From Gainesville to Houston the Lord is Blessing

Pastor Vera

God was very good to us last week as we travelled to Iglesia Bautista Fundamental in Gainesville, TX. I was able to spend some time with Pastor Omar Vera and enjoyed getting to know him. I presented to his church Wednesday night and preached the service. The invitation went well and the people seemed stirred. He also had two visiting pastors in his service from Mexico. I preached chapel the following morning to his Christian school and that seemed to go very well. The pastor informed me at breakfast the next morning that the church is going to partner with us for souls in Thailand. Praise the Lord!

Pastor Joel Lara (left)

Then we travelled to Houston to spend the weekend with Iglesia Bautista Antioquia. Pastor Joel Lara has been a faithful man of God there for eight years. Serving faithfully with his son Tony by his side. We went soul winning with them for several hours on Saturday in the heat. God really blessed our efforts as people were brought to the Saviour. That makes it worth the sweating!!! Then on Sunday he had me teach the adult Sunday school and my wife filled in for one of the children's Sunday school teachers. She was able to present the plan of salvation and couple of 11 year old boys that are new bus riders trusted Christ as their Saviour.

I presented my mission in the morning service and preached. The invitation had many people coming forward. I then came back and preached the evening service. God blessed and we enjoyed the fellowship. I also got to meet Javier Gamez and his wife who are missionaries to Ecuador. They are helping Pastor Lara while in between meetings. They have a real heart for souls! The pastor also told me that they are going to start partnering with us! Praise the Lord! Two new partners in one week, God is so good to us. Pray for us to get to Thailand in the Indochina area that we might be a light in that dark part of the world!   

Great Meetings in Burnet Area

Holding signs during morning rush

We spent the past week staying in Burnet, Texas and visiting churches in the area. We stayed in the prophets chambers at Northside Baptist Church in Burnet. Pastor James Frazier is the pastor and has been here about ten years. We presented the ministry in his church Wednesday evening and I was also allowed to preach the service too. Then on Thursday morning we went out with some of his young men to hold signs and hand out tracts to the morning traffic. We also did some door to door work on Saturday morning. My wife and I both were able to lead someone to Christ while we were out. Praise God, the power of Jesus still saves!!!

Then on Sunday we drove to Copperas Cove, Texas and spent the morning with Freedom Baptist Church. The pastor of the church is Joseph Grab. We really enjoyed getting to meet his family and church people. I taught a combined Sunday school class and presented the ministry during the morning service. During the morning service mothers were recognized and they even had a fun game for mothers to play. I also preached on Motherhood during the service. God blessed!

Pastor Grabb

Then Sunday night we visited Dr. Larry May's church, Victory Baptist Church of Burnet. He is having a missions emphasis running from Sunday night until the following Sunday night. He asked me to present the ministry and then preach on missions to help kick off their missions emphasis week. He is going to teach on missions through the next services and then collect their Faith Promise commitments next Sunday night. I pray that the Lord blesses their effort and their church!

Dr. Larry May

 

Three Different Churches, Three Different Cities, One Sunday

Pastor Gray and family

We had a whirlwind Sunday by visiting three different churches in three different cities in one Sunday. We started the day out by driving to Dallas from the Tyler area and being in the services of Iglesia Bautista Biblica Fundamental de Dallas with Pastor Fernando Avalos. We actually went soul winning with them on Saturday for several hours and got to see several trust Christ as their Saviour. I presented our field and preached in the Sunday morning service. Then after the service the church voted to take us on for support.

Pastor Fernando Avalos

We then had to leave right away to head to Longview Baptist Temple in Longview, TX. They had a special big day and had a special service at 2:30 PM. It was a privilege to visit here and see many folks that we know and have been friends with for many years. This was the church I was ordained in and sent out of to start a church in Lincoln, Nebraska in 2002. It is the church that birthed my current sending church. Pastor Gray was very gracious in allowing me to give testimony and show our video presentation. We were thankful for the wonderful gift basket given to us and the great fellowship after the service. 

Osvaldo my soul winning partner Saturday

After the service we were taken out for a meal by Brother Rossouw and his wife. They are old friends of ours for many years and we had a great time fellowshiping with them. Then we headed to Henderson, Texas and visited the services of Victory Baptist Church. Pastor Leroy Blankenship just started this church and had a good attendance that night. I was asked to open the service in prayer. The pastor preached a good message about being a personal soul winner and having a soul winning church in the community. Please pray that this new church can reach many souls for Christ in this community. Pray for us as we will be heading to the Texas Hill Country in a few days.....

Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia

Teaching on Soul Winning

We had some great meetings this past week. I was asked to teach the soul winning meeting on Saturday morning at Pastor Gregg Nash's church in Mechanicsville, MD (Gospel Light Baptist Church). I had a great time going out soul winning with his people on Saturday morning. My wife and I both were able to lead someone to Christ while we were out knocking on doors. 

Then Sunday morning I drove over to Freedom Baptist Church in Front Royal, VA. The pastor is Hollis Hillman. He is the founding pastor and is doing a great job. I was able to teach the men's Sunday school class while my wife taught the ladies. Then I preached the morning service. They are getting ready to move into a new building in a couple of weeks. The sky appears to be the limit for this church. I am excited for them. I was also excited when the pastor told me they will be interested in supporting us after they get settled into their new building.

