Freedom Baptist Church, Kitts Hill, OH

On Saturday April 9, we left Barrie, Ontario at 5:30 am and arrived at home in Kitts Hill, Ohio at 4:30 pm.  We are thankful for the safe travels the Lord has given us! We had just enough time to unload the car and head over to the Mission Banquet at Freedom Baptist Church.  The fellowship hall was decorated with an England theme.  Each table had a picture of something from England and on the back there was an article giving the history of the picture.  We had a great time getting reacquainted with the people there and sharing more of what God has called us to do. 

The Fields Family

 Jonathan preached in the morning service on Sunday.  Sunday evening, Bro. Josh Fields preached his first sermon.  He answered the call a few weeks ago and is already stepping out in faith! We look forward to seeing what God is going to do with him and his family!

We gave the lesson in this Sunday school class. We taught them how they can share the Gospel with their family and friends!

This young man sang a special song during the morning service.  It was a scripture song from Psalm 119:11.

Bro. Josh Fields

Last Bit of Winter: Michigan and Canada

As the month of March progressed, we slowly worked our way further north.  We had a meeting in Harrison, Michigan, and then went north to Rogers City.  We were in Rogers City all day on April 3.  During the evening meeting a nice coating of snow came down.  We also had the opportunity to walk out on the ice at the shore of Lake Huron.  What a beautiful place!

We met the Goldsboroughs, who are helping in the ministry here.  They both graduated from Crown College, just a little before we arrived at Crown. 

Pastor David Rogers

The last snowfall!

Lots of sunshine, but the wind is ice cold!

Bro. and Mrs. Gibbs from Rogers City Baptist hosted us for the weekend.  (Mrs. Gibbs and Me)

This is all of the ice from the waves coming into shore!!

 From here we traveled to Canada.  We spent time with friends at Harvesters Baptist Church in London, ON and were able to share our burden for England with them.  We also had the opportunity to visit with James and Stephanie Martin in Barrie, ON.  Heritage Baptist Church was having a Mission Conference and we were able to attend two nights and give out our prayer cards!  We are grateful for all of the friendships we have made during this past year!

The choir opened the service each evening.  We heard many songs that were new to us about Missions and sharing the Gospel of Christ!

Dr. Charles Keen was the speaker for the conference.  What a blessing!!

Lapeer, Michigan

On Sunday March 27, we were with Pastor Nathan Gregory at Faith Bible Baptist Church. This was a special day for us.  Jonathan worked with Pastor Gregory and his wife, Bethany, in Knoxville while we were in school.  It was a blessing to see how the Lord is using them and how their family has grown! We were also able to share our ministry and what the Lord has called us to do in England!

Caleb is the newest addition to their family.

Jonathan and Noah

Pastor Nathan Gregory

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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!