MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 01-05-2008

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Howdy folks, and welcome to 2008! I trust everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. We sure did. When last we wrote, we were finishing up our first semester at BBTI. That went well and Anna and I both got A's.

Some great news, the Monday night before we flew home, we were having our family Bible reading, which dealt with Jesus' coming crucifixion and resurrection and the short of it is this: Elizabeth got saved! I sat up and talked with her until I was sure she understood, and she prayed just as simple and true a prayer of faith to the LORD as I've ever heard. She was exuberant, and couldn't quit laughing. She ran into the bedroom where her brothers were getting ready for bed and went around hugging all of them, and laughing with them as she gave them the news. They had all been praying for her since they got saved, and were very relieved that she now was as well. It was beautiful.

We flew home to St. Louis, and our guys got their first ride on a plane. When it took off, they were whooping and hollering like it was a roller coaster, and all the adults sitting around got a real kick out of them.

It was great to be home for the past few weeks. Our church raised the funds all on their own to fly us home for the holidays, because we had been planning to just stay in Texas over Christmas break. We got to spend time with both our families, the kids got to be with their aunts and uncles and cousins, and it was tremendous fun. I got to preach in our home church, which was a blessing.

We flew back to Texas yesterday, and have a busy year in store for ourselves. On Monday we began a class in Language Learning, which deals with the practical application of what we covered last semester as it pertains to learning a foreign language, particularly if you are in a situation where you don't have any bi-lingual English speakers to help you. We're really looking forward to that. We have a full complement of meetings for 2008, which will pretty much keep us busy all year as we try to wrap up deputation in lieu of heading to Africa in 2009. Pray for us we finish up school, and do a lot of travelling. We will be going to both Hawaii (just Anna and I), and Alaska (all of us) next year, in addition to several meetings in Texas and Louisiana, and points East. God has given me good success in scheduling, so I don't really have much phone calling left to do, which is a blessing. It's going to be a great year, and we are excited about what the LORD is going to do.

God bless and keep you all, and thanks so much for your prayers and faithful support!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 12-09-2007

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Greetings! We had a meeting Wednesday in Tabernacle Baptist Church in Roanoke, TX, with Pastor Joe Tims. It was a great meeting. We had some great fellowship with the membership, and with his extended family (his sons and grandchildren go to church there). The service went very well and God really moved in the preaching. It was good to be able to preach. We didn't have many meetings in November, and so consequently, didn't get to preach much.

On Saturday, I went with Eastside Baptist to do outreach in Bowie's big Second Monday gathering (a sort of flea market they run on the second Monday of each month). We handed out a bunch of tracts, which LORD willing will bear fruit during this Christmas season. It was really cold, and the vendors selling fleece blankets did a brisk trade. My strategy was to keep moving so I wouldn't get too cold. We all had a good time, and got to minister to folks, which is always a good thing.

Today, the kids were in Eastside's Christmas program. The boys played various livestock, and Elizabeth played a very pretty Mary. The whole thing went great, and everyone played their parts well.

We will be done with the first semester on Friday, so pray for us as we finish our studies, and prepare for the Final. Then, on Tuesday, December 18th, we will be flying home to spend Christmas in St. Louis! God supplied some money by means of our church, and we were able to get great deals on plane tickets to fly home. The kids are beside themselves with excitement, as this will be their first time ever flying on a plane. We are, needless to say, quite excited about getting to be home again, if only for a few weeks, during Christmas. We have missed our families and our church terribly, and are greatly looking forward to being back home. Pray for our health, that everyone will be hale and healthy for the holidays. Pray for our flight, that all will go well.

Merry Christmas!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 11-26-2007

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Greetings, folks! I trust everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We sure did. We got a few days off of school, and spent it doing things as a family, and, of course, eating. We're back at it now, and are going full speed ahead to finish up Morphology, and with it, this semester. In the meantime, the kids are busy getting ready for the Christmas play here at Eastside Baptist. Elizabeth gets to be Mary. She's pretty excited about it. I'm glad we get to be around to be involved. Pray for our support level to continue to rise (we're at 60% at the moment!). Pray that I'll get our schedule in the Fall squared away next year. There are still a few meetings in Alaska that need to be firmed up on the dates. Pray for our final year of deputation, that it will be a very productive one. Pray for the remainder of our studies for this semester. Pray for our health, which is good at the moment, but we'd like to keep it that way.

