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.