Thanksgiving Blessings

We are so blessed to report that we had a real blessing from our first big event! We had a Harvest Party on Sunday; our morning service was full with 35, then we had 64 total at the afternoon services/luncheon!! PTL!  It was such a blessing to see the room full with folks we have led to the Lord and have been working with for the past 14 weeks. What a blessing to see our faithful people ministering through cooking, passing out flyers, helping with the children's ministries for the day and greeting visitors! It was a great day to see how focused our people are on soulwinning and
inviting their friends and family to church. We passed out over 1,000
flyers that had the gospel in just 3 weeks!! I published a few pictures of our people serving at the event. More pictures to follow but I didn't want to let Thanksgiving pass without PRAISING THE LORD for all He is doing! He is a great God and is taking good care of us every step of the way, opening doors and closing doors and truly He is worthy of our praise!! Happy Thanksgiving....     Your missionary to Church Planting, Bro. Chip

Baby Steps!

It's been so long since we've blogged! That's a good thing in this case because we are so busy walking,  we have no time to talk about it! :) Since our last post, we have reached a whole family that has been coming to church. Grandma E was led to the Lord by Becky about six weeks ago and began to come to church with her grandkids. They got saved in Jr church the second week they were there and Becky led Mom to the Lord in a home visit later that week. The following Sunday Mom and grandma were in church!! I then folowed up in a home visit and met Dad who agreed to come to church the following Sunday! Dad came and they have been together in church every Sunday since! We invited them to mid-week Bible study and tonight were pleased to have them in service. It has been so encouraging to see this family grow; Tonight Becky and I were so encouraged when "Mom" Emory and "Dad" Brian purchased Bibles for their family. We went for coffee after service and they had so many questions about the Bible and Emory is excited about baptism. This couple is a reminder to us of why we are here and showing us that this brand new baby church is moving from the crawling stage to stepping. It's a reassurance that we are not here to build a church.... We are here to build people! Please pray God will keep His hand on WadeView Baptist Church and that WBC will keep her eyes on God.

Miracles!

It's been a busy week here in South Orlando for Wadeview Baptist Church and for our family. We were pleased to see 8 salvations this week ... Becky had the opportunity to lead to the Lord the adult daughter of a lady she led to the Lord last week! How exciting to see this family come to know Christ. Pray for Emory and her family! She visited last Sunday with her daughter and grandchildren and tomorrow, the whole family is suposed to come. Becky was also honored to witness to Miss Anne, a blind lady who said nobody had ever invited her to church before! She is in her 60's and had never been to church. We asked her if she wanted to come back, and she said, "It's up to you.... Do you still want me to?" She has gone thru a lot in her life and she needs to know the love of Christ. Pray for us as we continue to share and demonstrate His love to the community He has called us to. In the last week, we have had 17 first time visitors!!! We had 12 for our first service two wks ago, and last Sunday we had 27!! Our church planting team was so excited because each of us had a visitor there. I would ask that you pray for me as I go out daily visiting and soul-winning , that the Lord would continue to give me the physical strength I need as He has been.  I was priviledged to lead Richard, a 77 year old man to the Lord this week and was so excited when he came to mid-week Bible study and brought a visitor!! This week Team Gripton ws given title to a home, 3 bed 2 bath,  in the area. What a miracle working God we serve!! I truly believe that God is doing a great work and we are honored to be vessels He can work thru. Please pray and praise the Lord with us for all He has done and will do for Wadeview Baptist Church. Thank you!

Hey, Lady! And other hurting souls.

As you all know, my husband Chip and I recently left a great ministry we were missionaries at, Hope Children's Home, to join a church planting team out of Lighthouse Baptist Church of Central Florida in Orlando. Sunday was our first Sunday services and there were 12 in attendance!! Before you scoff, let me remind you Jesus had 12 disciples and they turned the world upside down!
Sunday was not without it's challenges!! One member of our team was in a near accident, our day started off with an electrical fire, we forgot paper cups for the coffee and had to make a last minute donut run, our sound system wouldn't work, and that isn't even the story of the day!! On Saturday soulwinning we met a lady named Jacky struggling with drug addiction... She listened to us but told Chip she is not interested in going to church. As we were leaving, Chip encouraged her to keep our tract and said "One day, you'll need Christ when you get tired of your lifestyle." As we walked to another door, she called out,."Hey lady!" so I turned around and she asked me to pick her up for church the next day. She was ready on Sunday and I was excited she was ready for service dressed in her best and obviously excited for church. While it would seem the Lord was at work, we can't forget we have an adversary! She decided ON THE WAY to church that she wanted to go to her "sister's church" instead and sadly she did not come with us. WHAT a crazy day!! The Devil does not rest when we do more for Christ... He is "walking about seeking whom he may devour." He has devoured Jacky's life and has great holds on her. So many people here are hurting and need Christ in their life.
South Orlando is full of those entangled by the Devil. Some, like Jacky, are trapped in a life of addiction and some like the two we have had the chance to lead to Christ since last week.are everyday folks, even good people, not realizing their Destiny if they don't turn to Christ.
Pray for those we are working with. We know that Christ has the answers they seek and He IS THE answer. We just want to.share it with them.

54 MILLION

That is quite an awesome number to consider! 54 million would be great if that was our nations debt...but no such luck. 54 million would be a nice salary...who says I don't dream big! No, at the present rate, there are expected to visit the Central Florida area 54 million people this year alone! 54 million, most of whom have no clue who Jesus is and what He did for them at Calvary.

There is the prospect of passing out countless tracts, countless gospel presentations, countless hours in discipleship and counselling all to turn around to reach more people with the good news of Jesus Christ. A mixture if American's and visitors from around the world to pass through Central Florida/Orlando by the end of the year!

Would you keep those people in your prayers as we try to reach as many as possible before it is eternally too late.

"Daddy, it's the Bible people"

... were the words that greeted us as we approached one of many doors as we were soul-winning today. What a title to live up to!! I thought of my complaints to my husband just a few doors earlier, "How much longer til we're done this street?" Ya, I admit.. real spirituality at its finest! I said outloud "The sun is so hot." I almost heard someone say "And Hell is hotter." I asked God to forgive my bad attitude and just two doors down this little girl was recognizing something I had not... If the. "Bible people" didn't care about their eternity, who would? I thought of the Jehovah's witnesses just a stretch over: how sad they don't have the answers the world needs yet they are one of the most faithful groups to spread their religion, AND here I have Christ to share and am sometimes just punching the clock and putting in my time. Sadly, that little girl's family has a lot of religion and no salvation. They were open to attending church for our first service next Sunday:) so pls pray for the "W" family , that God wil continue to work in their lives. Just a few streets over, God gave me the opportunity to lead two souls to Christ!! I heard myself say "Yes, it sure is hot out here today, but Hell is so much hotter. Do you know where you'll spend eternity?" I'm so thankful to God that He has allowed me to share the Gospel and called us to plant churches in Central Florida. How about you? Are you one of those "Bible people?" Share your faith! The world needs what you have. I have heard it said, "If not you, who? If not now, when?"

The pretrip jitters

Becky and I started packing up the house today in Tampa getting ready for a move to Orlando, FL where God has called us to be church planters in Central Florida.

The latest census figures show 1.2 million people live in central Florida with very few gospel preaching churches. During the summer months, as many as 12 million people pass through Orlando alone. What s hub here in Florida to share the gospel with people from all over the world and the country that I love..America.