Of Cabbages and Kings

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The other day when the girl was working on my nails I got the perfect opportunity to witness to her. She is this really sweet Vietnamese girl. We sat and chatted about many thing. She wanted to know what we were going to do in Uganda. So I had the perfect chance to share the message of salvation with her! I shared that we are planning to start churches there but that first people must believe on Jesus as their Savior. Then I explained what that meant. She listened politely (she was a captive audience!) but changed the subject as soon as she got the chance. Last year when the pastor’s wife took the missionaries ladies here and tried to witness to this girl she got up and left the room. It reminds me of the verse that says that some sow, some water, others reap but it is God that gives the increase. God has promised that His Word won’t return void. Now we just need to pray that Beth will get saved!

Friday we went to Bays Mountain State Park. It was beautiful! We ate lunch there, then walked around and saw the “sights”. They have wolves in captivity there and one of the park rangers called them and got them to howl for us! Another park ranger gave a talk about snakes. Our boys were fascinated! At the end he offered to let any one who wanted to do so come and touch the snake he was holding. Our three older boys touched the snake but James had to make John do it! I had the chance to touch it, too. I just figured, if I can touch a sting ray, I can touch a snake, too. It was soft, like satin, not rough like you would expect.

Saturday we took the kids to this historical house where they got to see a huge train exhibit. The boys were just fascinated by that too. It was amazing to see the intricacy of all the set up: lights for the feed lot, complete with cow sound effects, tunnels, and many other things. Then we took them to another house where they were able to spin some wool. Later we “explored” a cave. It had rained hard the night before and the cave was wet and slippery but the kids really enjoyed it. Then we went back to the main building and they made paper. What marvelous opportunities for our little kids! It was so easy to make the paper that I’ll probably do it with them again at some point in the future to use in making cards and things for people.

Jiggety Jig

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We survived the trip home. Basically, you sit in a hot wind tunnel all day, and reach the end feeling wind blasted and sun baked. Both Anna and I were both pretty numb, and a little brain dead when we were done. The kids were real champs. They didn't complain, and played well all the way home. They make me real proud! It is very good to be home. I'm intending to do little or nothing today, other than the requisite errands that have to be run when you come back from a trip. We'll be getting the evaporator in the van replaced tomorrow, and that should do the trick. Then we'll be back in the land of mobile climate control once again. We're all tired, and are looking forward to the light schedule this month. It will be nice to be around our home church for a while. We'll get to attend the Family Workshop, and the kids will be able to go to the Children's Workshop. I'll be preaching for our pastor while he and his family take a much needed vacation. Other than that, we've got the one meeting in Hannibal, MO next Sunday, and that's it. So, I intend to just rest, and enjoy St. Louis in the summer. We're going to do things as a family for this month, and Anna and I will be going on dates as a couple to make up for all the dates we've not had while on the road. Plus, we get to celebrate our anniversary properly for once (the last two years prior it fell right in the middle of Candidate School at BIMI). It's going to be a great month, and we're all looking forward to it!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 05-28-2006

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Greetings once again! We're in Johnson City, TN at the moment. We just completed our conference in Answer Baptist Church (Pastor Jason Wiley). It was a real blessing. We had great preaching all week from Bro. John Halsey (International Representative, BIMI). The people took great care of us. The meals were delicious, and we had some great fellowship with everyone. On Thursday, they took the men to a suit store and bought us new suits. Wow! I've never had a church do anything like that for me before. Now I can finally retire this one suit I've had for the past three years and have something decent to wear to meetings and to church. They took Anna out to buy some new outfits. She was in need of some things for summer, so that was a big help.

On Friday, we went to Bays Mountain State Park. They had some enclosures with wolves running around in it. The Park Ranger called them over and got them to howl for us, which the kids got a real kick out of. They had a talk for some school groups that were there, and we all sat in and listened to it. The subject was snakes, and afterwards, the guys got to all touch a King Snake (harmless), and I even talked Anna into trying it. On Saturday, we went to the Tipton-Haynes historical site, where they had some activities for the kids involving old time crafts, like spinning wool, and making paper. We explored a cave that was on the property, which they also really enjoyed. Then, in the evening, we had a picnic in a park near the church, and just kind of relaxed and visited with folks. To cap the whole thing, on Sunday they voted to take us on for support! It's just been a really great conference, and a true blessing.

