Softball, Humility, and Diesel Performance Chips

Ministry Update

Last week we closed a great meeting on Wednesday in Semmes, AL, just outside Mobile. Though the meeting only lasted four days, it was action packed. This church is a very responsive church, especially to our ministry. Whenever we are in the area, there is a sizable group of people that follows us and can be expected to attend multiple nights of a revival meeting, even in another church. We started the meeting with Big League Sunday, which featured dinner on the grounds, a softball game in the afternoon, an apple pie and dessert making contest for the ladies, and a free baseball to every child who attended. The church was packed and there was tremendous response to the message I preached on "Excellent Christianity." Throughout the week, the altar was full almost every night, and two trusted Christ during the meeting. It was a great blessing. After preaching in chapel on Thursday morning in their Christian school, I packed up the trailer and drove straight through to NC, arriving at 12:30 Friday morning. Now we are home for a few weeks to prepare for the summer ministry that awaits us. More on that later.

Thank you so much for your prayers. It was a blessing to see the evidence of the Holy Spirit's conviction in the hearts of people responding, especially for salvation this week.

Though this is hardly ministry, the Lord did provide something for me that I have been wanting for a long time. I have been wanting to get a performance diesel chip in my truck to increase my fuel economy as I tow my trailer. The Lord provided through the gifts (green handshakes) of different people and now I have been able to purchase a chip for my truck. I hope that it will result in slightly improved fuel economy. The company claims increases of up to 4 mpg. We'll see.

Family Update

I am glad to be back in NC, although the weather has taken a turn for the colder. I do so hate breaking out the long sleeves after I have already packed them away for the summer. Thank the Lord we still had our electric heaters.

I was in my first ever pie-baking contest while we were in Alabama. I tied for third place with my "Paper Bag Apple Pie" (yes, I actually put it in a paper bag in the oven) against some stiff competition! Some of those ladies can really cook! Anyway- it was a pie baking contest, not a pie eating contest, as Paul has been wont to tell some people. If the truth be told, though, I think he would have won the eating contest had there been one! Josiah would have won the hot dog eating contest with a grand total of six consumed in about ten minutes. Better him than me.

Paul and I played softball that afternoon and I became an official redneck - at least on one side of my neck. The sun was so bright and hot - it really felt good after the extended cool weather we have had had this spring. The kids are loving the nice weather. Since we have been back, they have spent quite a bit of time learning to ride their bikes. Josiah finally learned that he has to use the brakes and not just run smack into things in order to stop. Abigail learned the hard way not to take her feet off the pedals while coasting down a hill. Both, however, are making great progress in the skill.

School will be finished next week. Somebody say "AMEN!" Josiah has really made a lot of progress and had a great year. His greatest desire right now is to learn cursive. He can already read it pretty well, and has even attempted to copy words on his own, with impressive results! I think he will pick it up quickly.

He has also been singing with me in our meetings. We sang a duet, "A Tender Heart" and he did such a wonderful job, even though he left his shoes in the pew when he came up to sing! (You can listen to the duet here.) Later, someone told me that they told Josiah what a good job he had done, to which he replied, "I was just waiting for someone to tell me that!" Nothing like a good dose of humility to keep things in perspective!

Abigail will turn four this weekend, and is so excited. Josiah was trying to help me plan some games for the event. I said pin the tail on the donkey, and he suggested "Pin the Rock on Goliath." Now that sounds like fun! Abigail has learned a lot from her big brother, and they like to play together. One of their games is the spelling game. Each spells a word, and the other has to guess what it is. The handicap is that only one of them knows how to spell. Josiah will spell a real word, and Abigail, having no idea what it is will make wild guesses. Then, after several hints, she will figure it out, and it will be her turn to spell. Sample words might be "A-T-M-R-Q" or something similar. Then Josiah will try to sound it out. It is quite amusing to listen to them. He usually forgets the sequence about halfway through the word, and of course, she can't remember it either, so she tells him what the word was. Both are happy, and I have great hopes that one day it will be a good exercise for them.

Esther's vocabulary has really taken off, and she jabbers almost constantly. She also continues to get into everything. Monday, she found a bottle of hand lotion that her sister left out and promptly helped herself. I smelled a rather fragrant aroma coming from the bedroom and walked in to find her slathered in lotion - the entire bottle was on her arms, her legs, her dress, and the carpet. She was patting her hands in the lotion, and it was splattering everywhere. It wasn't the worst mess I have cleaned up, but neither was it the easiest - kind of greasy. She is a happy little thing most of the time, so it is hard not to smile when she gets into a situation like that. She enjoys the girly things of life - lotion, perfume, nail polish, lip gloss - you name it. She just needs to learn a bit of moderation!

LA (Lower Alabama)

Ministry Update

We are in Mobile, AL for the first of two meetings in this great city.  Sunday was the dedication of the new building that the Cloverleaf Baptist Church just completed.  The dedication service was on a Sunday afternoon after dinner on the grounds.  One of the former pastors came from Michigan for the service.  Because the dedication service itself featured three different preachers, I was given only fifteen minutes to preach--a great discipline for me, to be sure.  Since the afternoon service at Cloverleaf took the place of the evening service, I took the family to another church in town for their evening service.  Josiah noted that we heard five different preachers on Sunday preaching a total of seven messages, because the church that we visited in the evening had two interns from Pensacola Christian College preaching in the service.  

This morning, a man off the street pulled into the church parking lot and asked me if I would be able to help him.  He told me that his son owned a 42-ft. fifth wheel travel trailer and needed someone to move it about a mile from where it was currently parked.  He intended to put the trailer in a high traffic area with the purpose of selling it.  I took my truck to his son's house, picked up the trailer, hauled it to the destination, and parked it to their satisfaction.  In the process, I endeavored to witness to the couple.  When they insisted that I take payment for what I had done, I refused, saying that they should come to the service that night, during which I would not prohibit them from putting some money in the offering.  The man did not come, but his wife and her sister did show up.  The sister was a pastor herself.  Usually, the presence of another pastor in a revival meeting helps the spirit of the meeting--so I was told in college and so I have found in my ministry.  This lady pastor's presence, however, seemed to be an exception to this rule.  Still, both ladies heard the Word of God as it went forth.  Both of them claimed to be saved.  I am going to endeavor to find the husband later on this week and give him a preaching CD with the Gospel on it.  Please pray for Tom that he would be saved.

Another promising highlight of this week is the Lower Alabama Pastor's Fellowship to be held here on Thursday of this week.  I am once again to preach at this meeting.  It has become one of my favorite meetings to preach in over the years.  It seems that every time I am in Mobile, I get to preach to this same group.  They are always so grateful for my preaching, although none of them has ever scheduled me for a meeting yet.  Maybe this time, things will be different.

Thank you for your prayers on our behalf.  Please continue to pray the Word of the Lord would have free course and be glorified (2 Thess. 3:1).

