Family, Friends & Supporters,
I want to give you a quick 3-point update, since we are in perhaps the busiest month of the year for all of us.
1. EE-Brazil ministry: On November 29th, we held our second The Gospel in Your Hand Workshop at a church in Salvador, Brazil. I'm still waiting for confirmation of the exact number of participants, but it is believed to have been more than before and in the neighborhood of 650. That means that in November we trained, in how to use one's hand to share the Gospel, about 1200 leaders in two seven-hour Workshops at this church! And the church has at least another 800 leaders they want us to train early next year!!
We are grateful to see this fruit from a two year project to get these new Portuguese materials translated, published and field tested in Brazil. As in the first Workshop in Salvador, one of the participants felt sufficiently equipped to share with a lost couple there at the church, and both husband and wife accepted Christ! How Great is Our God!!!
2. Regarding my health: My urologist called last Thursday, suggesting that he refer me to Emory Hospital/Healthcare to be evaluated by someone in their Urology Department. (For those who may not be familiar with Emory, it is a well-respected hospital in Atlanta and is in U.S. News & World Report's list of top hospitals in the US.) While waiting for this to be scheduled, I am able to continue working at my computer, meaning that ministry projects are still moving forward. We'll appreciate your prayers that the doctors will be better able to understand what is going on, in order to recommend a good long-term resolution.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
Hays Community Church Update
The Halloween Outreach went great. We hope you enjoy the pics of the kids in their costumes. It was a great way for us to serve our community. We had about 100 to 200 people come to the two Halloween parties that we did. Thank you so much for praying. The Lord continues to add to our church family. We are now about 14 or 15 families strong, and we average about 30 every Sunday night. Again, we are mostly thankful that it is unchurched people that we are reaching. We are excitedly looking forward to starting our second house church in Kyle in January. The weekend before Thanksgiving, we participated in the Missions’ Conference at First Baptist Euless. We felt so encouraged by the folks at that church. While there, Josh was ordained as a minister of the gospel. To the right is a pic of the men who were a part of Josh’s ordination process. This was a very affirming experience for Josh. We have one awesome story to share. We had a girl in our church pray to receive Christ last week. Praise the Lord!!! Her family had no church home. She got plugged into the after school club we do at Kyle Elementary School, and eventually, her family came to our church. This family lives across the street from us. We feel so privileged to be used by God to make disciples, build His church and expand His Kingdom. Your partnership with us makes that a reality. Thank you.
Prayer Requests:
We want to give you an update on Gracie. We found from the testing that they did that she is no longer severely dyslexic, but she is moderately dyslexic. This is a huge praise. What this means is that all of the intervention we have done with her is working. It is a slow process, but it is working. Praise be to the Lord Most High!!! Thanks so much for praying. Continue to be in prayer about our second house church that will be starting at the first of the year. We also ask you to pray that we would continue to abide in Christ. Only Jesus can bear the fruit. We must abide in Him. Finally, we would ask you to pray that we would trust God to be our provider. He has been so faithful to always provide what we need for our physical, emotional and spiritual needs. In these uncertain economic times, pray that we would praise Him for His faithfulness and trust Him for future provision.
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Philippians 1:3 says, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” This verse really sums up how we feel about you.
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Philippians 1:3 says, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” This verse really sums up how we feel about you.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Internet Evangelism
We have all heard of Internet dating, but what about Internet evangelism?
Well, this last week Brad and his wife Katy came over due to a little Internet evangelism that I did last month.
The story is pretty simple. It goes like this:
There is a website here in Fort McMurray that is used as a community classified ad and also a community event page. The website is called mymcmurray.com
One of the sections on this site has a long, long list of parents looking for child-care. Their are very few day care centres here, and none of them take drop ins. Many parents here have a live-in Philipino nanny to take care of the kids. Cinnamon and I took a quick look at our bank account and a long look at our kids and decided that their would be no such caretaker for our babies.
Katy was no live-in nanny fan either. Katy's post intrigued me when I read it a few weeks back. Katy indicated that she had moved to Fort McMurray from British Columbia and could not find child-care/babysitting for her kids so that her and her husband could go out on a date. It had been almost three years since they had gone on a date alone.
