Staying Busy During a Pause

While returning from a meeting in California and getting ready to take to the road until Thanksgiving, I had a one week pause. It worked well for me because I needed to get some emergency dental work done. My favorite thing to do! Haha! Going to the dentist twice in a week and having teeth pulled... great fun. While here we were busy working for the Lord going out soul winning last Thursday night and visiting the Karen route on Saturday. 

Getting ready to witness to a Buddhist

Not all soul winning stories end happily. This was my wife and Paw from our church talking to Pah about where she would go when she dies. Pah is a Buddhist lady and she said she doesn't know where she will go when she dies. She stated that she doesn't know if her Buddhist beliefs can get her to Heaven or Not. However, after hearing my wife talked to her about the Gospel she doesn't believe that Christ can get her to Heaven either. It is sad to me because my great burden in my heart is to see these Buddhist Asians come to the Saviour. Our city is full of them and our church works every week to try and reach them as well as all the other lost of our city. So whenever we are around our home church you will often find us out witnessing to these folks as much as I can! It has become my purpose in life... to break through the Buddhist stronghold on Southeast Asia!!!

Our Pastor Preaching

Our church had a church planter named Brother Kennard here this weekend and he taught in Sunday school and preached the evening service. However, our pastor preached the morning service and used a boy from Sudan for a preaching illustration. This boy and his family were reached by my wife and I back in 2009. His mother was saved out of the Islamic faith, I will leave their names out for safety reasons. I was thinking what a blessing it is to see the fruit of your labor many years later. God is sure good!

Shun Nan Tun and little Tam Sue

After the morning services let out it was good to catch up with some of our old converts and friends. My wife was talking to Shun Nan Tun. Her and her husband and family were led to Christ by my wife and I in 2014. They loved my wife so much that they named their third child after my wife. My wife's name is Tamara Sue, but I often call her Tam Sue. They liked that name so they named their daughter after her. Once again it is a blessing to see the fruit of your past labors.

Maggie and my wife

Sunday afternoon we ate at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants. The owner is named Maggie and she has become a good friend of ours. My wife has been burdened for her soul and previously took her out to another restaurant on her day off to present the Gospel to her. She has not accepted Christ, but we are praying for her. This past Sunday we were able to line up her daughter to start riding the church bus at our home church starting next week. My wife also gave her a booklet this Sunday that tells about the hidden message found in the Chinese letters. The Gospel is found in those letters. Please pray that she will receive Christ as her Saviour. Also, pray that her daughter riding the church bus can be another avenue to reaching this Chinese family for Christ. We will be heading to Colorado Springs for a missions conference later this week and then heading back East for many meetings the following week.       

From Grand Junction, Colorado to El Cerrito, California

Pastor Tom Barlament

This past Wednesday we were at Landmark Baptist Church in Grand Junction, Colorado. Pastor Tom Barlament started this church 17 years ago and has done an incredible job. Their facilities are unbelievable and they are getting ready to expand with a new auditorium soon. Pastor Barlament has done a fantastic job reaching families for Christ. I was able to present that night and preach the evening message. I also met Fidel Villarreal who has been faithfully coming to the church. He told me he was a former convert of Pastor Matt Miller who is at Grace Baptist Church in Colorado Springs and use to pastor a church in Grand Junction many, many years ago. It is a great testimony to see some fruit that remains all these years later from Pastor Miller's ministry.

Fidel Villarreal

Then this weekend we were at Arlington Baptist Church in El Cerrito, California. We arrived on Friday and were able to eat dinner with the pastor and his family on Friday night. We really enjoyed the fellowship with them. Then on Saturday we went soul winning with their missions director Brother Horace Dunkley. I was able to see two souls come to the Saviour, Brother Dunkley one and my wife one while we were out knocking doors for several hours. We had a great time fellowshipping as we went and telling folks about Jesus in sunny California.

Missions Director Dunkley

Then on Sunday morning we arrived at the church early and I ran into Brother Raymundo Vidaure. He went to Bible college with my son (and pastor) at Texas Baptist College and was the best man in my son's wedding back in 2014. My wife and I enjoyed getting to visit with him. He is the youth director at the church here in El Cerrito.

Brother Raymundo

I taught the adult Sunday school class and presented our mission in the morning service. We enjoyed listening to Pastor David Callaghan preach the morning message. Pastor Callaghan took over for his father back in the Summer of 2017. He is doing a fantastic job and the church really has a solid base of young adults. There is great potential in this church and I believe they are getting ready to really do some great things. The music was fantastic in both the morning and the evening service. I also preached the evening service and considered it a great honor to do so. Please pray for us as our next stop on the deputation trail will be in the Colorado area.