Family Update

Things have been busy around our house these last few weeks.  There is much talk of birthdays and weddings by our second child.  In just a few weeks, she will not only have her fourth birthday, but she is to be the flower girl in a wedding the same week!  Talk about excited!  It is almost all she talks about.  Josiah is also to be in the wedding, but he really doesn't say much about it.  I overheard Abigail telling Josiah what she wanted for her birthday.  I perked up my ears when this information was being shared, hoping to get a hint of her heart's desire at four years of age.  I was quite surprised to hear that she wanted a "pink horse trailer with flames on it!"  Sorry - not this year - or the next - or the next!  Maybe not ever.  What her plans for this enormous white elephant were, I am not sure, but she will have to be satisfied with a more ordinary, mundane gift.  How would you wrap that, anyway? 

In one of our recent meetings, we had a rather interesting experience.  A visiting lady became incensed when Paul made a comment in passing about his occasional dissatisfaction with a certain political figure.  She was sitting on the second row, nearly behind me, and she clapped her hands in the air, snorted loudly, and then refused to look at Paul the entire rest of the service.  Since it was in the very beginning of the message, she had to avoid his gaze for nearly forty-five minutes.  It was alarming at first, and then I began to be amused by the whole situation.  She was wearing an outfit of blaring purple, and I promptly dubbed her, "The Grape of Wrath."  Her behavior was as bad as some of the toddlers I have seen in Wal-mart.  The pastor told us later not to worry about it.  It was the first time she had been in church since she became angry at him over two years before about he can't remember what.  It is a sad commentary on church members when they become motivated more by politics than by holiness.  How many people would never turn on the TV again after hearing or seeing something profane?  Too few, I believe, and yet there are some who will leave a church because of the color of the carpet or some other trivial thing.   

Last weekend as we were traveling down to Mobile, Alabama, we stopped at a campground for the night.  When I took Abigail to the bathroom, I noticed that it was much lighter and airier in there than usual.  I looked up, and saw that the tiny skylight vent was open - no - it was missing!  Somewhere, it just flew off.  At least, this time it was only something small like a skylight bubble, and not a 20 foot awning.  Let this be a warning to you - never travel too close to a trailer. You never know when some miscellaneous part might come flying at you!  Paul climbed up on the roof of the trailer and rigged a garbage bag over the hole with some duct tape.  It was a good thing, too, because it poured down rain all night long.  Had we not had the garbage bag over the vent hole, we would have been flooded!  Of course, the bag did not survive the trip very well, and is now in shreds, the duct tape still clinging tenaciously to the roof.  So, now that we have a convertible style bathroom, the weather has turned cold making every trip to the bathroom very brief.  It's like having an outhouse indoors.  There was some talk of building a fire in the commode to help with the heating bill (the smoke could easily escape out the hole in the roof), but due to the sensitive nature of the smoke detector, we decided that it was a bad idea.  When the heat from the toaster oven sets off the smoke alarm, it is best not to start fires in small places.  

Tonight, I played a duet with myself at church.  The church has a beautiful digital piano, and I recorded myself playing a song.  Then for the special music, I played along with my violin!  That was a lot of fun, and very easy to prepare, especially since I knew exactly what the "accompanist" was going to do!  We will be here through Thursday, and across town next week for another meeting.  I do hope it warms up while we are here.  Goodness knows, enough of our heat has escaped out the bathroom vent to warm it up a little!  

The kids are all doing well, and we have all recovered from our recent illnesses.  Thank you for your prayers.  We know people have been praying for us, because of all the things that have happened to us during travel.  From brake locking up, to brakes not working at all, pieces of the trailer disappearing, blizzards, thunderstorms, crazy drivers - the Lord has protected us and kept us all safe.  What a great God we serve!

Road to Recovery

Ministry Update

After showing up sick to this meeting in Hot Springs, VA, the pastor decided that it might be better if I did not preach on Sunday so that I could rest and recover. I hope to be in the pulpit tonight, although I am nowhere close to being well. I do, however, feel better than I have since Thursday night, doubtless due to the prayers of all of you. Thank you so much.

Family Update

After thinking that my fever had broken Saturday morning, I was negatively surprised when it came back with a vengeance as the day progressed. We left Luray, VA, and by the time we were in Harrisonburg, VA, the old symptoms were all back: burning eyes, aching bones, nuclear headache, and overall physical weakness. Once we got off the Interstate and began our trek to the church, I was hoping to meet Jack Kevorkian or some half-crazed serial killer to at least put me out of my misery. No such personage materialized, however, much to my wife’s comfort.

The cow path that led to Hot Springs (a.k.a. US 220) caused some close calls for us pulling the trailer: there were several times when we feared we would rear end ourselves on some of the curves. Had the children not been asleep, they probably would have been carsick by the time we arrived.

Set-up in Hot Springs took longer than usual. We had the trailer situated, only to find that it had to be moved so that we could have electricity for the week. Then, I had to wire directly into the breaker box, quite a feat when one’s hands are shaking like a set of canastas. We finally got everything set up, except for water, which I decided could wait until later. I then stumbled back into the trailer for another sleepless night of furnacedom.

Saturday night, I was hotter than ever, according to my wife. Not that she minded. The God of heaven had chosen to mock the meteorologists in their ideas of global warming and postpone spring, at least in the mountains of western Virginia. In addition to the other happenings of the evening, there fell a wintry mix of sleet and snow.

One of the effects of this sickness for me is that it completely takes away my ability to sleep at night. I have not slept except for catnaps here and there since Wednesday night of last week. Saturday, however, was the worst that I can ever remember. I lay in bed generating so much heat that it made a rotisserie of my wife, who had to turn over regularly, so as to avoid spontaneous combustion herself. I felt as if I were getting worse as the night progressed toward midnight. It was about then that I started seeing apocalyptic visions. These visions continued until 1:00 when my wife finally convinced me to take a fever reducer. Looking back on it, I realize that I must have been hot because I don’t remember the heater coming on very much despite the frigidity of the outside air. By morning, I felt somewhat better, the symptoms of my sickness being suppressed by the fever reducer.

After talking to my pastor and youth pastor at my home church, as well as to my Dad and the pastor of the church in which I was supposed to be preaching, I decided that it might be best to see a doctor about my condition. It was either a doctor or a snake-handling faith healer across the line in West Virginia. I opted for the former. Since I obviously had no family practitioner in the area, my only option was the hospital emergency room. I was somewhat embarrassed to go to the emergency room for something as trifling as a fever, but I was nearing the place where pride was completely out of the picture. I was startled when they asked about my living will before they would treat me. I had known that it was bad, but surely not that bad.

Now, I am on three different medications that have taken care of most of the symptoms. I am still weak, sometimes dizzy, and fearful of possible brain damage that may have resulted from the fever. My wife assures me that my brain, dubious as it was to begin with, has now been cooked to the consistency of scrambled eggs, though somewhat less tasty.

Our girls are still sick, especially Esther, who has a nasty cough and a fussy disposition. Abigail is not as bad as Esther, and Josiah seems to be fine. Thank you all for your prayers. They have been felt and appreciated.

Attention: Future meetings with Evangelist Paul Crow are subject to the approval of the Centers for Disease Control.

Sickness and Blessing

Ministry Update

The Lord has given us a wonderful week of meetings at the Page Valley Baptist Church in Luray, VA. Hearts have been touched and challenged by the Word of God. Today, we head to Hot Springs, VA for another week of meetings. Thank you for praying for us.

