Ministry Update

We had a good meeting at Calvary Baptist Church in Scottsville, Virginia, with Pastor David Morris. It was a tremendous blessing to see the growth in the lives of the people during the week. Today we head to Winchester, Virginia for a four-day meeting with Pastor David Martin. It is a blessing to have less than three hours drive between meetings.

Please pray for me: I am having problems with a disc in my back. I am not sure if the technical term is herniated, slipped, or whatever. Please pray for the inflammation to go down so that I can get back to doing my normal activities.

Family Update

We have had a pretty good week. Josiah has been relatively free of breathing problems, which is an answer to prayer. Please keep praying for him during this season. He has had a great time playing with Zachary and Collin Williams this week. He even spent the night with Zachary one night, which was a first for him. As you can imagine, I am very careful about where he goes alone, mainly for health reasons. He had such a wonderful time! Josiah has discovered the gift of compliments. He says to me at almost every meal, “Mama, you are a good cooker!” Many times when we are getting ready for church, he will say, “Mama, you look pretty,” or “Mama, you smell pretty.” The other day, he was singing in the truck, and had just finished singing “Jesus Loves the Little Ones Like You, You, You”. Then he said, “Mama, I sang that for you because you are so short!” This comes from someone who only reaches my waist – or where it used to be. The other morning, he said, “Mama, your tummy is really big. Did you eat too many grits?” Paul even had the audacity to laugh. No respect.

Abigail has been increasing her vocabulary at an amazing rate. She can really communicate surprisingly well. She had a bout with the stomach flu or something this week, and woke up in the middle of the night crying. We had to bathe her and throw her bedding in the wash at 2:30 am. She seems to have recovered, and we hope that no one else comes down with it. The rest of us have already had it this year!

Pray for Paul and a quick recovery for his back. It is hard for him to wash the dishes and do the vacuuming now. Ha! (No harder than it was before, I guess!)

Sarah

Ministry Update

We had a good close to the meeting last night, and, although there were no salvation decisions, the pastor and his wife were really encouraged. I don’t know if I have ever preached a revival meeting for a pastor who seemed so discouraged. The meeting was, according to their testimony, a shot in the arm for their family and for the church. We praise the Lord for what He did.

Family Update

We are back in NC – for about 24 hours, maybe less. We head out for Scottsville, VA tomorrow as soon as I get back from my prenatal checkup. I have to do the 28-week glucose test – yeah. Maybe I should have put that in capitals.

The trip back was uneventful except for wiping out a stop sign in Greenville. It only scraped the trailer, so we rolled happily along. The angry motorists whose lane we were blocking blew the horn violently while we tried to turn a corner designed for a Yugo. Thankfully, one older man let us in, and we escaped with minimal damage to both the trailer and our egos. Always an adventure.

By the way, the ants are GONE! Hooray! We killed them with ant spray, hair spray, chili powder, and the vacuum cleaner. We are now ant free once again – except for the lone rangers that have strayed to other areas of the trailer. They won’t last long. I wonder of those ants have a southern drawl. Maybe they have relatives in the area that they have never met. They are certainly well-traveled now. “Ant Matilda, I traveled 600 miles just to see you! I think I’ll be staying for a while, though!” Ha!

Sarah

Ministry Update

The Lord is giving us a good meeting here in Mobile. It is the kind of meeting in which we are primarily here to encourage the pastor and the church. This morning, I was able to preach in a pastor’s fellowship where the Lord gave real liberty. There is a possibility that we may be back in this area to have a meeting later this year. I am looking forward to that. We praise the Lord for what He has done so far this meeting and we look forward to what He will do in the future.

Family Update

Well, we have been enjoying the beautiful weather here in AL, but I am ready to leave. Why? Let me explain it this way. From time to time, in our travels, we happen upon certain phenomena of nature that make us wish that we were elsewhere. For instance, it could be the cold, snowy weather of the Northern states, the chronic mosquitoes of Minnesota and Michigan, or as in this case, the hordes of tiny “sugar ants” that have invaded our trailer this week. We came home after eating dinner at a church member’s home on Monday, and Paul announced that we had visitors – ants. I was busy ironing clothes for the service, and so was not able to investigate what he called “hundreds of ants” that were now in the trailer. If the truth must be known, I thought he was “pastorally speaking,” and that there were some ants, but not “hundreds.”

