A True Story of How God Provided for Needs by Sending Barrels to a Missionary in Africa

Dear Friends,

     As I was busy packing barrels for Zambia, someone put this story in my mailbox.  I had to share it with you. No, we may not be like-minded with every missionary out there, but this story does show how God answers the prayer of faith. 

     If you would like to be encouraged in your faith and have a deeper, more meaningful prayer life, please take time to read this true story - click here.

Mission's Conferece - Fisher's of Men

    

Mission's Conference was always a highlight of the year for me.

It was mostly because God was bringing me to the place where I am now.

He placed that burden for souls upon me and led me to serve here in South Africa.

I never imagined that I would be part of a Mission's Conference on my mission field.

Not that people across the world should not be burdened for souls, 

but because I guess I never really thought about it.

It was so exciting, as we decorated the church in anticipation for the week ahead.

In our church library, Pastor Jeff had a bunch of Bibles in other languages.  

We placed them among flags from countries around the world to remind us to pray for those taking the Gospel around the world.

Even the Junior Church room was decorate for the theme: Fishers of Men.

(To see how the fish are made click here.)

Our Mission's Conference was Wed- Sun August 21-25th.

We met each night for a shared meal together 

and then preaching from Ron Bragg (BIMI Africa director) via Skype.

Children showing their international costumes to Bro. Bragg

We heard some great & challenging messages about sharing the Gospel

 and being involved in world wide missions.

FRIDAY NIGHT : International Dinner

Friday night, each family decorated a table for our international dinner.

We had tables representing-

Mexico,

Greece,

and

China.

We all brought food from these countries - YUM!!!

(my favorite food was from Greece!)

Mexico table

Greek Table

China table (sorry, no pics with people sitting here)
To see how I made the China Lady click here.

Mission's conference was so much fun!

We had a great time of fellowship and were fed physically, 

but the best part is the spiritual food we received!

SATURDAY: To Every Creature Visitation

This was a special Saturday visitation

and we had another church join us to take the Gospel to Hillcrest.

(To read more about this visitaion day click here.)

In the afternoon, just as we finished the last street in Hillcrest,

the whole group sat down for a meal together.

You know, we are Baptists and that is what we do!

It was a blessing to serve the Lord together 

and then to have some time of fellowship together before the group left for home.

SUNDAY: Faith Promise Sunday & Junior Church Sings

As Sunday rolled around, we understood the great need for our faith promise giving.

Envelopes were passed out and prayed over all week.

We are thankful that our people learned this important principle of giving.

~~~

While I was on deputation, I found that many churches that I went to that did not have faith promise giving, were not able to support new missionaries and were themselves struggling to support the ones they already committed to.

Faith Promise Giving is a sign of a growing church.

A church that follows this principle will be a church with people who grow in their own personal faith in God, while becoming more and more burdened for the lost around them.

So many churches that do not follow this Biblical principle

 are slowly dying in faith and in attendance.

I am thankful to be working with missionaries who are teaching others 

that the Great Commission is a command for ALL of us!

~~~

Our Faith Promise Giving this year will cover all of the missionaries we currently support,

as well as, helping a little in some "one time" gifts to others that the Lord sends our way.

Below are videos of the Junior Church singing their Mission's songs

for the congregation on Sunday morning.

"Fishers of Men" in English & Zulu

"Tell me what a Missionary is" in English

To Every Creature

"And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

Mark 16:15

This was our theme verse for our "To Every Creature" soulwinning program.

In April, we had a special banquet to kick-off our new program.

After all, soulwinning is something to celebrate!

(to see how to make some of the banquet decor click here.)

Pastor Jeff, Robbin, Peter, & I practicing out theme song for the banquet.

The church came together to partake of a delicious meal,...

... and then we were fed spirtually.

Pastor Jeff shared soul winning quotes to stir our hearts for the lost 

and then he gave us a challenge from the Word of God.

As the quotes flashed across the screen, my eyes began to well up with tears. 

 It again brought back that "missionary's" burden for lost souls.

"To Every Creature" had three parts :

1- Instruction

2- Preparation

3- Presentation

Every Sunday night we would come together for evening service

 and "instruction" on how to win souls to Christ.

As a missionary, I have been through tons of these 

class type sessions on soulwinning.  

I am so thankful for my church and how they invested in teaching me.  