Pastor Hillman

Then Sunday evening I was back in Mechanicsville, MD at Gospel Light Baptist Church. Pastor Nash had me present my ministry and then preach the evening service. After I showed my video the pastor got up and had the church vote to take us on for support. That had just happened the weekend before at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Pasadena, MD. So we were very excited to see this happen two weeks in a row!!! Praise God our support will start in May and we are excited to be partnering with Gospel Light Baptist Church!  

Pastor Rabon

On Wednesday evening we were in Beacon Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC. It is a wonderful church being led by Pastor Tim Rabon. I was able to give a testimony to the church and it was a blessing to be in  their services. I had a great time visiting with the pastor and some of his people after the service. They have several Asian folks in their church who had a great interest in our ministry! Please pray for us as we transition toward a month of meetings in Texas.

Great Meetings in Maryland

Pastor Arcand

Pastor Gascon

We have been having great meetings here in Maryland. This past weekend we were at Lighthouse Baptist Church with Pastor Paul Arcand in the Severna Park area. I was able to go soul winning with them on Saturday. During that time I was able to lead a lady named Michelle to Christ whose husband is in the military and just got transferred into the area. My wife also led several to Christ including a lady named Ashley who couldn't come because of health issues, but is planning on attending the church next Sunday. The Sunday services were awesome with a very good crowd at the church Sunday morning. I taught Sunday school and Pastor Arcand preached the morning service.

During the announcement time something special happened. Pastor Arcand had the church vote to take us on for support. The vote was 100% in favor of supporting us and now we are missionary partners with the Lighthouse Baptist Church. This is a great honor and something very special as this sort of thing doesn't happen very often. The church treated us very well and we felt blessed by the people. I was also glad to have the opportunity to preach the Sunday evening service. God is using this church to reach this area!

The Wednesday before this we were honored to attend the Solid Rock Baptist Church with Pastor Kevin Gascon. He has been the pastor for a little over six months here in the Hughesville area. I was honored to have a chance to meet this fine man and his family. I enjoyed the opportunity to preach to his people for the Bible study that night. They also took excellent care of us. I believe this young pastor is going to do an excellent job down the road. Please pray for us as we continue our travels...

Catching Up with Old Friends

Pastor Erickson and family

This past Sunday night we were able to catch up with old friends in New Jersey... more about that in a moment. First we started out the weekend with Pastor Sergio Ali in Bay Shore, New York. He is the pastor of Iglesia Bautista Fundamental de Bay Shore. I preached the bus meeting Saturday morning and then went out bus calling with their bus director Brother Carlos Ventura. He is an excellent soul winner as I saw him win several people to Christ throughout the day. Our family also had several make decisions to trust Christ as their Saviour. 

I preached a special service on Saturday evening where I got to present our ministry too. Then on Sunday morning I taught the teen boys during Sunday school and my wife taught the teen girls before I preached their morning service. We also saw one follow the Lord in believer's baptism. Pastor Ali has done a fantastic job these past 25 years since he started this church.

Then Sunday afternoon we drove to Galloway, NJ to attend Jersey Shore Baptist Church. It is pastored by one of my old Bible college friends; Pastor Phil Erickson. He was one of my good friends when I attend Texas Baptist College. It was good seeing him and also Brother Ted Stahl who is his song leader. Brother Stahl also attended Texas Baptist College. 

Pastor Erickson is doing a great job with the church and came here about the same time I started the church in Lincoln. I was able to present our ministry and preach a message. Afterwards I had the opportunity to visit with a young man from Cambodia and his girlfriend who is from Hong Kong. I have a real heart for Asian people and always enjoy getting a chance to visit with them when I can. These young folks aren't members of his church but occasional visitors here. Please pray for both of these churches as they are striving to reach very needy areas for Christ!  

Pastor Ali and his wife

Brother Ventura

New and Old Acquaintances

Pastor Fowler and Dr. Gray

We started out the weekend going soul winning on Saturday with Heritage Baptist Church in Canal Winchester, OH. Pastor Tracy Fowler has been the pastor there for 20 years and is doing an excellent job. While we were there Dr. Bob Gray came and preached all day Sunday and Monday and Tuesday night. Dr. Gray was my pastor in the late 1990's up until I went and started a church in 2002. I was trained in his college and ordained in his church. What a blessing to spend some time with him. I was able to present our ministry while there and Pastor Fowler mentioned to me that they will want to support us in the future.

Miss Stacey

While we were there we also saw Miss Stacey Withers who use to be a worker on my bus route with my wife and I when I was at Longview Baptist Temple. She is and has been the music coordinator at Heritage Baptist Church for over 15 years. She has done an excellent job with the music at this church. It is very top notch!

Miss Jessica

While we were staying at Canal Winchester we had several saved out soul winning, but my wife was also able to lead our cleaning lady to the Lord at our hotel. Her name is Jessica and she was very open to the Gospel. Please pray that she will start attending the church there. She seemed very open to attending when she isn't working so we will be praying about it to. We also witnessed to the other cleaning lady and the assistant manager who both had good testimonies of salvation already.

Pastor Mike Lamb

A special thank you to Pastor Mike Lamb of the Landmark Baptist Church in Parkersburg, WV. We were able to stay in their missions house before shoving on toward New York City. We also attended their Wednesday evening service and I got invited to come back and present our ministry at their missions conference the beginning of next November.