they believed Christ and Him alone would save them if they placed their trust in Him. They both bowed their heads and asked Christ to save them! Praise God! It was a very hot evening out, but well worth enduring the heat to tell these folks about Christ. Please pray for them to grow in their new relationship with Christ!

Finishing Up a Good Colorado Tour

Pastor Dexter Guin

I have been in Colorado for the month of July and this past week I was finishing my tour through there before heading to Oklahoma. I was at Woodmen Road Baptist Church this past weekend with Pastor Dexter Guin. On Saturday we went out door knocking with their bus route and I was able to lead a Spanish lady to Christ named Debbie who is planning to visit the church in the next few weeks. While knocking the Bus Captain came and got me and asked to speak with a Vietnamese lady. She was Buddhist and had a spirit house inside of her apartment. (A spirit house is where the protective spirit of a home is supposed to live and they often leave food sacrifices/offerings there to appease the spirit and keep the spirit happy.) I was able to witness to the lady but her English was limited. I was able to give a Vietnamese tract that I keep in my pocket from my home church. 

Then on Sunday I taught Pastor Guin's Sunday school class and then presented our ministry in the morning service and preached. God blessed as many hearts seem stirred for the mission. Then Sunday evening I preached at Grace Baptist Church in Pueblo, CO for Pastor Casey Ballard. I have previously presented at Pastor Ballard's church, but we are always glad to be a blessing.

Dr. Bob Bowen

During the mid week we didn't have a meeting, so my wife and I flew very cheaply with our frequent flyer miles to Chicago to attend Missions University at First Baptist Church of Hammond. It was a blessing for us to learn some things from veteran missionaries as my wife and I soaked up much information and took a notebook full of notes. While there we saw Dr. Bob Bowen a veteran missionary who use to be my former missions director at Longview Baptist Temple. He seems to have recovered from having neck surgery a few months ago and is getting ready to back surgery in a just a few weeks. Please pray for him. Please pray for us as we are travelling and working hard to get our support raised! Also, one quick praise is that while in Colorado I was having transmission problems with my Nissan. I got the transmission flushed and it seems to have taken care of the shifting problems. Praise the Lord!

I want to give a special note of thanks to Pastor Steve Johnson and his wife for allowing us to stay in their home for several weeks while we were visiting different churches in the area!

Great Meetings in the Springs Area

I started out the week staying at the prophets chamber at Ellicott Baptist Church in Ellicott, Colorado. Pastor John McKenzie was at church camp with a group and had asked me to fill the pulpit for Wednesday night. I told him I would be glad to. I had previously presented at their church last December, however, I had never met Pastor McKenzie. I was pleasantly surprised to see Pastor McKenzie stop in Wednesday night to meet me and hear me preach. My wife and I really enjoyed getting to fellowship with him and his family after the service. They are doing a great job at the church!

Thursday night we attended the last evening of the revival service at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Aurora. Their speaker was Evangelist Craig Bryan. He preached a fantastic message. I also went soul winning on Friday with Pastor Steve Johnson in the Aurora area and we saw three trust Christ as Saviour. Pray for them as they continue to reach this area for Christ!

Pastor John Rainey

On Saturday we went out soul winning with Faith Baptist Church of Colorado Springs. We had a great weekend with Pastor John Rainey who has been at this church for 22 years. I led the soul winning charge on Saturday morning and we went door knocking for over 2 hours. We went to a pretty nice neighborhood and I was privileged enough to led Steve to Christ who recently retired from the military after serving 21 years. He was not able to come this Sunday but plans on visiting the next Sunday.

On Sunday morning we set up our display table and passed out prayer cards. Then we listened to Pastor Rainey teach Sunday school and preach the morning service. They had a wonderful crowd. Then Sunday night I presented our ministry and preached the evening service. Hearts were stirred for missions. It was an enjoyable week and weekend. Please pray for us as we continue to look for more partners in helping us reach Thailand for Christ!   

Out in the Highlands of Colorado

Pastor Stephen Hutto

We spent this pastor Sunday out in the highlands of Colorado with the Highland Baptist Church. This is definitely a country church surrounded by a lot of open range ranches. Brother Stephen Hutto is the pastor of this church and is doing a fantastic job reaching the ranchers around this church. He had three different families that live on the surrounding ranches there that just recently started attending. Many may over look this low population area, but there is a need to reach every part of the world. Thailand is so populated that sometimes you forget that there are souls lost out in these more desolate areas of our own country that need Christ too! I taught Sunday school and preached the morning service then there was a luncheon at the church and an afternoon service to follow. I preached that as well. It was a very enjoyable day!