During the slow months of the winter, God revealed to me through my pastor that I should write a book. I have been working on it ever since the new year and hope to have it available sometime in September. Please pray with me that God will use the book to minister to the hearts of men and women. The title is Cliffs and Fences: Personal Separation and Standards in a Biblical Perspective. I may work with the subtitle a little bit, but the first three words of that title are set in stone.

One of the things the Lord did for us this week was to lay it on the heart of someone to give a large gift toward paying off our trailer. Getting out from under that payment has been on my heart for quite some time, and God brought us much closer this week.

Family Update

This week has been wild from the family’s standpoint because of sickness. First of all, Sarah got sick at the beginning of the week and she has not recovered yet. Then Josiah was touch and go for a while, then I got sick, then the girls got it. Fever, runny nose, and a deep, sometimes barking cough are the symptoms of this diabolical disease. Because Sarah lost her voice early in the week, I had to sing a couple of nights. Due to the negative impact my vocalizing had on the crowds, we decided to have Sarah play the piano for the rest of the special music. Having escaped the plague most of the week, I found myself in its clutches Thursday night. After that service, I was unable to sleep all night long because of a fever of 101. Friday night, the fever had proven itself as inseparable as my shadow. After preaching, I stumbled home for another sleepless night. Shortly after 6:00 Saturday morning, the fever broke and I am on the way toward feeling better. The girls are still sick. Evangelists may not carry revival in their trailers, but this evangelist carries a dreaded sickness. Hopefully, the word won’t get out.

Paul

Blizzard

Ministry Update

The Lord has given us many opportunities of service over the past couple of weeks. During the terrible blizzard (see below), I was in Denver, CO for a training session with Baptist Youth Mission. I will be traveling with them this summer as one of their youth evangelists doing vacation Bible schools and teen revivals. I am looking forward to it.

One of the opportunities that I enjoyed today was preaching to a juvenile detention center. I went in to address an audience that was not really interested in who I was. As my time went on and I preached to them, God gave me an entrance into their hearts. I was interrupted by the guard before I could give an invitation, but I was at least able to go through the Gospel with them. The longer I preach, the more grateful I am to preach in jails, for one, and to teenagers, for another.

Thank you all for your prayers. Our busy season of revival meetings is upon us. Our only hope is that the trailer will be ready to go for that time. The Lord is opening new doors for us as we go, and we are grateful for every opportunity that He provides for ministry.

Family Update

Well, having survived the great “Blizzard” that came through southern Ohio, I now feel up to date on my quota of bad weather. In fact, we had about three months’ worth of weather in the ten days we were there. It was really quite unbelievable. In the first week we were in Ohio, it was sunny, then it froze, then it rained and flooded, and then it iced and thawed. After that, the blizzard came with snow coming down two inches per hour, and then two days later, we were playing in the foot-deep snow in 60 degree weather. Needless to say, our snowman only survived for two days. The kids loved playing in the snow, and I was glad that it was rather warm, since they didn’t have proper snow clothes.

Our trailer has been giving us problems. The brakes have locked up on the rear wheel of the trailer, and must be repaired before we can drive it again. This has made for much scrambling and packing lately as we go to our different meetings. I am looking forward to getting back “home” to the trailer.

Today we had a wonderful meeting with Bro. Don Snow in New Philadelphia, OH. He and his family have been personal friends of our family since I was in diapers (literally). It was such a blessing to see them again and catch up on what is happening there at the church. Of course, I took a lot of teasing from him, but I managed to bear up with a longsuffering spirit, as you can well imagine.

Today, I looked in Abigail’s ears, and jokingly told her that there were potatoes growing in them. With a fearful voice, she said, “For weal?” I am certain that my laughter reassured her.

Esther has managed to fall as many times as possible in the last several days. Probably because she noticed that the bruises from her last tumble have started to fade. She fell out of bed last night in the hotel where we were staying. I say staying because we definitely were not sleeping. She bounced around on the bed for over an hour before we finally called the front desk to see if they had a spare cage. Once we procured a pack-n-play, she promptly fell asleep. Familiar surroundings, I guess. Today, she fell down a short flight of stairs at the pastor’s house. Later, I caught her about to follow Josiah’s example and jump off of the three-foot high platform at the church. She was all crouched and ready to spring, when I screeched “NO!” from the back of the auditorium. Tonight, she opened the drawers of the hotel dresser, and was climbing in them. I am not sure what mischief she was planning, but that also was nipped in the bud.

Josiah came into contact with peanut residue while in the gymnasium, and so, looked somewhat like a spotted hyena tonight, in addition to wheezing a lot. We treated him and washed him off as best we could. Sometimes things happen that are out of our control. He is a little trooper, though, and seems to be recovering quite well. Please pray that he would get over the sickness he has been fighting for a week or so. It puts him off balance enough that other things bother his breathing and complexion (hives, eczema). We are praying that the Lord would heal him of his allergies, and give us grace to deal with them for the time being.

Mercy Drops

Ministry Update

The Lord allowed us to fill an open date almost at the last minute.  Sunday, we were in Twin City Bible Church in Nitro, WV preaching and ministering in music.  The Lord really met with us.  On Sunday morning, the Lord really got hold of hearts and many came and made key decisions in the area of interpersonal relationships.  There were those that were making things right with each other after the service and others that couldn't wait to see someone who wasn't there so that they could make things right.  It was wonderful to see God work. 

After a youth rally on Friday night in Morgantown, WV, we quit the Mountaineer state, heading West to IN.  Thank you so much for your prayers for us.  The emphasis of Friday is to be an evangelistic one, with the promise of lost people present for the rally.  Please pray that God will save souls.

Blessings, Superheroes, and Government Procedure

Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a great month of ministry last month. Every Sunday except one, I was able to preach at the Bible Baptist Church of Spencer, NC. In addition, we were also able to minister in another church and gain another good contact for the future. The Bible Truth Music Leadership Conference was a highlight last month as well. This month will find us in West Virginia (hence the need for the passports, see below) and on into the Midwest. Thank you all for your prayers as we continue to travel and preach the Gospel.

Paul

Family Update

We know you are all eager to hear what has been going on at our house lately, so we will present the latest episode of “As the Trailer Turns.” Things have been quite busy since the first of the year with the general things of life, church, school, etc. Perhaps the most important thing was Josiah making a public profession of his faith before the church and getting baptized. How wonderful to see our son following the Lord in this first step of obedience. While we were waiting in the baptismal dressing room on Sunday morning, Josiah said to me, “I know that if I die before I get baptized, I will still go to heaven!” I responded that I hoped we wouldn’t have to test that statement. He stands firmly on the Bible for assurance of his salvation. All of his grandparents were present for this momentous occasion, and there were very few dry eyes. That evening, he was able to partake of his first communion, too, which was very exciting for him. We did substitute an unleavened potato chip for the bread, but I am sure the Lord understands. When you can’t eat bread, there just isn’t much choice! Some of you may take theological offense, but I am sure that with counseling you will get over it.

Josiah also had a great loss this past week when his first tooth finally evacuated his mouth. Only two small yanks and that baby was out of there. No, I did not use the doorknob method of extraction alluded to in an earlier update. Nor did I use the pliers as some suggested, or tie his tooth to the bumper of the truck and drive away. It was all very humane. He did ask if I was the “tooth fairy” when he put it under his pillow that night. I pretended to be offended and asked if he thought I looked like the tooth fairy, at which question he dissolved into uncontrollable giggles. I wonder what that was supposed to mean!?