I thought and prayed about that, and wondered what could be done to help Katy and her husband.
I then decided to email Katy and tell her that my wife and I were new missionaries in town and had done a little babysitting co-op back in Texas with some good friends. I typed her an email and suggested that her and her family should come over for supper and we would get to know each other and maybe some time in the future we would watch their kids for them.
4 minutes after I sent the email, certain I would not get a response since I had made it really clear that I was a baptist missionary, Katy wrote back. Katy and Brad did want to come over and would love to eat and meet us. Last Friday they came over, with three kids and one on the way, and a dessert.
5 hours later they left. They enjoyed hearing why we left Texas, they enjoyed our hospitality, and most importantly they enjoyed seeing Jesus in us. She has never gone to church, and he is a self-confessed "former Mormon turned hellraiser", but they admitted that they did since a "missing piece/peace" within themselves.
Please pray that they will keep their promise and come back over again, maybe for the Christmas Bible story time in a couple of weeks. Brad said that he might bring his guitar and play some Christmas carols. We will see, but for now pray that the Spirit would convict them and draw them.
Well, this last week Brad and his wife Katy came over due to a little Internet evangelism that I did last month.
The story is pretty simple. It goes like this:
There is a website here in Fort McMurray that is used as a community classified ad and also a community event page. The website is called mymcmurray.com
One of the sections on this site has a long, long list of parents looking for child-care. Their are very few day care centres here, and none of them take drop ins. Many parents here have a live-in Philipino nanny to take care of the kids. Cinnamon and I took a quick look at our bank account and a long look at our kids and decided that their would be no such caretaker for our babies.
Katy was no live-in nanny fan either. Katy's post intrigued me when I read it a few weeks back. Katy indicated that she had moved to Fort McMurray from British Columbia and could not find child-care/babysitting for her kids so that her and her husband could go out on a date. It had been almost three years since they had gone on a date alone.
I thought and prayed about that, and wondered what could be done to help Katy and her husband.
I then decided to email Katy and tell her that my wife and I were new missionaries in town and had done a little babysitting co-op back in Texas with some good friends. I typed her an email and suggested that her and her family should come over for supper and we would get to know each other and maybe some time in the future we would watch their kids for them.
4 minutes after I sent the email, certain I would not get a response since I had made it really clear that I was a baptist missionary, Katy wrote back. Katy and Brad did want to come over and would love to eat and meet us. Last Friday they came over, with three kids and one on the way, and a dessert.
5 hours later they left. They enjoyed hearing why we left Texas, they enjoyed our hospitality, and most importantly they enjoyed seeing Jesus in us. She has never gone to church, and he is a self-confessed "former Mormon turned hellraiser", but they admitted that they did since a "missing piece/peace" within themselves.
Please pray that they will keep their promise and come back over again, maybe for the Christmas Bible story time in a couple of weeks. Brad said that he might bring his guitar and play some Christmas carols. We will see, but for now pray that the Spirit would convict them and draw them.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Clay Hilton- Church Plant update
There is no Johnny's Pizza in Fort Mac like there is in North Louisiana. There is no Calhoun's restaurant in Fort Mac like there is in Knoxville, There is no Dreamland BBQ lin Fort Mac like there is in Tuscaloosa. There is no Catfish Junction in Fort Mac like there is in Leesville, and unfortunatly there is no Simply Burger like there is in Euless. However, we do have my house, and I seem to be doing a lot of cooking around here.
Why? Well the restaurants here are way understaffed due to the fact that no one wants to work at a restaurant making $14 an hour when they can work in the oil or construction industry and make a minimum of $25 an hour. So the service in the restaurants is poor, the food is undercooked, and the prices are high. Think $11 for a burger and fries. So when you get invited over to somebody's home to eat, people tend to be more apt to accpet the offer. Last Sunday, these four guys accepted my free food offer. I made homeade pita bread, greek salad, corn, hummus, chicken, beef, and cookies. They devoured it and enjoyed getting to know each other.
