Home Alone

WOW! What a week.
Monica and I have been talking about her going to the States for a couple weeks. She could really use the break after putting up with me, the kids, school, the ministry, and the burglary. When our home church heard that we were considering this they decided to receive an offering to help with flying expenses. Then one of the ladies of the church said we could have some buddy passes of hers. Then the grandparents said they wanted to help a little too. So… short of the long is… Monica and all six kids left today to enjoy the next little while with the extended family. Keep us in your prayers. This is the longest we have been separated since… … ever. During visitation this week one lady, Cheryl, accepted Christ as Saviour. Praise the Lord!

Ministry Update

I have been visiting people in the hospital for two weeks now. It is amazing how much more open people are to the gospel when they are lying on their back with nowhere to look but up. The Lord has directed me to the right patients at the right time each day. This week we had the privilege to see five come to know Christ as Saviour. We had several who said that they were not ready, and a couple have said that they have never done anything wrong or worthy of Hell. We praise the Lord for those who have listened, believed, and willingly repented of their sins!

Pop Quiz on Bible Characters ??? :-)

The past two services we have had some visitors at church. Two brothers and a sister have come together. They are all between ten and thirteen years old. Before I started the message, I decided to have a pop quiz on Bible knowledge. I asked them to tell me the name of a person from the Bible and something that they did. The first one answered, “God”, and “He made fish”. The second one said, “Moses”, but he didn’t know anything that Moses had done. The third one answered, “Mary”. When I asked her what she knew about Mary, she very innocently replied, “She took her lamb to school”. We then had a short conversation about a different Mary that birthed the Lord Jesus, and how he was the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Please pray for Jane and her brothers that they will soon understand enough about Christ to accept Him as Saviour.

Hospital Visitation Part 2

Monica and I have been volunteering at the local hospital for the last few months. Last Tuesday, I went in early and did some visiting with a Christian doctor. Two people we visited already had a Bible in the room and said they had been considering giving their life to Christ for some time. They just needed that extra encouragement. Within just a few minutes they both prayed and ask the Lord to save them. Thank God for His guiding hand!

Hospital Visitation

Monica and I have been volunteering at the local hospital for the past couple of months. I go every Tuesday and help with the orthopedic clinic. It has been a real change of pace from everyday life. The orthopedic surgeon, Niddi Dagbue, is a Christian. A couple of weeks ago, we were talking about evangelizing and spreading the gospel. He suggested that I start going to the medical wards to pray with the patients. I think this will be a great opportunity to meet new people and to spread the gospel.

Thief in the night, Part 2

On October the twentieth, a man came into our house and stole some money and jewelry. The past couple of weeks have been a roller coaster on the emotions of fear and thankfulness. I have been talking to several neighbors and friends, as well as the police, about the robbery. It is interesting to see some extend a hand or give advice to help. Some have come with accusations of this one or that one.
Last Thursday night before church, a friend called me to say that a man had been apprehended in a nearby village while robbing a house. I drove to the police station to get more information. The officer I talked with said that a home owner caught him climbing out of a window. They used a stick to beat him and called to the neighbors for help. When the neighbors arrived, they helped to beat him as well. According to the officer that I spoke with, an off-duty officer saw what was happening and stopped the brawl before they beat him to death. He also said that the homeowner saw a second man, but they did not catch him. The police are investigating the possibility that this could be the same man that robbed us.

New Friends

Saturday we spent time with some new friends. Simon Sanganoo and his family were our guests for a fun day in Castries. We met Simon and his family about four months ago. We have become close friends after spending more and more time together. Simon has been a real blessing to get to know. He is always interested in talking about issues in the Bible. He and his wife have been saved just over a year.
As a missionary in a foreign country, it takes a while to meet and make friends. It is easy to have casual friends and those that you talk to every so often. It is harder to have a close friend that you can really talk with honestly. We have spent a lot of time with Simon and his family lately. I consider him a true friend and a brother in Christ. Thank the Lord for friends!

Thanks for your time and comments

I would like to take a moment to thank all those who spend their time reading our blog, and especially those who put forth the extra effort to send a comment. I know from time to time I write things that some may disagree with or find odd. From time to time I return to make changes to a post because of errors or maybe some detail that my wife said I should not have made public. I do not intend to be hypocritical with values or actions, but neither do I intend to hide fact that I am 100% human and completely capable of making mistakes and bad judgments. I hope you all can bear through all this with me. Thanks again for your time. Please feel free to contact me personally by name through the e-mail link on my profile page.