Last week, (yes – everything happened last week, in case you are wondering, and we are glad that nothing has happened this week because it gives us time to recover between disasters) all three kids came down with the stomach flu. Esther was first, then Abigail caught it, and finally, Josiah. It was fortunate for me that I was gone for the day when it struck all three of them at the same time. Paul could hardly keep up with the cleanup, if you know what I mean. I did offer to come home, but he told me he preferred playing the martyr. Apparently, the penchant for drama runs in the family, because Josiah told Paul during this rather traumatic event, “I think that this is going to be my last day on earth!” You have all probably heard of the acclaim of Superman – “Faster than a speeding bullet…Able to leap tall buildings with a single bound…” With slight modification, these can now be applied to Paul. “Faster than a puking child in the middle of the night…Able to leap from bed to the other end of the trailer in a single bound, while grabbing the trashcan on the way…” Thankfully, his cape did not get snagged in the door of our phone booth-sized bathroom. I am happy to report that our health is back to normal, although we still start in fear when anyone coughs or burps. Just today, I caught Esther hanging over the Lego box, pantomiming throwing up. The drama gene again, I’m sure.

We also took the family to apply for our passports last week. This will enable us to continue taking mission trips with the family. The last time we went out of the country, we had a difficult time with the officials because all we had was our birth certificates. Now they won’t accept that either, so we really had no other choice. Paul went Thursday, and applied for his, and then took the rest of us on Friday. First we had to get our pictures taken. Trust us to pick the only Wal-mart in the area that did not have a digital camera. Instead, we had to wait for the Polaroid pictures to develop, and then discard them all because they were too small. Esther had her picture taken four times, and Abigail had hers taken three times. After we finally got done there, having had nine pictures for the price of four, we went to the passport office.

To call the esteemed establishment an office is really a grand flattery. It was just a room off of a maze of corridors in the post office. The fact that it had five chairs in it, seeing that there were twenty people waiting, was not of much consequence. After what seemed an interminable amount of time, we gathered all of our papers and offspring and herded them into the “office.” Esther took this opportunity to further advance her career in espionage by opening file drawers while we talked to the lady in charge. Since her reading skills are not all that they should be, she gave up on the state department files, and began hacking into the computer at the next work station. We barely intervened before she tested out their brand new digital camera. I think the passport official was relieved to have real Americans sitting before her, with real papers. We overheard her say while we were sitting in the waiting area, “Well, if you decide to become a citizen, then you can come back.” Apparently, it isn’t as easy to get a passport as some people might think. I was rather disgruntled when the woman told us that Josiah’s photo may be sent back because it is too small. Back to the Polaroid studio, I guess.

We are quite ready to get back on the road again, and ask that you pray for the Lord to continue to open doors for us in the next few weeks and months. Our summer is already full, for which we are grateful, but we still have several openings throughout the year. Our desire is that God would lay it on the hearts of good men to have us into their churches, and that we would be effective ministers at each opportunity.

Sarah

End of the Year

Ministry Update

Evangelism has often been described as “feast or famine.” Spring and fall are traditionally the feasting times and winter, Christmas in particular, tend to be the famine times. This Christmas season, the Lord has allowed us to minister weekly in a church in Spencer NC where I have preached and will continue to preach nearly every Sunday for several weeks in a row. While we are grateful for this opportunity to minister, we still pray for God to open doors in revival meetings. Spring is coming, complete with its busy schedule of revival meetings. Please partner with us in praying that God will send us the meetings that we need in churches where they need our specific ministry.

Family Update

One of the ways that God has provided for our family during the time of no revival meetings is by giving us deer meat. Paul got two this year himself and others gave him three more, leaving us with a total of five deer in the freezer right now, less what we have already eaten. Just this week, we tried our first jerky recipe and were quite pleased at the result, considering it was the first effort. We hope to only get better from here. We received a meat grinder for Christmas that is quite handy for processing the meat and that also opens the door for us to begin making sausage, salami, and other mouth-watering treats.

The holiday season has engendered much excitement on the part of the children, and much busyness on the part of the parents. Josiah and Abigail took part in two Christmas programs (one in our church, and one in another church two weeks later). Josiah always manages to steal the show somehow. This year, his part in the program was to quote a simple verse. He had practiced it for weeks, and knew it inside out. However, in all the excitement of the actual performance, he forgot. He stood in front of the microphone and wrinkled up his nose, rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, and tried to remember. Finally, he gave up and whispered, “I don’t remember!” This brought a much needed “mouthed” cue from the director, but since Josiah was looking at the ceiling, it did him no good. Finally, unable to stand the suspense any longer, I blurted out the first two words of the verse, and Josiah took it from there. He proceeded to give me a very long and detailed explanation after church of why he forgot, but I didn’t understand. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t stage fright.

The other program was a narrated version of the Christmas story, and had, thankfully, no speaking parts. Josiah was a shepherd and Abigail was an angel. Go figure. I wondered at the wisdom of giving five and six-year-old boys five foot long sticks in a crowd, but everyone survived. I must say that I never saw a cuter angel than Abigail.

It is a good thing for Esther that there really isn’t a Santa Claus, because she would have been on his “Naughty” list. In the two weeks before Christmas, she evidently decided to make up for the goodness of the first eight months of her life, and get into as much trouble as possible. She climbed on the bed, fell off, and gave herself a black eye. The same afternoon, she climbed up on a chair, fell off, and landed on a baby doll car seat, giving herself another bruise on the cheek beneath the black eye. She helped decorate the tree, and then undecorated it by herself. She unfolded laundry (a favorite pastime), unwrapped presents that did not belong to her, screeched, fussed, hit, bit, and spit, emptied the salt shaker on the table, chairs, and carpet, took up interior decorating and colored on the walls, floor, and bedspreads. In short, she caused a whole heap of extra work, but we decided to keep her anyway. Life is more interesting with her around.

We learned a most interesting fact today while eavesdropping on our son’s conversation with his sister. (Question: is it technically eavesdropping when the person in question is speaking at the top of their lungs?) Anyway, we overheard that the fastest, meanest fish in the world is the “caribuddha.” We sniggered at the thought of a caribou with fat lips and protruding gut, sitting “Indian style” while pondering the greater things of life on the tundra. For the time being, we have allowed the misnomer for our own amusement. By the way, this fearsome fish is allegedly “blue with black stripes.” Doubtless, they are racing stripes or, perhaps, black flames on a blue background. I think it may be distantly related to the barracuda. Getting things mixed up seems to be a trademark for Josiah, bless his heart. I will never forget the time we were talking and he mentioned something about someone named George. My mind scrambled for a moment, but I failed to think of any of our acquaintance by the name of George. “George who?” I asked. Josiah almost looked offended as he replied, “Why, George Carrius!” For those of you who are not “into” children’s literature, this is the beloved friend of the Man with the Yellow Hat. In the months since that time, the name has been modified to Carrius George, and he still remains one of the favorites. Oh, the funny things kids say!

