All our adventures as missionaries, past and present.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 12-01-2006

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Just a quick note so you can be praying. St. Louis was hit with a major winter storm last night. The ice and snow combined has knocked out power to over 500,000 in Missouri and Illinois. The ice is making repair difficult for Ameren UE. With no power, and temperatures expected to be in the teens tonight, it is understandably cause for concern, especially for the elderly. It may be days before we get it back. We're keeping warm ourselves, and thankfully, we have natural gas, so we can cook, and have hot showers, but we can't run the furnace without power. The church has electricity, tho', so services should proceed normally on Sunday.

Pray that the linemen will restore power soon. Pray that they'll be safe (during the power outage in July, two were electrocuted). Pray for the many people without power, that they'll keep warm.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 11-27-2006

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Hello, folks! I trust everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We went over to my parent's house, and then swung by Anna's folks' house on the way home. The day after Thanksgiving is the day we traditionally get decorated for Christmas. We put on the Christmas music, put up the tree, set out the Nativity and assorted other Christmasy things, and lastly, put the ornaments on the tree. The kids enjoyed it tremendously, as always. The weather was unseasonably warm this year, so I was able to get the Christmas lights put up without losing fingers to frostbite, so that was good. Of course, it was more poignant knowing that this time next year we'll be in language school in Texas, and the year following in Soroti, Uganda, so this is basically our last Christmas in St. Louis. We try not to think too hard about it, but you can't help feeling a scoche sad as you contemplate these things.

Friday night, we were visited by the Grim Reaper – our old nemesis stomach flu. Anna spent the next 48 hours in the valley of the shadow of death, while I got to be Mr. Mom, cleaning up puke, doing laundry and dishes, and trying to keep the healthy kids entertained. We're okay today, and it appears that neither I, James, nor Elizabeth have had it, which is good, but those who did were wiped right out. Anna had the works – fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, aches, vertigo, and weakness. Poor thing.

We got a new family picture today, in lieu of new prayer cards which we'll be getting to press soon. I'm working on getting our Christmas prayer letter ready to go. Other than that, all that remains is to plug a few gaps in next year's schedule, which is pretty well packed now. Pray that I'll be able to get those slots filled. We're looking forward to doing all the cool holiday things, like baking, Christmas shopping, visiting family, and what not. The kids are all in the Christmas play at our church coming up on December 10. Pray that it will go well, and that the participants will be healthy enough to make all the practices and get prepared for the play. Pray that a lot of the mostly Catholic folks from the area will be willing to come to a Baptist church to see a Christmas production, and that we'll see folks saved, baptized, and added to the church. Pray that God will bless the service, and make it an edifying and profitable time for all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy thanksgiving, everyone! We're thankful we're saved, we're thankful God called us to be missionaries, and we're thankful for your faithful prayers this past year.

Have a great holiday!

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you," Philippians 1:3

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 11-15-2006

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Hello, folks! It's been a busy week since last we wrote. Our meeting in Flagstaff, AZ last week in Bible Baptist Church with Pastor George Feaster went very well. Here is a man of God who has simply stayed put. Flagstaff is a very hard mission field to reach. It's full of Mormons and New Age type people, and is a society that has a very high turnover rate due to the very high cost of living. He has toughed it out in this very hard field for 22 years, and has witnessed at least eight other Baptist works begin and falter in this time. Because of the high turnover, he continually has to start from scratch with new folks. The people are hard of heart, and simply don't feel a need for church. As a result, you don't get the big numbers that churches out East seem to think you need in order to be a success. Nonetheless, he and his wife have remained faithful and continued to minister in an area where a Baptist church is so badly needed. Pray for Bible Baptist Church, and for the Feasters. Pray that the LORD will raise up laborers for this very needy field in Arizona to come alongside and help the Feasters, and remain there for the long term.

On Sunday, we began a Missions Conference in Tucson, AZ with Pastor Steven Morris and Sun and Shield Baptist Church. Jimmy Rose, the Brazilian director for BIMI was the main speaker. It was a great conference. The folks were very gracious to us, and we had a wonderful time of fellowship and ministry with them. It was an African conference, specifically for the purpose of bringing in missionaries to Africa that they could support. It's not every day I am contacted by a Pastor for such a purpose, and it was a great blessing.

Today, we drove up to Silver City, NM for a meeting with Calvary Baptist Church (Pastor Eldon Fowler). We had dinner with the Fowlers and had a great time of fellowship with them, and then I preached and presented our burden for Uganda that night in church. The people responded well, and the LORD blessed.

