From Livingston, LA to Greensboro, NC

We traveled on Wednesday from Center, Texas to Livingston, Louisiana to be with Fundamental Baptist Church. This church is led by Pastor Rusty Silvertooth. He has been doing a wonderful job having led the church into building a new and bigger auditorium about 5 years ago. Their property and facilities are absolutely beautiful and very large. I was very impressed!

 

We had dinner with the church before the service. Every Wednesday they feed a meal for a fundraiser for their teenagers. This meal is prepared by Mrs. Silvertooth and two ladies who help her. Then when the evening service started the pastor had me present our ministry to Thailand. Then a family came up and sang a special being a blessing to everyone.


After the special I preached the evening message. Hearts seemed stirred as I turned over the invitation to the pastor. After the service we spent a lot of time talking to a lot of the church folks who had many questions about Thailand and what we intend to do over there. It was a blessing to fellowship with these folks.



The next morning we began the process of traveling to Greensboro, North Carolina to Cornerstone Baptist Church for a missions conference.  Pastor Bill Davis has been leading this church for 17 years. We met Saturday morning to go soul winning. He took me to a neighborhood that had a large Vietnamese population. In fact, I was able to sit down and lead a Vietnamese lady and her children to Christ. Her name is Chuch Hua and she has lived in America for 12 years. She wasn't able to come to church because she had another obligation, but hopefully she will be able to come next week.

Pastor Bill Davis

On Sunday morning Pastor Davis had me teach a combined Sunday school of the younger kids. My wife and I both spent time telling them about Thailand and what a missionary does. Brother Fred Hudolin oversaw this... he is also the church song leader and did a wonderful job all week with the music.  

Bro. Fred Hudolin 

The pastor then had me preach the morning service. I had a great time preaching on missions and getting to see people respond during the invitation toward making Faith Promise commitments.

Preaching morning message

Then Sunday evening the pastor had me present my mission video to Thailand and then preach a short message. Dr. Mike Cox then preached a great message after me. He was their guest speaker. It was an honor to get to be with Brother Cox for the third missions conference now. He is a great man of God who has much knowledge of missions. My wife and I both enjoy visiting with him and his wife. They are a blessing!

Dr. Mike Cox

After the service the church voted to take us on for monthly support. We are very happy to have a new partner for souls in Thailand. We attended the Monday evening service and heard Dr. Cox preach another really good message. Then on Tuesday we headed toward our next meeting. The missions conference continues through Wednesday night. We will be at Trinity Baptist Church in Mocksville on Wednesday night.

Pastor Davis after evening service

  

"Is There Not A Cause" in Joaquin, Texas

Pastor Stewart Lowe

We attended the missions conference at Friendship Baptist Church in Joaquin, Texas. Their theme was "Is There Not a Cause?" This church has been led by Pastor Stewart Lowe for the last 21 years. They have a great big heart for missions and missionaries. In fact they are hoping to raise over $40,000 for missions this next year!

Pastor Lowe

While traveling to Joaquin on Saturday we stopped at Gospel Light Baptist Church in Mt. Pleasant, Texas. It is a new church plant that is led by Pastor John Yow. My wife and I with our two daughters joined the pastor and his wife in knocking doors for several hours. The pastor did an excellent job leading a man named Trayvon to Christ who is supposed to come and visit church in the next several weeks. I was also able to lead a young Spanish girl to Christ. Please pray for these converts as Pastor Yow follows up on them. Pastor Yow is working hard to reach this area for Christ, please pray for their success.

Pastor John Yow

On Sunday morning I taught the adult Sunday school class and gave a little of my testimony at Friendship Baptist Church. Evangelist Monty Martin, who is the guest speaker for the Faith Promise Missions Conference, preached the morning service. He did an excellent job preaching the theme through David and Goliath building each sermon off of the other one each night.

Teaching Sunday school

Evangelist Monty Martin

On Monday evening the pastor had my daughters sing a special which everyone seemed to enjoy. The pastor also had me present my ministry to Thailand. Folks seemed stirred at my video which is a good thing. Obviously the eye effects the heart!

My daughters singing a special

It was a blessing that evening to see some of the members from Central Baptist Church in Center, Texas come to the service. Central Baptist Church is led by Pastor Danny Dodson and is one of our partnering churches. Mrs. Tammy Hagler, one of the bus captains at Central Baptist, brought a lady named Kee with her. Kee is from Chin State in Burma and I was able to meet her last November in Center while out bus calling for Central Baptist Church. I was actually able to lead her son to Christ last November and he rides on Mrs. Hagler's Sunday school bus. Kee seemed very stirred to see the images of Thailand and told me and my wife at the hand shaking time that the need is great there because they worship the Buddha so strongly!

