Lyons, Midland and Livonia, Michigan

March has been the month for Michigan meetings!  We are so grateful to be in one area for such a long time! Last week we had the opportunity to spend a few days with Kevin and Anna Ruwersma.  They were previously serving in Beeches Road Baptist Chapel in Blackheath, England.  They are now in Lyons, Michigan pastoring a church there.

  The time we spent with them was priceless!  We were able to learn much more about the ministry we will be working in when we arrive in England, and just some general information about the country of England!  This was very helpful to me as I am preparing the things we should take with us and learning what things will be easy to acquire when we get to the country. 
 On Thursday evening Anna asked me to speak at the Ladies' Bible Study. I spoke from Proverbs 4 on the heart.  We had a great time of fellowship and I enjoyed getting to know so many of the Ladies from Lyons Baptist Church.

On Friday evening, there was a laser tag activity for the teens.  Jonathan gave a brief devotion after the activity.

We had the opportunity to present our work during the Sunday morning service. Pastor Ruwersma led the singing and Jonathan spoke during Sunday school and the morning service.

 

Sunday evening we traveled to Midland Baptist Church to share our work with those people.  Pastor Payne grew up in Ironton, Ohio, which is the same area I am from.  It is always encouraging to see other people who have gone out from our region to serve the Lord!  

On Wednesday evening, we were with Pastor Steve Brown in Livonia, Michigan.  His children were at Crown College around the same time that we were.  We were able to have dinner with their family and enjoy some time of fellowship.  Sadly, all the pictures I took here came out blurred.  By the time we finish deputation, I will have our camera figured out, I'm sure!  

South Haven, Michigan

It was a great blessing to be a part of the Mission Conference at Anchor Baptist Church in South Haven, Michigan.  We have been abundantly blessed by the generosity of the people of God.  We had the opportunity to spend several days with Pastor Theron Crawford and his family! What a blessing!  We also got to meet two other families, the Jones family going to Thailand, and the Michel family going to the Netherlands.  We are grateful to the Lord for a refreshing time of fellowship, and great preaching! 

A ladies' trio from West Coast Baptist College sang in the Sunday morning service!  What an encouragement and a wonderful beginning to the week!

Jonathan had several opportunities to speak.  He taught the Sunday school lesson, shared our video on Monday evening, preached on Tuesday evening, and gave a testimony on Wednesday evening! 

Wednesday evening there was a banquet before the service.

Joel, Collette, Annita, and Timothy Michel

Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri

At the end of February we had some great meetings.  The first was in Tulsa, Oklahoma in Eastland Baptist Church.  It was a joy to meet Pastor and Mrs. Dorrell and the members of this church. It was an encouraging and refreshing time!

From Tulsa, we drove up to Salina, Kansas where we spent some time at Ray Avenue Baptist Church.  Jonathan went with the men of the church to the Baptist Men's Recharge.  They enjoyed a couple of days of good preaching and fellowship.  We were in Ray Avenue all day on Sunday and had the opportunity to go to another church in the afternoon to present our work.  At the end of the service Sunday evening, the people of Ray Avenue Baptist voted to begin supporting us monthly!!

Pastor John Day

Pastor Matthews, Smoky Valley Baptist Church

Mrs. Matthews played the piano for the offering.





After the evening service at Ray Avenue, we put a light on their missionary board to represent us in England!!

On this trip we stopped in to see Jonathan's family.  We had two churches to visit while in Missouri.  Our first was Mid-America Baptist Church in Winfield.  We saw several familiar faces here!  Bro. Brad Harris and Gregory Irby were in the same Bible Club as us when we all lived in Knoxville.  They are now helping Pastor Andrews in this area. 

Jonathan and Pastor Andrews during Q&A time with the congregation

The Harris family was practicing a special song to sing on Sunday.

Gregory Irby at the piano!

On Sunday we were with Berean Baptist Church in Springfield, MO.  Pastor Ables and his wife were a blessing to us.  Jonathan's parents also came down to this meeting with us, since it was only an hour from home.  During the evening service, Pastor Ables made a motion that they begin to support us on a monthly basis!

Pastor & Mrs. Ables

The Children's Choir sang in the evening service.

God has blessed us this month with many Churches that have a great heart for the Lord's work.  We are grateful for the opportunities we have had to share our ministry and for the churches who have begun to support us.  Please pray that the Lord will allow many of the churches we have already been in to be able to support us soon!  We are praying that God will take us to England in His time!

Mission Conference in Danvers, Illinois

We visited Danvers Baptist Church back in the fall of 2010.  Pastor Taylor invited us to come back for their mission conference this year.  The main speaker for the conference was Pastor Scott Caudill from Atlanta, Georgia.  Each night one missionary preached and also Bro. Caudill.  There was also a question and answer time each night.

Pastor Taylor and Bro. Mason during question time.

Bro. Caudill also sang a song each night before he preached.  What a blessing!!

Saturday evening there was an International Dinner!  We had a great time with all of the church family.
The meeting culminated on Sunday morning and the church members turned in their faith promise cards for this year.  We always enjoy the opportunity to be in a mission conference because we are able to spend so much more time getting to know people!

Bro. Thacker spoke during Sunday school.

Jonathan preached from Matthew 28.  His message was entitled, "All."

Sunday evening, we dropped in on a church and were blessed to schedule a meeting and a mission conference!  The Lord is so good to us and we are grateful for His care and blessings each day!

Dupont, Indiana

Our Wednesday service was at Dupont Baptist Church.  On Wednesday morning, Jonathan had the opportunity to speak at their Christian school chapel. We stayed for lunch and recess, fun!

Christian School Chapel

A ping-pong challenge after lunch!

The children were playing a game of four-square.

Pastor Hamliton

Knox and Lebanon, Indiana

On February 13, we had the opportunity to go back to New Hope Baptist Church.  We visited there last summer and it was a joy to be back with many friends.

Bro. Diego taught the Sunday school class in the auditorium.

The men sang a special song during the morning service.

Pastor and Mrs. Cargo were away for their anniversary, so the pastor's son and his family took us out to lunch.  Mike and Jared ordered burritos, but they were a little larger than they expected!

Sunday evening we were in Lebanon, Indiana.  We enjoyed meeting so many new people.  We met two men here who had been working in my hometown in Ohio and had attended Mamre (our sending church) last week!  Our friend Beth Cuevas also attends this church.  We worked in a Bible Club in Knoxville with her last year while we were taking our Masters!  It was fun to fellowship with her again before and after the service!

Pastor McNair

The adult ensemble sang a special

A Week at Home

We were blessed to have three local meetings this week and were able to stay at home!  Jonathan had the opportunity to preach and share our burden for England.  On Thursday evening, we went to the nursing home and sang some special music and hymns.  Bro. George Fuller from our home church brought a devotion for the residents.  We gave out Valentine Cards to the residents from the children at Mamre.  We have also been able to spend a lot of time in the office catching up on Thank-you letters and phone calls!

Pastor Ralph Shaffer

Jonathan and Mrs. Shaffer were watching two little dogs playing in the church yard!

A day at the church office!

Jonathan makes a LOT of phone calls!

Please pray for us as we have many meetings in the heart of the country.  Lord willing we will be in meetings in Indiana, Illinois, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri between now and March 6.  We praise the Lord for so many meetings and for the opportunity we will have to see Jonathan's family again while in Missouri!