Added 2 Missionaries, Souls Saved, and Kids Baptized (Jun 22, 2009)
What a wonderful day we had yesterday around the Word of God. I trust that you had an enjoyable Father's Day. What a privilege it is to be a father, to have been raised in the home of an excellent father, and to have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. Yesterday, I delivered the fifth sermon in a six-part series on fatherhood. This past week was on finances. You can listen to the sermon again by logging on to our website.
We witnessed good evangelistic results yesterday. Our buses brought in good, respectable numbers, and ten kids prayed to receive the Lord in the counseling center of bus church. We praise the Lord for our bus workers and the wonderful folk who work our counseling center each week.
Base numbers also returned to respectability this past week. Another nine soldiers stood to receive Christ as personal Savior at Fort Benning. We thank the Lord for these.
Two precious young people who were saved this past year followed the Lord in believer's baptism yesterday. Sophia Powell, daughter of Pastor and Mrs. Powell, made her faith public yesterday. It was her dad's privilege to plunge her beneath baptismal waters. In the evening service, Jane Shuler, daughter of Phil and Katie Shuler, followed the Lord in baptism. What a privilege it is to see these children embrace the faith of their parents publicly.
Grace Baptist Church also had the privilege of adding two new missionaries yesterday. Michael Geurink who works with the remote tribes in the Western Amazon region of Brazil was added to our missionary family. Michael and his dear family actually live in a boat on the Amazon. They are pioneering new territory in an area of the world where people have never been exposed to the Gospel. What a joy to be part of this work that is not building on another man's foundation.
In addition to the Geurinks, we were privileged to add Brenson Jennings to our missionary family. Brenson and his wife Joanna are going to Niger, West Africa where they will be working with Islamic Tuaregs from the beach head of Agadez. Niger in the middle of the Sahara desert can have temperatures as high as 145 degrees Fahrenheit. This country of 13.2 million is over 90 percent Muslim. We are excited about our first missionaries in the country of Niger.
Our teens returned from camp this week, with three of them called to full-time Christian service. They will be presenting their testimonies in our mid-week service Wednesday night.
On a personal note, many of you have sent encouraging emails and calls concerning our personal matter. Please continue to pray. Also, our daughter Ashley who has been experiencing significant digestive trouble is scheduled for yet another doctor's visit today. We are hoping that this visit to the intestinal doctor will be the beginning of her restored health. Please pray for her that she will be completely healed before going back to college this fall.
Your prayers and concern for this ministry mean much to us. Thank you for your support.