Monday, July 10, 2023

Hither and Yon

 This year has been an amazing year in many ways. First of all, the Lord provided a new-to-us trailer in which to travel, and we are enjoying it very much.  Just today, I received word that our old trailer sold.  We are glad to have that matter settled as we move forward. Selling the unit is a definite answer to prayer.

 We have also had some really good meetings.  Perhaps the highlight of the past few months was our Victory Gospel Crusade tent meeting in Thompson, Manitoba.  After traveling that far north, I have decided that no place in all the lower 48 United States can be rightly classified as "out in the boonies."  We drove for 500 miles in Manitoba on the same two-lane road.  If you do that in the United States, it is because you choose to ignore the four-lane highways that intersect from time to time.

 Thompson is a very needy area, boasting one of the highest per capita crime rates in all of Canada.  Alcohol and drugs are Satan's chief tools in this area, luring indigenous people and immigrants alike into sin of all kinds.  There were very few services in which there was not at least one intoxicated person seated under the tent.  Some had to leave because they became disruptive; others stayed and heard the Gospel.  It is always difficult to know how much the drunkard will retain.  If they did not disrupt, we let them stay and hear.

 In all, 15 people prayed to trust Christ as Savior during our time in Canada.  In addition, we made some wonderful friendships with some of the Lord's people there.  We even got to go fishing there a couple of times.

 After leaving Canada, we made our way to Colorado where I preached in Fort Morgan and where we spent some time in the mountains celebrating July 4th with some friends.  From there, it was on to Southern California where I will preach in two different churches before heading to Arizona for three weeks.  Life is busy during the next weeks as we change ends from California to the Carolinas.

 Thank you for all your prayers for us as we travel and preach.  As I look at the spiritual climate of our nation today, there seems to be a hunger for something.  Many do not know exactly what it is, but they sense that the culture of the day has been less than honest with them.  They desire something real.  Happily, some are finding it in Bible-preaching churches.

 As Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is reported to have commented to US President George Bush: "This is no time to go wobbly."  If you know Jesus Christ and the truth of the Word of God, now is not the time to go wobbly.  Rather, it is time to stand and be counted by giving the Gospel at every opportunity.

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