A New Outreach

 As I write this, Dale and I are outside of Park Rapids, Minnesota, where we will be in a meeting through Wednesday of this week.  God has used the team as we have served together over the past couple of months.  We have gotten to know each other's strengths and weaknesses and the Lord is helping us to connect with people as we travel.  After this week, Dale will go back to Kings Mountain for a couple of months as the Crow family travels together once again.

God has brought in more money for our European missions trip.  We are not yet where we wanted to be with the total amount, but we are closer than we were last month.  Some churches have promised but not yet delivered on that promise.  One church is taking up an offering today for the need.  By next month, I should be able to give a dollar amount as to how much has come in.  This we know, our God is able.

Throughout 2024, I have been talking about a project of mine that I wanted to become a reality.  It is a podcast totally dedicated to the Gospel.  As of Friday of last week, it became a reality.  I have called it Evangel.  You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other platforms that feature podcasts.  One word of warning: there is a church in North Dakota that goes by the name Evangel.  They have their own podcast that is decidedly different from mine, at least based upon the description.  Also, there are many Spanish language podcasts called Evangel.  None of those are mine, either.  The goal is to put a new episode out every month.  You can recognize my podcast not only by its name, but also by its slogan: proclaiming and explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

My son Josiah is supposed to graduate from college on Friday of this week.  After that, we head home for a few days before taking the family--all six of us--to New York City for a meeting there.  We are looking forward to what will do while we are in New York again.  This will be the first time that the entire family has been together for a full meeting in a few years.  We are looking forward to it.

Once we arrive back home in Mississippi, we will also be having some kind of graduation ceremony for my daughter Esther.  She is finally done with high school (home school), and we are very pleased with how hard she has worked.  Now only Daniel remains to be homeschooled.  If his high school is anything like the others, it will be over before we know it.

In a world that is divided by all kinds of things, I am happy to report that we are observing the fruits of kindness in this church in Minnesota.  Pastor Josh Hawn is man who stands for the truth, and yet has seen great strides in his small town because of his kindness to others.  It has been a great reminder to me of the power of God when we simply reach out to others with grace.  As we head into the summer, may all our interactions with others be seasoned with grace.

Thank you, as always, for your prayers.

Team

 My how our ministry team has changed!  Gone are the days when Crow children dropped out of the backseat of our truck like clowns from a Volkswagen.  Only Daniel remains with me, and now I can give somewhat of a report about Dale being part of the team.  Everything has gone very well in meetings.  Dale's contributions have been a great blessing in every church in which we have ministered.  It has been a joy for him as well to travel with us.

This is a very busy season for us in meetings just now.  God is supplying meetings in many different places and daily supplying the strength to serve Him.  We have been in Indiana and Ohio for a few weeks and will return home on April 1.  Dale will get a brief hiatus while the family is back together again ministering in South Carolina and Georgia.  Then, the three of us--Daniel, Dale, and I--get back on the road again as a team.  To be sure, this is a different dynamic from what I have done in the past, but God is blessing the arrangement.

We are actively making preparations for our trip to Europe this summer.  The plan is to leave June 25 and return August 6.  Most of our ministry will be in Italy, but we do have one week in Germany as well.  There will be a lot of travel and expense in order to be gone for this long a time.  Our needs have always been taken care of on the mission field, but there is a difficulty paying our bills back home when we are gone for so long a time.  We are praying for 10 churches to be able to contribute $1,000 each to our missions needs.  So far, 4 churches have responded.  Would you pray that God will supply the remainder of the money that is needed?

Europe has become the dark continent spiritually.  To be there is to miss none of the conveniences of the United States, but there is such a spiritual darkness that is there.  It is such a joy to see people that were saved the last time we were in Italy serving God faithfully today.  Families have been transformed because of the light of the Gospel.  As you pray for laborers, please remember Europe.  

Sarah has just a little over a month before her teaching duties will end for the summer.  It will be great to have her with me again as we travel.

Our older children will embark upon their summer ministries as soon as the semester is done.  Abigail plans to work at Southland Christian Camp in Louisiana as a counselor, while Josiah will serve in our home church in Mississippi as an intern for the summer.  Esther and Daniel will be with us in Europe for the summer.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers as we continue to see God work through the ministry of evangelism.  May God give you fruit for your labor for Him.