Kee with our family after the service

After the service Kee asked us if we could visit her friend in Center on Tuesday. Kee said she is concerned about her friends need for Christ. I told her we would be glad to go with her to visit her friend and talk to her about her eternity. 

Sese Win

On Tuesday afternoon we went with Kee to visit her friend Sese Win. She was born in Thailand and is from Shan descent, which are typically strong Buddhist people. However, Sese told my wife that she had to become a Christian in order to marry her husband, so she had to get baptized. (This is something I have found to be typical with some of these foreign pastors... these forced conversions that aren't conversions at all. Of course, you don't become a Christian by merely switching "religions" or by being baptized but by truly trusting Christ.) Sese went to public high school here in America and speaks excellent English. My wife took her through the plan of salvation and when she asked Sese if she would like to trust Christ as her Saviour she grabbed my wife's hand and began to weep saying yes. She then told my wife that Satan has had his power on her life, even though she gave up Buddhism, she needs the power of God to break Satan's stronghold on her heart. She then bowed her head and trusted Christ as her Saviour! Praise the Lord!

Then I asked Sese if her mom spoke English, she told me not too much. I asked her if her mom was Buddhist. She said yes, but she doesn't really practice it much. I asked her if she would translate for me to talk to her. Sese said we can ask her if she would listen... her mom agreed to sit down through a Gospel presentation. Her mom's name is May Kyi and she is originally from Shan State in Burma but fled to Thailand while under persecution. 

May Kyi with her daughter translating the Gospel

To witness to her I used the picture book that is so helpful with explaining the Bible verses for someone of a Buddhist background. She listened very intently as her daughter translated in Burmese. I was glad she choose to translate Burmese instead of Shan, because I understand some of the Burmese language. After completion of the presentation I went back over a few key points to make sure she understood them and then asked her if she thought Buddha could save her, she said no. I then asked if she believed Jesus Christ could save her, she said yes. She then bowed her head and trusted Christ as her Saviour! The mom and daughter along with Kee were all so happy. They started praising God. I congratulated her in the Burmese language and told her God bless you in Burmese as well.

Sese Win

Kyaw San

On Tuesday evening of the conference Sese came. It was a blessing to have her come to the service. It was also a blessing for Kee's husband Kyaw San to attend as well. Kyaw (pronounced Jaw) is already saved and sometimes attends services at Central Baptist Church in Center with his wife. The service was good Tuesday evening with Brother Dorr a missionary to Mexico presenting his work. Evangelist Martin preached a great message and the church collected up their Faith Promise commitments. The church took us on for support during this conference, which of course is a tremendous blessing for us!

Eh Kaw before baptism

This past Sunday at Lincoln Baptist Church, Eh Kaw came back to church. I had won him to Christ and brought him the Sunday before and he told me he wanted his wife to come and see him get baptized. Well, I was not there of course, but I was told that Eh Kaw came forward on his own and wanted to follow the Lord in believer's baptism even though his wife did not come. Praise the Lord for His obedience. Please pray for his wife who I believe is resisting God. Also pray for him as he grows in Christ.

We are heading today to Livingston, LA for a meeting tonight at Fundamental Baptist Church and then onto North Carolina on Thursday. A special thank you to Pastor Lowe and Friendship Baptist Church for allowing us to come to their conference and forming a partnership with us. Also, a special thank you to Pastor Dodson and Central Baptist Church for allowing us to stay in their newly remodeled prophets chambers. Very nice quarters!     

Great Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska

Eh Kaw after getting saved

After our meeting in Moore, Oklahoma we didn't have another meeting for a week. Originally I had a meeting scheduled with a church that had to rescheduled us for another time and I was never able to fill that weekend in... so since it is always cheaper to stay in Lincoln than to fork for a hotel on the road for a week, we went home. My family was excited because we were having a conference at our home church. While out bus visiting on Saturday I met Eh Kaw. As I visited with him he informed me that I had spoken to him before, so I asked him about his eternity. He told me he wished to go to the Heaven, but he didn't know if he would...

I then sat down with him and began to take him through the picture book with the Bible verses that we use so much in Thailand. Eh Kaw spoke English pretty good, but I had my girls bring an interpreter over anyway and repeat everything to him in the Karen language. Many times he answered me in English before the interpreter translated it, so I know his English is not bad, but we still continued with the interpreting. Always best to make positive that he is understanding the Gospel plan, because the Gospel only works if someone understands what it is, amen! After the presentation Eh Kaw bowed his head and trusted Christ as His Saviour. He then told me that he wanted this for his wife also, unfortunately she was not at home at the time. But Eh Kaw said he would come to church on Sunday and bring his family.

Eh Kaw on Sunday morning

Eh Kaw did come to church on Sunday, but unfortunately his son got sick and his wife had to stay home to take care of their son. However, at the invitation he came forward and made a public profession of faith in Christ and then said he wanted to be baptized next weekend when his wife was able to be there. Please be praying for her salvation. Praise the Lord our church did baptize a man from Uganda this weekend that got saved a few weeks ago. God is good all the time!

