Meeting Up With My Old neighbor in Charlotte, North Carolina

Pastor Gary Berry and Pastor Terry Hunter

This past weekend I was at Liberty Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. This church was started 42 years ago by Dr. Gary Berry who is still the pastor. Praise God for that kind of longevity. There is something to say for one man being the leader of a church for that many years! The Spanish church is led by Pastor Terry Hunter. He has been with Dr. Berry for about 19 years. Brother Hunter used to be my next door neighbor when I lived in Longview, Texas. It was great spending the weekend with him.

Bus Director showing how to get a sign up

On Saturday we attended the bus meeting. Pastor Berry spoke briefly and then the bus director; Brother John Norris took over the meeting. Brother Norris has been in the bus ministry in this church for 35 years. Wow! Praise God!!! Brother Norris gave some good instructions to the workers about how to go after some new sign ups.

This family trusted Christ on Saturday

My wife and I went out visiting and door knocking with Brother Hunter since we would be spending Sunday morning presenting in the Spanish church. I was amazed at how good Brother Hunter speaks Spanish. He didn't speak it when we were neighbors. While out door knocking my wife and I ran across a family. The husband was at work, but we were able to speak to the wife her sister and the children. The children spoke good English so my wife was using them as a translator to talk to the older folks, but then Brother Hunter came around the corner so we introduced him and allowed him to sit down and go over the Gospel with them in Spanish. Fifteen minutes later they made a decision to bow their heads and trust Christ! Praise the Lord!!! Please pray for the husband and dad to be reached, because the family will follow the him! 

Julio Garcia (song leader) and his dad

On Sunday morning I spoke to the Spanish church in Sunday school about missions while my wife gave testimony in Mrs. Cathy Berry's ladies Sunday school class. Then I preached the morning service in the Spanish church as well. It was a blessing to meet the folks that Brother Hunter works with every week. It was his song leader Julio's birthday today and he turned 20 years old. He did a good job leading the singing. After the service we got a picture with him and his father. The church also decided to take us on for support. Praise the Lord for a partnership with Iglesia Bautista Libertad. (They support their missionaries separate from the English side of the church.)

That evening I had opportunity to present our ministry in the English service and I preached the evening message as well. We enjoyed the service much and the people were extremely kind. It was a good group to preach to as the crowd gets excited and the men know how to shout amen! The pastor told us that he would be bringing us up before the church for potential support.

Calvary Baptist Church in Union Grove, NC

The Wednesday before this weekend we didn't have a scheduled meeting but we did drop into Calvary Baptist Church in Union Grove, North Carolina. This church is led by Pastor Stephen Pope. He is doing a great job and they had a full house. He called me up to give a testimony and he scheduled me for a meeting to present the work more completely to his church later this year. It was a blessing to be with them. Please pray for us as we travel to Tennessee for several meetings.