The Baran Family

Pastor Emke and the people at Open Door Baptist Church invited us to come and be a part of their Sunday morning service.  It was neat to be there!  As a young teenager I passed by Open Door Baptist Church many times on my way to visit my Grandma Baran in Jamestown, New York.  Little did I know at the time that someday I would be at that church as a missionary on my way to the Philippines!  It is amazing to see how God works!  The church was very interested in the ministry God has given us and took the time to talk and ask questions.  After the service we enjoyed more fellowship with the pastor and his family at their home.  What a blessing to see yet another faithful church serving the Lord in these last days.  That same Sunday we visited our supporting church in Jamestown, New York for their evening service.  It was wonderful to see Pastor Erickson and Lighthouse Baptist Church again and they were excited to see us with our Abigail!  Traveling can be a little hard on Abbie at times.  Because of our travels, her schedule has to be pretty flexible.  Thankfully she loves meeting new people and sleeping…just about anywhere.  As her parents, we have learned to be very thankful for that!  :-)

We visited Calvary Fellowship Chapel for their Sunday evening service.  Please pray for these folks!  Their pastor, Brother Ryland, just passed away earlier this year after pastoring the church for over fifty years.  He left a wonderful legacy for his people and is greatly missed.  We praise the Lord, the church is still going strong. Though in the midst of change they were happy to have us come and present our burden for the Philippines. It was a blessing to see their heart for missions and also for those who have been called to the mission field. After all the fellowship and fun they let us got through their missions closet.  Elizabeth and I are so thankful for all the wonderful churches we have met in our travels.  The Lord has allowed us to meet so many sweet people!  We pray the Lord brings the right man to the church that will continue to preach the Word and lead the people.

The summer has kept us very busy!  I went to the Dunkirk and Erie County Fair with our church to work at the Amazing Grace Mission Booth.  Amazing Grace Mission has an awesome ministry reaching the lost at fairs and festivals.  I was able to talk to several teenagers about the gospel but none of them received Christ.  Perhaps more seeds will be planted in their lives that will eventually lead them to the Lord!  This summer Elizabeth and I also took part in another Vacation Bible School.  The church plant our home church started hosted their very first Vacation Bible School this year!  It was a blessing to see new Christians serving the Lord and working with the children!  Praise the Lord, many souls were saved throughout the week.  What a great way to impact the local community!  We also traveled to Erie, Pennsylvania to join Grace of Calvary Baptist Church for their Tri-State Pastor’s Fellowship. We enjoyed seeing several of our supporting churches at the conference! It gave us a great opportunity to update these faithful friends and introduce our Abigail. While we were there, Pastor Alquist and Grace of Calvary gave each visiting pastor and missionary a wonderful gift.  They have been such a blessing to so many men of God over the years!  The Lord will certainly bless those with a giving heart!

Our church participated in the annual Eden Corn Festival again this year.  The float we entered into the parade showcased the King James Bible and its 4ooth birthday!  I was able to play my trumpet in the orchestra and pass out tracts.  By the days end 2,000 John & Romans were handed out!  I think I learned the secret to passing out tracts….bring a baby!  Abigail is a great conversation starter and it is very rare when someone refuses to take a tract.   We all enjoyed the day and Abigail’s very first parade.