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25
August 2000
Dear
Friends and Family: Grace
to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, time flies when you are serving the Lord.
I was trying to send out a newsletter every quarter.
As you can tell, that does not seem like it is happening. I just finished
with the Evelyn Wood speed-reading course, which does not help me with time
management so I am taking a time management course.
Also, I am taking a professional speaking course and higher learning and
memory course, as well as prayerfully considering taking another Bible Class.
I passed the first one and they wanted me to take their course on Daniel.
I also have an offer to take one on God’s heroes.
I do not believe that you can go wrong with any of those.
It will improve myself, my knowledge and assist me with my surroundings.
I am also studying Spanish to help me with the Latin American Market for
Business, the surroundings in Norcross and future mission trips to Mexico. Due
to some of the things that I have been studying and learning and the work habits
I have made for myself, I won FSE (Field Systems Engineer) of the Year.
What that means is this: Out
of our 9 people that we have for the position of Technical Field Reps, I was the
one with the right stuff. I
received a silver engraved picture frame, very nice and because I was over 110%
of my targeted quota, I also received a trip for two to Cancun, Mexico.
We will be going in October. Speaking
of Mexico, many of you are itching to know details of the trip that I took to
Mexico. I can tell you GOD WAS THERE. We
landed in Monterrey. It was
relatively late, but we gathered all of our bags, boxes, etc and headed to
customs. That is when the fun
started. There was another mission
organization in front of us that was staying in Monterrey.
The process with going through customs in Mexico, is that you fill out a
Sheet of Declaration and you go up to a machine with two buttons on it.
The machine looks like a traffic light with a red light and green light.
The idea is that if you push the button and you get a red light, they,
the customs officials, get to search your luggage very thoroughly.
Out of the twenty that was ahead of us, none got a red light.
Two people, not with either of our groups, went through and both got red
lights from the machine. Then it
was our turn. Boxes of Bibles, not
good down there, and bags loaded to the hilt with clothing for the children in
tow. I was 16th in line
and so far no red lights. Number
17, Orlando Parker, stepped up and gave them his sheet.
On it was claimed allergy medicine.
The customs officials were not happy this far and were just waiting for
Orlando to get red. Well, another
day maybe, but not today. Out of
our seventeen people, there were no red lights to be seen, except the ones from
the taillights of our truck as we sped off.
The officials were not happy. He
said some words and slammed the papers down on the desk.
Thank you God. We
spent the night at the Children’s Home in Lanares. We were told to be flexible and it started from the first
day. We were supposed to be
spending the night in Monterrey. We
got up the next morning and headed to Cuidad Victoria.
This would be our resting place for the next couple of days.
We got there and then headed out to Carboneros (Charcoal).
This is where the group would work for the next couple of days. We were to build a wall for the church out of block.
The blocks here were roughly the same size, but were not all the same
size nor were they sturdy. Part of the job was to ensure that they did not break apart
when adding them to the walls. We
were to lay approximately 550 blocks, on the first day we said that we would
need more blocks and concrete. We
ended up finishing the job with 625 blocks by the second day, which was a day
ahead of schedule. Praise God.
There was a lot of heat in Carboneros, but we did a good job of keeping
cool. God made sure of it with the
clouds and breezes. After
we said our goodbyes we headed off to Galeana.
This mountain village was nice. The
people were friendly, as they were in the other places, but in Galeana, it
seemed as though they all knew Christ personally.
The Children’s Home was what I expected.
The children were running and playing and were very excited to see the
Americanos. We put our bags up and for those of us that were here for the
first time, we toured the place. We
met to see what were the plans for the next several days.
We met with Mike Brister from Hope for the Hungry to ensure we had all of
the materials and to be sure that we still had the same plans as the ones we
left Georgia with. In the Children’s Home, we were to lay tile for four rooms
and add to concrete floors between two pairs of the rooms and tile them as well.
We finished ahead of schedule again.
Due to that we had to see what would bless Pedro, the husband of the
owner of the Children’s Home and the pastor of the Church.
We decided that adding a driveway for the vehicles would help.
This would eliminate some of the washing of the driveway that was
happening from when water was poured out and when it did rain.
We laid 30 bags of concrete for the driveway.
The hardest, but fun, part was the mixing of the cement.
There was no cement mixer it was all by hand so we had to make volcanos
with each batch of cement. This
involved taking wheelbarrows full of dirt and some full of rocks and mixing them
thoroughly. Then adding the bags of
cement and mixing them. After that
we made a well with the mix and added water.
After adding the water, we would slowly mix it all together bringing the
mix into the water and making a volcano. After
the mix was complete then we would fill the wheelbarrows and pour it into the
forms. Since
we finished ahead of schedule, there was time to play with the children, for
those that had not gotten to already, basketball and arm wrestling.
Although, I was by no means the biggest on the team, I was reigning
champion in arm wrestling. However, I got truly spanked in basketball.
I am now three P-I-Gs and two H-O-R-S-Es.
I decided to quit while I was ahead. So
much for the physical, now on to the spiritual trip. I knew what to expect when I got to Mexico, the home, the
heat, the people, the shops, and the language barrier. Thankfully, I knew a fair amount prior to going and am a
quick study. But what I did not
expect was the spiritual feelings that I would have.
