From El Dorado, AR to Houston and San Antonio

Bro. Weido

Last Wednesday I was honored to visit the Bible Baptist Church of El Dorado, Arkansas. It is led by Pastor J.D. Weido. He was out of town preaching, but I was greeted and hosted by his son, Joe Weido. He and his wife, Stefanie, took us out for dinner before the service. We enjoyed the fellowship with them very much. At the church Bro. Lee Gilkey led the service and he had me give testimony and show my video before preaching the evening message. After the service everyone came to get prayer cards from our table and many visited with us about Thailand and the great need there for a long time. The people were a blessing and Pastor Weido is doing a great job reaching this area!

Bro. Gilkey

We then headed to Houston to be with Helmers Street Baptist Church. This church was originally start by Brother John Duckett 69 years ago. (I knew his grandson Brother Paul Duckett very well.) It is now led by Pastor Jacob Mendoza. We were supposed to go out soul winning with Pastor Mendoza on Saturday morning, but he called me on Friday to tell me he was sick and needed me to do a funeral for him on Saturday morning at his church. I was glad to be of service, so I preached the funeral on Saturday. It was little bit difficult because it was for a lost man whose wife was a Jehovah's Witness. The auditorium filled up with a lot of friends and family. I knew most of the crowd were Catholics and my message would not be popular. However, I preached a very strong and clear salvation message and four made decisions to trust Christ as their Saviour at the invitation time. I praise God for the four, but sadly, multiple dozens walked out of there as lost as they came in. 

Pastor Jacob Mendoza

  Pastor Mendoza has been the pastor here for four years and is building the church back up. On Sunday, I presented our ministry and then preached the morning service. God blessed as the people seemed excited about the work that needs to be done in Thailand.

Pastor Lee Ambros

On Sunday night I went to Iglesia Bautista Libertad in Langwood. It was originally started as an English church by a man named Brother Bryan King. This is the man who led Brother Lee Ambros to Christ 22 years ago. Now he has been the pastor for the last 5 years and the church has really become a Spanish church due to the predominate population of Spanish folks living around the church. They had a great crowd in the evening service and the people were very friendly toward our family. I presented our mission and preached the evening message while the pastor interpreted. During the invitation time the pastor had the church vote on taking us on immediately for support. Praise the Lord for a new partner in our mission to bring the Gospel to one of the darkest parts of the world! 

Preaching Sunday evening

On Monday we headed to San Antonio to Texas Baptist Church for a night of their missions conference. It is led by Pastor Keith Bell who is also the founding pastor of this great church. This church supported me for a year when I started the Lincoln Baptist Church in 2002, so I have known Brother Bell for a long time. 

Pastor Keith Bell

Pastor Bell and his wife along with other guest

Dr. Bob Bowen was the guest speaker for the conference. Brother Bowen has been a great influence in my life since 1998. This past year he has dealt with a lot of health issues for both himself and his wife. He had a major neck surgery last Spring, although, he did look the best that I have seen him look since that surgery. In fact he told me he was returning to Thailand in January. Brother Curtis Hall was also at this conference with B.E.S.T. ministries. I presented our ministry and then Brother Hall presented his ministry. Brother Bowen then preached a great message on the importance of the Word of God in this world! It was a great sermon and hearts were stirred.

Brother Bowen preaching

We will be heading to Center, Texas for the Faith Promise Missions conference at Central Baptist Church. We are excited because there will be a great emphasis on the 10/40 window. Thank you for your prayers and support.