Thanks for the prayers.  We arrived safely, after driving through some pretty nasty stuff, around 5 p.m. yesterday.  After spending the night we are headed to the church this morning to set up the equipment for the revival meeting.  The weather forcast calls for up to 3 inches of snow.  Pray that God’s will is done.  Should it snow, church WILL be cancelled.  They simply are not equipped to handle it here in any amount.  God knows what needs to be done.  Lord willing, we will begin tomorrow morning at 11:00.  Remember to pray for me in every aspect.  I am doing both the preaching and the music.

Thanks,

John

It was a good night.  Thanks for the prayers.  We began things with a magician friend of mine.  Perry was really captivating and had the kids in the palm of his hand.  I think he even made one 4 year old disappear. LOL

After that a performing arts group from the school did a black light presentation to music that was wonderful.  Following that I began and went for about an hr. using 4 of my friends.  The kids were really responsive as were the parents.  At the conclusion there was an invitation and there was a flood of kids that came forward for the counselors to deal with and after a time they will be able to follow up for better accuracy.

Tomorrow we’ll head home.  WHEW!!  It’s been a long road trip having been out since the 13th of Feb. with, by the time we get home, about 1700 miles logged in.  We are looking forward to getting home and getting some things done, resting, and preparing for the upcoming revival meeting that begins Sunday in Gates, TN.

Again, thank you so much for your constant prayer support.  We couldn’t do what we do without you!

John

First, sorry for the delay in blogging and we appreciate you checking in with us so regularly.  We simply had no way to blog while working at First Presbyterian in Hattiesburg.  We got to Hattiesburg Friday afternoon around 3 p.m. and moved things in for the evenings program.  Things began around 5:30 with dinner then around 6:45 I had kids ages 4 through 14.  Whew!  Huge age spread which made things a bit difficult.  It seemed that what happened was that those 12-14 years old were present with my ministry when I was here about 6 years ago and had fond memories so they just had to come back in.

We did the same thing Saturday night then loaded our equipment having finished our presentations.  Sunday we attended Sunday School and worship then ate lunch with the missions committee and the other missionaries.  Following lunch we headed to Columbia, MS, about 35 minutes down the road.  About 4 p.m. we headed out to Goss Baptist Church to set up for the evening concert.  Everything went well.  Tomorrow we will do a “teaser” in morning chapel time at Columbia Academy and hopefully get a good group interested in the Spiritual Renewal night at the school tomorrow night.  There will be a couple of other things going on then I will conclude with a concert and an invitation. 

You can pray that I do exactly what God wants so as to be as effective as possible with all the ages that will be in attendance.  There will be ages 4 through adults.

Thanks,

John

Wow, it’s been quite a layover between Tyler and Hattiesburg.  It’s been a nice visit and busy as I’ve helped around the house, run errands, done some odd jobs AND attempted to prepare for my upcoming services in Hattiesburg and Columbia. 

Please pray that what I’ve prepared will be what God wants.  Also, pray that I can finish my prep work as I have a couple of services yet completed.

Blessings,

John

Following our time in Gladewater we headed to Tyler, TX, to do a children’s workers appreciation banquet.  Green Acres Baptist Church is a really exciting fellowship and the people at the banquet included volunteer workers, teachers of all kids programs and the number was about 350.  It was a great night although I wasn’t as pleased with my presentation as I have but all in all it was a good night.

Thank you for the prayers.  We’re halfway through this road trip.  Tomorrow we will head to Yazoo City to help the “folks” out for a bit.  On Friday we’ll head to Hattiesburg, MS, for the next leg of the ministry journey.  We’ll spend the weekend there before heading on. We will be ministering at First Presbyterian there for their annual Missions Conference.

When we do these conferences, and we do them all over, we will be doing a simultaneous jam service with kids while the adults are having their service with the different missionaries.  Pray that we are effective as can be.

Blessings,

John

Whew!  Hi friends.  I know some of you have been checking in periodically to see how things are going and I must apologize for not blogging but we’ve been out of touch having no computer or cell tower.  Yes there are still those places.

On Friday we headed out to Leakesville for our first Valentine Banquet of the season.  We arrived around 3 p.m. for a 6 p.m. banquet.  The building we were to set up in was dark.  Not a light on in the place but the door was unlocked so we headed in.  When we turned the lights on there were no tables set up much less decorations.  Hmmmmm.  I walked over to the church office and found the pastor.  He escorted me back over to the building all the while explaining that this was a banquet for the church sponsored by the deacons.  NOT A VALENTINE BANQUET AT ALL!!  Ok, I’ve got this “in depth, marriage, love, valentine stuff” all prepared including humor and power-point and you mean to tell me that the day before Valentines Day and it’s not a Valentines banquet??????  Yikes!

Well, with a few things the same and a few things changed and it turned out fine.  The people were very gracious and we had a good time.  On Saturday we headed out, about 7:45 a.m. for our 430 mile journey to Gladewater, TX.  We got to the church to move in everything mid afternoon.  Sunday morning I did a kids spot and a special music then last night was the big banquet.  Each year Calvary Baptist Church in Gladewater has what they have named a “Love Feast”.  It’s a Valentine Banquet on steriods.  It’s meant for community outreach and each year has seen several “guests” come to Christ.

This year was no different as we saw well over 200 in attendance and a number of visitors.  I believe there were around 7 or so hands raised professing Christ as Lord for the first time so we thank your for your prayers.  Today we headed from our lodging in Gilmer, TX, to our next engagement in Tyler, TX.  We’ll have a meal tonight with the Children’s Pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church and we’ll talk about VBS this summer.  Tomorrow we’ll continue the meetings then in the evening I’ll be entertaining at their annual Childrens Teachers Appreciation Banquet.  It will be fun night.

I’ll report on that later!  Thanks again for the prayer,

John

We had a fun night at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church, last night.  It was an Awards night for their Upwards Basketball program.  Lots of kids and families came and it was a great venue to share the gospel.  Typically, a crowd like that is mostly churched whether at Mt. Gilead or sister church but there are always those unchurched that simply desire that environment for their child.

I finished with an “open ended” invitation and everyone has a card they fill out and eventually turn in for “prizes” so the card serves multiple purposes.  I pray there were those that yielded their lives to Him last night.

We are home now for a few days before a fairly lengthy road trip.

Blessings,

John

It was a great day.  Iuka Baptist had a wonderful attendance of 433.  They’ve been trying to break the 400 mark and have done so, I believe only a few times so everyone was excited.  There was a little movement in the morning service, none in the evening but the spirit was wonderful.  The people are just great and the core of the church is very committed to reaching the area for Christ and their excitement over worship is contagious! 

I always look forward to being with them and I encourage you to pray for Iuka (pronounced; eye-u-ka) Baptist Church as they seek a worship leader to take them to the next level.  No doubt but with the right leadership in this area they will explode.  They are on the cusp right now!

We’ll head home in the morning for a little time of R & R.

Blessings,

John

It was a fun night for sure.  Great crowd as we focused on kids in general and families in particular.  There were a number of visitors and pastor and planning committee were really excited over a number of specific visitors.  Those they’ve been trying to reach for a while.

Tomorrow I will doing the morning service and an evening concert.  Morning; 10 a.m., evening 6 p.m.  Thanks for the prayers.

John