Before they left I got a chance to pray for each of these four guys out loud.
If there is one thing that being in Fort Mac has reminded me it is that prayer works and is crucial to survival here in the spiritually dark Fort Mac. So I am asking that you please pray for these four men this week. Pray that Terry would come to Christ. Pray that Nick would be comforted by God. Pray that Dan would put God first in his life. Pray that Michael would find his significance in Christ. Also please pray for more meals like this one where people come together and share their hurts, struggles, and victories and allow the Holy Spirit to work on them.
Why? Well the restaurants here are way understaffed due to the fact that no one wants to work at a restaurant making $14 an hour when they can work in the oil or construction industry and make a minimum of $25 an hour. So the service in the restaurants is poor, the food is undercooked, and the prices are high. Think $11 for a burger and fries. So when you get invited over to somebody's home to eat, people tend to be more apt to accpet the offer. Last Sunday, these four guys accepted my free food offer. I made homeade pita bread, greek salad, corn, hummus, chicken, beef, and cookies. They devoured it and enjoyed getting to know each other.
Before they left I got a chance to pray for each of these four guys out loud.
If there is one thing that being in Fort Mac has reminded me it is that prayer works and is crucial to survival here in the spiritually dark Fort Mac. So I am asking that you please pray for these four men this week. Pray that Terry would come to Christ. Pray that Nick would be comforted by God. Pray that Dan would put God first in his life. Pray that Michael would find his significance in Christ. Also please pray for more meals like this one where people come together and share their hurts, struggles, and victories and allow the Holy Spirit to work on them.
Monday, October 27, 2008
CLay Hilton- Church Plant Update
Free Cookie Lady Needs Jesus, Please Pray for Her!
Mary is such a sweet lady, pun intended. She is the free cookie lady at the Safeway here in Fort Mac. The girls love her and give her hugs She gves them cookies. The kids and I have gotten a chance to really connect with Mary. She is way overworked due to a shortage in staff in the store bakery and has been at the point of tears two times while I was there. I have shared with her why I am in Fort Mac and told her that I am praying for her. Please pray that she will give me the open door to share with her about Jesus. Please pray right now, really right now for Mary's openness to the gospel and for her salvation. Open doors are crucial to evangelism here in Canada. Please pray right now, that God would continue to open doors of evangelism for me.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Church at Sun Valley
Friday, October 17, 2008
Angela Baker Update
Here are a few excerpts from Angela Baker's newsletter:
The Big Small Group
September kicked off the return of our small groups. The first month of my small group has seen and average of 20 people each Friday night! We have put people on every square inch of anything that even resembled a seat– exercise benches and balls included! It is very exciting to see such explosive growth and we are now working towards a plan on how to best divide the one group into three! We are working to maintain the warm, caring and informal environment in each of ours small group to allow us to delve deeper into God’s word and further develop our
relationships with one another.
Wednesday Night Small Group
Our Wednesday night group, which consists primarily of non-believers has also seen a good amount of growth with 10-15 people averaging attendance. The group is currently studying Ecclesiastes, which always proves to stimulate very interactive discussion among Russians– particularly non-believers. One of the exciting things with the Wednesday night small group is the excitement and initiative the participants themselves are taking. It thrills us to get phone call and emails from participants who were eager for small group to start back up and who do “homework”- that is what some of the none believers have taken to calling our application portion of the study.
Life on the Edge Seminar
At the end of this month we are bringing a small group of American businessmen and pastors over to participate in our Business Seminar "Life on the Edge: 5 Steps Away from Abyss" The theme of the breakfast is to share how prioritizing according to God’s principles can enable even the busiest professional or executive to achieve overall balance in life and work. Our keynote speakers will be Bob Forseman, Deputy Chairman of Renaissance Capital Investment and Mike Mellace, President Mellace Family Brands, Inc.
I have been very busy making all of the arrangements for this trip and for the seminar. It has been full of new and challenging experiences for me. The night before I left I was at a travel agency buying 18 train tickets. I booked the venue for the seminar, communicating solely in Russian and on my own! I will handle basically all of the details for the group once they arrives and until they leave a week later. In addition to my regular duties, this has kept me very busy, but it a great experience and I am very excited to see how God will use the seminar to impact the lives of those who attend! We are planning for 100 people to attend and appreciate your
prayers.
