Another Project and TWO Unexpected Blessings!

February brought another project to help with..... Pastor Mike Foster at Hope
Baptist Church in Shillington, PA needed some remodeling work done.
Pastor & Terry met with him and 2 of his men about what could be done to
improve the inside of the place where they meet at the end of January.
The plan was to build a new classroom to replace the one in the center of
the church. (I'm sorry I don't have any pictures yet...) Terry went to work
there with Brothers Johnny & Jeff..in just a few weeks they were finished.
OK, it took about the month of February because of work still going on at
our church. They plan to build walls to enclose a sanctuary area this month.
I will try to get pictures of that!

 Now for the TWO huge blessings...... Terry met with a man we had known
quite a few years to get some financial advice. The surprise came when,
after talking a little, he offered to finance what we need (truck & trailer)
after he talked to his wife & they prayed about it. One week later our
pastor called us to tell us that this man will indeed finance what we need!
PRAISE GOD! Then, a day later we found a truck......not just any truck but
THE truck that God had for us! It was not what we were expecting or even
looking for. It was such a good deal we thought it was a scam! After
contacting the guy & going to look at it we realized that only God could
have placed this before us! We bought a 2013 RAM 3500 diesel, fully
loaded truck with 210,000 miles on it for $25,500! Book value is still
$47,000! The man we got it from bought it 16 months ago in Texas
for $63,000....he did a LOT of highway traveling. To see pictures you
can go here.

Sorry this post is so long and without pictures, but I wanted to post about
how good our God has been & continues to be to us! All we have to do
is be willing to follow...letting Him lead.....He is SO GOOD!

First call for help

I know, I'll soon be out of firsts....but for lack of a better title & because that is
what this post is about, I'm going with it!

About the middle of January, Pastor Montgomery called (he actually called our
pastor first, but I'll explain that later) to see if Terry wanted to go help their
church lay a new floor in their foyer, hall & Bible Assembly room. Since he
was going to leave in just a few days & it wouldn't be a long trip, he went alone.
The kids & I stayed home and did our normal routine....school! He took the
camera along and I encouraged him to take a picture morning & evening.
Below are some of the shots he took.....

He wasn't able to stay to finish because a snowstorm was coming. He found out
from Pastor Montgomery that they finished cleaning things up Sunday night at
9:30! The biggest blessing came the next Friday when Pastor Montgomery
e-mailed to say they had voted Thursday night to take us on for monthly
support! Our first church (outside of our own) to take us on!

Our ministry is set up in a unique way. We do not make decisions about where
we will go. If someone has a need, they are encouraged to call our pastor who
will discuss it with us & our deacons. After prayer by all & our church, we can
be sent to the place that needs help. This way we stay accountable to everyone.
God sure is good to keep us busy & (hopefully) be a blessing! I know we have
been blessed by this already!

First Time Presenting the Ministry

 It all started back in June....before we even HAD a ministry! We have known Pastor
 Montgomery for about 10 years. He had visited Mount Zion in Brogue when we were
 there & he brought kids to camp every summer. Always a great encourager! He heard
 Terry telling someone about our ministry, " I want to schedule you guys in our church,"
  he said. He threw out some dates & I wrote them down. We were at CAMP remember!
 After quite a few date changes, which was good.....it gave us time to get the approval
 from OUR church.....we went to Pittsburgh the first weekend in December.
 Terry was able to present our ministry in the Sunday School hour, Erin & Josiah played a
 violin/cello offertory & we sang as a family in the morning and afternoon services AND
 Terry gave a challenge in the afternoon service!

  Is was such a blessing to be there! AND God, in His goodness, had another
  missionary & his wife there that day and as we ate lunch together, he gave
  us some valuable advice! 
  About two months later, Pastor Montgomery e-mailed to let us know, the
  church voted to take us on for support! Praise the Lord! Our first church,
  well, outside of our home church.! God is GOOD!

 I must end with some of the funny things about this first trip;
 
 ~  My shoes literally fell apart on the way! The soles crumbled!
     thankfully we arrived early, found a Gabriel Brothers & I found shoes that
     fit on clearance!
~  As we were eating at Eat~N~Park, with the Montgomery's & another family
    from the church, the lights went out in the whole restaurant! The waiters came
    around with candles!
~ Josiah forgot a white t-shirt & didn't discover it until Sunday morning.....AND
   he brought a WHITE shirt & tie to wear! SO, Erin & I ran to Target to buy a
   white t-shirt!

  Sorry if this was long, there is much more I could say, but I'll stop for now!

A New Course

I'm not sure where to start, but I must start somewhere..... Since January 1st, we have started a new course for our life. Finish Ministries became official in November of 2013 when our church family voted to support us in this course our God has called us to. January 1st was the official beginning....when Terry had finally quit his secular job, though we had presented our ministry at Ambassador Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, PA the first weekend in December. I'll end now and post next time about that meeting in December.

Until next time keep pressing toward the mark!