Nathan Brock

A Thief in the Night

Last Monday night, we kissed the kids goodnight and went to sleep trusting that all would be well in the morning. At about 1:30 Tuesday morning, I was awakened to find that a man had been in the house going through our belongings. We immediately called the police and began to search for the intruder only to find that he had already left. We found an array of things that the burglar had taken from each room and then inspected them and discarded what he didn’t want. I ran to the van and drove through the neighborhood looking for anyone that looked suspicious. Within forty-nine minutes the police arrived, and I returned to meet them at the house. The police took a few minutes to look around and said they would return in the morning for a second look.

I would like to say that I am very thankful to have all of my family still with me and in good health with no injuries. I am convinced that nothing can touch us but what passes through the hand of God first. Praise God for His protection! A Christian brother here told me just yesterday that even though the devil attacks, God has still drawn a line that he cannot cross.
Please keep us in your prayers.
Nathan Brock

Is that in the Bible?

This morning for part of our Bible time the children had a contest to see who could say the books of the Old Testament the fastest. Faith our second daughter won with a time of 13 seconds. Sometimes when trying to say things really fast you get misunderstood or accidentally say the wrong word. Later this morning Grace, our two year old, was trying to say the books. “Genesis, Exodus, Labidicus… Dothelaundry…(do the laundry). Oh well, at least she is trying, and maybe some more chores will get done.

New Ministry Opportunities

Several weeks ago, we took our youngest son, Benjamin, to the emergency room to see the doctor. It was a Monday and the ER was very busy. After talking to four different people they finally decided that they did not have time to see us that day. On Tuesday, we did get to see the pediatrician. During the office visit I jokingly told the doctor that I was going to volunteer at the hospital. "That is a great idea." Replied the doctor. Within just a few short days, Monica and I were scheduled to volunteer once a week. We have been helping at the hospital one day a week for the past six weeks and loving it. The Lord has opened the doors for us to pray with several patients. We have also had several ask us about the church that we are starting in Choiseul. Being at the hospital has also given us more exposure to the people in the area. Pray for us as we endeavor to build a relationship with the people for caring for them and loving their soul.

To past two Monday's have given me the unique experience of speaking in a public school. A local pastor has been speaking in the school every Monday for quite some time. The last two Monday's the pastor was out of town and I was able to take his place. It was a real joy to speak with the elementary kids. Both weeks we read from the story of Naaman and the little maid. The first week, we spoke about the little maid, and how she showed attentiveness. The second week we spoke about Naaman and his unwillingness to obey. Pray for us that the Lord will continue to open doors for us to tell others about the Lord.

What's bugging you?

Here is a rhinoceros beetle that we found a while back. Charity loves catching bugs and such. She decided to bring it home for the holidays. After torturing it for a day or so we filled its jar with alcohol and it has been preserved ever since. Grace dicided she wanted to hold him for a picture.

Youth Camp

Youth camp was August 20th - 23rd. Brother David Lindsey, another missionary here, headed up the camp and I was ask to help with the games and preach a couple of messages. About four or five churches sent youth to the camp. Several gave testimony that Lord touched their hearts during the meeting and the gospel seed was planted in several others. We are looking forward to another camp within the next year.

Grace Brock singing,

Here is Grace singing "Jesus Loves Me".

Benjamin's 1st Birthday

Long winded preacher

This last Sunday was a tough one to get through. We announced that we would be having a morning Sunday School and AM service two or three days ahead. On Sunday morning two young people came. One was the young girl, Tracy, who got saved on week #2. The other might have been her little sister. I really can’t remember. The service was short and sweet. I mostly preached to my family about preparing for future service.
I had intentions on starting the PM service at 6:00, but no one was there. We started right at 7:00 with a few songs and the kids sang a couple of specials. I started preaching about 7:30. I was originally going to preach on the second coming. Before I started I asked if anyone had a question I could answer from the Bible. Thelma asked if I could speak a few minutes about having a Christian family. So, I preached on the duties of fathers, mothers, and children. Then I preached on the second coming, and then I preached a little bit on the purpose of the law. Then I spoke a few minutes about moral living. After a while I noticed my two younger children, 9 months, and 2 years, were really restless and my dear wife was starting to look tired. When I finally looked at the time it was about 10:15. WOW!!! Talk about long winded preacher. I closed the service as quick as possible, and we left for home about 10:30. When we left there were 15 – 18 people still standing outside talking.

Two more saved!!!!

