Bump-Up Sunday Blessings (Jul 26, 2009)
What a wonderful Bump-Up Sunday we just concluded! God again used Dr. Pat Creed in our midst. The messages were timely, and God's people responded in a marvelous way. With many people still out of town on vacation, our annual missionary faith promise commitments "bumped-up" by $36,814. Praise the Lord! You can listen to Dr. Creed's messages by logging on to our website. Be careful! They are extremely convicting.
On Thursday of this week, I traveled to Somerville, Alabama to preach for Pastor Shane Lewis and the Somerville Baptist Church. God is doing some marvelous things in Somerville. I praise the Lord for the good spirit of this godly pastor. His people are used to preaching, and the Lord blessed us with a sweet meeting. On the way to his church, I stopped in Decatur to say hello to my good friend, Dr. Fred Moritz who is retiring from the general directorship of Baptist World Mission. We were able to spend some quality time together. It was my privilege to tour their new facilities and meet their incoming director, Dr. Bud Steadman. It was a good day all the way around!
Our young people arrived in Boston, Massachusetts for their annual missions trip early Friday morning (4:00 AM). They awoke at 11:00 AM and passed out some 700 packets. Over 2200 were passed out on Saturday, and they spent all day today ministering in a new church plant in the greater Boston area. God is blessing their trip, and we are praying that God will use this time to call some of them to the mission field.
Base Bible studies this week were attended by over 100 soldiers, and eleven of these prayed to receive Christ as personal Savior. Amen! Pray for Brother Ingram as he meets this week with Army brass about the possibility of starting two new strategic Bible studies on post.
Tomorrow, the Amsbaugh clan and the Powell clan will travel to Walkertown, North Carolina for the National Sword of the Lord Conference. Pray that God will give us safety in travel and recharge our batteries for the fall ahead.
Don't forget that school starts in two weeks. Can you believe it? Teachers report August 3, and students report August 10. Pray that God will bless with enrollment and use us this year to be a blessing to our constituents.
Pastor Powell and I were able to lead a young mother to Christ this week. Pray for us as we follow up with her.
Special thanks to those of you who prayed for Ashley's health. She is greatly improved and ready to go back to college in just a few weeks. We also have a renter for our home. God has stepped through again answering prayer in the nick of time. Praise His name!
Thanks again for your interest in this ministry.
Successful Youth Fundraiser (Jul 20, 2009)
Satan tried to hinder the bus routes in a major way yesterday. One bus broke down. Another bus driver quit at the last minute. It became so obvious why the fight was on. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. Numbers were up in a significant way, and ten children accepted the Lord as Savior in the counseling center of bus church. Amen!
Our Bible studies at Fort Benning were also very profitable. We saw nearly two hundred in attendance this week with dozens of soldiers standing to receive Christ as personal Savior. Praise the Lord!
On Saturday, our young people were engaged in their last major fundraiser for their missions trip to Boston. The Lord blessed, and over $1100 was raised. Please pray for our youth group as they fly Thursday to the Northeast to help in a new church plant in the greater Boston area. Pray that God will save souls, encourage the missionary pastor, and call some of our young people to the mission field.
Also on Saturday, we had a good fellowship at our sattelite church in Lumpkin. Pastor Allison put on a very good program, and it was a privilege to spend some time with our friends in Stewart County. Continue to pray that God will help this church to grow.
On Thursday, Karen and I had the privilege of traveling to Cleveland, Tennessee, where I preached for my friend Jason Grubbs at the Shenandoah Baptist Church. The Lord blessed with a wonderful meeting, and the altar was filled at invitation time. What a privilege to see the girls haven and boys ranch where hundreds of young people have had their lives turned around. In addition to spending time with Pastor and Mrs. Grubbs, Karen and I also were able to spend Friday morning with James and Thelma Scott. James is the director of the boys ranch and was the preacher who was preaching the morning I received Christ nearly 34 years ago.
After church last night, our family got to spend some quality time with the Pinnik family who are on their way to the remote regions of Alaska as missionaries. Karen and I thoroughly enjoyed our time with them, and I am certain we will have them in for a meeting in the not-too-distant future.
On Thursday of this week, I will be preaching for Pastor Shane Lewis at Somerville Baptist Church in Somerville, Alabama. Pray that God will give us a good meeting.
