Visitors from Home

This weekend we enjoyed some visitors from Arkansas. My mother and Christel's mother drove out here together. I suspect they came more because they missed their grandchildren, than because they missed Christel and me. Oh well, whatever their motives, it was good to have them visit. They were our first visitors since we moved out here.
They came Thursday and left early this morning. On this trip, we didn't really do anything special, just spent time together. Maybe on a future visit, we could take them to see Charleston, or something like that.
We hope for many more visitors. In fact, we are so anxious for familiar faces, we invite everyone we know to come for a visit. Just let us know you're coming, and we'll gladly put you up for a few nights.

Another Good Day

Yesterday was another good day of services at Providence MBC. We had an excellent attendance in the AM service of over 40. That is very good for us. Many of those were kids who don't normally come on Sunday mornings, usually just for AWANA. I teach the Teen class (actually 6th grade and up) for Sunday school, and there were 11 in my class. We were hunting for more chairs before we could start!

Sunday night there was a young lady who came forward for baptism. Chelsea was saved a while back, but she had never been baptized. I think she was a little nervous about it. But she finally stepped out in the aisle and came forward. Praise the Lord!

It will probably be September before we can arrange for her baptism. By that time, maybe there will be even more lining up to be baptized!

Please Don't Litter

Today we participated in an Adopt-a-Highway program for one of the local roads. That means we patrolled a 2-mile stretch of Meadowfield Rd. in Gaston, and picked up trash. Evidently it had not been done for a while, because we found a lot of trash to pick up. I thought it would be a very simple job that would take maybe 2 hours to do. Boy, was I wrong. In the end, it took 5 people 4 hours to clean up that 2-miles of road. We filled up 50 bags of trash. That's a lot of litter. Needless to say, I will not be throwing any trash out of my window, and if my kids do, they'll be in big trouble.
This trash pick up is one way for the church to make the community better. We also benefit by having our name put up on the Adopt-a-Highway sign, at both ends of our stretch of road. I think next time it will be a little easier, because there won't be quite so much build-up. I think we will also try to get a larger crew together than we had this time.

Three Baptized August 6

August 6 was a good day for us in Gaston, SC. We had five additions to the mission work - two by statement and three by baptism. I just got some pictures from the baptisms, and that's why I hadn't posted anything about it yet. Bill and Joyce Wilson joined by statement. They have been coming for quite a while, when they are able. There are some health issues that sometimes prevent them from coming. (Pray for them please.)

Below you will see pictures from the baptisms. We do not have a baptistry, but we were fortunately able to borrow the baptistry of an Independant Baptist church nearby. It was much nicer than the swimming pool that we used last September. The pictures are of Freddie (16), Hope (8), and Houston (7). Please pray for them as they begin their walk with the Lord.

It has been so nice reading the comments from all of you. It's always nice to get news from home. Brian has posted a few blogs letting you all know what's going on with him. I thought I would fill you in on the kids and myself.

Blakley and Jacob started school last week. They both have wonderful teachers that they like and things seem to be going well. We got off to a rocky start, but it has definately gotten better. The first day of school I asked Jacob who he played with at recess. His answer about made me cry. "Nobody," he said. I asked why not and he told me it was because he didn't have any friends. But he and a boy in his class, Xavier, have really hit it off and I am so glad. Blakley, of course, had made many friends her first day. The only problem we had with her on the first day of school is nobody could find her when I got there to pick them up. I was starting to panic (this school is twice the size of the one they went to in Benton). After 20 minutes, 4 teachers and the principal looking for her, and me worrying myself to tears, she comes running out. She didn't know anything was wrong until she was told that her mom was looking for her. Then she got upset. That is a fear that I don't ever want to feel again. EVER! Things have been great since then though.

Christian loves getting all the attention during the day. But he also loves waking up from his nap and seeing that Bubba and Sissy are home. He likes having Brian and me all to himself, but he misses his brother and sister, too. He wants to go to school so bad. He shows off his abc's and numbers to just about anybody who will listen. Walking through WalMart, all we hear is "A-B-C-D-E-F-G..........." People just smile and keep on going. He's pretty cute.

I am finally getting to where I know more than one way to get places. I'm still not always comfortable going someplace new, but it's getting better. Saturday night I went to Home Depot for a workshop they were having. I did just fine getting there, but I got lost coming home. Which, if you knew anything about Columbia, you would laugh at me because Home Depot is right on I-26. I got turned around and went about 20 minutes out of my way. I had to find a part of town that looked decent so that I could stop and ask for directions - it was night time and I didn't want to just stop anywhere. I finally got home - after Brian had to call and ask where I was because he was worried about me. Boy, did I feel bad for not calling him. But he forgave me, as he always does. Ha ha!

The boxes are getting close to being unpacked. I am so glad. But what will I do with myself after I'm unpacked? Just kidding - there is plenty to do. I am teaching the beginners in Sunday School and the same age group in Awana on Sunday nights. I am really looking forward to it. This is my first experience with Awana, and I must say that I was somewhat apprehensive about it at first. I'm not going to go into all that here - if anybody would like to hear more about what I have discovered about AWANA, all you have to do is ask. I'd be happy to talk about it. We voted at our July business meeting to start a Ladies Auxiliary and monthly men's meeting. We do so much with the youth at our church because in the past, that's really all we had. But we are getting more adult members that don't have children, and we would not be doing our duty as a church if we did not provide for their spiritual needs as well. I'm excited about this as well. It will be nice to be able to fellowship with the other ladies in the church without the kids around. I've been missing that.

I better wrap this up. It's getting long. Thank you for taking the time to read it all. Our prayers are with all of you while we are apart. Please drop us a line whenever you can.

Grace be with you all,
Christel

My Family

This is a picture of my family and me, taken about 9 months before we moved to South Carolina. The kids are growing so fast, we will have to post some updated pictures soon. As you can see, my wife, Christel, and I have three lovely children: Blakley (8), Jacob (6), and Christian (3).

"Go ye therefore..."


This is an image that was designed by my wife and I. We initially used it for the display board that we carried around as we went to different churches on deputation. The point of the arrow is in the approximate location of Gaston, SC. If you know your Bible, you will recognize the phrase "Go ye therefore..." as part of the Great Commission, found in Matthew 28:18-20.

First Blog

Blogging is new to me. I know it can be a great tool, but since I've never tried it before, I hope anyone reading this will allow me some time to learn the ropes before they set their expectations too high.
My goal is to use this blog as a simple way to keep people informed about my family and the mission work in Gaston, SC. I hope to post at least once a week, probably more after I get accustomed to how this works. I also hope to get Christel involved from time to time, so she can share things from her unique perspective. Feel free to share comments, and let me know what you think. Especially if you have any ideas of how I might improve this blog.