After the service, when I was able to inspect the invading swarms, I came to realize that he had indeed been telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Much to my dismay, there was a steady stream of tiny insects pouring into MY HOUSE! Paul went out to spray around the trailer, but since we weren’t really sure where they were coming in, it was a less than easy task. As for the masses that were already in the trailer, they died a less than noble death in the vacuum sweeper. It really makes no difference how long I sweep, or how many I destroy – they just keep coming. The nasty little bugs have found the way to the pantry, and managed to get inside this morning while we were at the preacher’s fellowship. I suctioned up as many as I could, and sent Paul to buy ant traps. We have been reminded of the story “Leiningen Versus the Ants”, although, if Paul burns down the trailer to kill the ants, I will have somewhat to say to him.

Josiah put our faith to shame this morning as he prayed over his breakfast. After thanking God for his food, he prayed, “And please help the ants to all go back to the dirt so they won’t be in the trailer any more and bite us and crawl all over the carpet and eat our food.” His actual prayer was longer than this, but the rest of it only God could understand.

Last night was another unusual experience. After the service, I went back to the nursery to return one of the toys the children had carted out to the auditorium. As I passed the bathroom off the nursery, I heard the toilet running. Being the conscientious person that I am, I stepped into the dark bathroom to jiggle the handle. When my sandaled foot landed in a puddle of water, I let out a surprised yelp. I suppose stepping into a puddle unexpectedly is always a bit alarming, but my level of consternation rises when I step into a bathroom puddle, if you know what I mean. At my cry, Paul came running to see what was the matter, and quickly commandeered the situation by jumping into the bathtub and turning off the water valve underneath the toilet. Then he and the pastor took turns plunging – rather violently, I thought – while the pastor’s wife and I stood back and watched. Paul was still standing in the tub, and the pastor was standing in the puddle, which made for a very amusing sight. I wish I had thought to bring my camera! We mopped up about three inches of water, and called it a night. The pastor and his wife were so thankful that the problem had been found before the fellowship this morning, or else the whole nursery and classroom area would have been flooded. It was really pouring out of there, I’m here to tell you. Anyway, we are hoping for a less eventful night this evening, as far as the normal aspects of life.

The services have gotten better each day, and we are praying for a great time tonight. Please continue to pray for God’s blessing upon this meeting, and that we will see souls saved and lives changed for eternity. And pray that we can get rid of the ants!

Ministry Update

The meeting with Brother Nate Clark in Richmond, VA closed on Wednesday and we actually got to be home on Thursday afternoon. That was short-lived, however – we were in Greenville, SC by Thursday evening. After spending Friday morning with my parents, we left and spent the night in Conyers, GA at Gethsemane Baptist Church. From there it was all the way to Mobile, AL today. We are to be here through Wednesday night in a revival meeting.

Family Update

We are thankful to be in warm weather again. The trees and flowers are all in bloom here, which makes it so beautiful! Josiah and Abigail have had runny noses since we have been in the blooming areas, a fact that causes me to think that she might have allergies to the pollens as well. Please pray especially for Josiah during the next few weeks. The past two years he has been in the hospital for several days around the second week of April because of all the pollen. We are hoping and praying that his daily medication will make a difference this year, and that we will not have to endure another hospital ordeal.

The inevitable has happened – Dolly was left behind in a restaurant the other day. For those of you who do not know, Dolly is Abigail’s constant companion. She sleeps with her, drags her around the yard, takes her to church, etc. So, it was not until we had driven several miles before I realized that Dolly was gone. Thankfully, we were only a few miles from where we left her, so it took about 30 minutes total time to retrieve the doll. We now have a new rule – Dolly is not allowed to go to restaurants anymore. If we had been much farther down the road, it would have been a sad separation.

Ministry Update

The Lord is giving us a good meeting here in Short Pump, VA with Pastor Nate Clark. We broke an attendance record Sunday night with 41 in the service and then again last night with 47. We have yet to see anyone trust Christ as Savior, although two raised the hand last night and requested prayer. One, in particular seemed to be under conviction. It seems that things are beginning to click for the core members of the church. They are beginning to realize that evangelism is their responsibility. It has “dawned on them” that they have all the equipment and opportunity they need to bring their friends and co-workers to Christ. Bro. Nate is very encouraged as he sees the growth in the lives of his people. I am still praying for some to be saved and we have two more nights in which to see that happen. Thank you for your prayers.