Last night was another wonderful crusade service. Pastor Minnville from Tabernacle Baptist church preached. He has preached each of the past three Tuesday night services. This service was especially great because we had two ladies come forward for salvation. The first was a 24 year old lady, Thelma, who has come to the crusade since day one. She is the same one I dealt with after the first service for close to an hour. She came forward during the second week and talked with another lady about salvation. This week she came forward and said she was ready to give her whole life to God. Praise the Lord!!!
The second lady is a mother of four. We stopped one day and gave her and her husband a ride home. When we mentioned the crusade she said they would like to come for a visit. She previously attended an Evangelical Church in her area. I saw that she was under conviction for a couple of nights. It was such a blessing to see her accept Christ.

I've Never Saw it on Quite This Fassion.

Last night, April 8^th, we had another interesting service. Pastor Minnville, pictured in the April 5^th post, preached on the rich man and Lazarus. He preaches mostly in Patios which means my family and I don’t understand much if anything said. Each night of the crusade we have had up to twenty standing outside the building listening, talking and otherwise. About five minutes into the sermon one of the fellows outside made a negative comment. Without missing a stride Pastor Minnville walked around the corner and preached for the next thirty minutes out the window to the crowd outside. The church people “Amen-ed” him on even though most could no longer see him. Pastor Minnville is sixty-nine years old and has slowed quite a bit, but last night we saw that he still had a good firing desire to preach. It was great!

After the service Sister Minnville led a fifteen year old girl, Tracy, to the Lord. Sister Minnville called me and Tracy’s mother into the room and she told us both that she had accepted Christ.

When it rains it pours

You’ve heard the phrase “It’s either rain or shine”. This Sunday we had both the same day. We had our first Sunday morning service this Sunday. (The Crusade started last Sunday night) The AM service was quite and calm with only my family attending. Ethan led the singing, the girls sang a special, and I preached on assurance of salvation. The pm service started around seven with four children. Within just a few minutes several more joined the service. There were several that came and went during the service. We had three different groups for the service; one for the singing, a second for the first half of the preaching, and a third for the second half of the preaching. In all we had about twenty that came through the service at one time or another. There were about six or seven that lasted the entire service. The biggest disturbance of the meeting was an opossum that walked through the church with a mango in his mouth. The fifteen or so people that were there scattered. Several tried running away while a few others took folding chairs to swat at it. (They like to eat them.) We never did catch it. We have two that are asking lots of questions about salvation and one couple that is interested in getting married. Please keep us in your prayers.

One down, and one to go

Tonight’s meeting concluded the first week of Crusade in Mourne Sion. Last Sunday was very eventful with three children sick at home, two getting sick at church, and a flat tire with no jack. We had three other churches that brought people during the week as far as an hour and fifteen minutes away. Apart from the other churches our attendance was from four one night to eighteen on Sunday night. One received Christ as Saviour, Praise the Lord!!! There are a couple more that we are praying will come forward for salvation. The picture above is the Tuesday night service. Pastor Minnville from Tabernacle Baptist is preaching.

Another trial and error in language

One night this week during the crusade I was trying to tell a young lady in Patios, “Thank you for coming tonight”. However, I confused the word “oswe-a” with “anbetan”. So what the lady heard was, “Thank you for coming tonight, troublesome”. After a good laugh at my expense they were kind enough to correct me. I have really enjoyed learning the Patios. Most are willing and able to teach you a word or two occasionally.

Our first Meeting

Our first meeting in the building was Sunday night March 30th. Sunday morning three of the children were sick with the stomach virus and we all stayed home. We were hoping to get rested for the evening’s events. The Devil really fought hard to distract from the Lord’s work. Here is a basic time line of the afternoon.
· 2:00 PM. Charity, Hope, Ethan, and I left home to finish cleaning the church building, assist Pastor Minnville with an open air service, and get ready for church at 6:30 pm.
· 2:35 pm: We arrive at the building and start cleaning.
· 2:50 pm: Me and Ethan start working on the bathroom toilet. We replaced the float, the cut off, the seat, and the flapper for the night service.
· 3:55 pm: We finish the toilet and are told by the neighbor that the water is turned off daily between 5:00 and 6:00. (What good is a toilet without water?????)
· 4:01 pm: We discover we are late for the open air service. We drive to two locations and still can’t find our friends.
· 5:00: We find the group and the open air service is over. We return to the church building for final preparations.
· 6:30: Church is supposed to be starting and not one person has arrived.
· 7:00: We start church with seven people.
· 7:30: During my message Ethan and Charity leave the building. Ethan now has the stomach virus and is vomiting outside the back door. Charity went to help.
· 8:00: I begin dealing with a lady about salvation during the invitation. Oliver is also dealing with a young man.
· 8:05: No one is leading the service; no one is leading the singing. The 18 people that were there decide the service is over and decide to leave.
· 9:00: I finish talking to the lady to find an empty building. Oliver informed me that the young man he spoke with did pray to receive Christ as his Saviour. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

