Summer is here! (May 24, 2010)
School has finished, and families are taking some much-needed vacations. This, of course, affects both attendance and offerings. If you judge everything by nickels, noise, and numbers, last week was not too fulfilling. In the midst of it all, however, the Lord gave some significant blessings and we would like to highlight a few of them for you.
Let's begin with our military ministry. The parents of Becky Ingram are both experiencing tremendous health issues. She is in Florida taking care of them, but Bob in spite of her absence had a great week on base. 118 soldiers attended our Freedom House Bible studies this week with 17 of them standing to receive Christ as personal Savior. Amen!
On the bus front, one of our bus drivers had "a fender bender," but through the accident, we were able to lead one of the persons that was hit to the Lord. Amen! In all, six bus kids prayed to receive Jesus Christ as personal Savior last night. Amen again!
We were privileged to have Josep and Sara Segurado in our services yesterday. Josep is a missionary appointee with Baptist Word Mission on his way to Tarragona, Spain. He did a great job preaching last night on "hope." You can hear his message by logging on to our website. The Segurados were added to our missionary budget, making them the 173rd missionary family supported by Grace Baptist Church. Praise the Lord! We received a significant love offering for them and one man in the church volunteered to take care of their broken car air conditioner. Amen!
Lord willing, we hope to finalize travel plans today for our teenagers who will be going to Costa Rica this summer. Pray for them as they continue to raise their funds for this most important week.
Vacation Bible School is right around the corner, June 7-11. Pray for workers for both our bus routes and classrooms. We are praying that God will give us hundreds of souls this week. Please pray with us.
Your interest in and prayers for this ministry mean much to us. Keep it up!
28th Commencement Exercises of GCS (May 17, 2010)
Grace Christian School concluded its 31st year of operation on Friday night with our 28th annual commencement exercises. Scott Pauley, Vice President of the Crown College in Knoxville, Tennessee, delivered our annual commencement address as 11 graduates walked across the platform to receive their diplomas. It was a great night. Troy Brown, son of Pastor Mark and Tracy Brown, received the preacher boy of the year award for representing our school in national competition. Troy also received the President's Award, given to the student who best exemplifies what we desire our graduates to be. Bethany Moody, for her servant's spirit and extreme flexibility, was given the Teacher of the Year Award. And Marjorie Holt was presented with a gift card to mark her 15 years of service at GCS.
As soon as graduation was over, several of our families left town. Attendance (and offerings) were both affected. There were, however, a few good things to report. Our Fort Benning Bible studies were attended by over 220 soldiers. Once again, more than 20 soldiers stood this week to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Amen!
Bus attendance spiked by about 20 riders last night. We are thankful for our faithful workers who are filling in during this transition time at Grace.
Be in prayer as we seek to begin our second chapel of Grace Baptist Church this summer. In addition to our sattelite church in Lumpkin, preliminary efforts are in effect to begin a new church in Fort Mitchell, Alabama. Pray as these new steps are taken.
Wanda Hand joined our church yesterday by statement. We are excited to welcome her into our church.
A new family visited Grace Baptist Church yesterday as a result of our participation in the local church softball league. Pray for our follow up with them as well as our follow up with other visitors who attended yesterday.
Several key decisions still need to be made concerning our school next year. Pray for this preacher that he will make the right decisions.
Keep Praying for GCS (May 10, 2010)
Sonya Harrow had visited our church for several weeks. Karen and I followed up with her in her home on Thursday. We took her through the Romans Road, and Sonya prayed to receive Christ. Doubts and confusion continued to plague her. She walked the aisle yesterday and again prayed to receive Christ, hopefully alleviataing the doubts and confusion. We baptized her yesterday based on her profession faith and welcomed her as the newest member of Grace Baptist Church. Praise the Lord!
Over 270 soldiers attended our Bible studies this week, and over a dozen of these stood to receive Jesus Christ as personal Savior. Amen! The Lord is opening up opportunities for even more Bible studies on base, but we are short of personnel at the Freedom House. A couple from Florida is considering joining our team. Pray that the Lord will give them wisdom. And pray that the Lord will provide laborers for this most fruitful harvest field.
