Supply

The fall round of meetings began with dropping off two of our children in college at Ambassador Baptist College.  The drive to North Carolina was uneventful until the last 14 miles.  In the dark as we were driving up a winding two-lane road in Western North Carolina, we heard a rather disturbing noise from the rear of the truck.  There being no place to stop along the road, we determined to stop in the middle of it, wrongly assuming that there would not be that much traffic at that hour of night.  After looking the entire rig over, my son Daniel spotted two rear wheels on one side of the truck that were at an awful angle.  Further inspection revealed that the lug bolts had completely broken off on that side.  The truck was held up by an axle that went through the center of the rim, but there was no going on until the problem was fixed.

There were no parts to be found at that hour of night--even a 24-hour parts store in Charlotte didn't carry what we needed--so the only recourse we had to take lug bolts off the other side and try to move them to the broken side.  That way we could at least get the rig out of the middle of the road.

Of course, that meant that both sides of the truck had to be lifted off the ground at the same time and the two wheels taken off the other side as well.  We lifted the trailer off the truck and jacked up the rear of the truck to begin the complicated process of moving some lug bolts.  While both sides were jacked up and Paul was working underneath, the jacks started to move sideways.  This should have come as no surprise since we were on a hill.  Paul did not notice the jacks, but Daniel did and said something.  Everyone immediately got out from under the truck just before it crashed all the way to the ground.  No one was hurt, but our truck problems had grown worse.

A tow truck happened along carrying a wrecked car to another location.  After dropping off his car, he returned for my truck, carrying it to Ambassador Baptist College while a friend towed my trailer there as well.  After a day in God's house and a couple of days of repairs, the truck was back on the road again.

After saying goodbye to our children, we were off toward Staten Island and our first meeting of the fall.  While traveling up I-81 in Virginia, our front driver side wheel came off.  No warning or anything.  There was a loud pop, the tire started rolling off, and the steel rotor hit the pavement.  Another tow truck, another tow, another two days of repair.

Finally, we were ready to head the rest of our way to the meeting.  Except that once the truck was all back together again, we could scarcely drive it because of a terrible vibration in the front end.  We were able to get the truck and trailer to a church that allowed us to park the rig.  A member of the church loaned us their car so that we could go on to our meeting in New York.

Many have heard about the problems with our truck and have pledged to give substantially toward this need.  One man has pledged $10,000 while a friend of his has matched that sum.  Others are considering giving to this need as well.  This has all been without solicitation on our part.  We praise God for His supply for our need.

It would seem that God would have us replace this truck with something else.  You may know that the price of vehicles has risen above the cost of other items in this country.  Buying a truck is a very expensive endeavor.  If you would like to give toward this need, you can do so by contacting our home church: Clearview Baptist Church, 3345 Goodman Rd E, Southaven MS 38672.  The phone number is 662.349.2233.

Whether or not you can give to this need, would you take some time right now to thank God for His provision for us?  He is worthy of our praise.

Italia

 Beginning July 5 and ending August 2, our family was ministering in the nation of Italy.  It was our first time to go to Europe to preach the Gospel.  What an incredible trip it was for us!  Whenever we as Americans think of missions, the tendency is to imagine developing nations with windowless grass huts, abundant insects, and an occasional snake visiting the village.  We imagine congregants whose pre-salvation wardrobe included feathers in their hair and maybe a bone through their nose.  Italy fits none of these descriptions.  As a nation of Europe, tile roofs replaced thatched ones centuries ago, and modern automobiles traverse paved highways at what Americans would consider reasonable speed.  The problem is that all of Europe's innovation and education have not brought them any closer to God.  In fact, Europe today is the dark continent spiritually.  

When it comes to religious freedom, Italy is the newcomer of western Europe.  Many alive today remember all too well the persecutions of the Catholic church well into the Twentieth Century.  Today, those persecutions are passed and Italy is ripe for the Gospel.  Speaking of his ministry in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul noted, "A great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries."  This same could be said of Italy.

For four weeks, our family traveled in Italy preaching the Gospel in four different churches.  We were in churches in Grosseto, Pisa, Sardinia, and Sicily in that order.  In every church, there were people in the services who were lost and needed to be saved.  Some of the adults were hearing the Gospel for the very first time during our services.  Although our Italian ministry did not meet with many professions of faith--there were only four--we were able to see some great things happen.

Giuliano is a converted atheist in Grosseto who is now being used of God as an Italian Bible teacher.  His work is print-worthy and his grasp of the Italian language is superb.  Please pray that the obstacles will be overcome to get his works into print for the Italian people.

Marco was saved years ago, but spent a lot of time in New Evangelical churches in Italy.  Having had his fill of interpretive dance, contemporary music, and shallow preaching, he found his way to the Bible Baptist Church of Pisa.  He believes that God has called him to be an evangelist and has just begun a course of study toward that end.  Please pray that Marco would continue to let God work in his heart.

Antonio had never stepped foot inside a Baptist church, but came to hear me preach in Sardinia.  The obstacles that Satan erected to his attendance were mind-boggling, but in the end, the Spirit of God won the victory.  Antonio heard the Gospel for the very first time in his 74 years.  At the end of that Sunday, he told the pastor, "The Crows are family now.  It is time to look for an apartment for them."  Please pray for him that he would be saved.

God is at work in Italy, but there is a great need for laborers.

The next weeks will be whirlwind ones for us as we recover from jetlag and take our second child off to college.  After that, we hit the road again in meetings in the United States.

As always, thank you for your prayers.