Lighthouse Baptist Church Anniversary & More

Posted by admin on May 29, 2011 in Church, Missions | 0 comments

Sunday began with a trip to the church to load up everything we would need to hold services in the park…evidently, it takes pretty much everything in the church…lol.  We had to load it up, transport it, then it was all carried into the park from a neighboring street…it was quite the undertaking.  Mark and I went to one of the local markets to pick up the “fruit cakes” with chocolate on top, then headed back to the park.

Friday Youth Activity and Saturday’s Conference

Posted by admin on May 28, 2011 in Church, Missions | 0 comments

Friday was a day where we spent the morning shopping for groceries, etc. as we continued preparations for Saturday’s youth conference.  We got to spend some time with the Christian Family over lunch as well.  They had recently moved to a new, third floor apartment and we were invited over for some pasta salad and strawberry shortcake.  This was a great time of fellowship…they will be heading back to the States in a couple of weeks to celebrate their sending church’s 50th anniversary.  Please pray for them as they travel.

Lighthouse Baptist Church in Odessa

Posted by admin on May 26, 2011 in Church | 0 comments

It was my privilege to preach at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Odessa for Bible Study last night.  As I will be every time, I preached with the help of an interpreter, named Victor.  It is very difficult for me to preach this way, having to stop every few words and to not know if what I am saying is being communicated with the same meaning.  I also realized how much I depend upon humor and interaction with the congregation in my messages and this making things difficult too.  Oh, well…I will do my best.  It seems as though people are receiving the messages well and participating in the services too.

At Lighthouse Baptist Church, we have three missionary families that are working in this ministry.  Mark and Lydia Priem, who have been in Ukraine now for 17 years, John and Dawn Spillman for 10 years, and Jeff and Helen Christian for 2 years after 2 years spent in Belarus.  It has been great to see everyone and look forward to more time spent in fellowship, in fact we will be heading over to the Christian’s for lunch in a few hours.

We are preparing today for a youth activity that we will be having tonight with the young people.  We will be playing wiffle ball and basketball in the park, and then passing out literature for the church and soul-winning with those who join with us in the activities.  This has been an effective way to get the Gospel into the hands of people here.  Please pray that I don’t overdo it on the court tonight, as I have another week here and I would like to spend it injury free.  I will let you know how that turns out…

Preaching in Lamamskoye , Ukraine

Posted by admin on May 25, 2011 in Church | 1 comment

After a great day of fellowship with the missionaries, we loaded up a car and van at the church and headed out the village of Lamamskoye to preach.  It was a beautiful drive through the countryside and farmlands.  When we got to the outskirts of the village, we were flagged down by a police officer, who hitched a ride with us out near the church, where we dropped him off then proceeded to the missionaries’ home for dinner.

Mission Trip to Odessa, Ukraine

Posted by admin on May 25, 2011 in Church | 0 comments

I arrived in the Ukraine yesterday afternoon via Warsaw, Poland without incident.  Though the flights were long, and delayed, and long and delayed, I got to my destination intact, with all of my luggage…amen.  I was greeted at the small airport by Bro. Mark Priem and Bro. Jeff Christian.  They grabbed my bags and we headed back to the Priem’s house.  On the way, we stopped at an open air market where Mark was to order cakes for this upcoming Sunday’s anniversary services.  We also picked up some fresh fruits and vegetables, so they can keep me on track with my dietary needs.

After we dropped of my luggage at the house, and picked up Lydia (Mark’s wife), we left to run errands and do some more shopping.  We visited the church property and got a tour of the immediate area surrounding their home and church. Then, we returned back to the house for dinner and some fellowship.  I enjoyed catching up with Mark and Lydia, talking and laughing, it is a blessing to be here with them.  After a while, it was time to clean up and get some much needed rest to ward off the “jet lag” and be ready for the week.

We have had a wonderful time today and we are getting ready to travel to a village where I am preaching tonight.  Once we arrive, they village church has prepared dinner for and I am looking forward to meeting all of them.  The weather here is hot at present and a little humid, so it is taking a little getting used to…but, I get to preach tonight without a suit in tie!  Something I rarely do…but when in Rome…I mean Odessa…ok.

I will be posting updates periodically through the week, but I ask that you pray for all of the meetings.  Pray that souls would be saved and that I can be a blessing to the people, especially the missionaries.  Please pray for the Priem, Christian, and Spillman families…I will meet some more at the youth conference this weekend and I can’t wait…talk to you soon.

Just Thinking is All

Posted by admin on May 13, 2011 in Church | 0 comments

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; ” (1 Timothy 1:12)

The words “I thank,” given by Paul in 1 Timothy, are literally, “I have constant gratitude to.” It is not a mere statement of the fact of being grateful, but a revelation of Paul’s constant attitude of gratefulness.  He was constantly grateful to God for his enabling strength and His putting him into the ministry.

As I write this article, I am sitting in the airport in Los Angeles awaiting my flight back to Seattle.  I have just spent a couple of days in Lancaster, CA for West Coast Baptist College’s graduation services.  We have several young people graduating from there, as well as a bunch of other students I know from other churches.  As I participated in the services, watched students, pastors, their families mill around the campus, I was reminded of the wonderful privilege I have to pastor a New Testament Baptist Church.

I am grateful for this fact, as well as for Berean Baptist Church.  I have so enjoyed my time here and look forward to all God is going to do in the future.  I am grateful that I get to invest in the lives of people, my life, and to help them grow in the Lord, and for some of them, to go on into full time Christian service.

I am thankful for my church family, for the revival services of late, and for all of the opportunities that lie before us during the summer months.  I am thankful for the chance to go minister to our missionaries in the Ukraine in a few weeks and to preach the wonderful Gospel of our Lord Jesus to those in a foreign land.  I am thankful for the co-laborers I have in ministry at Berean, for the great teenagers that He has given us, and for their families as well.  The list could go on and on for sure.

I love you all with all of my heart and it swells with joy every time I hear the words “pastor” or “preacher”, and will never take that for granted.  Thank you for all of your love and care for me, and I pray that you will always be faithful to the Lord, as He has been so faithful to us.  See you at church…

MIRACLE – Mary Johnston update

Posted by admin on Apr 11, 2011 in Church, Missions | 1 comment

Just got off of the phone with Bro. Hal Baker and Bro. Bob Johnston.  They got Mary’s bone marrow test results back and the pathologist couldn’t find even a trace of Leukemia!!!!  Did you read that…no more Leukemia! The cancer is in remission…we serve a wonderful, miracle-working God!  They are overwhelmed with joy at the news and the doctors are amazed with the results.  God’s love and care for His servants…amazes me.  What absolutely good news and what an awesome answer to prayer…I am so happy for them.

Of course we need to continue to pray for them.  Mary will receive another three rounds of preventative chemo and will stay in the hospital until the 2^nd week of May.  She is still vulnerable to infections, so they want her to remain in the sterile environment of Barnes Jewish.  The bone marrow transplant will be placed on hold, and they won’t proceed unless the cancer comes back (we will pray that it won’t).  After her release from the hospital, they will have 4-6 months of follow up visits as they continue to get their lives back to normal.

Would you please take some time today to thank the Lord for this answer to prayer?  God is so good and He is worthy of our praise…it is due Him.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  Now onto helping them overcome the financial hurdle that this will bring.  Will you still prayerfully consider helping?  I hope you do…thank you once again.