Every question that I had prior to leaving the States was answered with
“wait”. God met me in Mexico
and gave me all of the answers to my questions and then some. I found out that not only am I to be a missionary for God,
but He reaffirmed me to be an evangelistic missionary. I was asked to preach by one of the team members and I said
no. I asked God, if it was what He
wanted then make it clear to me. So
about five minutes after I finished my quiet time, Richard Daigle, the leader
for the team, came and asked if I would give a little sermonette.
Well, God made that clear. I
had been asking and I received. God
moved on me like the wind. I
thought about what to preach on and could not decide.
I had been getting up and giving little testimonies to these people, but
now I was asked to give them words from God.
I had been reading a lot about the persecution of the Church and
submitting to authority. I assumed
this was what He wanted. So I
prayed that God make it clear. Up
until an hour before the service was to start, I was praying and still got the
same message. And then, I was in the chapel of the Children’s Home and I
heard, “What are you doing?” I
replied, “Reading my Bible and praying to God.”
“But, What are you doing?” “Reading
my Bible and praying to you.” “But
my child, what are you doing?” “I
am READING my BIBLE and PRAYING to YOU.” “Exactly.” Then
it hit me. When I first became born again, I wanted to know all I could about the Holy Spirit. This led me to Ephesians 6:10-24
10
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. 12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. 13
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness; 15
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked. 17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word
of God: 18
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching
thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19
And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth
boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20
For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I
ought to speak. 21
But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved
brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things: 22
Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs,
and that he might comfort your hearts. 23
Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. 24
Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.
Amen. What
came out of this was specifically verses 17-18.
“The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with
all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
What this means is that this, the sword of the Spirit, is the only
offensive weapon that we have against the devil. Everything else is defensive, a helmet, shield, feet shod.
We must constantly stay in God’s word and constantly praying and
worshipping Him in our Spirits. I
know there are many times when I forget that God made things and He sets me
straight. And at that point I
realize, I am but a mere man, and if I do not realize that God made it, then I
am a self centered mortal that is falling into the ways of Satan.
Satan thrives on the fact that we take credit for all things, good and
evil. He knows that it is one foot
that we still have on this earth, and one step away from leaving God.
But God knows that we are mortal, we are human and He loves us in spite
of that. He gave His son, Jesus,
because why? He wanted to.
In hopes that we would follow Christ and have a loving lasting
relationship with God the Father. We
are to use God’s words to defeat Satan and all other evil.
We are to know that God is with us through the Holy Spirit always.
Not just when we ask for help, but always.
Ask God to help you remember His words in all things and that way you
will become more of a warrior for God. A
warrior is not only one that has a sword, but can use it.
He is one that uses his brain for discernment.
He is one that can follow a great a fearless leader until the days end.
Will you still be following when the day ends? Wow,
now that the Spirit is through with that part of the letter, I will tell you,
that still left a hole in determining why was I wanting to talk about the
persecuted church. Was it because
it was on my heart? I did not know
until Lance Campbell got up to preach for the evening.
His first three to five minutes were on nothing but the persecuted church
and serving God. God had put that
message in my heart at the same time that He put it in Lance’s.
I was not, however, a strong enough messenger to deliver the message the
way that God had intended. It let me know that I was in touch with what God wanted, but
it caused me to realize that God was not finished with me.
I was not ready for what God’s full potential for me was to be. I
will post some of the pictures from the trip on the web site.
The address is: http://travel.to/themission
or if you are having issues with that one, for you Internet geeks, it is a jump
page, try this one http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/daddy/1196/.
I should have it updated with both of my newsletters and pictures.
I am trying to make an active commitment to spending at least 1 hour a
week on the construction of the web site. If
any of you know of a person that would like to work on it for the practice, I
would be glad to let them. It would
save me some trouble and give them the experience.
Other
things happening: Not too much, I
came back from the trip and Kelli told me she was pregnant. We had thought about having another child and then decided
against it. We said that we would
leave it in the hands of the Lord. If
He wanted us to have a third child then so it would be. So, I guess He wants us to have another child.
Benton started first grade this year and turned six.
He is getting so big. I am
proud of him and his abilities. He
reads on a fifth grade level and does third grade math.
However, we are working on his writing skills.
They are not very neat. We
are having a family reading time in the evenings to assist with building his
reading to a higher level. This is
also designed to assist Emily to be able to read.
She is turning two in September. What
a beautiful little girl she is. She
is smart as well. She is very
creative and artistic, the walls in the house are proof of that. She does have a temper.
Where she gets it, we are not sure. Keep
us in your prayers and I will keep you in mine.
Pray for Kelli, that the pregnancy go well. Pray for Benton as he goes to public school.
Emily and her safety, she is a daredevil.
Pray for me and my mind and spirit.
Pray that God will show us how he wants to use us and give us the
strength to do it. Pray for all of those people that you touch on a daily basis.
I know many of you prayed for me in the same way.
I thank you for that. There
are several friends and family that are sick and in dire need of prayer. Please add those to your prayer list. Also, pray that funds will continue to come in, so that we
will be able to continue the work of God. Thanks
to you that supported me for the trip to Mexico.
And thanks to you Saint Paul for the use of the introduction of this
letter and more that follow. I pray that God pours out His mercy upon each and every one
of you and uses you to touch the lives of those around you.
Bless you all. Please
let us know how you are doing or if you need prayer.
Either write or email us at: (Home address withheld in online version. Please send email if you need it.) |