Build Thine House

 This past month has been a fruitful month for ministry here in the United States.  This time of year, I try to keep our meetings in the South and that has been true this year as well.  My home church Clearview Baptist Church has always been one of my favorite places in all the world to preach.  The day after our winter revival closes, the entire church meets in the fellowship hall to assemble 5,000 outreach packets that we then distribute to every door in the community until we run out.  (This distribution process takes a couple of months.)  The whole process is very organized and profitable in that it gives everyone an outlet in which to participate in getting out the gospel.  Additionally, we have seen good fruit from the packets that we hand out.  This routine has been a part of my family's life and service to God through our local church for many years, and though my three oldest were unable to be there for it this year due to their college commitments, Daniel and I still participated.  There is nothing quite like working to get the gospel into the hands of other people.

Additionally, we were also in Beaufort, South Carolina, for a meeting.  God blessed there as well with a soul trusting Christ as Savior.  My traveling evangelistic team has shrunk from 6 to 2 people now.  Daniel and I go to meetings and try to provide what special music we can in addition to the preaching.  Things are about to change, though.  A friend of mine named Dale Lieser has agreed to travel with us in the month of March.  Dale is an accomplished pianist and a dear friend.  We are testing the waters to see how this arrangement will work for us.  Dale is blind, and I need wisdom to be able to meet his needs while we are on the road.  I have no doubt that he will be a great blessing in the churches where we minister.

My podcast proceeds more slowly that I wish it would.  As soon as it is online, I will let you know.  For those who wish to have more current news than once a month, you can follow my wife on Facebook (Sarah Crow).  While I am not on FB, I am on Instagram where you can follow me at @crowing617.  I will announce the opening podcast there.

Several months ago, we noted that water was dripping from the upstairs bathroom of our home down the wall into the downstairs bathroom.  After putting off the problem for a while, I decided to deal with it while the rest of the family was in NC.  I tore out the downstairs bathroom down to studs and am in the process of redoing it now.  By the end of next week, I hope to have everything completed.  After working on this project, I have come to the realization that one of the greatest blessings of human existence is that God does all the work on my heavenly mansion without me having to lift a finger in the process.  Other than seeing Jesus, one of the greatest blessings of heaven may be no more remodeling projects.

Before too long, we will celebrate two graduations at our house: Esther from high school and Josiah from college.  Life is happening fast.  Thank you all for all your prayers.

Fruit

 What a wonderful start to the year we have had! We have had three meetings so far, and each has been a great blessing.  The new normal is for me (Paul) to travel either alone or with my son Daniel, Sarah being full-time faculty at Ambassador Baptist College.  My oldest three children are all in college, leaving Daniel and me to travel.  With that said, there are a couple of meetings in which Sarah is scheduled to join us and be a part of a meeting here or there.

Earlier this year, I was able to travel to the Dominican Republic and minister to Haitian immigrants there.  This was a first for me, but the Lord blessed while we were there.  The missionary, a man supported by our home church for many years, asked me to speak to a group of native pastors on the subject of music.  From Tuesday through Friday, I spoke on music 16 times with 4 sessions a day.  The schedule went like this: breakfast, four teaching sessions, lunch, soul-winning, rest, evangelistic service, and supper.  This took us from 8:45 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. every day.  All told, I spoke 23 times in one week of ministry.  Seventeen people professed faith in Christ while we were there.  It was a great trip, and I have been asked to return at a later time.

This week, we are in our home church to preach the winter revival meeting.  It definitely looks and feels like winter with a coat of snow and ice on the ground everywhere.  Please pray that God will work in hearts as the Word of God goes forth.  This happens to be one of the meetings in which Sarah is with me.  That is a great blessing.

After being out of the country, I am eager to return to work on my podcast.  There are some details that I have yet to finalize, and then I can begin the recording process in earnest.  Please pray for this endeavor.  I heard this past week of online presentations of the Gospel that are approaching 1 billion views.  I would love to add to this number by proclaiming and explaining the gospel through a podcast.  Stay tuned for more information on this ongoing project.

This summer, we are scheduled to return to Italy to preach once again in several churches there.  Please pray for the funding for this trip.  A man that was saved under our ministry the last time we were in Italy has remained faithful to church, his wife having trusted Christ as well.  They both were baptized in the Mediterranean Sea upon profession of faith in Christ.

While the spring has a good number of meetings, there are some openings for us in the fall.  Please pray that God will open doors and that He will continue to bless the giving of the Gospel by whatever means we have at our disposal.

Also, remember that you, too, are an ambassador for Christ, standing in the place of Jesus to plead with men to be reconciled to Him.

End of the Year

 Merry Christmas to all!  This year has been quite a year with its share of difficulties and blessings.  We will endeavor to keep you abreast of what is going on both now and moving into the new year.

