Entries by James

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 10-29-2006

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Hello, all! We've just finished up our conference in Good News Baptist in Cedar Rapids, IA with Pastor Robert Pleiness. It was a great week and the LORD blessed us. The family we're staying with has kids our kids' age, so they've had a great time. On Wednesday, I taught a children's class, and afterwards, got to lead one of the bus kids, Kevin, to saving faith in our LORD Jesus Christ. Glory! What a privilege! Pray for Kevin as he grows and follows Christ. They've gotten him a Bible, and will be following up with him to make sure he's provided for spiritually. All the meetings went well. We ran into Tom and Cathy Talley on Thursday night. They're missionaries to the Canadian Indians in South Indian Lake in Northern Manitoba. Our church has supported them for years, and they're good friends, so it was a thrill to get to meet them on the road like this. They had visited our church last week, and of course we were on the road and couldn't be around to get to see them or view their new DVD presentation, or hear how things are going, so it was great that God provided us this opportunity to do so. On Saturday night, we went to a teen activity, where they had a bonfire and the kids got to have hot dogs roasted over a fire, and s'mores for dessert. We all enjoyed that! It's just been a really great week. We've enjoyed the the fellowship with the Pastor and his wife, and with his Associate, Bro. and Mrs. Louks, and the other missionaries, and with all these dear people. Pray for this church, that God will continue to bless them, and that they'll continue to see folks saved, baptized, and added to the church.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 10-23-2006

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Greetings! We're in Omaha, NE presently, following the missions conference we were in at Midwestern Baptist Church with Pastor Ken Bentley. What a conference! Ron Bragg, the African Director for BIMI was the main speaker, and delivered some tremendous preaching every night and on Sunday. Each night, we were told to stand up, introduce ourselves, and give one need. So, I told them how our van needed new plugs, a tuneup, and a replacement for a bolt that attaches our compressor to the engine block which had gone missing in action. No sooner was the meeting that night over than one of their members approached me and wanted to take care of our van, which he did the very next day. Our van is running smoother now than it has in months. What a blessing! The next night, Dr. Bentley asked us to do the same, so I mentioned how we needed a video projector with which to play the DVD version of our slides that I had made. As we're getting ready to leave, and packing up our display stuff last night, one of the missionaries that was home on furlough gives us their projector, because we "need it more than they do." Unreal. I don't rightly know how to express how overwhelmed and humbled we are by how many blessings God has heaped on our head the past couple days. He has taken care of every need we could have had or thought of having. This church just spent all week loving on us and taking care of us, and we are extremely grateful.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 10-17-2006

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Hello, everyone! We spent some time in Hallstead, PA with my Aunt Helen and Uncle Jim. The kids had a ball on the big hill behind their house. They'd ride these big wheels and such all the way to the bottom at high speed, then haul them back to the top and try it again. Big fun. It was good to get to visit with my relatives as well. They took great care of us, and we were able to get some much needed rest for a few days.

Our trip to Gaines, MI was interesting. To get there, we had to cut through Ontario. While making our way through, we found out why it's called the Great White North as the opening salvo in the storm which would ultimately drop a freak two-feet of snow in Buffalo, NY hit. It was 65 in Pennsylvania when we left that morning. By the time we got to Ontario, it was 30 degrees cooler, and nearly whiteout conditions. Fun! We made it fine, though, and had a great conference in Calvary Baptist Church with Pastor Louis Canady. J.B. Godfrey, the Far East Director with BIMI was the main speaker, and it was the Lindquist's (Swante and Linda) and us in attendance. We had great fellowship, great preaching, and a great time of worship and the preaching of God's Word.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 10-09-2006

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Hello, all! We've just finished up our meeting in Lighthouse Baptist Church in Yorkshire, NY with Pastor Russell Biber. We've had a great day today. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We're thoroughly enjoying the fall colors in New York and Pennsylvania as we've been travelling up this way. I could tell that folks were praying for me today, as God gave great power and liberty in my preaching in both services, as well as teaching in Sunday School this morning. I could tell that He was really working in people's hearts, and was definitely moving in the services. I think we succeeded in being a blessing to the church and an encouragement to the Pastor, so thank you for praying for us.

Prayer Request

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Howdy, folks! I took our van in this afternoon to get the brakes looked at. We had been experiencing some squealing in the front left while moving at lower speeds for a few days, and it wasn't getting better, so we thought we'd better check it out. As it turns out, our front left swaybar had sheared through, and the brake line had become clogged, also on the front left, which had caused that brake to essentially fail. The pad had worn down almost entirely, and the rotors were no good. Plus, when they went to bleed the line on the right side, they found that the bleeder valve was broken, which necessitated replacing the caliper on that side. Additionally, the right rear brake cylinder was beginning to leak and needed to be replaced, but we caught it before it could do any damage to the pads or rotors. All said and done, we wound up having to spend $852 we really didn't have. It was kind of an emergency, though, so it had to be done. We're glad that God motivated us to check out the trouble before it could cause a serious wreck and loss of life or limb. Please be praying that God will supply the funds to pay this bill so we can stay on the road, and not be in financial hardship from the unexpected expense. Just FYI, for those of you have asked to be appraised when we have specific needs that you can pray about.