MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 07-05-2005

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Greetings, all! I trust everyone had a good Independence Day yesterday. I got us some firecrackers and set 'em off after dinner. The kids really enjoyed them (well, not so much the "loud ones", but the colorful jumping jacks and the bottle rockets they really liked).

We were in two churches on Sunday. In the morning, we were in Victory Baptist Church in Columbia, MO (Pastor Gary Crumly). In the evening, we were in Victory Baptist Church in St. Louis, MO (Pastor Mike Andrews). Both services went very well. God blessed in the services, and we were able to minister to the people.

Good news! I found out that another $1220 came in for the van from our home church, which leaves now only $2500 to reach the $8200 we need to purchase the new van. Pray that the remainder will come in this week, cause we'll need it before July 12, to go to Montana. Sitting in an oven-hot wind-tunnel for eight hours at a stretch for days at a time to get to Montana will be undoable for Anna, and no good for the rest of us, either.

Also, Kyle Guimon called me on Sunday, and informed me that Sudan is dividing into two nations, a Christian south, and a Muslim north. They will have a Unity government, with representatives from both sides, and a referendum in six years to determine if they wish to become totally independent. Imagine, missionaries in Sudan, a nation closed to the gospel for 50 years. Be praying for Sudan, as they enter this exciting, but challenging, new phase, and for the missionaries in Uganda who border this new nation, that they will know what their roles, if any, are to be in response to this unprecedented opportunity. Pray that the LORD of the harvest will send forth laborers to the harvest in Sudan.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 06-15-2005

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Greetings! We have returned. Last week was candidate school at BIMI in Chattanooga, TN. It was a good week, but, as Dr. Sisk is fond of saying, "It's like heaven, because there is no night." Sleep deprivation aside, tho', things went very well. We had some great preaching by Randy King, Pastor of Wyldewood Baptist Church in Oshkosh, WI. We finished up our official training with BIMI, and got our certificates for attendance. I was able to get some good leads on some missions conferences in 2006 which I'm following up on. In addition, I did schedule a missions conference in April with Lakewood Baptist Church (Dr. David Bragg), which is great, cause we know some folks there from BIMI, and it's a great church. I got some great training on discipling, church planting, and starting Bible institutes, which gave me a bunch of ideas for when, at long last, we finally do get to the field. I got to spend some time with my director, Ron Bragg, and get some good direction to help me while on deputation, and so forth. All told, it was a very profitable week.

We have a meeting tonight in Belleville, IL (very close to home) with Hope Church (Pastor Darrell Coons), and that's it for the month. We had another meeting on the 19th, but the church cancelled at the last minute. We need the break, but consequently finances are going to be tight. If we can make it to July, we'll be all good, because that month is packed, but June was our lean month, leaner still with the loss of that meeting. Pray that we'll be able to pay all our bills, and still be able to buy food and gas. Our support it still ten percent, where it has been for the past six months, and until we get up to thirty or forty percent where we need to be, gaps in meetings like this really hurt us financially. It also makes it hard to save anything for future expenses, because everything practically is going right out the door in bills. Please pray that God will move the churches where we've been, who have not already done so, to take us on for support. Another critical need is the van for which we're trying to raise money. We have $4450 – we need $3000. Please pray that the remaining amount will come in time for us to be able to purchase the van before we leave for Montana the second week of July. It's going to be very hot in our un-air-conditioned Astro, and the possibility of getting stranded in the middle of nowhere in the 17 year old vehicle is very real. That, and the support issue, are our most dire needs right now, so we truly need prayer, and answers to them, soon. Unless something changes, our next meetings are on July 3, so we'll be in the St. Louis area and at our home church, Grace Baptist Church in St. Louis, until then.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 06-06-2005