Our meetings for the year are done, and what a year it has been!  My last meeting saw a record broken for our more than two decades of evangelistic ministry.  The oldest person to ever walk the aisle and get saved in one of my meetings did so on Friday, December 8, 2023.  Herman was 81 when he responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  The service was one in which people were testifying of the saving power of God in their lives.  Two couples remarked how they had met their spouse in a bar and that for them to be in church on a Friday night was a token of God's life-changing power in the Gospel.  As the service went on, the Holy Spirit seemed to lead me to a text for which I had no outline.  There were several prepared sermons with me at the pulpit, but I left all of them in the notebook and preached instead on Jesus using I Peter 2:21-25 as my text.  By the time we gave the invitation, Herman was ready to be saved.  It was glorious way to end our year.

Sarah continues to teach piano at Ambassador.  Because of some circumstances beyond her control, her work load will increase next semester.  The good news is that she has the knowledge and experience to help pianists move on to excellence.  Please pray for her as she works to help young students achieve their best in church music ministry.

The bad news for me is that now I am traveling without her.  I have heard people say, "All the old-time evangelists traveled without their wives."  Whether or not that is true, I much prefer having Sarah with me on the road.  There will a couple of meetings in which she will still be with me, but for the most part I am on my own now.

The year 2024 comes in with a bang for me as far as ministry is concerned.  I will be ministering for the first time in the Dominican Republic and Haiti in January where I am scheduled to preach 20 times in four days.  There will be other preaching opportunities while I am there, but those 20 times are to a gathering of local church pastors from around the island.  Please pray for the power of God as I endeavor to minister.

For the last couple of years, I have noticed how many people live in the world of podcasts, not only in the United States but also in other countries.  During that time, the Lord has been stirring in my heart about launching a podcast dedicated to the Gospel of Christ.  There are many podcasts aimed at Christians, and I am glad that they exist.  My burden, however, is to use the Internet for the dissemination of the Gospel.  Accordingly, I will be launching a podcast focused solely on the Gospel beginning in 2024.  Please be in prayer about this because I do not live in the world of podcasts and thus am unfamiliar with the whole process.  I do have a burden to get the Gospel to people, though, through whatever means may be at my disposal.

As we end this year, may God help you to keep your eyes on Him.  One of the greatest helps to me as a Christian in recent days has been the reality of the soon coming kingdom of Jesus Christ.  Even so come, Lord Jesus!

Faithfulness

Although I have been doing most of my travel alone while Sarah is teaching piano at Ambassador, both she and my younger two children are with me this week.  The reason is that the church where we are holding meetings, Calvary Baptist Church in Urbana, Illinois, was one of the first churches in America to ever have a young evangelist in for a full week of meetings.  I was the evangelist and the meeting was 20 years ago this year.  Since that time, the Lord has given us many fruitful meetings at Calvary.

Little did I know when I first came to the church two decades ago, that there would be a man in the church who was a student at the University of Illinois attending the church.  He was a new believer, and the Lord used my ministry in his life in a very special way.  He went on to earn his PhD in physics from the university, a degree which would have allowed him to write his own ticket in both the scientific and academic worlds.  Instead, as he served God through his local church, he began to sense the Lord's call into the ministry.  After serving for a few years as the assistant pastor of the church, the congregation called him to be senior pastor.

His faithfulness over the years has been such a blessing.  Also, his love for souls is refreshing.  Yesterday, there was an unsaved teenage girl who was supposed to come with her mom to the service.  For whatever reason, her mom decided not to come at the last minute, but the girl managed to find a ride to church anyway.  Last night, she walked the aisle to trust Christ as Savior.  She comes from a very rough background, but what a trophy of the grace of God!

This meeting goes through Wednesday of this week.  From here we are on to a meeting in SC before we head to our annual meeting in the prairie of Colorado with Shannon Munday. 

When I was in college, I was told that the longer I live, the more my friendships will be based upon faithfulness more than any other trait.  Now that college is two decades in the rearview mirror, I can say that those men were correct in their predictions.  My best friends today are not those interests seemed so well aligned with mine in college, but those who have remained faithful over the years to the truths that they were taught.

People we do not know are watching us and looking to see whether or not we will be faithful.  May we all keep our eyes on Jesus and encourage others through our faithfulness.

