Author Archive for: James

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.

Greetings, one and all! We've just finished up the second of two missions conferences in a row. Our first, at Trinity Baptist Church in Centerville, GA with Pastor Terry Hyman, went very well. Dr. Fred Moritz, Executive Director of Baptist World Mission, was the main speaker, and was greatly used of God to deliver the preaching of the Word to us. We had a great time of ministry and fellowship, and the LORD blessed. Our drive there and back went well, and everyone handled it great.

Back in St. Louis, we were involved with our home church, Grace Baptist Church (Pastor Ken Spilger), in it's 29th annual missions conference. Dr. Clayton Shumpert (CLAIM) was the main speaker. God moved and really dealt with all of us in the services. It was simply a tremendous time, and we were very pleased to get to be a part of it. Our missions giving had kind of stagnated in recent years, for a variety of reasons. I had been in prayer for some time that God would change this, and this year our prayers were answered. Our missions giving reached a level higher than any prior year. This means we will be able to give cost of living increases to all of our missionaries, as well as increase the support levels for the missionaries sent out of our church. On a more personal note, our church is helping us put new tires on the van! That was a real need, and they really went above and beyond the call of duty to help us with this. I want to especially thank our youth group, as they raised most of the funds for this need. I know you're young, but I regard you as a fine bunch of mature and upstanding young men and women. You are a credit to your parents, and to our LORD, and I wanted you to know how much I admire and respect you, and how much you have ministered to us.