Friday, May 17, 2019

From Alpena, MI to Lawrence, KS with a pit stop in Elkhart, IN

Pastor Paul Frey
We spent the weekend at Cathro Baptist Church in Alpena, Michigan. Pastor Paul Frey has been leading this church for 9 years. He is doing a great job reaching this rural area. On Saturday we went out on the bus route visiting. The pastor and I went to the country part of the route while the others went to the town. While out the pastor was able to lead a parent of one of the riders to Christ.

Pastor with some of the bus kids
Then on Sunday I taught the Sunday school hour on missions and soul winning. Then during the morning service I preached a message on the purpose of motherhood. All mothers were recognized and honored during this service. 
Special Music
The service was great and we enjoyed the singing and special music. Following the invitation time the pastor had a convert that got baptized. Praise the Lord. 

Baptismal Service
Then after the service I rode on the bus with the pastor and enjoyed getting to visit with some of the riders. It was a blessing getting to spend time with them and see where the route goes to. The route has a lot of adult riders on it. That is a blessing to see this church reaching so many adults.
Bus Route
Then Sunday evening I showed my video and presented our mission. I then preached the evening message as well. It was blessing to see hearts being stirred. The church will be voting on partnering with us next Sunday night. Hopefully we will gain a new partnership!

Presenting Sunday Evening
On Monday we traveled to Elkhart, Indiana to visit David Khin and his wife Ni May Wi. David had contacted my wife a month ago after a convert of my wife's had given them such a strong testimony that he felt he needed to talk to us. When my wife talked to him his testimony wasn't clear so we were wanting a chance to meet with him in person. 
David Khin
We were able to talk to David at his work place. He took his lunch break and we visited with him for 30 minutes. He gave us an excellent testimony of having been born again when he lived in Burma. However, he was unsure about his wife's salvation. We had opportunity to visit with his wife and we also met his cousin who was visiting them. His wife claims salvation, but doesn't have a clear testimony. His cousin Bawi has a clear testimony and we believe that he is saved. Please pray for his wife as we are going to be taking them through a Grow in Grace booklet and trying to help them grow. Hopefully, if his wife isn't saved she will trust Christ! Also, pray that we can find a good church in the area for them. 

Bawi and Ni May Wi
We then traveled to Lawrence, Kansas to attend the Bible college graduation for our in laws and some friends that were graduating from Heritage Baptist College which is a ministry of Heritage Baptist Church. This church is led by Pastor Scott Hanks and is a partnering church with us.
Dr. Scott Hanks
The service was great. There was very good special music by the college and the commencement service was fantastic as well. Pastor Sven Larson also spoke during the service and his daughter was a graduate that night too. The main message was preached by Pastor Tony Keeton from Union City, TN.


My daughter-in-laws sister Melody Smith had an opportunity to speak after being recognized. She had just gotten engaged earlier that day, so it was a very special day for her and the Smith family! May the Lord bless all these graduates as they move into their future ministries and lives!
Melody Smith
While there we also saw Brother Bob Miller and his wife from Lincoln Baptist Church. They were there to pick up their son Travis for the Summer. Travis is a student at Heritage Baptist College. Mrs. Miller was led to Christ by my wife in 2009 and then I led her husband to the Lord after that and his son Travis to Christ. Brother Miller is now a deacon at Lincoln Baptist Church and his wife is of course the deacons wife, a Sunday school teacher, junior church worker, and runs one of the bus routes. This family is tremendous blessing!

The Miller Family


  




Friday, May 10, 2019

Indianapolis, Kokomo, and Berne, Indiana

Pastor Ford Glover
We spent the weekend with Suburban Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. This church is led by Pastor Ford Glover for the past eight years. He is doing a fabulous job here as the crowds were great. I have known Pastor Glover for over 22 years having originally met him at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Colorado Springs in 1996 when my wife and I attended a conference there. In fact we stayed in his house! It was a blessing to get to see him and his family and the work that he is doing in Indianapolis.
Preaching Sunday morning
On Sunday morning I taught the Sunday school in the auditorium for 7th grade up to all the adults. Then I preached the morning service as well as the Sunday evening service. The crowds were very good and the people responded well. We enjoyed the special music in the both the services. It was a blessing to be here. They have a great Christian school with about 300 students enrolled. Their facilities are top notch! God is doing some great things here and I have no doubt that God is going to do some even greater things here in the years to come.
Special Sunday morning
Wednesday evening we attended the Bible study at Faith Baptist Church in Kokomo. This church was started in 1995 by Pastor Andrew Green. The folks were very friendly and I was able to give a testimony about what we will be doing in Thailand. 
Pastor Ryan Marsh
Then on Thursday night we attended the service at Faith Baptist Church of Berne. Pastor Ryan Marsh has been here about 2 years now and is doing a great job with the church. We have been here before and this is one of our partnering churches. We were here because we were staying in their prophets chamber before heading to Michigan for the weekend. Their church is such a blessing to us!
Preaching Thursday night
Pastor Marsh had me preach the evening message that night and it was fun to preach on a topic that wasn't missions. I enjoy preaching missions, but it is nice to preach on other topics sometimes. We weren't idle during our stay here as my was able to help Mrs. Marsh with some things in the office and I went out door knocking and soul winning with Pastor Marsh. We didn't see anyone trust Christ but not because we didn't try! We had a great time witnessing and having fellowship as we went. God is doing some great things here through this church and we are excited to be partners with them!
Mrs. Marsh