Now it was exciting to be teaching others on the opposite side of the world. 

 What a blessing to see new believers begin to grasp Bible truth 

and to hear newly memorized soul winning verses pass their lips!

Every Saturday around 10am,

the church would be busy with the "preparation" part.

We made so many memories together by putting together packets 

to hand out door-to-door in Hillcrest.

Then came the "presentation" part.

Our first goal was to reach people in our "Jerusalem"/Hillcrest.

Witnessing to a gardener

We went house to house taking the gospel to "every creature".

While some went door-to-door,

...others stayed behind preparing more packets to be sent out.

Each packet included:

 a New Testament,

 tracts in Zulu, English, & Afrikans,

  a map and letter from our church.

South Africa is diffarent from America,

we cannot go up to each house and knock on the door.

No, each house has a fenced yard with a huge gate surrounding it.

We were however, able to hand deliver each gospel packet 

into the mail box at every home.

Can't do this in America, but praise God, we can do it here!

The children helped.

Us ladies worked.

Pastor Jeff delivering packets

It was exciting to go to church every week to see the number on the wall to know how many homes we were able to get the gospel into.

As we reached our "Jerusalem", 

another church from an hour away came to help us reach their "Samaria".

We would highlight the map every time we finished a new road,

making sure we covered all of Hillcrest.

The number started at 1,319 in July,

grew to 1,718,

then grew more to 2,480 in August,

and finished at over 4,200 homes by September.

We are still praying that the Lord would bring people to the saving knowledge of Christ and that they would be added to the church.

 Acts 2:47 "Praising God, and having favour with all the people.

 And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

A Promise & Blessings

For over a month now one of my dear friends from a church in MD

 has been asking me to come back to visit her church before I leave for the mission field. 

 Her and "the girls" (what I call them) wanted us to all get a chance to spend some time together. 

 Last weekend, I did not have a scheduled meeting,

 so I attended their church (one of my supporting churches).

As I headed out to visit my praying supporters at Hunt Valley Baptist Church in MD, 

I rounded a corner and saw a beautiful rainbow.

God placed that in the sky for each of us that day.

How does God speak to you through a rainbow?

Rainbows always remind me of God's promises.

I asked the Lord, as I drove, "Lord, what promise can I claim from You today?"

The promise that He brought to me was -

Matthew 28:20
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

"I am with you always"...

What a promise!

He is always with me,

as I make phone calls,

schedule meetings,

drive long distances,

make important, life changing decisions,

choose what to leave behind when packing for the mission field,

and today,

as I drove yet another distance

to attend a church pastored by my old youth pastor,

 attended by dear old friends and new ones...

What promises would He fulfill in my life today?

In my mind, I was going to update my praying friends 

on how my support was coming along,

get to catch up on how my friends are doing,

 and of course spend some quality time with "the Girls".

God had a better plan!

As soon as I got out of the car in the church parking lot, a dear little boy came running to me all excited, because he was getting baptized.

That is exciting!

I was blessed to be able to see, not only him, but 6 others baptized that day!

In the lobby, I found some dear friends to chat with.

Like me, they too were excited that I will be leaving soon for South Africa.

HVBC Missions Wall

One of my favorite young ladies was so excited to see me.

She asked how I was and chatted away to me 

(I believe God will use her in missions one day).

She informed me that they were having a special day in the bus ministry 

and she could not talk long because her mother needed her help.

To make a long story a little shorter,

I ended up helping a little with their bus ministry.

They were doing special breakfast treats for their special program

 and needed help pouring the juice.

What a blessing to have so many kids in one place!

I guess I feel more at home with the children 

and long for my new ministry among the Zulu kids in South Africa.

A great challenge was given from God's Word.

I think 4 kids responded to the invitation.

While my head was bowed, a hand reached up and tapped me on the shoulder,

"Would you come and talk with one of these girls?"

Would I ???  Of course!!!!

I had the priviledge to lead a young lady named Mackenzie to the Lord!

God's promise to be with me was true!

I don't know about you, but whenever I go through the Scriptures, 

while leading a child to Christ,

 I am always praying on the inside- "Lord, please help them 

to understand Your Word and to believe in their heart".

You know, Mackenzie was just so ready.  

She had been coming on the bus for a while now and knew she needed to be saved.

No, she does not understand everything in the Bible,

but she had the faith of a little child (Mt. 18:2-5; 19:13,14).