Family Update

After driving 320 miles to this meeting, Paul announced that he felt as if we had just gotten started, even though we were already at our destination. Obviously, he was the only one with these feelings. I recommended some intense counseling. It was a blessing to be able to arrive in only six hours. Lately, it has taken several days to get to the next scheduled meeting, and many more hours in the truck each day. It has been good to visit with the Clark family, as well as with Beau and Nicole Williams, who came to the services last night, and plan to be there again this evening. Zachary and Collin spent the night with their grandparents, enabling them to play all day long with Josiah. It has been a real zoo. Most of the morning was spent running around in circles chasing one another, with Abigail tagging along behind, crying, “Wait for me!” It has been a lot of fun for Josiah to spend time with his friends.

Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a wonderful time in Houston. The week of March 5-10 I was able to preach four times, despite not having a regular revival meeting. Wednesday night with Pastor Mark Thrift was a tremendous service, but Friday night was even better. Friday was a youth rally with about 130 teenagers present from as much as an hour’s drive away. After a time of Bible quizzing, I preached and 5 trusted Christ as Savior. It was a wonderful end to our time in Houston.

From Houston, we went to Heber Springs, AR to be with Pastor Mark Bishop. (For the Emmanuel people, Mark’s wife is the Tesseneer’s younger daughter.) God gave us not only wonderful services there, but also a friendship with Bro. Mark and his family. After getting a late start on Monday morning, we drove straight through, arriving in NC at 3:00 Tuesday morning.

Family Update

I am glad to be home – and in one piece at that! Life in a travel trailer is such an adventure! Paul has already mentioned that we were in AR on Sunday. It was there that we “treed the trailer.” We were to stay at a Christian campground not far from the church, and we were escorted there by the pastor’s wife after dinner Saturday evening. The RV hookups they had there were more than enough for what we needed, as far as power and water, but space was another problem. The hookup was in a patch of woods next to a large gymnasium, and situated in such a way that we needed to do a u-turn to get into it. Paul pulled up to it on one side, but decided he couldn’t make the turn that way, and backed out again to give it a try on the other side. While he weaseled in between the trees, I was doing my part and waving my arms this way and that to direct him. He wasn’t able to swing wide enough with the trailer because of the multitude of trees, so we soon realized that no matter how we worked it, we could not fit into the spot. No problem – we can just back out. NOT! When he backed up, in order to avoid hitting the building and the trees right next to the truck, the angle was wrong, and we got closer and closer to the trees next to the trailer. We went back and forth trying to get farther away from the trees, but we were still all over them. Finally, when we were safely away from the trunks of the nearest trees (I say safely, but this means about twelve inches), I just waved my arms for him to keep backing up. The horrible SCREECH of the tree branches against the side of the trailer combined with the sound of snapping branches was enough to send the pastor’s wife over the edge. She sent a text message to her husband, who was out on a visit, that said something like this: “Come now! Nightmare!” I must say that she expressed my sentiments very aptly. It took us about an hour to get out of that spot, and I am sure that I have a few more white hairs because of the experience. The pastor arrived shortly after we extricated ourselves from the trees, and he led us to a makeshift parking place far from the trees, which was just fine with all of us! The ground was very unlevel there, so we stacked up two 2×8’s and then our leveling blocks on top of those. We were teetering upon a tower-of-Pisa-like structure that would have struck fear into the heart of any architect or insurance adjuster. Paul chocked it really well to prevent us from rolling down the hill, an event which would have capped a wonderful evening, and we fell gratefully into bed, being careful not to shift our weight too suddenly, lest we topple the trailer.

We did have a great day of services, and enjoyed getting to know the Bishops better. That evening, a fierce storm blew up, and we lay in our beds wondering how fast the trailer could travel without the truck, and if, by leaning from side to side, we could steer it in the event that the predicted tornado did materialize. As the rain and hail beat down upon the trailer, we were glad to be parked on top of the hill – since our pontoon floats had not yet been installed. Thankfully, since our awning had already been blown off (see previous updates), we didn’t have to worry about losing it. Every cloud has a silver lining.

Monday morning, we headed out as fast as we could for NC. Unusually, Paul drove through the night, getting us back at 3 AM Tuesday morning. I guess he didn’t want to risk anything else happening. We drove through the mountains in torrential darkness and pouring rain. The visibility was terrible, especially for me, since even when I wasn’t sleeping, I had my eyes closed. We were in a traffic jam caused by an accident involving two tractor trailers and two cars, and when that finally cleared up, we flew down the road once again. Another time, we came around the corner, and a car had hydroplaned on the road, and come to rest facing oncoming traffic. After that, my eyes were stuck open from fright. We are so thankful that the Lord gave us safety during that long night.