Pinch Hit

 Both Sarah and I are graduates of Ambassador Baptist College in Lattimore, North Carolina.  Our two older children are both students there, and when a need for a piano teacher arose, Sarah volunteered to step in and help out until someone more permanent could be found.  Accordingly, our ministry is different now than it has ever been before.  Currently, the family lives in our trailer in NC while I travel to our meetings.  The difference is striking for me because I am used to traveling with the entire family.  There was a day when the Crow family arrived at a church, the Crows poured forth from the cab of the truck like clowns out of a Volkswagen.  Now, much of my traveling is done alone.

My meetings still continue, in addition to several trips to Mississippi to take care of details on our house.  There have been a lot of hectic goings on with the changes that we are experiencing.  Our house has been in the process of having solar electric panels installed.  Not quite a year ago, we had a particularly cold day in December.  It was 3 degrees.  On this the coldest day of the year, the power company informed us that they did not have enough electricity to keep our heat on.  It was then that I decided that I was going to have to do what I could to generate my own electricity.  Solar seemed to be the answer, and we found a company that was supposed to be one of the best in the country at the time.  Our experience with them was nothing short of awful.

The process lasted over a year and after all kinds of delays, problems, lack of communication, and frustration, the solar is supposed to be brought online next week.  These kinds of things are keeping me on the road back and forth from North Carolina to Mississippi.  My hope is to have all of this taken care as soon as possible.

Our meetings have been going well, despite the changes in the family.  (In reality, we are in the time of life when a lot of things change anyway.)  For some meetings, Esther and Daniel will travel with me.  This makes special music an adventure, different from what we have ever done before.

As I type this, we have just closed a meeting in Morganton, NC, about 50 miles north of where our trailer is parked.  Once I return from MS, we will be in Greenwood, SC, before packing up the trailer and heading to IL.

God continues to open doors for us as we serve Him, and we are grateful for every opportunity He sends our way.  Two missions opportunities loom in the future for us in 2024.  The first is a meeting in the Dominican Republic in January of next year.  The second is another trip to Italy in July.  Please pray that the Lord will supply the resources needed for these two trips.  The trip to the Dominican will be a first for us.  Italy has become a favorite destination for us due to the lasting friendships we have made there and the abundant fruit we saw during our last trip.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. 

Out of the desert

 The Lord has been very good to us over the summer months. After our ministry in Canada, we made our way to Southern California to be with the Fundamental Baptist Church of Escondido.  This church has been having me in for meetings for 20 years, and it was great to be with them again.  Also, it is wonderful to be in a church that still stands today where it stood 20 years ago.

From there, it was on to the desert and a church plant in Phelan, California.  What a joy it is to serve these new works that are just getting started.  From the Mojave Desert, we then crossed to the Sonoran Desert of Arizona.  For several weeks, we ministered in different parts of Arizona from Phoenix, to Amado and Tucson, to Safford.  God opened many doors for us while we were there.

One of the highlights for me was preaching on the San Carlos Apache Reservation.  It was on this reservation 20 years ago that God first opened my eyes to the needs of the Native Americans.  There are some of these Apaches that I have known for years.  They are still serving God after all this time.  

After a fruitful, if hot, time in Arizona, we came through Mississippi for a two day stop at home before heading on to South Carolina.  While we were in Arizona, a low-hanging tree branch scraped our roof and peeled it back from the front of the trailer.  I patched it as best I could in order to get it back to my repairman in Mississippi, but we had to go on to the Carolinas without it.  After preaching five times in the Carolinas in a church and Ambassador Baptist College, I made a whirlwind trip back to Mississippi to pick up our trailer and drive it to NC.  After two days of driving, Sarah and I got on a plane to go to Colorado.

Colorado was the home of the Baptist Circuit Riders Ministry meeting, and I was invited to participate.  What a joy to see men from all over the small towns of the prairie meet for fellowship and encouragement!  These men are doing a great work, and it was good to be a part of it.

Sarah has been asked to teach piano at Ambassador Baptist College this year.  This means that there will be some meetings where I will be alone as I preach.  There are still a few where she will be able to be with me, but our family feels as if it is all over the place these days.  Please pray for us as we deal with the logistics of travel without Sarah.  We have a very busy schedule going into next year, so we need the Lord's help.

In closing, let me say what a privilege it is to serve God!  There are needs everywhere in the United States, Canada, and every place that you and I might find ourselves.  May we, like our Savior in Sychar, be ready to minister to others as the opportunity arises.

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.