Chili Cookoff- Miracle Moment
Krysha will hold it’s Annual Chili Cook-Off next month. The Chili Cook-Off serves as one of our Momentum Building events, which provide us with a great opportunity to invite and develop relationships with non-Christians. Last year, while I didn’t win first place for my chili, I had the privilege of getting to know a young Frenchman who had come with his girlfriend, who is a Christian. She was a bit nervous to invite him, as he was an unabashed atheist, who had no patience for her “religious” stuff. Through the time he spent at the Cook-off and the time he spent in particular with a amazing Christian couple– his perception of Christians and “religion” was changed. We are praying that even more people will attend this year and that God will
again use it to draw people to Him.
New Roommate and Apartment
I moved into a new apartment three days after returning to Moscow in August. My new roommate, Aida, and the apartment have both been a great blessing. Aida is a volunteer with
Krysha and a good friend of mine. We have both enjoyed being able to use our apartment and our love of cooking to have a hospitality ministry by having people over for dinner about once a week.
The Big Small Group
September kicked off the return of our small groups. The first month of my small group has seen and average of 20 people each Friday night! We have put people on every square inch of anything that even resembled a seat– exercise benches and balls included! It is very exciting to see such explosive growth and we are now working towards a plan on how to best divide the one group into three! We are working to maintain the warm, caring and informal environment in each of ours small group to allow us to delve deeper into God’s word and further develop our
relationships with one another.
Wednesday Night Small Group
Our Wednesday night group, which consists primarily of non-believers has also seen a good amount of growth with 10-15 people averaging attendance. The group is currently studying Ecclesiastes, which always proves to stimulate very interactive discussion among Russians– particularly non-believers. One of the exciting things with the Wednesday night small group is the excitement and initiative the participants themselves are taking. It thrills us to get phone call and emails from participants who were eager for small group to start back up and who do “homework”- that is what some of the none believers have taken to calling our application portion of the study.
Life on the Edge Seminar
At the end of this month we are bringing a small group of American businessmen and pastors over to participate in our Business Seminar "Life on the Edge: 5 Steps Away from Abyss" The theme of the breakfast is to share how prioritizing according to God’s principles can enable even the busiest professional or executive to achieve overall balance in life and work. Our keynote speakers will be Bob Forseman, Deputy Chairman of Renaissance Capital Investment and Mike Mellace, President Mellace Family Brands, Inc.
I have been very busy making all of the arrangements for this trip and for the seminar. It has been full of new and challenging experiences for me. The night before I left I was at a travel agency buying 18 train tickets. I booked the venue for the seminar, communicating solely in Russian and on my own! I will handle basically all of the details for the group once they arrives and until they leave a week later. In addition to my regular duties, this has kept me very busy, but it a great experience and I am very excited to see how God will use the seminar to impact the lives of those who attend! We are planning for 100 people to attend and appreciate your
prayers.
Chili Cookoff- Miracle Moment
Krysha will hold it’s Annual Chili Cook-Off next month. The Chili Cook-Off serves as one of our Momentum Building events, which provide us with a great opportunity to invite and develop relationships with non-Christians. Last year, while I didn’t win first place for my chili, I had the privilege of getting to know a young Frenchman who had come with his girlfriend, who is a Christian. She was a bit nervous to invite him, as he was an unabashed atheist, who had no patience for her “religious” stuff. Through the time he spent at the Cook-off and the time he spent in particular with a amazing Christian couple– his perception of Christians and “religion” was changed. We are praying that even more people will attend this year and that God will
again use it to draw people to Him.
New Roommate and Apartment
I moved into a new apartment three days after returning to Moscow in August. My new roommate, Aida, and the apartment have both been a great blessing. Aida is a volunteer with
Krysha and a good friend of mine. We have both enjoyed being able to use our apartment and our love of cooking to have a hospitality ministry by having people over for dinner about once a week.
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