As we come to the end of the year, I like to look back and recount some outstanding blessings. We had the tremendous privilege of seeing Josiah trust Christ as his Savior in April of this year. Since then, we have seen evidence of the Holy Spirit working in his tender little heart. What a blessing to see the first of our children accept Christ! We have also gone a full year without having to admit him to either the hospital or the emergency room! Praise the Lord! He still has rough days, but they are fewer and farther between, and on the grand scale, he is so much improved. We know this is a direct result of your prayers with us. The Lord has kept us safe over thousands of miles on the roads, and we have seen several people saved this year through our ministry. What a blessing to serve our Lord! We have also had the opportunity to see some who have accepted Christ and surrendered to the ministry go on to have ministries of their own. This is such an encouragement to us. Please continue to pray for our family as we close this year and enter a new one. We would like to have twenty-five or more week-long revival meetings this year. We long to see the Lord’s hand at work in our life and ministry, and we thank you for your faithful prayers. May God bless you richly in the coming year.

Thanksgiving

Ministry Update

Sunday, the Lord allowed us to minister in Tabernacle Baptist Church of Hickory, NC.  The pastor of many years Phil Vos is quite ill with cancer right now and the church is being served by an interim pastor, Joel Spencer.  Bro. Spencer was one of the men who taught both Sarah and me when we were in college.  It was an interesting experience to preach for a former college professor.  The Lord blessed us with a man who walked the aisle to trust Christ as Savior in the morning service.  He had come from time to time in the past, being son-in-law to one of the people in the church.  It is always a blessing to see the Gospel take root in the lives of people.

Our trailer is in NC for the duration of the year, with various ministry opportunities around the area.  Thank you for all of your prayers for our ministry.

There is a significant answer to prayer that I would like to tell all of you about.  I have been praying that we could pay off our trailer and be out of debt.  It enables us to be free to take meetings in churches that can only afford to pay our fuel expenses and food for the week.  I had been praying for a certain number of people to give a certain amount toward paying off our trailer.  The first of those people gave a significant amount toward out trailer.  We are so grateful to God for the gift and we are praying that God will supply the rest of the need.

Family Update

We thoroughly enjoyed Thanksgiving Day.  My parents and Micah came for dinner at our house.  I say, our house, but really, we ate our dinner in the church, since there is not room for our immediate family to all sit at the table in the trailer, let alone several extra guests and a boatload of food.  Mom and I worked together to prepare the meal, and it was dee-lish!  This was the first time I had ever hosted Thanksgiving dinner, so it was an experience.  We had a lot of fun, and spent the day relaxing.  The next day, Mom and I went shopping together (a belated birthday excursion for me).  The crowds where we went were not bad at all, and the sales were great.  We had a good time looking at anything and everything we wanted to see.  This was a luxury for me, since Paul absolutely hates shopping, and when we do go shopping, I try to hurry and only browse minimally.  So, all in all, I had a wonderful day.  Paul was especially thrilled that he didn't have to endure the crowds of geriatric ladies at Hamrick's.  I almost laughed when I saw the "waiting area" at Hamrick's (just outside the dressing rooms).  It was full of frustrated, tired-looking men.  It was obvious that most of them would rather have been running with the bulls in Spain than shopping with the women in Gaffney. 

Healthwise, the family is doing very well, with the exception of Esther, who has a dreadful cold.  She seems to have caught everything this year.  I am thankful that even though she doesn't feel well, she is pretty happy most of the time.  She and Abigail are learning to play together better.  Well, perhaps I should say that Esther is learning to snatch toys with the best of them.  Abigail is getting back her own and more.  Abigail likes to be the "little mama" and tell Esther what to do.  Esther does not like to be told what to do, so many times she will "club" her sister with the most readily available object.  Sometimes this is a hand, sometimes a shoe, sometimes a toy, always a crisis.  The phrase I hear most these days is, "Mama, did you hear Esther hit me?"  I am not sure why Abigail always says "hear" instead of "see," but it makes it seem worse, doesn't it?

Abigail is now reliably potty trained!  Hooooray!  I never thought the day would come, but it has!  Celebrate with us!  She is growing up so much.  This is most evident in her speech.  She has charmed us with her little quirky phrases for so long and now we are starting to miss them.  For a while all of her r's were pronounced "oy."  It was amusing to hear her talk about something on the "floy" or someone knocking on the "doy."  One of the funniest things she ever said was when someone asked her what a lion said.  "ROY!"  She still says "lellow" (yellow) and "busketti" (Spaghetti), but her childish speech is beginning to fade.  Grab the Kleenex...

Esther is not talking very well yet, perhaps because she can rarely get a word in edgewise, but her vocabulary is growing.  She can say "more, hot dog, mama, shoe, go, eat, and me-me (baby)" along with a few other recognizable words.  Of course, she can also holler "NO" with the best of them.

Josiah has his first loose tooth.  He came in last week, all worried that something was wrong with his mouth.  After a brief inspection, I reassured him that it was just a loose tooth.  He is quite excited about losing it.  I told him about the time my mom tied a string to one of my loose teeth and tied it to the doorknob (as a joke).  Before she could explain to me that we weren't really going to carry through with the plan of action, I, trusting soul that I was, slammed the door.  I still remember her gasp, the slam of the door, the yank of the string, and the scream that escaped my lips.  For those of you with loose teeth, do not let your parents try this at home.  I will say that while it is a most effective way of removing unwanted teeth, there are much better ways of becoming toothless.  Josiah evidently pictured the whole thing in his mind, because he laughed hysterically when I finished telling the story.  So much for sympathy.  Our trailer doesn't even have a doorknob so I can carry on the tradition.  Oh, well.  Maybe I will think of some other form of extraction.  Any ideas???

From Houston

Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a wonderful meeting in Cathedral City, CA. There was a teenage girl saved on Tuesday night. Now we are in Tomball, TX (Houston area) for a meeting through Friday. Thank you so much for your prayers. Not only is there this meeting for which to pray, but we also have a lot of driving to do before getting back to NC for Thanksgiving.

Family Update

We are all glad to have Paul home again, as well as glad to be back in meetings again. After a day of driving, we stopped in the Mobile area to rest and fellowship with some good friends. It broke up the unbearable boredom of sitting in the truck, especially for the kids. Saturday, we headed out again and arrived in the greater Houston area around 6:30 local time. So glad to be out of the truck! We have been to this church several times and have quite a few friends here, whom we are always glad to see. We also had the opportunity of meeting the new pastor who has only been here about a month. We are praying that this will be a great week with many decisions made in the lives of Christians and unsaved.

I am happy to report that our newest new washing machine is working wonderfully. Yes– we had two new ones this past month, one of which did not work and had to be returned. Thank the Lord for warranty coverage! Anyway, the new washer is a front loader, which, in addition to being more water efficient and gentler on the clothes, also has a greater capacity. I can now fit an extra pair of jeans in the washer! The girls have found that watching the laundry spin around in the washer is quite entertaining. The first load I washed contained, among other things, Esther’s favorite blanket. All was going well until she saw her “blankums” peek out from among the other clothes and then disappear again. I think her first reaction was shock, because she looked at me as if to say, “What is my blanket doing in there?” Then for the rest of the cycle, she alternated between fear and despair, crying and hiding her face in her hands as her blanket spun just out of her reach. Although she was quite traumatized, I could not help but laugh at the drama of it all. She still looks at the washer distrustfully, and has taken upon herself to put the clothes into the washer when I do laundry – doubtless in order to rescue any of her belongings that might be in the hamper.

