Great Start in Bourbonnais to Kickoff the Rust Belt Tour of Missions Conferences

Pastor Terry Anglea

We transitioned from Reno, Nevada to Bourbonnais, Illinois this past week. Taking a couple day pit stop in Lincoln, Nebraska along the way. Just long enough to catch Wednesday night service and go soul winning on Thursday night which allowed both my wife and I to see someone trust Christ as their Saviour. Then by the weekend we were with Faith Baptist Church of Bourbonnais for their missions conference. The theme of the conference is "For God." This church has been led by Pastor Terry Anglea for 29 years. I was told before I came that it is a great church and I would have to say that it is a great church with an unbelievable vision and heart for missions as well as winning the souls of the lost of their own area. They support over 200 missionaries which is impressive, but they are balanced by having many bus routes and a solid soul winning program!

Bro. Nemeth (right side) and helper Bro. Prather

Sunday morning I taught in the 4th through 6th grade boys class. The teacher of this class is Brother Ray Nemeth who has been in this class for 20 years. I taught a short lesson and then spent time telling about Thailand and the work we are going to do. The class was very attentive! My wife taught the girls 4th through 6th grade class and said she had a great time in there as well. 

Bro. Lucco and Bro. Betterton with some of their students

Then during the morning service the pastor introduced all the missionaries and then had us go teach some more classes. I taught the bus kid boys class 4th through 6th grade and my wife taught the girls. We had a great time, although these guys were a little bit more rowdy, LOL! Overall though they were good kids. I did the same thing in their class as I had earlier in the day. This class was led by Brother Tony Lucco and his helper Brother Tom Betterton.

Brother Ed Bragg

Afterwards I was taken to lunch by Brother Ed Bragg. He told me when he walked up to me that I looked familiar. I told him that my wife and I had visited his church in the Saint Louis area back in 1997 while traveling through. Brother Bragg use to be the pastor of Lafayette Bible Baptist Church around Pacific, MO. He just recently retired and his wife and he just joined the church here. His son is the principle of the Christian school here. We had a great time of fellowship at lunch. It was great to meet him again all these years later and we discovered that truly it is a small world!

Pastor Scott Hanks

On Sunday evening we listened to a missionary presentation and then guest speaker Pastor Scott Hanks. Pastor Hanks is the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Lawrence, Kansas. I have known Pastor Hanks since 2003 and over the years have become good friends. He had preached in my church when I was a pastor and I in his, also, my daughter-in-law comes from his church... so the connections are many, oh, plus Heritage Baptist Church is a partner with us!!! Pastor Hanks preached a great message Sunday night and Monday morning at the 11:00 AM service.

Pastor Hanks preaching at 11 AM service

In the afternoon I taught the missions class in the high school to about 35 students. My wife and I had a great time in the class. I taught a lesson on compassion and then answered questions about Thailand. The questions were good and the kids enjoyed some of the stories that went along with it all. The class was coordinated by Brother Mike Bragg, who is the administrator of the entire Christian school. It is a great school with a great group of students being led by a great staff! God is blessing their efforts here in the school as they have sent many onto Bible college and then into full time Christian service.

Teaching the missions class

On Monday night Pastor Hanks preached another great message out of 2 Corinthians 8. Hearts were stirred and the altars full at the invitation time. Then on Tuesday morning before the preaching they had a contest with all of the missionaries. There were different contest with points being awarded for each contest. There were students selected that were able to pick the missionary that would compete for them. The prize would be to eat with the pastor and the missionaries at lunch. I was able to win it for my student! Afterwards one of the missionaries preached a good message.

Sinking my putt

Then Tuesday night there was another missionary presentation and Pastor Hanks preached again. This time he preached a message from Philippians chapter 4 about having fruit abounding to your account. He used the missionaries to illustrate this by having us come up and put fruit in the basket he provided. It was a great message and once again hearts were stirred!

Putting my fruit in the basket

Then Wednesday morning we heard a good message from one of the missionaries and then after lunch we enjoyed a men's shooting activity. We had a great time of fellowship with some of the staff as well as other missionaries. A special thank you to Brother Joe Griffin for taking us out!

Out at the shooting range

Then Wednesday night I presented the work to Thailand. I gave testimony and showed our video. Then I was honored to be able to preach the finally message of the conference as Pastor Hanks had now returned to Lawrence to be with his church. The message went well and hearts seemed stirred at the invitation time. After the invitation was over Pastor Anglea announced about a young man named Christian (age 12) surrendering to become a missionary. He even had all of the missionaries come forward and lay hands on him and pray for him. Praise the Lord! Pray for Christian and his future service for our Saviour. Also please pray us to have travel safety as we journey to Grove City, Ohio on Thursday for the start of another conference that night.

Christian and myself (along with my wife)