· 9:30: We get all the lights off and decide to go home.
· 9:31: I discover I have a flat tire and return to the building for a quick tire change.
· 9:37: I don’t have a jack and now must borrow one from a neighbor.
· 9:45-11:00: I can’t get to the spare because the door hinge is broke. I remove the door panel and kick the door open to retrieve the spare tire. The van falls off the jack twice. We pick up the van by hand and put the jack under the van. We finally get the spare on the van and the flat one in the van. Ethan now has a fever and is complaining about being cold in 73 degree weather.
· 11:05: We start home.
· 11:09: I stop in the middle of the road so Hope doesn’t vomit in the van.
· 11:45: We arrive safely at home and thank God for the soul that was saved as I fall asleep in the bed.

A Building for Church

We finally found a building for church. A friend from Brother Nye’s church told us about this place that was once a dance hall and rum shop. The owner died several years ago. The building has been vacant since. The owner agreed to rent us the building for a couple weeks to have a crusade. The crusade will start March 30th and will continue until April 11th.

In search of a church building

We have been working in the village of Mongouge for the past several weeks, trying to visit, start a couple Bible studies, find a building for a church, and become more familiar with some of the people. I and at least one of the children have gone to Mongouge six of the last seven days. We have made a few friends and have had opportunity to sing and witness to several homes. We have also been looking for a building to start a church in the past couple weeks with no success. On March the 7th a friend told us about a building in the area where we have been working. On the 8th we looked at the building and ask the owner about renting the building short term. We plan to rent the building the first two weeks of April for a crusade (revival). Pray that all will go well, that attendance from the community will be good, and that people will be saved.

First Open Air Service

Our first open-air service was yesterday, February, 17, 2008. It was a joint effort with Pastor Minnville of Tabernacle Baptist Church. He brought a crow of people with him. My family went and sang a couple songs and then I preached on John chapter three. We had a few from the surrounding area come to listen. After the service my family and I spent a little time talking with folks from the community.

Sesame seeds to burgers

We do not normally have sesame seed buns in St. Lucia unless you order a sandwich at KFC. This last week we found sesame seed buns at the grocery store. During supper Ethan (age 7) asked if you could plant the seeds and grow more buns. ??????????????

The kids on visitation

The children have made a new friend, Macala. I'm not sure the spelling of her name is right. Macala lives across the street. They have had several days playing together. Our children have been witnessing to her regularly. They have tried inviting her to church but that never seems to work because they are faithful to the Catholic Church. They did however get her to come to a Friday night youth meeting. Pray for Macala and her family to be saved.

Our First Home Church Service

On On February 10th we had our first Brock family church service. We hosted it outside our house in the gazebo. We invited several from the neighborhood, but only one came. Ethan led the singing, the girls sang a special, Faith played a special on her new harmonica, I preached a sermon, and Ethan led a song for invitation. I had two come to the altar to pray.

Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam

Last Friday we heard some rustling behind the house to find that one of the neighborhood cows was loose in the street. The kids thought it was a little strange to see a cow walking through the residential area we live. The cows here are normally kept on a leash. This one got loose. If you look close you can see the tether wrapped around its horns.

Happy Birthday Faith

Our second daughter Faith, had her eleventh birthday on January 31st. The family and a few friends drove to a pizza place for a get together. There is also a small playground there. The kids had a lot of fun.

Old Friend, New Friend

What a blessing it is to see old friends and have the opportunity to meet a few new ones. The young lady with Miss Monica is Verline. She was a member of Victory Baptist when we were here several years ago. Verline has since gotten married and has a beautiful little girl. They now live about an hour away. We were very happy to see her again.

Just getting started

We have been working some with a young man named Oliver. Oliver was saved through our ministry here four years ago. He has since confessed a call to preach and wants to start a church in his home town, Choiseul. We have gone witnessing the past two weeks together. We are currently trying to get a couple of in-home Bible studies going. No one has agreed yet, but we are still looking and praying.