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.