Our pastor and his wife with Dr. Scott Hanks and his wife

The conference started on Monday night and the Lord really blessed. It was supposed to be Dr. Bob Gray Jr. and Dr. Scott Hanks, but Dr. Gray Jr. had something come up and was unable to be in attendance. However, we still had a great time with Dr. Hanks at this conference. Many came forward each night to make decisions at the altar.

Dr. Hanks preaching Monday night

Dr. Hanks using an illustration Monday night

On Tuesday morning Dr. Hanks taught the workers on Impacting People in the Ministry. It was excellent teaching and many of our church workers were stirred. We also had a great time in fellowship at a luncheon that followed. Then Dr. Hanks preached another fantastic message Tuesday evening.

Dr. Hanks preaching Tuesday night

During the conference we found time to catch up with many of our converts from years past. We always enjoy getting to see them and spend time visiting with them. We took a few pictures with some of them, like Shu Nan Tun and her family. Her husband got off work late and couldn't make it, but we love this family. We reached them back in 2015 shortly after they arrived in America from Thailand and here they still are... their youngest daughter is named after my wife.

Shu Nan Tun and her children

I also spend some time visiting with Brother Saw who got saved in 2014 at our church. He is a faithful usher at our church and loves the Lord greatly. 

Brother Saw and my grandson Jonathan Tuesday night

On Wednesday nights they have junior usher night when they use some of the church kids to be assigned to an usher while the offering is taken up. My grandson sometimes gets assigned to Brother Saw's aisle. Brother Saw will help keep him straight! Lol!!!  

My grandson on a junior usher night

Saw keeping this usher going the right way

Please pray for us as we will be hitting the road again heading to Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina in the next several weeks. We need your prayers for traveling safety and for the Lord to bless all of our meetings. We want to be a blessing to every church we go to and of course we also are in need of more partners so we can go to Thailand.

Having Compassion on the Lost at Moore Baptist Temple in Moore, Oklahoma

We just finished a great week in the 2019 Faith Promise Missions Conference for Moore Baptist Temple. Their theme was from Jude 22 on "Having Compassion and Making a Difference." This church has been led by Pastor Sven Larson for the past 11 years. He is doing a great job at reaching their area for Christ. 

Pastor Sven Larson

On Sunday morning I taught the teen Sunday school class for Brother Nathaniel Means. He is also their youth pastor and song leader. He is doing a fantastic job with their teen department. They have a good group of young people that have a great spirit for the Lord. I believe God will use this man in a special way to influence these young lives. 

Bro. Nathaniel Means

I also preached the morning service to help kickoff of the conference. It was a privilege to be able to do so and God seemed to bless the service and the invitation as hearts were stirred and people came forward. On Sunday night Brother Cormier, a veteran missionary to Kenya, preached a great message. Many folks made decisions... Praise God!

The Cormier family playing a special

Then on Monday night, I presented our mission to Thailand by giving testimony and showing our video. I then preached the evening message and many were stirred for missions as the altars filled up at the invitation time.

Preaching Monday Evening

On Tuesday morning we went soul winning. Since it was 15 degrees the pastor took us to a shopping mall in the area in order to get inside out of the cold. While in the mall I met Tony who runs a shop. He is from Vietnam and is a Catholic, but he told me his wife is a Baptist. I was able to sit down with Tony and present the Gospel to him. He listened very closely to me. However, Tony believes that all religions are good and as long as one follows the principles of that religion he will make it to Heaven. He needs to have more follow up with the Gospel. Please pray for Tony to come to Christ! My wife was able to lead a clerk to Christ who works at the Payless Shoe store. Her name is Whitley and she is supposed to come to church. Praise the Lord!

Tony in his shop

On Tuesday evening Brother Cormier preached again. We enjoyed the special music all week long as this church has many talented musicians and singers. Including the pastor himself who plays the organ. The pastor's family also sang a special one night. There were also several good specials sung by the teenagers throughout the conference. 

Pastor's family singing special

Pastor Larson playing organ

While I was here I saw Brother Ben Craighead whom I had previously met at Heritage Baptist Church in Lawrence, Kansas. He was a student there when I attended their missions conference. Now he is working as the assistant pastor here at Moore Baptist Temple. He is a sharp young man that will be greatly used of the Lord some day.

Brother Ben Craighead

On Wednesday evening I again preached the message to close out the conference. I preached on "Setting Sail with Missions." It seemed to go well and I believe many hearts were stirred as the altars filled up. I am praying that their commitments go well as they will turn them in by this coming Sunday evening. If it goes well we will be able to form a partnership with this church! Our next meetings will be in Texas and Louisiana. 

Preaching  Wednesday Evening