Thanks for all your prayers!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 11-13-2007

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Greetin's! Things are progressing well down here in Bowie, TX. We finished up our study of Phonemics last week. Both Anna and I did very well, and are maintaining our A+ average. We have completed Phonetics, which deals with all the sounds a human mouth can make, and Phonemics, which deals with specific sounds of a specific language, and have moved into Morphology and Syntax this week. Morphology is the study of words, and Syntax is the study of sentences. We are learning how to identify words in a language, and then analyze how they are modified by other segments of sound (called morphemes), which are used in a variety of ways to communicate complexity of meaning. For example, in English, you might have the word 'run'. 'Run' is a verb. If you add the morpheme '-ing' to the end, you get 'running', which expresses continuous action. If you add the morpheme '-er', you get 'runner', and the verb becomes a noun. Observing and quantifying the rules of language like these will allow us to quickly gain fluency in the dialects we will need to learn when we get to Uganda. So, once we recognize the system by which the language organizes itself, we will be able to take what to the untrained ear sounds like a meaningless jumble of alien sounds, string these together to form words, weave these together to form sentences, and from these, an entire tapestry of communication.

We had a meeting Sunday before last here in town in Bible Baptist Church with Pastor Jerry Jones. It's a great church, and we had a wonderful time ministering to these dear people and sharing our burden for Uganda, Africa. The kids got to be in their Awana program, which they really liked. God has really worked with meetings, and I have been able to schedule many meetings in the general area while in Texas.

This past weekend, we went to a Preacher's Kid conference being held by Pastor Garry Way at Fair Avenue Baptist Church in Gainesville, TX (about an hour away). Both Anna and I are 'PK's', and are raising five more, so I thought it would be a good thing in which to involve ourselves. It was a tremendous two-day conference. We had some great preaching, and it really drove home how critical it is that people in ministry guard their families, and not make the mistake that some have of sacrificing their family for the ministry. It reinforced what the Holy Spirit had been impressing upon me for some time, that my family is my ministry. I want my kids to grow up loving God, and loving church, and not wind up hating both because of me. It was a brilliant time of spiritual refreshing, and I'm very glad we were able to attend.

Thanks for praying about meetings. The calendar is nearly full for next year. October is squared away. As of now, we are planning to drive to Alaska (yes, drive) right after our church's missions conference at the end of September, and won't be back literally until days before Thanksgiving. God has just put this trip together and it's amazing to behold. I will be in both our supporting churches' missions conferences (they haven't met the family yet), and several other missions conferences and meetings besides, everywhere from Fairbanks to Ketchikan. It is by far the most ambitious trip we will have taken in all of our deputation, and will, LORD willing, be the last. Pray that we will get still more support from this trip. Pray that churches will continue supporting us from here on out, and that churches where we've been in the past will do likewise. Pray that we will have nearly all our support by the time we go to Alaska a year from now. I would like 2008 to be the final year of deputation for us, and am confident that God can do it.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 10-29-2007

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Greetings! I don't have a huge update this week because I'm actually pretty caught up on these things for a change. I was in a meeting in Noblesville Baptist Church in Noblesville, IN with Pastor Gene Parker. Bro. James Ray, the General Director of BIMI was the speaker for the final Sunday of their missions emphasis month. It was a great meeting, with some great preaching, and I got to testify about the great need and wide open field of Uganda, Africa. The people responded well, and it appears the goal is to take us on for support in the very near future, along with the other missionaries they had in this month, which is a blessing. Keep praying that every church from here on out will support us so we can get to the field. I'll be flying back to Dallas shortly, so pray for my safety, and that of my family as they drive from Bowie to pick me up. Our next meeting is in Bible Baptist Church here in town with Pastor Jerry Jones. Pray for that meeting, that we'll be a blessing and an encouragement. After that, barring some last minute, red hot meeting, I'm pretty much done for the year, which will be nice so I can focus on school. October is always a very busy month for us, so our schedule of late has not been unusual. Pray that I'll be able to get next October properly booked up with meetings.