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Greetings from Chattanooga! We'll be at BIMI headquarters for our second week of Candidate School this week. The missions conference at Gethsemane Baptist Church in Walnut Ridge, AR (Pastor Derek Collins) went extremely well. They're a great bunch of folks and really make you feel like family. We stayed with Bob and Nedra Guimon (Kyle's parents), and had some real good fellowship with them. The ladies in the church set about their usual conspiracy of trying to feed us to death :). There's just nothing like southern, country cooking. Their associate pastor, Randy Bailey, is real talented, and played some classic bluegrass for us while we were there (good stuff). It's a soul winning church, and we saw ten saved all told during the conference. I preached on Wednesday night on "Where Can I Get a Drink?" from John 4, and two Jehovah's Witnesses got saved! They were baptized on Sunday. Glory! Then, I preached on 2 Timothy 2:1-2, on "Where Are the Faithful Men?", and a fella who had been teetering for awhile surrendered to preach. What a blessing, to get to be used of God to call others to full-time Christian ministry. We visited the jail on Thursday, and two got saved there, and three were saved on soul winning on Saturday, with the rest coming for salvation during the services. The one image that really stands out the most is on Sunday, when a fella came to be saved, and was baptized the same day. His wife stood up front during the baptism, just weeping for him, because she was saved, and he was not, until recently. He got saved, and she had no doubt been praying and yearning for that for some time. That's what it's all about, folks.

We wrapped up the conference on Sunday afternoon, and I have to tell you, we hated to leave. We sure do love the Collins' and the Baileys and all the sweet people of Gethsemane Baptist. We got out of there as quick as we could, but it was still midnight (you lose an hour going east) before we crawled into bed at BIMI. Things are going great today, and we have lots of exciting things going on this week, which we will appraise you on after we get back.

Pray for our kids while we're away. They're home with my parents this week so we can attend Candidate School. Pray for our drive home later this week. Pray about the van. We still need $3000 for that, and it would be great if we could drive to Montana in July in a van with air-conditioning. Pray for our Pastor and his wife, Ken and Beth Spilger, who will be heading home from Uganda tomorrow, along with the rest of the team from our church. That's all for now.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 05-31-2005

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Greetings, once again! We're back from Kansas City, and poised to head out again on Wednesday for a missions conference in Walnut Ridge, AK (Gethsemene Baptist Church, Pastor Derek Collins). The missions conference in Trinity Independent Baptist Church went very well. They're a soulwinning church, and Pastor Boos has a real heart for his city and his people. On Saturday, I was able to lead a 15 year old guy to Christ. All told, three were saved that day. To date, they have seen 73 saved in outreach alone. It's great to see a church so concerned for the lost. The preaching went well for both me and Bro. Roverosa, missionary to Cuba, and you could tell God was really working in folks' hearts.

We're home for a couple days to get things pulled together, and then we're heading to Pastor Collins' missions conference. Immediately thereafter, we're heading across Tennessee (9 hours), to Chattanooga for our second week of Candidate School at BIMI headquarters. My sister-in-law is driving down on Saturday to pick up the kids and bring them back to our house, where they'll be staying with my parents while we're in Chattanooga, so pray for them. Pray for the missions conference coming up, and the week of training we'll be receiving very soon. Pray God will soon provide the remaining $3150 to get the new van (He has already provided $4300! Praise the LORD!). Pray for our Pastor, Ken Spilger and wife Beth, and the Uganda Team from our church who are over in Uganda at the moment helping the Guimons train their young preachers.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 05-26-2005

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Howdy, everybody! Can you believe it's already almost Memorial Day? Our meeting in Vinton, IA went well last weekend went great. We were able to challenge folks with the needs of worldwide evangelism, and be an encouragement to Pastor Collins and his family as well. Vinton is a beautiful little town, in the heart of Iowa corn country. In fact, their county is the number one producer per acre of sweet corn in the world. I'm glad there's a Baptist church here. One item of note here: Vinton is home to a school for the blind, the same school for the blind where Laura Ingalls Wilder's older sister intended after she lost her eyesight. Pretty cool, eh?

Tomorrow, we're driving to Kansas City to be in a missions conference in Trinity Independent Baptist Church (Pastor Tim Boos), so pray for us. After we get home on Monday, we're home for a couple days, and then it's off to Walnut Ridge, AK and Gethsemene Baptist Church for their Missions Conference. My sister-in-law, Esther, is driving down on Saturday to get the kids, and then, immediately after church on Sunday, we're driving to Chattanooga, TN for our second week of candidate school at BIMI headquarters. Whew! So pray for the kids while we're away, and for my mother and father, Jim and Sue Huckabee, who'll be staying in our home to keep them. Lots ahead in this summer, so pray for us!