When we arrived back at our home church, we found the bus parked where we usually park the trailer, and all the locks on the building changed. We wondered if it was a subtle hint of some kind. We are so glad to be back in town,even for just a few days. I had my checkup this morning, and for those of you still wondering, our next little girl is due June 17. Everything seems to be fine, and we are grateful for that. When the doctor spoke to me at my appointment, he saw that I had been traveling a lot since I last was there. He asked me if I was a truck driver. I almost fell off the table laughing. He now thinks I have escaped from an insane asylum. Just kidding. Please continue to pray that things will go smoothly during this pregnancy.

Sarah

There were a couple of instances during our last two week meeting that were insightful to me. As I reflected this morning, I realized that I did not share them with you who pray for us so regularly.

The first Sunday of the meeting, one of the men in the church brought his younger brother who, along with his girlfriend, was visiting from east Texas. The young man had grown up in a Christian home and knew what was right and wrong. He really appreciated my preaching and seemed to enjoy the straightforwardness of it. His girlfriend was quite the opposite, letting me know by her response to the preaching that she did not appreciate what I was saying. While the man in the church offered to put up the unmarried couple for the night, they decided to leave that night. “I have things to do” was the answer the younger brother gave. That night they did not take the direct route home, but headed west out of the way, intending to stop at a motel for the night. While at his older brother’s house, the young man was not able to be in the same room with his girlfriend. Now at the motel, their wicked intentions could materialize. Before they reached the motel, however, their car hit a patch of black ice and, when it finally stopped rolling, was totalled. By the grace of God, neither of the young people were hurt, but it would be hard to prove that God was not sending them a message. The younger brother knew that he was saved, but he had also heard enough preaching that day to remind him that what he was about to do was wrong. He has requested the entire meeting on CD and his brother has purchased it for him.

Another similar story occurred in the second week. Another single man came to services on Wednesday of the second week. He said that he was unsure of his salvation and we sat down after the service and talked for a long time. At the end of the conversation, I thought that he was saved, because it seemed that the Lord was chastening him for wickedness after his conversion experience. He told me that he wanted to get right. I responded that a lot of people say that nowadays, but few really follow through. I gave him some things that he should do, reminding him, “If you are serious about doing what God wants you to do, you will be here every night this week.” He assured me that he would, and, sure enough, there he was the next night. I asked him if he had read his Bible that morning and he told me that he had not. These were his words: “I spent the night at my girlfriend’s house. I was there fornicating. So I didn’t have the chance to read my Bible because it was at home.” Friday night he was nowhere to be found. I was told later what happened. While the church people were fellowshipping after the service, this man had been drinking with a buddy of his whose girlfriend had just broken up with him. On the way home from the bar, he rolled his mother’s Chevy Avalanche, landing in the front lawn of a Baptist church. Shortly after his conversion, he had gone down and bought some marijuana intending to bring it home and smoke it. On the way home, he was involved in an accident that should have taken his life. God spared his life, but his leg was so badly broken that it may not ever heal. The doctors tried to put it back together, but the screws did not hold and it came apart again. It seems that every time this young man tries to go back to his worldly habits, God does something else to get his attention.

It all serves as punctuation of the Scripture: “Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”

We had a wonderful yesterday with Pastor Scott Townley of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Houston.  He baptized three people in the morning service and there were a lot of visitors there to see the baptism.  Three of the visitors were saved.  The lady who was baptized had been praying that her brother-in-law would be saved.  He walked the aisle Sunday morning and trusted Christ along with one of his friends.  A young adult lady also trusted Christ.  We had a wonderful service last night as well.

We will be in Houston all week long, ended our time here by preaching in Parkwood Baptist Church at a Friday night youth rally.  Then it will be off to Heber Springs AR.  Thank you so much for your prayers: we have seen God do some great things in recent days.

Paul

Don’t be Late

Ministry Update

We had such an exciting close to this meeting last night! The meeting was destined from the beginning to be a meeting of firsts for my ministry. It was my first two week meeting, though it had been originally planned as just one week. Last night, I preached a message about Levi from Mark 2:14, finishing not long after 8:00. At 8, several more visitors began pouring in as I was preaching. When my message was done, I began to pray about what to do. It was quickly obvious to me, the pastor, and the men of the church that I needed to preach another message right then. I had been struggling between two messages, unsure of which one the Lord wanted me to preach that night. In the end, I preached them both. As far as we know, the visitors were late because of work reasons, but the Spirit of God seemed to make it plain that I needed to preach a second time in that service. It seemed that it was during the second message that many broke. At the invitation, the altar was flooded with people broken over their sin and getting right with God. One came and received assurance of her salvation after her raising her hand for prayer. After a lengthy invitation and testimony service, we finally dismissed the meeting to the fellowship hall for yet another dessert fellowship. The service had lasted 2 ½ hours. There were some in the church that wanted to go another week.

