Two week update

Our last post found us in southern Illinois.  On Monday, September 23rd we traveled to Ava, MO to be with Bethany Baptist Church (Pastor Robert Sorensen) during their annual missions conference.  The conference started on Wednesday night, with meetings Thursday and Friday nights, Saturday morning, and Sunday morning and afternoon.  The Lord showed up and there was liberty.  Pastor Sorensen kindly entrusted the preaching during the conference to me.  I preached  seven times and our family (Sandy, Natalie, and me) sang almost every meeting.

Church house in Ava, MO.

The hospitality and kindness of Bethany Baptist Church is humbling.

I believe the Lord worked in the lives of these dear people. It is our desire and prayer to our Lord and Saviour that we are useful to the Lord everywhere we go.  We desire to give ourselves first to the Lord and them to the people we are there to serve.

We were overwhelmingly blessed by the friendship and kindness we received.

Congregational singing at Bethany Baptist Church.

On Tuesday, October 1st we headed to Brownsboro, TX.  We took two days to do this and arrived in Brownsboro on Wednesday where we had the privilege of being involved in the first annual missions conference of Opekila Missionary Baptist Church (Pastor Richard Fairbanks).  We spent a blessed week with Pastor and Mrs. Fairbanks, the other members of the church and four other missionary families...

...Nat and Anne Williams out of Lehigh Valley Baptist Church of Emmaus, PA and only a month away from leaving for Thailand and Burma.
...Jeremy and Leslie Rowley out of Vandament Avenue Baptist Church of Yukon, OK raising support to go to Prince Edward Island, Canada.
...Steve and Peggy Harris out of Cozadale Baptist Temple of Cozadale, OH currently serving in Mexico.
and...
...John and Lindsay Edwards out of Vandament Avenue Baptist Church of Yukon, OK currently serving in Australia.

Church house in Opekila, outside of Brownsboro, TX.

Natalie, Sandy, and Mrs. Fairbanks.

Pastor Richard Fairbanks (r.) with another man of the church.

Each meeting a missionary presented his work and another one preached.  On Sunday evening some of the church members testified to the blessings God had given them through this conference.  God certainly blessed us, and all involved--what a privilege to serve God and have Him work in my life and see Him work in other people's lives.