Our whole time in the Southwest has just been tremendous. God has raised our support, and we've been able to get into some vibrant churches who are just holding forth the Gospel out here in the "Wild West". God has blessed and provided for us very well this trip, and we're very glad we came. In all likelihood, we will plan another trip down this way next year in order to visit some of the other churches we simply didn't have time to get into.

Thursday, we will begin the drive home. Tomorrow, we will be driving to Tulsa, OK, a very long drive, so pray for us as we attempt it. Friday, we will complete the trek back to St. Louis, and home.

God bless you, and thank you for all your prayers during our long travels this past Fall. We have seen those prayers answered again and again, and have truly experienced God's provision and protection on the road.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 11-07-2006

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Greetings, everyone! Just a somewhat quick update to let you know what's happened in the past week. It's hard to believe it's been only that, as so much has happened. To give you perspective, we were in Cedar Rapids, IA Sunday before last, and this past Saturday we were in Tucson, AZ. It took us three days to get down here. We swung through St. Louis on October 30th to vote (If you haven't done so today, GET OUT AND VOTE! We cannot afford to allow those dirty, thieving, Communist, pro-murder, pro-perversion, anti-American Democrats to gain any political power). We drove all day on Tuesday from St. Louis to Amarillo, TX, and on Wednesday from there to Tucson, AZ. The kids handled themselves very well in spite of all the driving.

We pulled into town just in time for dinner at our first meeting, Sonrise Baptist Church in Tucson, AZ (Pastor Joe Stoppelbein). We ate, did a quick change in a side room (it's a little disturbing how quick and easy that has become), got set up, and were ready for services with time to spare. The conference was great. I showed our DVD on Wednesday, preached on Thursday, and Dr. John Halsey preached the remainder of the conference. We had a great time of fellowship with the people, and with the Stoppelbein's and the Johnson's (missionaries to the Dominican Republic). It was hard, suffering as we were down here with the beautiful, 70 to 80 degree weather we had every day. It's a different world down here. Everywhere is desert, and the majority of green we're seeing is cactus. It's beautiful, though, in its way, and we have very much enjoyed it. It's remarkable how lovely the many different blendings of brown and red and tan can be. God is quite the artist in the many ways he decorates his Creation.

On Saturday, we drove up to Shiprock, NM for a meeting in Navajo Baptist Temple with Pastor Jimmy J. Walters. Navajo Baptist Temple is a church that was started by a missionary on the Navajo reservation to reach the Navajo Nation with the gospel. Pastor Walters is the national pastor who has been Pastor there for the past 22 years. Here is a church which is very much like the ones we will be planting in Uganda, now under the leadership of a national, and supporting missionaries, just like the churches we plant in Uganda will one day be doing. It was very touching, to witness his love for his people, to hear the singing of the people in their native Navajo, and to hear Pastor Walters admonishing his church in the Navajo tongue. It was a blessing and a privilege to get to share our burden for Uganda with these dear people.

Since we were so close (only about a half hour away), we drove up to the Four Corners National Monument after church. This of course is the spot where you can touch four states at the same time – Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. We all got a real kick out of that. The reservation is beautiful. We took lots of pictures, which I'll be getting up on the website, along with the others, soon.

That evening, we had a meeting in Bible Baptist Church in Aztec, NM, with Pastor Barry Quinn. It's a great church. They're growing, they're reaching souls in their community, and they're excited about missions. I showed our DVD and preached, and the LORD blessed.

I got word yesterday that Sonrise Baptist has voted to support us! What great news. God has greatly blessed us on this trip. We will be in Bible Baptist Church in Flagstaff, AZ tomorrow with Pastor George Feaster. Pray that God will give us grace as we seek to share our burden in that church, and that we'll be a blessing and an encouragement.

Pray for Sonrise Baptist, that they'll continue to grow and see folks saved. Pray for Navajo Baptist Temple, and Pastor Walters, that God will encourage them, and that many more Navajo people will be saved and added to the church. Pray that God will help them understand that becoming a Christian doesn't mean you stop being Navajo, or that you've sold out your people by converting to the "white man's religion". Pray for Bible Baptist Church in Aztec, NM, that God will continue to bless them there, and that they will continue to see folks saved.

Pray for us in the meetings that remain, and for our eventual traveling back home shortly before Thanksgiving.