After Sunday School, I quickly went upstairs 

(a little late because of talking with Mackenzie).

I was blessed to sit in a pew with a new family

 (at least new since I had been there 2 yrs. ago).

It was great to hear Pastor Bottrell preach again and to be in a growing church.

the "Girls" at our picnic lunch

For lunch, "the Girls" and I went out to Oregon Ridge Park

for a picnic lunch.

We had a delicious spread, lots of laughs and blessed fellowship.

They are truly my "sisters".  I love the times we spend together!

Me & "the Girls"

It is always a delight to serve the Lord.

These ladies are also faithful servants at their church.

I guess that is why we like to spend time together, because we have alot in common!

The full outcome of my day was truly unexpected, but I saw the Lord work 

and His promises fulfilled.

My Faithful Prayer Warriors

 I am so thankful for all of the people who hold me up in prayer.

Some of the dearest people to me are those who don't have much, 

but choose to give for the furtherance of the Gospel.

After hearing about a few youth groups and Sunday School classes that have taken me on for support, the 4&5 yr olds from my Master's Club class have decided that they too could support me for $5.oo a month.

You may say, $5.oo, how can that help a missionary?

I might reply, "Every little bit helps". 

That may seem a very simple answer, but it is very true.

Do you realize that if 500 people would pledge just $5.oo 

like these little children, that would cover all of my support 

needed for the mission field ($2,300per month).

Many times we do not give financially to our church or our missionaries because we think that what God has led us to give is very insignificant.

These little ones have given thier best.

Every week they look at the map on thier classroom wall.

 They pray for the Zulu people, 

that Miss Gina's support will grow so she can go,

for my saftey as I travel,

for the churches I am visiting to catch the burden for South Africa,

and many other pure hearted requests.

Each of the children are excited when I am able to attend thier class on Wednesday nights.  They want to personally hand me thier pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters (which usually come with a hug).

Ryan, is such a playful little boy, but is always 

ready to reciprocate any love that you share back to you.  

Last week, as he hugged me, he said, "I hope you get to Africa soon".

Jessica, is a talkative and very busy little girl.

She is always so inquisitive and ready to talk about everything,

including South Africa.

Evelyn, is such a joy to have in class.  

Her smile and happy nature are so fun and refreshing.

She is always ready to learn new memory verses.

Every time I see her, she comes over to me with a few cents in her hand.

With a smile she gives her "best" to me and says,

"Is this enough for you to go to South Africa?"

What simple faith!

Truman, has a sweet heart.

He truly cares about the needs of others.

When we have prayer time, he faithfully prays for 

"his daddy's job to not be too stressful".

I can only imagine how sincere his prayers are for me.

Eric, was quiet when he first came to our class.

Now he fits in as "one of the boys".

He refused to smile for this picture because he wanted to be silly.

I love having him as a part of our class!

As Ryan worked with Jessica on her verses,

 and as the teachers worked with their students

on memory verses, I was again reminded about how blessed 

I was to be one of the teacher in this little class.

They are my faithful prayer warriors!

There is a song that we some times sing called, 

Give of Your Best to the Master.

These little ones are giving thier best to Him.

GIVE OF YOUR BEST TO THE MASTER

by Howard B. Grose 1902

1. Give of your best to the Master;
   Give of the strength of your youth;
   Throw your soul’s fresh, glowing ardor
   Into the battle for truth.
   Jesus has set the example,
   Dauntless was He, young and brave;
   Give Him your loyal devotion;
   Give Him the best that you have.
   • Refrain:
     Give of your best to the Master;
     Give of the strength of your youth;
     Clad in salvation’s full armor,
     Join in the battle for truth.
2. Give of your best to the Master;
   Give Him first place in your heart;
   Give Him first place in your service;
   Consecrate every part.
   Give, and to you will be given;
   God His beloved Son gave;
   Gratefully seeking to serve Him,
   Give Him the best that you have.
3. Give of your best to the Master;
   Naught else is worthy His love;
   He gave Himself for your ransom,
   Gave up His glory above.
   Laid down His life without murmur,
   You from sin’s ruin to save;
   Give Him your heart’s adoration;
   Give Him the best that you have.

Proverbs 3

⁹ Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruitsof all thine increase:

Ecclesiastes 12

¹ Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;