Another area where we need workers is the bus ministry. A shortage of CDL drivers and workers prohibits us from entering neighborhoods where people are asking us to come. How sad! Pray that the Lord will raise up workers among our congregation to fill these tremendous vacancies. We interviewed this past weekend a fine young man who is praying about joining our staff as a junior high teacher and bus director. Pray that God will give him the green light to come.
Our search for a youth pastor is taking place in earnest. We are currently pursuing a candidate in Ohio. Pray that God will give us wisdom in this regard.
Don't forget that this week marks the 28th annual commencement exercises for Grace Christian School. Ryan Dupee, longtime friend of this pastor, and Vice President for Student Life at Clearwater Christian College will deliver the Baccalaurate message on Thursday evening, and Scott Pauley, Vice President at the Crown College in Powell, Tennessee, will deliver this year's commencement address on Friday night.
We are now in the midst of our "40 for 40" prayer campaign. Over a forty-day period, May 1 - June 9, we are asking God to give us forty new students at Grace Christian School next year. To put feet to our prayers, we have entered a vigorous advertising campaign. Please ask God to bless these efforts and grant us a student body population next year that will help us stay out debt as we train the next generation of Christian young people.
Your continued prayers for this ministry do mean much to us. Several key decisions will be made this week. So do keep us before the throne of Grace.
Spring Campaign Over, Good Decisions (May 04, 2010)
Our annual Sunday School campaign ended yesterday with a special concentration on our young at hearts. The over-55 crowd is neglected in many churches, and we want those who are in the prime of life to know that we honor the hoary head. The Bible commands the younger to learn from the older, not the other way around. We are especially grateful to Earl Sears, who oversees this vital ministry of our church.
Two new members of the Soul Winners Club, April Amsbaugh and Greg Keyes, received their pins last night for leading their first souls to Christ since joining the club. April was instrumental in approaching three bus kids and leading them through the entire twelve-step plan. Each one prayed to receive Jesus Christ as personal Savior. Amen!
Greg was able to lead Samantha DuBois to the Lord. Samanatha, who had previously been involved with the Jehovah's Witness cult as a child, recently began to attend Grace Baptist Church looking for answers. She has been under noticeable conviction for several weeks. Last Monday, Greg and his wife Debbie were able to walk Samantha through the entire plan of salvation, and she prayed to receive Christ. Amen! It was my privilege to baptize Samantha yesterday as a testimony to her faith in Christ. We rejoice in welcoming Samantha into the fellowship of Grace Baptist Church.
Michael Viggins has also been under noticeable conviction the last couple of weeks. He too has been looking for answers. Yesterday he walked the aisle at the conclusion of the message to receive Christ as his personal Savior. Praise the Lord! It was my privilege to plunge him beneath baptismal waters upon his new profession of faith.
Bernard Harris, who has been attending Grace for a little while now, came forward to join Grace Baptist yesterday. We are thankful for this new member. Also joining yesterday were Oscar and Debra Edwards. We thank the Lord for the addition of this lovely couple.
We had visitors yesterday from Texas and Missouri.
Fort Benning Bible attendance held its own this week. 160 soldiers were in attendance. One precious soldier stood to receive Christ as his personal Savior. Amen!
Bus attendance slipped a little this week with several workers out of town. We appreciate Nathan Shuler's willingness to step in as interim bus director until a new staff member can be found.
Sunday's paper reports that soldiers from Fort Knox will be arriving in Columbus sometime in November. These soldiers will be looking for churches and schools. Pray for us that God will give us wisdom in the best way to reach these arriving servicemen. We have challenged our church to pray over the next 40 days that God will give us 40 new students for GCS. Will you pray with us?
Also, don't forget that this Friday is Kindergarten graduation. Be sure to be in attendance Friday night at 7:00 for this historic event. High School commencement is one week later. Scott Pauley from the Crown College will deliver this year's commencement address.
Thank you for your continued support of Grace Baptist Church and Christian School.