New Home

 The songwriter said it this way: "Just wait 'til you see my brand new home."  Of course, he was talking about heaven, but the song has gone through my mind a couple of times as we contemplated replacing our old trailer.  The Lord made a way for us to get another trailer, a 2020 model that we purchased barely used (it went on 3 trips).  If you were to come to our house in Mississippi right now, you would see the possessions of two homes stacked around the house.  A random washer sits in the sun room waiting to be installed in the trailer, for example.  Clothes have to be sorted, dishes sorted, everything gone through and decisions made as to where to put it in the new trailer.  One member of the family holds out hope that some of the stuff from the old trailer will find its way to the dump, but his identity will remain a secret.  It was he who tried to get other members to throw a garment away every time a new one arrived from the thrift store.  Sadly, his admonitions went mostly unheeded, his advice disregarded.  But, as I said, he will remain anonymous.

Our old trailer is for sale on consignment right now.  Many have expressed interest in the unit, one person even placing a nonrefundable deposit on it.  He has 30 days to come up with financing.  Please pray that he is successful and that we can get our unit sold.

We have decided to replace the suspension on the new trailer.  The thinking is that we could have it replaced in a professional shop in Memphis, or we could replace each spring one by one along the side of the highway somewhere.  Having done the latter more times than I care to count, I am voting for the former.  The new suspension will be greatly upgraded in hopes that we will not have problems down the road.

The work on the trailer will scarcely be completed before we take off for Canada, California, and Arizona.  We are looking forward to God doing great things in our meetings.

After hearing all the wonderful things that God had done for us in the purchase of our truck, a friend of mine recently exclaimed, "Why wasn't I told about it? I would have loved to have gotten involved!"  In the spirit of answering his question, let me say that there is a financial need regarding the trailer.  If you would like to get involved, please contact me.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.  May God bless all of you.

Traveling Again

It was January 14, 2023, that our family began meetings again.  We are currently in the state of Ohio without our trailer in case we encounter bad weather.  The churches all had a place for us to stay, allowing us to keep the trailer at home.  As I write this, we are entering a winter storm warning for this part of the country and I am grateful to not have to worry with freezing hoses and iced-in slides.

God is once again allowing us to see people saved as we travel, and there is nothing more important than that.  Our children are doing well, two of them in college and two of them with us on the road.

Our son Daniel broke his wrist this past Sunday night in a youth activity.  His left arm is in a splint that will be on there for two weeks after which time he has to go to the doctor again.  I am proud of him in that he gave his all during the game.  Sure, he ran into the gym wall and broke his wrist, but at least he wasn't a wimp sitting in the corner.

We have one more church to serve in Ohio before we head back home to Mississippi.

There is a great burden on my heart that I wish to leave with you today.  It concerns the need for laborers in God's service.  It seems that on a regular basis, I hear of more churches in need of pastors.  Right now, there are two particularly on my mind, and I could probably think of more if I thought hard enough.  All over the United States, to say  nothing of the foreign fields around the world, there is a great need for laborers in God's work.  From soul-winners to Sunday school teachers to pastors to evangelists, the need is great. Would you pray for two things with me?  First, ask God to call and send forth laborers into His harvest.  Second, ask God what you can do to be a laborer for Him.  Each of us has a job that needs to be done.

Our travels are supposed to take us as far as Canada and California in the course of this year.  Would you please pray for souls, servants, and safety?  That is the need of the hour.

Christmas

 The Crow family is home for the holidays, or at least will be once our two college students come home in a couple of days.  We will work in our home church with the Christmas program this coming Sunday and then fill the pulpit in the pastor's absence the following Wednesday.

The past month has been one of constant breakdowns, not for the truck, but for other equipment.  Our trailer will be in need of more and more repairs as time goes on since it is probably near the end of its usable life as an evangelist's home.  It has given us seven years of service and we are grateful for the opportunity that it provided for us to have the family together.

As we were on our way back from our fall round of meetings, we had a new bearing fail on the trailer.  Before I could get the trailer off the road, the failed bearing damaged the axle, leaving us stranded in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Eastland Baptist Church was very gracious to provide for our needs while we were in Tulsa, even including a generous offering to help take care of the repair bill.  The axle we needed was unavailable, so I left the trailer in OK and traveled on to MS to get the family home.  While at home, I was able to get an axle from a local trailer shop with whom I have done business before.  I then drove back to OK with the part, got my trailer and brought it back home.

Meanwhile, Sarah's car broke down.  We have been told that it will cost $6,900 to repair it, which is greater than twice what we paid for the car.  So now, we are down to one vehicle again.  Thank God, the truck is running well.

