Monthly Archives: October 2014

Divine Appointments

Sometimes we set appointments in our lives to keep us on schedule. Yet, it is in the changing of these appointments of ours that God sets His appointments. Our lives are pretty scheduled and we try to stay on schedule, but sometimes our schedules change. Especially during these changes we need to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. When something pops into your mind out of nowhere, it might just be God trying to change your mind or direction.

This week we were once again reminded of how God works! We attended a special preaching service in Ji-Paraná, where Bro. Greg Smith from Southwest Baptist Church was preaching. We did not have to be at this meeting, but had decided to attend so we could hear the preaching and meet the Smiths. We were invited to join them afterwards at a restauruant for continued fellowship over dinner. Since we had already eaten and we still had a 40 minute drive back home, we decided against staying. After saying goodbye, we all entered the car and began the drive home.

A few blocks away, I suddenly remembered a conversation that night about internet connections with Bro. Brian Lawson. I have had a radio internet system at my house for over two years now. It was used for about a week, and I never was able to sell it. Thinking specifically of this, I turned the car around and headed back to ask Bro. Lawson if it would be useful for them.

We drove directly to the Lawson’s house. He invited us in, but we kindly declined wanting to make our way home.

As we were saying goodbye, a lady walked up and asked if we would pray for her. I agreed to pray, but wanted to know more specifically what she wanted prayer for. She began telling of her difficulties. These seemed possibly to involve some demonic activity in her life, though I am not sure. The descriptions of events made me think of similar events in the Bible. She looked somewhat tired, though she did not look quite like so many of the beggars we see.

As I began addressing her problem, I spoke of the Gospel and how Jesus could save her. She wanted to pray and ask Christ to be her Savior. Praise the Lord! Right there in front of Bro. Brian Lawson’s house, she prayed and asked the Lord to be her Savior. Please pray for her. She told me she has a husband and two children in her home. Her husband has threatened to leave her because of her problems.

She gave us her address and Bro. Sam Rogers will be making a visit there. Lord willing, we will be able to continue helping her and also help her family. Please pray for her. Her name is Marineide.

In all of this, I was reminded that God directs our steps. He began working out the details of this specific appointment years ago. I remember the frustration when I bought this internet radio equipment and only used it for a week. I paid several hundred dollars for internet that month! The internet radio is slow and we wanted something faster. The DSL company told us they would put us on a waiting list. They said there was not internet available in our area at the time and they did not know when it would be available. While waiting we decided to go with the radio equipment. Two days after the equipment was installed the company called and wanted to install the DSL. Ha!

Well, if nothing else, I can look back and say that God allowed me to buy that equipment, keep it for several years, think of it that night, and meet this woman who was desperately in need of the Lord Jesus Christ. So when things go wrong, remember that we have a promise… “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28.

Inauguration Sunday

First of all I would like to thank everyone who sent a note telling us specifically that you or your church were praying for us this past weekend. Thank you for participating in prayer and also for letting us know that you were praying. It was a great encouragement to us.

SATURDAY EVENING we had a special prayer meeting at the church. It was an encouraging time to listen to people talk about what they believed God would do. We spent some time reading a passage of Scripture together. Then we talked about sinners coming to know the Lord as Savior and the goals of acquiring this rented facility. We finished the time together with prayer. It was sweet to hear the prayers of the people as they asked the Lord to bless the work and especially bless the inaugural service the following evening.

After a little time of fellowship we set up for Sunday and headed home thanking the Lord for the response of the people.

Front of the Building – Sunday Morning

Inauguration Day!

 

SUNDAY MORNING began well. Everyone we expected showed up. All of our faithful people were there! A family from a church about three hours away also came to participate in the day’s events. It was a blessing to have them in the service because they are familiar with most of the hymns we sing. They also helped clean chairs and get the details taken care of.

In the morning service, we talked about the preaching of Paul and related it to what we were doing. Several people asked questions or made comments which always helps us know better where people stand.

Sunday Morning Service

Inauguration Day!

 

God gave us a building with a small room in the back. This allows us to continue the Sunday school class we had for the smaller children. This week we had four children in the class! Most of these children have little practice sitting still in a class. For some, their parents are still learning about discipline and are struggling to teach their children. So, needless to say, Amanda had a challenging time with the children this week!

Amanda Teaching

Inauguration Day!

 

After the service a few of us men went out inviting people to the evening meeting. Including the flyers passed out earlier in the week, we were able to hand out over 800 invitations to the inaugural service.

SUNDAY EVENING we arrived at the church about 30 minutes before the service began. It was an exciting time as we waited to see who would come. We had 40 chairs, but only about 30 fit in the building comfortably.

Beginning of the Service – Sunday Evening

Inauguration Day!

 

When we began the service we had a few visitors. By preaching time, we had 27 people in the building! With around 30 chairs set up, there were only a few empty chairs left.

It was thrilling to see who the Lord brought to us. Nine were from a like-minded church several hours away. Another man came from out of town. He was invited by one of the ladies whose house we hold a Bible study in weekly. Two were our neighbors! We did not expect them to come, so it was great to see them drive up. The rest were all people who had participated in our Bible studies in the past. We had personally visited them in the past week. What a blessing!!!

Entire Group – Sunday Evening

Inauguration Day!

 

I preached a Gospel message asking two questions. 1- Do you know God? 2- Does God know you? All were attentive and listened very well.

Though we did not have any salvation decisions, it was wonderful to hear what the people had to say. One of the ladies spoke to me specifically about her daughter. She said she was going to do her best to bring her daughter to the next service. One of the men present said, “We will come many times from here on out!” That was exciting. We did not have the opportunity to talk to everyone individually before they left, but it was evident that God was working.

PLEASE KEEP PRAYING! This is just the beginning of the story. We will be meeting every Sunday morning and evening from now on out. Though we will need to make some adjustments as time goes on, we are happy to have a place to meet now. The people prayed that this would be a place where God would work to change lives! That is what we expect and what we are looking for God to do.

We will soon start a mid-week Bible study also. We hope to continue the Bible studies we have and get more people involved by meeting in a better location.

Once again, thank you for your prayers!

A New Meeting Location

We are looking forward to meeting in the new building we have just rented for the church. We will begin our services on the 19th of October. We are pushing for a big day and have much to take care of before then.

The Lord has given us a building for less than $300 a month that will fit around 30 people without much trouble at all. This will get us started though and hopefully help us build the core group.

Here is a look at the building the way it looks right now…

 

Church Location

 

We are getting a sign printed, invitations printed, and trying to furnish the building with all the necessary items we need for the church services such as a pulpit, table for literature and things like that. There is quite a bit of running around to do in the next few weeks. We hope to install some fans and fix a few little issues with the building. Over the next few months, we will be working to slowly provide what is missing when we start. For now, we will rent chairs. Not knowing how many we will need and how things will progress, we have decided to wait just a bit to purchase the chairs.Here is a look at what we hope the sign looks like. Lord willing, it will be put up in about a week.

 

Church Location

 

Please pray as we press forward to reach more people here in Rondônia. The people we are working with are excited about this step. They are looking forward to participating a bit more. We felt acquiring more permanent location was a necessary step forward to be able to reach people in our city.The Kokenzies will be returning in January. We hope to have things in order when they get here so the work can move forward. Once they return we will be preparing for furlough.  We need your prayers! Please remember to pray for us on the 19th of October when we hold our first evangelistic service. Pray for souls to be saved and believers to be edified.