Abigail has made great strides in potty training, and although she has not “arrived,” she is much more reliable. I find it amazing that the promise of a tube of lipgloss has such power over a three-year-old girl! She will do almost anything to stay dry – even to going in the middle of the yard during a church dinner on the grounds. It is never a good sign when people interrupt a conversation to tell you that you need to go see what your kid is doing. Although I am sure that her pride will eventually suffer from this event, her clothes did not, and I, for one, am happy about that!

Josiah has been actively involved in Master’s Club this year, and has already earned several badges and memory awards. He absolutely loves it, and can’t wait to wear his vest to church each Wednesday. He is doing well in school, and we are fast approaching our second six-week grading period. I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone. Pretty soon the “holiday season” will be upon us, and then the new year. The Lord has done so many wonderful things for us this year, and provided in many miraculous ways. We are thankful for His constant watchcare and the many blessings he has bestowed upon us. For those of you who are interested, you can see our most recent family photo on our website www.paulcrow.org. (If it doesn’t come up, you may have to click on refresh.) May the Lord bless you for your faithful prayers for our family and ministry.

Teacher

Ministry Update

The Lord has blessed us with meetings right now. What a blessing to be daily seeking the mind of God for His will in what to preach. Thank you for your prayers as we continue to endeavor to make full proof of our ministry.

Family Update

It is really good to be in meetings again, and we are all making the adjustment quite well. The kids are still asking each day, “Do we go to church today?” which question will hopefully subside after another few weeks in meetings. We are well into the school year, and Josiah just received his first official report card (all A’s, in case you were wondering). He still struggles with math, but we are seeing almost daily progress now, which comes as a great relief to me.

Abigail has done remarkably well this week with her potty training. It is a good thing, because I had just about given up and was looking through the Yellow Pages to see if I could hire it out and just pick her up in a few weeks when she was completely trained. We have had a few accidents, not counting the time she (and her brother) decided to fertilize the church playground in broad daylight, but on the whole things are much improved.

Esther is beginning to talk and understand more. The child really is too smart for her own good. Last time we wrote an update, she added nearly a page of her own notes while the computer was sitting within reach. Paul came back to line after line of characters that read something like this: %^*(&^%$^&*()(*&^%$#$%^&*()(*&^%#$%^&*())(*&. I guess being an evangelist’s kid isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

I am happy to announce that we now have a new washer! Hooray! Now I can start climbing Mount Neverest in the bedroom and whittle it down to the size of a smaller mountain range, comparable to, say, the Rockies. The Lord used Maranatha Baptist Church in Short Pump, VA, to supply this need, and we are truly grateful!

Recently, as some of you know, the hunting season began, and Paul is dreaming again of “the big one.” This has colored his conversation with innumerable references to wildlife of all varieties. It has also come to the attention of our very curious son. Lately, every time we take a trip in the truck, Josiah starts what I have dubbed, “the wildlife quiz.” The object of this game is to ask as many questions as possible about a particular animal before the truck stops moving. It usually begins as a harmless conversation between Josiah and Abigail. He will be enumerating the great powers and fearsome tactics of, for instance, a moose. Although he knows relatively nothing about moose, he will blather on for about five minutes before he comes to a scenario in the monologue that he cannot determine. Then the quiz begins. “Do moose eat trees? Fish? Grass? Birds? Snakes? Blah, blah, blah…Little boys? Cars? Lions? Potato chips? Moose are really strong – can they pick up a truck? What about a house – can they pick up a house? What about our trailer?” On and on it goes, until he asks something that we cannot answer or reasonably conjecture. Then Mama suggests that, instead of playing another round of the wildlife quiz, we should play quiet moose, er, mouse. Last time we played the quiz, he came up with this stumper: “Do bears eat electricity?” Now, tell me, how in the world are we supposed to answer that?

Josiah also enjoys telling Abigail all about everything. Last week, I got a real kick out of a conversation that I overheard between them in a restaurant. They were discussing a picture on the wall that was evidently a blowup of a comic book from days gone by. The frame showed a “happy ending” complete with a teary-eyed heroine being kissed by the main character. Abigail asked Josiah why the lady was crying. “Oh,” he said. “It’s just because he is biting her!” I don’t know where he comes up with this stuff!

Our Children

Keeping current pictures of our children is a nearly impossible task. This picture, however, gives you an idea of their corporate naughtiness.

Summer's End

Ministry Update

This summer has been a difficult one financially for us. The dark valley is over now and we can praise the Lord that He has supplied every need. October 7, the meetings start again and we are all eager to be back on the road. During the last couple weeks of down time, the Lord provided a job whereby I was able to alleviate some financial pressure. I praise the Lord for how He always provides. We covet your prayers for us as we get back on the road. As always, pray for more meetings to come in.

Family Update

The summer days are over, and autumn has officially begun. With the new season come hopes of cooler weather and beautiful foliage. There is a certain sense in which the year is coming to a close. The days are getting shorter, and the nights longer, and our children are growing up. People tell us to treasure the days when our children are small, and, to be sure, there are many wonderful memories. Some, however, I am not so sure how to categorize. In my mind’s eye, I can see Paul and myself in fifty years, sitting in our rocking chairs and reminiscing…

S: Paul, we’re getting old.

P: Yep, but you’ll always be older than me! Har! Har!

WHAP! (sound of cane hitting shins)

P: Ouch! Take it easy – I was just joking!

S: You had better be glad I am not as strong as I used to be, or I would need a shoulder replacement after that!

P: I wonder what the kids are doing these days. I sure miss the times when they were small.

S: I do, too. Do you remember the summer of ’07?

P: Sure I do – what a summer! All three of the little ankle-biters were busy that year!

S: Josiah sprinkled his legos over the floor every morning as soon as he woke up, in the event that if an early-morning burglar got into the house, he wouldn’t get too far. We never had any burglars, of course, but many were the mornings that I had to remove the imbedded legos from my feet.

P: Whatever happened to all those legos, anyway?

S: I believe most of them ended up in the super slide of our first trailer. I never tried to dig them out, because of the entire package of 450 straight pins that Esther deposited in the same slideout that summer. That girl was into everything!

P: Her favorite words were “me-me” and “no-no” – the latter because she heard it so often, I guess. She was the human pinball that year – ran into everything. She could find something new with which to injure herself every day, I believe.

S: She was particularly bad about banging her mouth. It is a wonder she still has teeth! I can’t imagine what the dentist would have thought had she been old enough to go. He would have wondered why a fifteen month old child only had three teeth, and those ones were green!

P: Ah, yes. Many thanks to Crayola for assuring us that our daughter’s favorite low-fat snack was also non-toxic.

S: And don’t forget about Abigail! That was the summer that I was trying to potty train her. She messed her clothes every day. And then the washer broke. Actually, it still worked – just leaked like a sieve. Remember that?

P: Yes. It leaked down into the storage bay and ruined a box of books.

