The Baran Family

We were able to take part in a missions emphasis month with Pastor Snow and Calvary Baptist Church in New Philadelphia, OH.  We were given the opportunity to show our presentation and also to teach junior church.   It was great to see the children’s interest in the Philippines.  Several came to us wanting to talk and learn about our field. This is always an encouragement to my wife and I.  We were also invited to the pastor’s home for a singles activity and greatly enjoyed the fellowship there!  What a great day spent with brothers and sisters in the Lord!

We were excited to have our very first meeting in West Virginia! The trip down to Bible Baptist Fellowship Church certainly lived up to the State’s motto, “Wild and Wonderful!”  We enjoyed the beautiful drive as we traveled through the mountainside and sometimes dirt roads.  There were only a few moments of concern as the GPS lost our position and considered us off road.  The missions conference was wonderful!  Because of the meeting we were able to see another missionary couple, the Ferris family, who has become good friends of ours.   The church was very kind and daily asked if we had any needs. One of these needs was met by another missionary family, the Peacocks headed for Baffin Island in Upper Canada.  It was a blessing to meet this dear family and the church folk. We thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this missions conference!

We went to Hilton, New York to be with Walker Bible Baptist Church for the first night of their missions conference.  They have been our friends for many years and now they are also one of our supporting churches.  It has almost been a year since they decided to partner with us financially and prayerfully, and for this we are very grateful. We count it a privilege to represent churches and be their extension to the Philippines.

Our next meeting took place in Berlin Heights, Ohio with Pastor Cotterill and Berlin Heights Baptist Church.  It was a great Missions Emphasis Day and we enjoyed getting to know the people. I was given the opportunity to preach and my wife played the violin.  While we were at the church the pastor’s family pointed out the fact that Thomas Edison’s birthplace, Milan, OH was just down the road.  It’s neat to see the roots of men who went on to change history.  It was a great day spent with the people of Berlin Heights Baptist Church!  We hope to see them again someday in our travels.