Don't forget that this upcoming Sunday is our annual missions Bump-Up Sunday where we re-evaluate our faith promise commitments. Pray that God will give us a good increase. We received over $5,000 in faith promise offerings yesterday. Praise the Lord!
Your prayers for and interest in this ministry mean much to us. Pray that God will give us a free witness with the many visitors who graced our church house yesterday.
Answered Prayers (Jul 12, 2009)
Families returned to Columbus after a much-needed vacation weekend, and attendance figures again began to be respectable. We praise the Lord for bringing new visitors to Grace, and we covet your prayers as we follow up on these new contacts.
The buses, though slightly down in attendance, were able to witness two precious children praying to receive Christ in the counseling center of bus church. We praise the Lord for these.
In addition, base numbers were up, and Brother Ingram reports that 135 soldiers attended our Bible studies this week. Praise the Lord! Thirteen of these stood to receive Christ as personal Savior. Amen!
Our chapel attendance is holding steady. We had thirteen in attendance this week. Our congregation yesterday voted to install a brand new air conditioning unit at our satellite church. Pray that the technician will be able to install the new unit in a timely fashion.
Thanks for your prayers concerning our daughter Ashley. The doctor told us on Thursday that her gall bladder does not have to be removed, and that the medication she is on should heal her hernia and put an end to her digestive trouble. We thank all of you who prayed concerning this matter.
Many of you have also been praying that Karen and I would be able to find a renter for our house. Lord willing, the papers should be signed this week to secure a new renter for the property. We appreciate your prayers in this matter, and we ask that you continue them until this financial situation is brought to complete resolution.
Don't forget that we have a quarterly conference scheduled for this Wednesday night. Lord willing, we will be voting to add Noel Shrivnauth, veteran missionary in Guyana to our missionary family.
On Thursday night, I will be preaching for Pastor Jason Grubbs and the fine people at Shenandoah Baptist Church. Pray for traveling mercies and that God will use me to be a blessing to this church that is making a great impact in the lives of young people.
God & Country Weekend Includes Baptisms and a New Missionary (Jul 06, 2009)
We had a glorious God and Country Weekend at Grace Baptist Church. Things got started on Saturday morning at 10:00 AM for our annual church picnic. Several new families were invited by those in our church, and we were excited to meet new faces. We had good weather and a wonderful turn-out. I especially appreciate the men of Grace who worked so hard to get our North 40 in pristine condition. The property never looked better. The fried chicken and watermelon were great. You can view pictures of the picnic by logging on the resource page of our website.
Due to the holidays, attendance was down yesterday at church, but the Spirit of God was alive and well. Eight kids trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Five people followed the Lord in believer's baptism, and there were several new additions to the church. We praise the Lord for this.
A'John, one of the bus kids who was baptized yesterday, told his mother that he would not get baptized unless she came. We had the privilege of leading A'John's mother to the Lord this week, and she not only came to witness his baptism. She was baptized right along side him. Amen!
Mrs. Carter, another one of our bus mothers, was also baptized yesterday. She was led to the Lord by two of our bus workers, Daniel Henderson and Ben Shuler. Praise the Lord for the way our bus ministry is impacting entire families. Hallelujah!
We also had the privilege of distributing watermelons and Bibles to our soldiers at Fort Benning this weekend. Several single guys from the church pitched right in to help. We once again ministered to over 100 soldiers this week with 15 praying to receive Christ as Savior. Amen!
Last night, we were privileged to hear from Jason Christensen, missionary appointee with BIO to the land of Egypt. Egypt is the largest Arab nation in the world, and Cairo, where Jason will be working, is the world's largest Arab city. We were privileged to add the Christensens to our missionary family. This will be our first missionary in Egypt, and our grand total of missionaries is now at 152 - our highest number ever. Praise the Lord!
Thank you for your continued interest in this ministry. Your prayers mean much to us. Pray for Ashley as she consults with a surgeon this week concerning her gall bladder. Thanks also for those of you who have been praying for a renter for our house. It looks like we the Lord is answering those prayers. Keep praying! And also please pray for my grandmother who had a mini-stroke on Saturday.
It was good to have my mom and dad with us this weekend. Pray for them as they travel home to Ohio today to check on grand-mom.