S: And then you tried to fix it yourself.

P: Hey – the Lord called me to preach, not to fix appliances! Anyway, it turned out fine. Just because you could only use the washer outside didn’t mean we went around wearing dirty clothes. Besides, we could kind of get in touch with our redneck side that way.

S: Yes, those were the good old days. I’m glad that we can sit back and laugh about it now. It wasn’t always so easy back then. I guess, at the time, we failed to realize that they were memories in the making.

Of Books and Jokes

Ministry Update

The Lord gave me a wonderful trip to Southern IN in where I preached in the Hope Baptist Church of Lawrenceville. After closing the short meeting on Sunday, I drove to Chicago the following day to pick up a friend's trailer for him; and then I drove all the way home. Grand total for Monday: 970 miles. It is good to be with my family again in my own trailer.

Thank you for praying for our meetings.

Family Update

Things have been rather slow compared to our normal schedule this summer. Since Josiah started school three weeks ago, things have become a little busier. He is really getting back into the swing of things. He told me this morning that he was glad for all this review, because he had forgotten a lot of things! His reading has improved over the summer, and he is now the proud owner of his very own library card. We have made several trips to the library, and I am glad to have an excuse to get new books for myself as well. He is discovering Curious George, Amelia Bedelia, Paddington Bear, and various other “favorites” of children. He told me this week, that he wanted to go to the library again because he had already read all his books several times. He is definitely my son. The world could go down in flames around me while I am reading, and I wouldn’t even notice until the next chapter. When I was a kid, I always had my nose in a book at every opportunity. I am glad to pass on the trait to my own children!

Josiah is also starting out in the Master’s Club program at church. He is really excited about learning verses, and earning badges for his vest. He has expressed some desire to learn to play the piano, so we are starting that, too. So far, we have only had two lessons, and those have been rather slow, but you have to start somewhere. Pray that my patience holds out for music lessons in addition to school!

Abigail is getting taller and has graduated from a car seat to a “booster seat.” She enjoys that so much more. We are still working on the potty training. She’s making progress, but very slowly. She enjoys singing little songs that she makes up herself. This morning while I was fixing her hair, she was singing a song about how nice her mama was because “she is giving me bwaids.” It is very cute, and I enjoy hearing all the original ideas for her songs.

Esther is growing up so fast. She runs about the trailer on her stubby little legs, and tries to follow her older siblings wherever they go. She is quite vocal in expressing her displeasure, and I always know when something is not going her way. She is beginning to speak our language now, and there are a few recognizable words. She now interrupts prayers that she deems too lengthy with a hearty “ME,” which is her rendition of “amen.” She has also learned to nod her head in affirmation, and it makes us laugh when she bobs her head in answer to our questions. Of course, we would never bait her with incriminating questions…

Several months ago, our children were introduced to the concept of the great American joke, courtesy of Laffy Taffy candy. I believe, from the quality of the jokes printed on the candy wrappers, that you must have to have eaten at least two dozen pieces and be on an extreme sugar high for the jokes to be even mildly amusing. The initial joke was this: “Why did the chicken cross the playground?” The answer: “To get to the other slide.” After I thoroughly explained the joke and its original context, the kids apparently reasoned that every joke must have a chicken hero. I will not regale you with a full account of all the senseless jokes we have heard over the last several months, but suffice it to say, not even Laffy Taffy would have printed them. The kids, of course, thought they were all hilarious, and would screech with laughter after every new rendition, while I would groan and try to escape into the next room before the next chicken joke was told. Last week, however, was the crowning chicken joke. I actually laughed. I know you are all wondering… “Why did the chicken go into the trailer?” Answer: “Because he wanted to be an evangelist!”

Teen Revival

Ministry Update

The Lord gave us a wonderful close to our special back-to-school revival at my home church. The first two nights were disappointing as far as visible results were concerned, but God was working. At the end of the second service after I preached on “The Lake of Fire,” a boy vomited all over the floor during the invitation. We had to cut that service short, but the largely un-churched kids held their composure quite well, considering the circumstances.

Tonight’s crowd was especially rowdy during the game and preliminary part of the service. Bro. Jim Ogle (the youth pastor at our church) and I went into a back room during the special music and begged God for a miracle to calm the hearts of these rambunctious teenagers and get them to listen to the preaching. For my part, I was struggling still when I got to the pulpit, wondering what God would have me preach. I felt led to make much of Calvary and so began my message by telling them what the Cross meant to me and how we wanted them to be saved as well. From there, we went to Titus 3 and I preached a salvation message from the first seven verses. At least two that I know of were saved, one of them coming to me afterwards and telling me boldly, “I got saved tonight.” As for the kids’ attention? God worked the miracle that we had prayed for, and the rowdiest ones sat nearly stone still throughout the entire message. It was a miracle in which God’s power was greatly on display. Thank you so much for all you who pray for our ministry.

The last two days, I was also able to speak in the opening chapel services of Ambassador Baptist College. The Lord blessed in those services as well, with some specific victories in the services.

Soon, we will be back on the road again. As always, we appreciate your prayers for us. God is still on the throne and He is still working in hearts.

Charleston

In our last update, we mentioned our upcoming trip to Charleston. The trip was such a tribute to the power of God that we feel compelled to tell everyone about it.

Sarah and I had been on only one other “us” trip in our seven years of marriage. The children’s food allergies are challenging enough for us, without trying to educate someone else enough to leave the children with them for extended time. We nevertheless decided to proceed with our plans to go to Charleston and leave all three children with my parents in Greenville, SC. As I was writing in our last update of our plans to go, I was considering canceling the trip because we did not have the money to go. Despite this misgiving, we went anyway, and the Lord worked some wonderful miracles while we were there.

In order to save costs, I had arranged for us to stay in the prophet’s chamber of Northside Baptist Church in North Charleston. On Monday night, however, the prophet’s chamber was occupied, so we had to get a motel. The church got the motel to give us their discount. After an evening down by the battery of Charleston, we returned to our motel for a night of sleep. The next morning we ate from the motel’s continental breakfast and chose some breakfast things that we could take with us for the rest of the week’s breakfast. From there, we checked out and headed once again for downtown Charleston.

I expected that we would be able to walk around the city and see some old picturesque homes and that would be the extent of our tourism in Charleston. After all, being a tourist costs money and we had none. As we were walking along the street, however, a man stopped us and asked us how we liked the city and so forth. He then told us that if we listened to a sales pitch about a vacation plan similar to a timeshare, he would give us some free gifts. He made sure that we understood there was no obligation and we got the gifts, regardless of our answer to the salesman. We knew what the answer would be, but the gifts were reason enough to listen to his speech. After ninety minutes and our firm refusal to buy, he gave us five gifts: two free tickets to a horse-drawn carriage ride through the city, two free tickets for a harbor tour by boat, two free tickets to the plantation of our choice just outside the city, a $25 gift certificate to any one of several five star restaurants in Charleston, and a $20 gift card. Now we could be real tourists all for free.