As I reflect on 2022 in ministry, I am amazed by all that God did.  First of all, we celebrated 20 years in full-time evangelism.  "Celebrated" is a misleading term because our day of celebration was no different from days when we weren't celebrating.  Nevertheless, not many men can say that they have continued in evangelism for 20 years.  God has allowed us to be in the number that have been able to be in it for the long haul.

God gave us a truck this year as well.  You can find details about it in previous posts.  We are so grateful to the many people all over America that generously gave to help meet this need.  God was in it from the very beginning.

Mostly, as I look back over this year, I am overwhelmed by the numbers of people that have been saved.  The fields all around the world are white unto harvest, and God has allowed us to be a small part of the reaping work.

Please pray for wisdom for us as we schedule the coming year and beyond.  Travel costs are higher than they have ever been, and we need God's help as we make decisions going forward.  Thank you all for your prayers.

Fruit

 In most parts of the United States, harvest season is upon us.  Whether it is grain in the Great Plains, truck farms in the Southeast, or harvests elsewhere, this is the season of reaping.

Similarly, this past month has been a season of spiritual reaping for our ministry.  It has been many years since we have seen the numbers of people trusting Christ in our meetings like we have been seeing this year.  The year has had its share of distractions (see previous posts), but God has brought us through them, and we rejoice in the people that have professed Christ in different parts of the country.

Please permit me to share the specifics of one story.  Pax is a young man living in the panhandle of Idaho.  His brother first heard the gospel in our meeting a couple of years ago and eventually trusted Christ as Savior.  Beginning on Sunday morning and going through the week, Pax heard the Gospel.  The Holy Spirit was working in his heart, but he was not ready to fully yield.  He even came forward in a couple of the services, but declined to allow anyone to speak with him one-on-one.  Thursday, I preached from the story of Saul on the Damascus Road.  I entitled my message "When God Confronts Man."  After hearing the message, Pax came again to the altar and this time, he allowed the pastor to deal with him privately.  He finally surrendered everything to God and trusted Christ that night.  It was Thursday.  Pax's whole family has some headwinds to overcome.  It has been overwhelming, however, to see what God has done so far in their hearts.  We look forward to what He will continue to do in the future.

Our ministry has been in the Intermountain west this past month with the exception of one week in North Carolina.  Thank God for the invention of the airplane.  In a few days, Sarah and I will head to the airport once again and get on board a plane to a meeting in West Tennessee.  After that, it is Colorado and South Dakota before we head home for Thanksgiving.

One of the highlights for me in this month has been seeing my two younger children take the leap into greater ministry.  For years, Abigail did children's meetings every night of our meetings.  This is a tremendous addition to the service, especially considering the fact that many unsaved people are not in the habit of teaching their children how to behave in church.  When Abigail went to college in August of this year, we felt her absence in dealing with the children.  Esther has now stepped into her shoes, and I am grateful.

Daniel was asked to lead singing in our last meeting.  For a 13-year-old, he doesn't do a bad job.

The bottom line is that I love seeing my children step up and take on more ministry responsibility.  

We lack a little bit of fully paying off the truck.  I will let everyone know when that need is met.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.  

Supply, Continued

 The round of meetings is in full swing with us traveling through the Midwest and into the Intermountain West.  In meetings in Minnesota, Nebraska, Virginia (thank God for the invention of the airplane), and Wyoming, we have seen some wonderful results from the Lord's working in hearts.  Best of all are the souls that have trusted Christ at different places along the way.  We praise God for each of these baby Christians and covet your prayers for their growth in the Lord.

Another blessing along the way is how God continues to call men into His ministry.  This trend seems to be growing in this country and others in which we have ministered.  Thank God for calling laborers into His harvest!  Thank God also for those who heed his call.

The truck fund is growing steadily.  You may remember from our last update that we decided to get another truck.  We found something to meet our needs in Hickory, NC, and have made the purchase.  The new truck is a 2021 Ram 3500 having just over 20,000 miles on it when we purchased it.  An individual put up the entire purchase amount and said that when the money comes in, we can simply reimburse him.  Out of a total of $68,000 needed for the purchase of the truck, $61,250 has come in so far.  The funds are all run through the Clearview Baptist Church of Southaven, MS.  Churches and individuals have given generously to this need so far, and we are confident that God will continue to supply.

We had no sooner gotten a working truck than the trailer gave us major trouble.  On the way from Duluth, MN, to Omaha, NE, a leaf spring broke on the trailer.  After looking at the other springs, the man at the trailer parts store informed us that the others would break soon, hopefully not all at once.  I decided at that time to do something that I should have done much earlier and upgrade the springs to heavier ones.  This trailer is a 16,000-lb. unit designed with 14,000 lbs. of suspension.  It is a wonder that we have not had greater problems than we have had with the suspension.  The new suspension is now rated for a 16,000-lb trailer.