Sunday evening we attended Fountain Independent Baptist Church in Fountain, Colorado. Pastor Stephen Hutto's father is the pastor there; Pastor Wayland Hutto. I presented our ministry there last January. This past Sunday evening they had a missionary to the Philippine Islands there to preach the evening service. It was very heart stirring!

Pai Hser and Mu Htee Paw

The previous weekend we were in Sterling, Colorado for a meeting and we had no meeting over July the 4th. Since Sterling is only 5 hours from Lincoln where all are family is, we decided to go home for the week and be with our family over the holidays. While home, I went out visiting and door knocking with our church as my practice always is... My wife and I had the opportunity to meet Pai Hser who is a Karen refugee from Burma, but lived in Thailand for many years. His English was very poor, so I spoke to him in the Karen language, but my Karen is very poor. My family and I speak some of the Karen language, but mostly conversational, none of us are fluent. I was able to ascertain that he used to be Buddhist and now sometimes attends a Karen church in our town. However, he didn't know if he would go to Heaven or not. I began to present the Gospel to him a little bit, but as it was my Karen was to little to understand his questions and his English was to little, so I would need a lot of help.

Fortunately for me, Mu Htee Paw from our church was close by and began to translate for me. We were able to spend about 15 minutes with him presenting the Gospel. He realized that he has to do more to become a Christian than just to attend church. He actually has to realize that there is no saving faith in Buddha or for that matter anything of value in Buddhism. I think he realized that Buddha is a dead end or he wouldn't have started attending church in an attempt to become a Christian. He also realized that he had to put his complete trust and faith in the completed work of Christ as the payment for our sins. He bowed his head and trusted Christ! Please pray for his spiritual growth. Also, pray for Mu Htee Paw, she along with several others in our home church are valuable weapons in helping to reach this community of 7,000 refugees that live in the Lincoln area. I will be in Ellicott, Colorado on Wednesday evening and in Colorado Springs next weekend. Pray for us as we travel!

Quick Turn Around and We Are in Colorado

Pastor Michael Young

Assistant Pastor Ken Marlow

After coming back from Texas around 1 a.m. last Friday morning, I knew we would only have about a day at home before heading out Saturday to Colorado. We even went out and did a little visiting and soul winning Saturday morning at our home church before hitting the road. (More about that in a moment.) We headed to Sterling, Colorado to be with the Calvary Baptist Church for a missions emphasis Sunday. I was honored to get to know Pastor Michael Young and his wife. He has faithfully served at this church since the year 2000. We attended his Sunday school class and enjoyed meeting many of his adult class members and telling them about Thailand. I then preached the morning service on missions. We fellowshipped with the Pastor and his brother in the afternoon and then I presented the great need for the lost souls of Thailand in their Sunday evening Bible class. I also finished off the day by preaching on missions giving in the evening service. God blessed as many came forward at the invitation.

While there we met Brother Ken Marlow, the assistant pastor at this church since 1976. He even built much of the building back in 1976 when he first came. I praise God when I meet faithful men like this serving in the background. It is men like this that make the pastor's job so much easier. Every pastor needs a faithful man standing behind him!

Aung Tag

We went out visiting on Saturday morning with our home church since we were in town. I love to go out because the area around our church is so much like Thailand that it helps encourage me as I keep going on this long deputation trail. I enjoy visiting churches in America, but cannot wait to get to Thailand! While out I met Aung Tag who lived in Thailand for many years. He use to be a Buddhist, but became a Christian, so he said.... however, he didn't know how he would get to Heaven. So I asked him how he became a Christian? He said he got baptized in a church. I was able to take the Bible and explain to him very thoroughly how one becomes a Christian. He said he had never asked Christ to save him, but thought that he was doing that when he got baptized. So he said he realized his need for Christ and bowed his head and asked the Saviour to save him. Glory! He had to work on Sunday, but sent his daughter on our church bus on Sunday. We will be in Boone, Colorado next weekend, please pray for us as we travel.