First Meeting

We never cease to be amazed at how God works. After going through missions orientation, we spent the next couple of weeks getting all our materials in order so we could be ready to start calling pastors and setting up meetings. It’s amazing how long it takes to get together prayer cards, information packets, a website, a video presentation, and so much more.

Before making the first call, Tabernacle Baptist Church, the church where Dana grew up and from which we both graduated, invited us to take part in their annual mission conference. Not only are they providing meals for us the entire week, but they are also giving us the opportunity to present our ministry to the congregation. What a blessing to begin this intimidating new journey in the comfort of “home.”

Last night was the first night of the conference, and it was fantastic. The people were warm and welcoming, and it was so great to see so many familiar faces from days gone by. All of the songs were mission-related and stirred our hearts toward our calling. And the message, well, that was just another way God was at work. The preacher brought a convicting sermon using the Bible verse we had chosen as our key verse: Proverbs 29:18. He reminded us that when the verse says, “there is no vision,” it’s not only referring to the lost. Of course they have no vision. They’re blind spiritually. But, too many of God’s people today have no vision for the lost. We’ve grown so complacent with the fact that there are millions lost and on their way to hell that we’ve lost the vision for missions. Last night, our hearts were renewed with vigor to keep our eyes on those who need Christ.

God also sent in an unexpected financial blessing for our ministry yesterday, so that gave us a good dose of encouragement and helped to remind us God will provide for all our needs.

Lord willing, we’ll be leaving in a few short hours for dinner with the other missionaries attending the conference and then services to follow. We are looking forward to another wonderful night and pray God will continue to move in our hearts and encourage us as we begin this new journey in earnest.