Tomorrow, we'll be driving back to St. Louis. Pray for us as we drive. Our air-conditioning is still needing to be fixed, and it's going to hit 92 tomorrow. We got the compressor replaced, but that revealed a leak in the evaporator. Our mechanic couldn't work us in until May 31, so until then, we have to suffer with the heat. The cost of the repair will be $800, so please pray that the money will be there for that. We'll be home for much of June to get some much needed rest. I'm covering for our Pastor so he and his family can go on vacation, and our wedding anniversary is on June 10 as well, so we decided to take it easy on meetings this month. We have a meeting next week in Hannibal, MO, in Victory Baptist Church with Pastor James Barmore, and then we'll be home for the rest of June. Pray for the meeting, that we'll be able to be a blessing, and that God will work.

A Pedicure

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This morning I had my first pedicure! I’ve always hated having my feet touched or bothered. Last year there was an opportunity for me to get one but I opted to get a much needed hair cut instead. Recently, though, my feet have gotten sort of yucky looking and the heals were covered with dry skin that was messing up my nylons badly. So I decided to take the plunge and go for it! It was wonderful! I got to sit in a massage chair while the girl worked on my feet. My back had been hurting so badly, too, that I REALLY enjoyed that. All the dead skin was worked off. My feet look great.

Truthfully, I’ve never felt a need to make this blog into a “teaching tool” or anything. But Romans 10:15 pops into my head right now – “And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” Maybe that is because they were teaching that to the kids last night at church and our boys were telling me about it. Anyway, my feet look more beautiful than they have in a long time. (Not that I think they look all that great now!) But there is definitely an improvement!

Speaking of the children’s class last night, they played a game where they all took off their shoes and put them in a pile and then blindfolded each child and had them try to find their own shoes in the pile. The only problem with that is that all three of our boys wear the exact same style of shoe! So it got confusing pretty quickly! We’ve color coded them with dots on the inside, so when the teachers tried to find the right sizes for the boys the boys were all trying to explain that they get the “red shoes” or “blue shoes”. Finally, they let them pick and the three boys got it all figured out! They also tried to write their names on a piece of paper with a pen held in their toes. It was pretty cute to see it! James and John write their names quite well with their hands but the foot writing was unintelligible!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Udate 05-22-2006

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Greetings, once again! We're in Des Moines, IA at the moment, preparing to make the drive home to St. Louis, MO (easy drive, only six hours). We just completed the 2006 Missions Conference at Southtown Baptist Church (Pastor Jim Chamberlain). Dr. Les Frazier (SE Asia Director for BIMI), was the main speaker, and he did a great job every night. The sermons were spot on, and really ministered to both of us, and appeared to do the same for everybody else. The turnout was good every night. The international dinner on Saturday was fantastic (those things usually are). I told 'em that they were helping us get ready for the mission field in Uganda, because the Ugandans will come up and tell you you're looking fat, and mean it as a compliment, because it's a sign of good health and prosperity to them.

I went soul-winning with one of the men on Saturday morning. I'd been praying that God would help me bear some fruit, and He answered big-time: I led three Catholic girls to the LORD at the same time! It was incredible. They tried to justify themselves at first, so I took them to the ten commandments, and we talked about how God makes no difference between sins, that they all have the same penalty (death), and that if you sin in one point, you are guilty of the whole law. I could see they were under conviction, so I gave them the good news, that while they were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. They all three wanted to be saved, and prayed to receive Christ as their LORD and Savior right there in the doorway. Be in prayer for Lindsay, Ashley, and Samantha. The church will be visiting them again next week. Pray that their grandparents won't be hostile, and that they'll be able to reach the whole family. I also witnessed to a Methodist lady who was plainly under conviction, but would not believe on the LORD Jesus to be saved. The ladies from the church will be returning to visit her also next week. Pray that she will not harden her heart, but will believe and be saved. It was just a tremendous day of soul-winning and fellowship with the men, and God truly blessed.

Pray for Jim Chamberlain. He's been having some health problems lately, so pray that God will heal his flesh so he can continue to be effective in the ministry. Pray for Les Frazier's new grand-daughter. She is having some problems with her liver that the doctors are still trying to diagnose. At this point it would appear that it's not a genetic disorder (that's good), but some surgery will likely be required. Please pray.

On Wednesday, we'll be driving to Johnson City, TN for a conference in Answer Baptist Church (Pastor Jason Wiley). Pray for the trip that all will go well. Our evaporator needs to be replaced, but we can't get it done until May 31, so until then, we have to endure the heat. Pray for the conference, that God will bless, and that the Church will experience revival and God's moving. Pray that we'll be a blessing and an encouragement.