Chris & Elizabeth

We pray you all had a wonderful July 4th!  Praise the Lord for our country and how God has used it to reach the world! We spent the holiday with our friends in Springville, NY.  Pastor Friedman and Faith Baptist Church have been faithfully supporting us for a year now and asked us back to give our updated presentation.  They also wanted to meet Elizabeth (of course).  It was great to see the church faithfully pressing on.  Since the last time I was with them they’ve moved to a new location.  They had been meeting in an upstairs apartment but now the Lord has provided a storefront on main street.   Because of this they are much more visible to the people around them.  May God use this opportunity they have to bring many others to Himself.

What a great week!  My wife and I went to Georgia this past week  for Missionary Candidate School at Word for the World Baptist Ministries.  During this time, Elizabeth was officially accepted by our mission board!  We are both excited about this and thank the mission board for all their help.  Also we want to thank our home church for their constant support  in all aspects. The week was filled with intense preaching and classes for missionary couples headed to the field.  God moved throughout the meetings and really prepared our hearts for the task He has given us.  Elizabeth also benefited from the ladies sessions.   There is still so much for us to learn.  By the end of the week we were tired physically but greatly refreshed spiritually.  To God be the glory!

This past week we attended a tent revival hosted by First Bible Baptist Church in Harmony, Pennsylvania.  We thank Pastor Smith for allowing us to set up our display for the few days we could be there.  I did something at this meeting that I have never done up to this point on the deputation trail or anywhere for that matter.  Pastor Smith asked me to give our testimony during announcements so I was caught a little off guard and I was also a little nervous.  As I was giving our testimony I was asked when our anniversary was and my mind went blank!  Before I knew what I was saying  September 28, 1990 came out of my mouth.  Everyone laughed and my father-in-law kindly reminded me that my wife would have just been two years old.  The life of a missionary is always exciting, you never know what might happen.  Sometimes you even surprise yourself.   

We were invited to join Humphry Baptist Church in their Missions Emphasis Weekend in Great Valley, New York. Pastor Cialini has only been with this church for eight months and is doing a great job.  This in fact was the church’s very first year to begin faith promise.  It was a privilege for us to be a part of it.