In the process of all the work, a trailer slide-out motor failed on us and we had to push and pull the room in and out by hand.  The good news is that this motor has failed enough that Daniel and I are pretty good at changing it out.

Now, it would seem that all our equipment is in good working order.  Best of all, the Lord is blessing in our meetings.  Sometimes I fear that the mechanical issues can distract from the main thing of preaching the Gospel and ministering to churches.  (This fear becomes particularly acute whenever I am trying to work on the trailer.)  In the end, every soul that professes Christ reminds us of why we do what we do.

Thank you all for praying.

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.

Healing 2

 Our last update highlighted Josiah's skin problems and asked for prayer for his healing.  Thank the Lord for answered prayer.  He is well now and traveling with a group representing Ambassador Baptist College.  Each of the family has dealt with a measure of what Josiah had.  None of the symptoms that the rest of us dealt with were as bad as what he had to endure, but we all had something of skin problems to deal with.  Other than Josiah, Sarah has had the worst time of it.  The doctor says that it is a virus, and she is on anti-viral medication to help prevent the spread of the disease.  There are also measures that she is taking to alleviate the awful itching that comes along with it.  This itching has kept her awake many nights.  Please continue to pray for her and the rest of the family as we deal with this illness.

Camp in New Mexico is a highlight for our family.  This year, we had the privilege of serving alongside some great people, most of whom we knew, but one of whom was a bit new to us.  Jack Martinez from Cornerstone Baptist Church of Phoenix, Arizona, proved to be a great asset to camp this year.  Though our numbers were small, we did see professions of faith as well as other decisions for Christ.

For the present, the Crow family is making preparations to go to Italy in the month of July.  We leave Tuesday, July 5, and return in early August.  During our time in Italy, we are scheduled to preach in four churches, vacation Bible school, and a camp meeting.  Please pray that the Lord would use us to be a blessing and help to the churches in Italy.

Before we fly to Italy, we must have a negative COVID test.  Due to our leaving the day after July 4, it might prove difficult to get these tests in a timely manner.  Please pray about this detail.

Around our nation right now, there is anxiety over rising prices.  From the filling station to the grocery store, every American has seen their paycheck not go as far as it once did.  I would urge you to look at the situation, not from a fretting standpoint of wondering how we will survive, but from a standpoint of anticipation at seeing how God will work.  God is using less traditional means to supply our needs.  Is He doing the same with you?  Through whatever means He chooses, we are confident that God will supply, inflation or not.  Thank you for your prayers.

Healing

 This update comes very quickly on the heals of another just released a couple of weeks ago.  Nevertheless, there is a need for which we need urgent prayer at this time.  More on that at the end of this update.

God has blessed our time during Abigail's graduation.  It was a wonderful night for her surrounded by family and friends.  Although Sarah's parents were unable to attend due to her mother's recent stroke, Paul's parents made the trip down from Indiana and spent some wonderful time with the entire family.  The days were filled with labor as we prepared for the ceremony and the reception at our house to follow.  In the end, everything came together well, and Abigail had a wonderful night.

The day after Abigail's graduation, I (Paul) flew to Northern Virginia to preach in the Grace Baptist Church of Woodstock.  We had a wonderful meeting there with Pastor Ken Sparks and his dear people.  One of the highlights was seeing the camp that God has given to that church and seeing the progress being made.  Pastor Sparks showed me the chapel and I was sold.  While not ornate or fancy in any way--it is camp, after all--the chapel was obviously constructed on purpose to bring about a preaching atmosphere.  It was a preacher's dream and spoke volumes about the camp philosophy.

While I was in Virginia, Sarah drove to Michigan to see her dear college friend Erin Thompson who is in the latter stages of cancer.  The time was bittersweet for her, but she was glad for the time, knowing that it may be their last together on this earth.  On the way, Sarah was also able to spend more time with her mother.  All told, she drove 1,800 miles by herself.

While we were both gone, Josiah, who was with the rest of the children in Mississippi, developed a skin rash so bad that it was debilitating.  The rash resembled first degree burns all over his arms and neck.  He has had problems of this nature before, but nothing as bad as what he is dealing with right now.  The problem is that when we take him to a doctor, they typically prescribe some cream to rub on the skin without delving into the cause of what brings about the rash.  This has never fixed the problem in 20 years, making us reticent to try the same tactic yet again.  Please pray that God will give us wisdom to know how to help Josiah.  We are to leave for New Mexico in two days, and he is to travel with a music group from Ambassador Baptist College beginning two and a half weeks from now.  From a human standpoint, we need answers soon.