Pastor Callaghan and his wife

Missions in Meeker

Pastor Derek Dewey

This past Thursday there was a missions conference that started at Faith Baptist Church in Meeker, Colorado. Pastor Derek Dewey has been the pastor here since 2014. I was the guest speaker for the conference and the Lord really came and met with us as the people were getting stirred about missions. The meetings were great on Thursday and Friday evening with good special music. The people also stayed behind and fellowshipped for a long time each night asking many questions about Thailand.

The Choir Singing a Special

Then Saturday morning we went out door knocking in the town of Meeker for about 2 hours. (Meeker is a population of about 2,000 people.) Brother Jim Overton was my partner and did a wonderful job out soul winning. Jim knew most of the people of the doors we knocked on. However, we found a man named Buck who had moved here from Utah. Buck use to be a Mormon, but had denounced the "church" as corrupt. Buck currently wasn't going to church anywhere and thought he might be able to go to Heaven by being a good person. I was able to explain to Buck from the Bible that we aren't saved by being a good person and that we are all sinners that deserve Hell as payment for our sins. Buck paid great attention as I showed him each verse and explained what they meant. I showed him how Christ paid for our sins and that we have to trust Him and Him alone without any good works being involved in order to be saved. Buck said he wanted to trust Christ and he bowed his head and asked Christ to save him. Unfortunately, he works in a coal mine here and had to work on Sunday, but he is interest in coming and wanted to get his kids involved in the Patch Club on Wednesday nights at the church. Praise God He is still in the soul saving business!

Jim Overton

On Sunday morning after I preached the the morning service there was a lady visitor named Veronica who came forward because she was unsure of her salvation. The pastor had my wife deal with her, but she had a good testimony of being saved before and just needed assurance of salvation. My wife showed her many verses and she felt reassured of her salvation. Turns out she was just visiting in Meeker and she actually lives in Grand Junction, Colorado which is 1 hour and 45 minutes away. The good news is we will be at Landmark Baptist Church in Grand Junction this next Wednesday night and my wife will be calling her when we get to town and we will bring her to church with us so she can get into a good church. Please pray for Veronica to get into this good church and begin to grow in the Lord. The devil will be working to discourage this, so we must be diligent to pray!

Veronica with my wife

Then Sunday night I preached the final message of the conference after the the pastor handed out the Faith Promise Missions Commitment Cards. After I preached and many came forward at the invitation the pastor got up and gave a very inspirational talk to the church about missions and with a tear in his eye recommended the church vote to support us and the other missionary that was at the conference. The church voted 100% in favor of this. Praise God for a new partnership! Pray for safe travels as we head to Grand Junction this Wednesday!  

The Western Slope of Colorado

The Pastor's Family singing the special

We spent the weekend with the Bible Baptist Church in Rangely, Colorado. Pastor Jasper Whiston has been there for 14 years and is doing a wonderful job. He is in a very rural area in the Northwest part of Colorado. He has a good group of folks that are faithful and he has a Christian school that has 18 students. That is very impressive in a town of 2,000 people.

Pastor Whiston

On Sunday I was able to teach Pastor Whiston's adult Sunday school class. Then I gave a brief testimony during the morning service. We enjoyed the special music from the pastor's family and listening to Pastor Whiston preaching the morning message. Then after the morning service there was a surprise birthday party for the pastor's wife. I thought that was great thing as often times a pastor's wife is overlooked and under appreciated! Then in the evening service I presented our ministry and preached the evening message. God blessed and we had a great time. We also enjoyed spending time in fellowship with the pastor's family, they are a great bunch of folks!

Pastor Gabe Skillo

On Monday we travelled to Delta, Colorado to spend some time with the Bible Baptist Church in Olathe, Colorado. Many of the church members live in Delta. These communities are very close to each other. We stayed with Brother and Mrs. Piotrowski who are faithful members of the church. We truly appreciate their extreme kindness to us. 

On Tuesday afternoon I went soul winning with Pastor Skillo and we were able to lead a Spanish lady to Christ named Theresa. She is supposed to come next Sunday. Then Wednesday night the pastor asked me to speak on soul winning which I did. I believe it was a blessing to the folks. God is doing a great work through this church and Pastor Skillo is a great soul winning pastor! Please pray for us as we travel today to Meeker, Colorado for the start of a missions conference.

Mrs. Piotrowski and my wife