While next week is a week off, it will still afford its opportunities. I am to preach for Bro. Scott Townley in Lighthouse Baptist Church all day tomorrow, and on Friday I am to preach a youth rally for Bro. Mark Thrift in Humble, TX. We thank all of you for your prayers and we invite you to rejoice with us in the blessing of God upon this last meeting.

Family Update

We had a great close to our meeting last night. It was so exciting to see the Lord working in hearts and to see specific answers to prayer! The Spirit of God was touching hearts and Christians were broken over their sin. We closed the meeting, but the Lord has just begun a tremendous work of revival in this church. What a blessing! As exciting as it has been, I must say that I am thoroughly worn out, and ready for a few days of rest! Thanks to all of you who have prayed for this meeting – it truly has been great!

Yesterday, Paul and I had the rare opportunity to go on a date together. The pastor’s wife kept the children and we took off for the afternoon. We ate lunch together and went to the mall, not really to shop, but just to spend time together. After that, we stopped at a piano store. You can imagine the time we had there, drooling all over the beautiful instruments. We played for a while on two Yamaha grands that were side by side, and, just out of curiosity, asked the salesman how much they cost. The one I was playing was in the neighborhood of $40,000, and the one Paul was on was around $50,000! After we left, we laughed about the fact that one of the pianos was worth more than our truck, and the other was worth more than our trailer! I don’t know if that kind of money has ever sounded so good before! Ha! It certainly was fun to “exercise” our talents on such fine instruments!

I have done just a bit of scrapbooking this week, and hopefully, I will get more done next week since we don’t have services every night. Today, I am catching up on laundry and housework, and just letting the kids run outside. They are having a great time out in the clear sunshine and warm weather. I am not sure if I am looking forward to going back to the cold areas of the country – I am getting used to this “summer weather.” Seriously, we do look forward to getting back to NC and seeing all of our church family and friends.

We will be here in Houston until Friday, when Paul will be preaching a youth rally, and then we will head to Heber Springs, AR for Sunday services. After that, we will be on our way to King’s Mountain, NC! Please pray that the Lord will give us safety on the roads, and economy of time while traveling.

Sarah

For three weeks solid, we have been in meetings where we ate with the pastor and his family every day for at least two meals each day. Suffice it to say, that after this eating schedule, plus a plethora of dessert fellowships after the services, we have become severe victims of Southern hospitality. Please be careful about complimenting us when we return. For example, if one of you says, “My, the Lord has really blessed you and the family,” you might get a glare in return: your comment might be construed as a fat joke. There have been times during the past three weeks that we have longingly looked toward Ethiopia as a possible mission trip opportunity, but we don’t have quite enough frequent flyer miles to get there economically. We are considering the possibility of rowing across the Atlantic in order to lose some of the weight that we have gained. If any of you have any rafts that you could donate for the cause, please let us know. In spite of our troubles, I have vetoed the option of girdles. I am afraid that we just could not preach or sing in them – can’t breathe. While Sarah is considering the options of a duct tape mouthpiece, I personally have begun to implement an exercise program that shakes the trailer until the family is seasick and makes the Green Berets look like Cub Scouts. Sarah’s plan for the family’s sustenance calls for nothing that cannot be picked up with chopsticks this week. Next week, we will eat nothing larger than what will fit through a coffee stir stick. A report on the results of this program will be forthcoming.

Sarah has done a great work this week. In all, she has done 12 specials (vocal solos) and 14 offertories in two weeks time.

Paul

God worked in a wonderful way in tonight’s service. A girl who had been under conviction for months finally broke tonight and trusted Christ as Savior. Sarah wrote about her specifically in our last update. We are excited about the prospect of continuing on next week. One of the greatest blessings was to see that the people seemed unanimously in favor of continuing the meeting. They told of many lost people that they had tried to get to come, only to hear excuses or schedule conflicts. Now, we pray, they will be able to get them out. There are still things that have to be done in the hearts of God’s people as well. We are so grateful to all of you that have prayed and continue to pray for our meetings.

Paul