Church

29 May

Posted at 23:07h in Church, Missions by
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.

28 May

Posted at 13:03h in Church, Missions by
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.

26 May

Posted at 22:20h in Church by

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...

25 May

Posted at 22:31h in Church by
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.

13 May

Posted at 09:02h in Church by

“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...

06 Apr

Posted at 15:09h in Church, Missions by

Spoke with Bro. Bob this morning and he said that Mary is having a good day today.  Last night she didn't have a fever and the head-to-toe rash that she has is getting better.  She is still having to contend with the sores in her mouth, but they are treating that.  She is still needing to receive blood and platelets pretty regularly and the doctors are hoping to be able to test her bone marrow soon.   Originally, they were looking at testing on the 7th, but they have given them a window out until the 11th for that.  Prayers are that the chemo and other drugs they have been giving Mary will be working on the Leukemia, if not,...

01 Apr

Posted at 08:35h in Church, Missions by

As of last night, Mary was still struggling as she is receiving her treatments.  With all of the swelling in her organs, her spleen seems to be giving her particular trouble.  The doctors aren't sure why, but she has been receiving pain meds and other things to allow her to rest.  Another concern is that her fevers have spiked again.  This usually happens after the chemo treatments finish, but it has begun earlier for some reason.  Another new development is that she now has a rash from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, most likely a reaction to the drugs.  Another possibility perhaps, is that with her immune system compromised, she is now manifesting an...