Greetings!

We are in full blown “getting prepared to go on furlough” mode. We have a remarkable lot of work to be done to get ready to leave our house for several months. Anna and I both have our lists, and you just keep doing the next thing until you reach the end, climb on a plane, and begin the long flight back to the States.

We have several key life events taking place this year. Elizabeth and Gaelin are graduating college. Right after that, Elizabeth will be marrying our soon to be son-in-law Joseph Rosnick. Plus, our new grandson will be having his first birthday this year.

This furlough will get us back on track since COVID messed everything up. Pray for us in the months ahead as we travel hither and yon, for safety and for good health, both for ourselves and for our aged Honda Pilot.

Our year is pretty well fully booked with meetings in the Spring and Fall. If you have other times you’d like us to come, let me know and I’ll see what we can work out.

The construction of our Sangano Independent Baptist Church facilities is proceeding rapidly. The school buildings are all complete. They are making good progress on the sanctuary and baptistry. Pray that the work will proceed well, and for the safety of our workers.

Pretty soon, all construction projects will, for the moment, be complete. That is a big answer to prayer and a long time coming.

Pray for Sangano Independent Baptist Church. I discovered that one of our deacons, a good friend, and the headmaster of our school, was leading a sinful double life. He had been drinking, sometimes coming to work drunk, and had been seen visiting prostitutes. Plus, he was abusing his place as headmaster, and it seems, misusing funds. As of right now, he is unrepentant. He is now no longer a deacon, or a headmaster, or a member of this church.

I also chose to close the school for the foreseeable future. I always said that if the school ever became a problem for the church, I would close the school, and because of this man, it had become a problem. So, the school is now closed. We still have the fully restored buildings which will continue to serve as a library, and extra Sunday School classes.

Pray for Sangano IBC as they work through the fallout of this recent challenge. It is never pleasant to have to discipline people, but when they give you no options, you have to take action. You cannot cover sin.

The Sangano church people have risen to the challenges given them. They have redoubled their soul-winning and visitation, and are serving faithfully in the church. They have planted crops in the field connected to the church property. God will build His church. Please pray for His people not to be discouraged.

God bless you!

Greetings!

The training with our men and deacons went very well. I focused on the art and science of preaching. Qualifications, methodology, goals, how to study the text, delivery, invitation, and so forth. My goal is to produce qualified men who are able to preach, teach, and lead in the services. Per the request of our folks, we have gone to a one service a week approach. In this way I can be at each church longer, counsel with people after, and be there for the whole service. This of necessity requires that we must have people who can preach and lead the services on the Sundays I am at one of the other churches.

To that end, I am having all the men who attended the class practice what they have learned by taking turns preaching while the others listen and give feedback, and also lead the singing, lead in prayer, and read the text. They will be rotating them around to the other churches so the other men can hear them preach there as well and give feedback. Pray for our men as they work on practicing this important skill.

The churches are growing well. Not long ago, I had a baptism service, new member service, and Lord’s Supper all in one day. This is not something I often do (all in one day), but it provided a great opportunity to show the whole spectrum of what it is to be Baptist. We baptize because it is Biblical, in imitation of Jesus Christ. Once you are baptized you can join the church, because we have vetted you to know you are indeed born again and your doctrine is correct. Then as a member, you can take the Lord’s Supper, again, because it is Biblical and in imitation of Jesus Christ.

Pray for folks to continue to hear the Gospel and be saved. Pray for the leaders and their wives, that they will continue to be godly examples in the church. Pray for their families. Pray that the Pentecostal cult next door to our Sangano church will be closed or forced to move. They disturb our services every week with their screaming and demonic worship.

God bless you!