Greetings! Quiet day today, so I reckoned I’d better take advantage of it to send an update. We were home this weekend for the very simple reason that I couldn’t line up any meetings for April 17, try as I might. Not a problem, tho’, because it’s nice to get a break from meetings in order to be in your home church once in a while, and to get caught up on the stuff (translation: laundry and yard work) piling up in your absence at home.
Week before last, we were in Gethsemene Baptist Church in Walnut Ridge, AR. This is Kyle Guimon’s hometown and boyhood church, and is where his parents attend. It was a very good church, and it was a great encouragement to us just being there. Derek Collins has a real heart for his community, and for soulwinning, as does his church. 97 have been saved through their ministry in the last year, which is a prodigious achievement. God is plainly at work there, and the people are joyful to be a part of it. Since they’re the only ones doing any kind of community outreach, with the exception of the Jehovah’s Witnesses (and they don’t count), they have been tagged with the derisive term of “Walkers”. Walkers, indeed! You know, the LORD needs some more Walkers out there, folks who will get out and do the daunting task of sowing the gospel seed. They’re doing it in Walnut Ridge, and it’s clearly bearing fruit. While there, we got to visit with the Guimons and be an encouragement to them. We’ll be heading back to Walnut Ridge in June for their missions conference, so we’ll get to spend more time with these wonderful people and their great pastor and wife then.
You’ve no doubt heard by now of the Guimon’s house fire over in Uganda, so be in prayer for them. It wasn’t a total loss or anything, but it did do about $6000 worth of damage, and the cleanup and repair will take some time. Our church, Kyle’s and our sending church, is sending a team over to teach some classes in Bible Study Methods and the Pastoral Epistles to their class of would-be preachers at the end of May, so the timing is not good. They’re wore out (yes, I know, the correct spelling is worn, but chalk it up to southern color). God is using ’em, and the Devil is evidently resisting their efforts, but flesh is flesh and they’re just tired. Pray for them in the month ahead as they, and our Pastor, Ken Spilger, get all the remaining details worked out in lieu of the trip over. What they will be doing is of critical importance, and is a key component of the sort of training that you have to have in order to have reliable men trained to take over church plants in the area.
Pray for us. The summer months are very full and very busy, which is good, but the logistics are real, and the doing of it can be tiring at times. We have a birth looming in September, which, praise the LORD appears to be paid for. We still need a passenger van large enough to carry the new passengers that are currently in production. If God would provide that soon, or the remaining funds we need to go with the $1000 someone graciously gave to us to help buy a van, it would be a big help, as the long driving is coming up starting on May 1 with a meeting in Minnesota, and carrying through the remainder of the year. Plus, our current vehicle has no air conditioning, and the heat’s a little rough on the little guys. Pray for the remainder of the pregnancy. We’re about halfway through right now. We had our first doctor’s visit last Tuesday, but it was more an interview, paperwork kind of thing, so I’m afraid no news until April 27. Anna will be having an ultrasound then, which will yield the two bits of information of greatest interest at the moment: 1) How many? and 2) What genders (s)? I am greatly encouraged by our deputation. I can see things coming together. The meetings are lining up great, as you’ll see once I get the online version of our itinerary done (check General Info from time to time). We seem to be making clear progress, and God has let us be a part of ministering to folks and churches all over as we travel hither and yon on deputation.
Well, I reckon that’s all I can think of for now. Thanks for praying for us, and for the kind words of encouragement that different ones have emailed our way.