Thank you, as always, for praying for the Crow family.

Graduation

 Much has happened in the last month in the ministry of the Crow family.  Our spring meetings have been blessed by God to see people saved and lives strengthened.  We are so blessed to be a part of the Lord's work.

Our schedule calls for a lot of flying this year to different meetings.  The day before Easter, I was scheduled to fly out of Memphis to the Black Hills of South Dakota for a meeting in the town of Custer.  My flight from Memphis to Minneapolis was delayed 11 hours.  Needless to say, I missed my connection to Rapid City.  Delta Airlines took me through Atlanta where I was able to get a flight to Minneapolis, arriving just after midnight on Easter Sunday morning.  The airline payed for a hotel room for me to get a little sleep before catching a flight later on that Sunday morning.  At 9:00 am CDT, I left Minneapolis on my way at last to Rapid City.  Sunday school was in full swing in Custer when my plane landed, around 10:20 am MDT.  The church was about an hour away from the airport, so I arrived during the song service.  The congregation was shaking hands and greeting one another on Easter Sunday as the guest preacher arrived in his blue jeans and collared shirt.  The airline kept my checked bag in Minneapolis in which I had packed all my suits.  Although the bag made it on the plane with me to Rapid City, I opted to spend more time with the people rather than change before coming to the service.  Therefore, for the very first time in my life, I preached on Easter Sunday morning in blue jeans.  The pastor has promised to hold it over me for the rest of my ministry.  The meeting was a good one, despite my violation of the church dress code for platform participants.

A scheduled work week to camp in New Mexico had to be canceled, leaving us a little time at home to get some things done.  During this time, Sarah received a call from her family in Ohio informing her that her mother, Terri Easterday, had suffered a stroke.  We decided that, despite the distance, Sarah was the best situated of all her siblings to go to Dayton and be with her mother as she recovered from the stroke.  Because everyone recognized the symptoms so quickly and got Terri to the hospital so quickly, the stroke was not as severe as it might have been.  After spending a few days with her mother during the initial stages, Sarah came back home.  Terri is currently in rehab and hopes to return home before too much longer.

Back here in Mississippi, we are feverishly preparing for our second child to graduate.  Abigail completed the class work several months ago, but the ceremony is coming up on Friday, May 13, 2022.  Sarah and I are thankful to be have two homeschooling projects completely done; two more remain.

Right on the heels of graduation will be camp in New Mexico.  Please pray that God uses our ministry there in the Gila.

Thank you always for your prayers.

Spiritual Birthdays

 One concept dominates this month of ministry for the Crow family: born again.  God has visited us with many professions of faith this past month as we traveled in meetings in different places around the country.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  

We have been in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and currently Ohio.  After a week and half more in Ohio, we head for Brooklyn, New York, to preach there.  Please continue to pray for souls to be saved in our meetings.

One of the greatest parts of serving the Lord in evangelism is seeing people saved who have been the object of prayer for some time.  This was the case in Semmes, Alabama, on a Sunday morning when a couple responded at the invitation.  The man knew he was saved, but his wife was unsaved.  The church had been praying with this man for his wife for some time.  It was glorious to see her trust Christ after hearing the Gospel preached.

Our equipment seems to be running well right now and all are healthy.  There is hope that we can travel for a while without having things break down.  Time will tell.

In the end of April, the entire family will be going to Gila Christian Ranch in Silver City, New Mexico, for a special work week ahead of camp.  We are looking to be able to take some friends from our home church to help with this project.  The goal is to redo some plumbing lines in the bathhouse, tile the showers,  and replace some damaged drywall.  Please pray that the right people will be able to join us, and that we will get everything done in the time we have.

Another item of prayer is a planned missions trip to Italy in the month of July.  We had to renew the children's passports through the US State Department and chose not to pay the extra money to have them expedited.  (They were expensive enough as it was.)  Please pray that they arrive in time.  Also of concern is the COVID-19 testing that still has to be done.  God knows all of that, and He is well able to work out all those details.  While in Italy, the plan is to preach in several churches in the country, as well as minister in a Christian camp to young people.

Thank you all for your prayers for our family.  Know that people are being saved, and many lives are being transformed by the truth of the Word of God.