Every day, we still parked in the free parking down by the battery and walked – all to save parking fees. We lost weight on the trip and put miles on our feet, all of it in the heat of late-summer Charleston. On Wednesday night we were in Northside Baptist Church for their midweek service. As we sat there, the pastor announced that the offering that night would go to us. After the offering was counted, they gave us over $1,000! We could hardly believe our ears. In addition, someone in the church gave us $40 in cash. The Lord had miraculously provided, again. The pastor specifically instructed us to use some of the money for something fun. Thursday was fun as we finished using the last of our free activities and actually splurged a bit. We went into an old-fashioned candy store and bought some candy, we took a bicycle taxi ride, ate at a restaurant without having a gift certificate, and actually paid 70 cents to a parking meter just so we didn’t have to walk quite so far.

Not only was it a wonderful time for Sarah and me, but it was also a great time to see the hand of God at work in our life. Thank you to all of you that prayed for our trip.

At Long Last

Ministry Update

We apologize for not writing in so long. The Lord has been blessing us in meetings and travel. Every remaining Sunday in August is now full, and we have a couple of other preaching engagements as well during the month. Please continue to pray for our meetings and that the Lord would supply more meetings. We appreciate your prayers.

Family Update

Hey - we are still alive and kicking! It has been a fearfully long time since we sent out an update. The weather here in North Carolina has been stifling - hot and humid. It was well over 100 degrees several days this past week, as high as 106 yesterday! People have asked us how cool we are staying in the trailer. It has been cooler than outside, but still too hot for comfort during the day. The AC just can't keep up when it is this hot for so long. Thankfully, we were able to escape into the church and get some relief on the hottest of days. Today is cooler, and we hope it will stay that way.

Josiah had his sixth birthday this past Tuesday, and is looking forward to starting first grade in a few weeks. He has kept up his reading over the summer, and I don't think he will have any problem getting back into the swing of things. I will have to make some adjustments, though. There is a part of me that dreads going back to school. However, I will grin and bear it!

Abigail has been busy soiling our couch, carpet, bedding, and sundry other items. We hope that this long, dark valley of potty training will be over one day. I am thinking of finding out how many colleges offer Potty Training 101, and applying for a scholarship in her name. She has grown a lot this summer, and is getting to be quite a help around the house. She loves to wash dishes and cook and clean right alongside me.

Esther is finally walking. She is still not very steady, but happily toddles around the house, getting into whatever is available. She has also mastered the art of climbing down off the bed or couch, and backing down the step. She also likes to climb the bunk ladder in the kid's bedroom. I usually keep it up just because of the lack of space, but if I forget, there she is, standing on the ladder, squealing in excitement. She has gotten taller, too, and is now in danger of bonking her head when she stands up under the table. Poor thing still has no hair to cushion the blow, so I have to keep an eye on her. Her favorite word is "Eat," although she does not say it herself. She recognizes it though, and always makes a great deal of excitement when she hears it. Flapping arms, grunts, lunges toward the high chair - it is very funny to see.

We haven't had any meetings the last few weeks, so we have had the opportunity to spend some time with my family in Ohio. We also went to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY. That was an incredible place! The kids loved, it, and along with all the dinosaur artifacts, and flood geology, was a very clear presentation of the Gospel. The planetarium was awesome - to think that we are so insignificant when compared to the vast universe around us, and yet, God cares about each one of us in a special, eternal way. While we were watching one of the presentations, it was all I could do to keep from shouting, "Praise the Lord!" I refrained however, since we were in a dark and crowded room full of strangers. Had I "gone off" Paul might have, too, and you can imagine the resulting panic when they realized there were at least two fanatics loose in the room with them. Seriously, though, it was great!

Paul and I are going to Charleston, SC next week for a belated anniversary trip. The kids are staying with Grandma and Papa, so they will be in good hands. We are looking forward to some "just the two of us" time. We have not done anything special for our anniversary for four years. Sometimes, there is just no opportunity or time to do anything. I intend to take lots of neat pictures, and have a wonderful time. Pray that no hurricanes wipe us off the map while we are there. That would be very unromantic!

Sarah

In Jerusalem

Jesus told His disciples, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem..." For the first time in a long time, I had the opportunity to go on visitation with my home church this evening. We talked to a teenage girl who began to weep as I preached the Gospel to her. She had gone through some real hard times since moving to Kings Mountain from Charlotte, and she seemed to have the weight of the world on her. After preaching the Gospel to her, she agreed to come to the service tonight. As always, a man stood before our teens this evening and preached the Bible. At the end of the message, the girl trusted Christ as Savior. Praise the Lord for the salvation of a soul, whether it is in a revival meeting or through normal visitation.

Paul

Roundup's Over

Ministry Update

After returning to Yorktown, VA from Canadian, OK, I was immediately immersed in Vacation Bible School and Wild West Roundup. There is no doubt about it, I was not in my comfort zone preaching to kids every night, but God gave the victory, with over ten kids saved, several surrendering their lives to God, and record attendance almost every night. We had a wonderful time with all the church staff and members of Maranatha Baptist Church, but especially with Beau and Nicole Williams and their family. It will not be long before we begin to head back towards NC for some time with the people of our own church before we head out again.

Family Update

Esther is now one. We had a lovely little birthday party for her on Wednesday, complete with streamers, balloons, and a cake that everyone could eat! That was something worth celebrating in itself! She loved digging into the cake, but seemed to not particularly care for the "stuff" all over her hands and face. We took lots of pictures. After her birthday bath (always necessary after eating birthday cake) we opened some presents. She was really excited about opening the gifts, possibly because of her previously mentioned penchant for shredding paper. She was most conscientious, though, and would hand each shred to the person sitting next to her. It was very cute!

Josiah had a blast in VBS this week. He loved it all - the games, the songs, the skits, the country store, and most of all, the boys vs. girls offering round-up. It was so funny to watch him interact with so many kids his own age. He learned quite a few new Bible verses this week, and I was very proud of him for working so hard. He wore his cowboy hat and sherriff's badge every night, and enjoyed playing cowboy. I had to tell him to leave his guns at home. He was a bit disappointed about that, but quickly got over it

We have had a great week here, and saw the Lord answer prayer. Thank you so much for praying for us.

Sarah

Indians!

Indian Update

Last night, after attending the morning service of a local independent Baptist church, we had our first service out at the Indian Baptist Mission Camp Meeting. Though the meeting does not officially start until tomorrow, there are already representatives from the Six Nation Iroquois reserve in Ontario, as well as Apache, Choctaw, and Creek, the latter two from right here in Oklahoma. With this handful of maybe 60 people, we had a service tonight. During the song service, we all sang “Amazing Grace” in English, then the Iroquois sang it in Mohawk, then the Choctaw sang it in their Choctaw, and finally it was sung in Creek. For me, it was quite emotionally moving to sit and listen (I know no Native American dialects). I realized that this gathering of people would not even exist, were it not for the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here were entirely different traditions, languages, and cultures, all made one by the blood of Christ. One day we all will sing to Jesus, “Thou…hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” To get a foretaste of that day while here on earth was a treat for me this evening.

I was asked to preach the first message tonight, and many told me afterwards how that God spoke to their hearts. I am told that this a meeting in which they call preachers from the floor; that should prove interesting. I found myself wishing that I could preach every service of the entire week, but then I had to make sure that my motivation is not pride. I would love to preach again, there is not doubt about it. We’ll pray, wait, and see.

Paul