Fun Sights

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We were just able to present our work to a church in NYC. I know a lot of people, family members included, who would hate to even visit. The traffic, the smells, the rude people, are all things people don’t like about it.

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I gotta say, I loved it! When we left the church, we had a 2 hour drive ahead of us, but even though we were sleepy I couldn’t help but appreciate the sight of the skyline at night! It was truly awesome.

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The church we presented in was a classic old church complete with pipe organ and curved pews! It was gorgeous. The pastor and church have worked on it to make it nice instead of letting it get run down!

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Deputation isn’t the easiest thing, as my brother who went with us on this trip found out. There’s a lot of tedium that goes with traveling, but you also get to see some pretty cool sights, and meet a lot of pretty cool people. I can’t tell you how encouraging some of the pastors that we have met have been. The Devil would love you to think that Christians are down and out, but we still serve a great God who has a great plan for your life. Just let him direct you. Maybe he would put you in a city like New York, or maybe he would take you to Papua New Guinea where there is a population less than half that of NYC.

God will take care of you, and you will have a blast serving Him if you let Him lead!

Winter Camp 2015

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We were able to participate in our last Winter Camp before Papua New Guinea just a few weeks ago. Our church, Faith Bible Baptist Church, puts on a teen camp every year between Christmas and New Year Day. Its a great blessing and a way for young people to get closer to God after the holiday season. This year’s theme was “Who Will Go?”  This was a missions theme designed to get teens to think about the ministry.

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It was a great blessing to be able to help encourage teens to consider the mission field! Pastor Seth wanted us to show that being a missionary is attainable. Sometimes it seems impossible or insurmountable to get to a field (let alone stay there!), but we were able to testify about how God can lead you to the perfect place that he wants you to minister in.

 

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At the end of Winter Camp, Pastor Seth had asked pastors to come down and pray over us. He wanted to “Send us out” as missionaries who were influenced by Winter Camp as teenagers, ourselves. Not only did Pastors come down, but just about all of camp crowded down to the altar. What a blessing to be supported by our fellow Christians! The two pastors who led the prayer are pastors from churches that support us already! What a great encouragement for us to actually see some of the people behind us.

 

Winter Camp will always be good memories for us. This is another great one that we will cherish.

I think even Adrienne came away with some good experiences!

MMMMmmmmm Ice Cream at snow camp…..

 

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A December Surprise!

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Last Month we were asked to provide music for one of the churches that we have presented at. We used this geographic opportunity (or in other words, “We were in the area”) to visit a church that I had been to about 4 years previously when I was working near Corning on a Wednesday night.  I know the pastor through another church near us, but I had not gotten a hold of him to schedule a meeting.

Bucksettlement Baptist Church

Legend has it that Bucksettlement was a bustling metropolis at one point…. Well, maybe not bustling, but it had a firehouse! This town is located outside of Bath NY, and its all farm land now. All thats left in this town is the church you see here, and farms and houses. Its great driving to it. If you haven’t been before,  you may ask yourself “Am I going the right way?” This church, though, is BUSY! It was such a blessing to be there. Pastor Fergusson was a great hosting pastor, especially since we were just looking for a place to have Sunday service at. He gave me some time to give a testimony, and he allowed us to play our piano duet for his church. We were happy to be able to minister that Sunday. They also blessed us with a love offering and decided to take us on for support that same morning!

 

I can’t begin to describe what a christmas present that was for our family. It takes so much work and time from the point that you make contact with a pastor to when that church votes to support you, and through Bucksettlement Baptist Church’s generosity, we were able to bypass a lot of that time!

 

Thank You so much, and thank you to the churches and people that support us already! We couldn’t do it without your prayers and monies. We are grateful to you all!

Prayer Letter for October and November!

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I always enjoy running into people from churches who know us or support us because they read our prayer letters and bring up things in conversation that we sent out! I can’t tell you what a blessing that is to know that people care and pray for us!

 

Take a look at our latest Prayer Letter, you can also download and print it!

God answering prayer!

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I always like to see God answering prayer, not only because we benefit from it, but it shows how great of a king we serve! I heard a pastor last week talk about how day to day we seem to question where God is, but when we look back, it’s so easy to God involved in our lives and protecting us and providing for us. I’ve had one of these moments.

It’s time to buy tires for our vehicle, and I’ve been praying that God would provide them for us. I’ve heard many Christians speak of Gods provision and I wanted to see that in my life too. Last week I took the plunge and ordered the tires. I had money saved up so this is all well and good. (By the way I believe that good stewardship of resources is how God usually provides our needs) On Sunday we visited and church and their love offering was almost the exact amount of our gas money to get there and home, and the cost of our new tires! Thank you LORD for providing for our family. 

Our God is great. Our God is a benevolent God who takes care of his children’s as opposed to asking for child sacrifices. Our God paid our debts. Our God gives us the opportunity to serve him. What an almighty king he is and so worthy of our thanks and praise!

Going to Church is a Blessing!

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mbcOn Sunday, we visited the church that Justin got saved in. Just over 17 years ago (this month), Justin asked Jesus to save him from his sins. Going back to the PLACE where he called on Christ was very awesome, but the awesomeness didn’t end there. While we were there, we met some of the people who are still attending after 17 YEARS! Talk about being faithful to your church. Justin was able to talk with his old Sunday School teacher, Mrs Blackman. She and her husband actually gave Justin a gift to help fund his first missions trip to Ireland. This trip, if you’ve heard our presentation then you know this, is what God used to lead Justin to the missions field. What a blessing to be able to see people who affected our lives for the LORD still serving God in their church! We serve a Great God, and its our privilege to go forward, arm in arm, with great saints like these!

Match made in heaven!

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Kayleigh and I shared our 3rd anniversary on September 29th! I can’t believe it’s been 3 years already!!! So much has changed since then, but it still only feels like we got married a year ago! 
Thank you LORD for the time you’ve given us to be together, and to serve you together!

Mom’s Deputation

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Being shy, introverted, and not at all a “people person”, i was really dreading deputation. Meeting and talking to new people, being in unfamiliar churches, getting up in front of people to do music or speak… not my ideal day.

But to my surprise, after almost two years of “part time” deputation, i’ve actually enjoyed it! I’ve always loved the packing and planning that goes along with a trip. I enjoy spending time in the car with my husband. I’m so thankful to say we’ve experienced none of the missionary “horror stories”. We’ve always had nice places to stay, and have been VERY well fed. We’ve sung and played our songs so many times, i don’t really need the music anymore (i still use it, just so i have something to look at 🙂 ). Everyone is so welcoming and friendly. Conversations aren’t so difficult after all :). We have also enjoyed seeing local attractions and landmarks as we travel.

As for Adrienne, she is a little social butterfly and loves meeting new people. Twice recently, she’s walked up to children at a new church with a big smile, a “Hi!” and arms open wide for a hug. She’s great in the car, and a good sleeper – even in new places. She’s not very good at being quiet in church, but we can work on that. 🙂  As soon as there’s a pause or a quiet moment, she fills it with with her little words… usually “what’s that?” or “oooooh!”

Overall, we’re thankful for the good experiences we’ve had, and all the wonderful churches we have been able to visit and minister to. Looking forward to see what in the next few months of deputation.