Silcott Ministries

August 22-27, 2010

We held our last Daily Vacation Bible School at the Heritage Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon.   Our theme this year was “Quest For God’s Treasures.”  It opened doors to explain the treasures of heaven, the Bible, and answered prayer.  This week we saw two boys and one girl trust Christ as their Savior.  Please pray that these children will keep coming to church and bring their parents with them.

We were also able to minister to several of the youth that attend the church.  Some shared that they know Christ as their Savior, but living for the Lord is difficult at home and in school.  Please pray for these teens as they strive to live for the Lord.  Next week we are going to have our trailer worked on and get some rest for a few days.

During the week of August 15 - 20, 2010, we served in Daily Vacation Bible School in Pinole, California.  First Baptist Church is located in the east bay of San Francisco Bay.  We have developed many good friends and it was good to see them and Pastor and Mrs. Baker.  During the week we saw two trust Christ as their Savior and two other boys responded daily for assurance.   Please pray that these two boys will soon understand that they need to trust Christ as their Savior one time.  Salvation is for eternity Christ died only once and we only need to trust in His salvation only once. 

As we were parked at the church, Bobby Swayze helped me solve a problem with our truck.  The truck was leaking antifreeze from the elbow on the overflow tank sitting on the top of the motor.  Bobby knew just what needed to be done and he fixed it with some sand paper and a mixture of some epoxy plastic and some hardener.   The process is called “cold welding.”  Praise the Lord our leak is fixed and we have a clean air filter so the truck can breathe again.

We ended our ministry at Victory Ranch with another week of juniors, grades 3-6.  Although lower in numbers, we saw four campers trust Christ as their Savior during Junior II.  Eight campers also stood in the invitation declaring their intention to live for the Lord at school and back at home.   This was a big difficult decision for some of these young people: many came from broken homes.  For some, although their parents claim to be believers, they encourage their children to blend in at school by dressing and acting the same as their unsaved peers. 

In the morning Bible lesson we looked at the Sons Of Proverbs, a Bible study which compares and contrasts the attitudes of the wise sons and the foolish sons found in Proverbs.  Please pray that the campers will seek the characteristics of a wise son and not of the fool. 

As we left the rolling hills outside of Moreno Valley, our prayer is that the Lord will bless the camp as they get ready for the fall and winter months.

August 1 - 6 was a combined Junior High and Senior High week at Victory Ranch.  In the morning, I taught the Junior High campers the Bible lesson on “My Shepherd’s Staff” and Jane spoke on personal evangelism in the afternoon.  Pastor Jason Blunk of Ankeny Baptist Church and Faith Baptist Bible College spoke to the Senior High campers for the Bible Lesson and the Discovery Hour.  He also spoke for the combined evening service.   From the preaching of God’s Word, we saw four come to trust in Christ as their Savior.  One raised their hand saying that they would like to be baptized when they get back to their home church.   Ten campers raised their hand asking for prayer that God would help them live for the Lord when they get back home and before their friends at school.

Our young people today are facing lots of pressure from their friends and family to live like the world and fitting in to the world around them.  In Romans chapter 12 God pleads with us not to be molded by this world but changed from the inside out.  We should stand out and show the world that we are different and that we have hope in Jesus Christ that will last for eternity.  Please pray for these teens and the decisions that they made this week.   

July 25 -30, I preached and taught the Bible lessons for the Junior I week  at the Victory Ranch Baptist Camp in Moreno Valley, California.  The young people responded well to the preaching of the Word of God.  We saw three trust Christ as Savior and over 25 come forward in the service to indicate their interest in getting baptized when they returned to their local church. 

The camp offers many activities for the campers: swimming, horseback riding, crafts and many organized games directed by Francine.  The camp is located on the North side of Moreno Valley with lots of rolling mountains and trees that shade the camp in the evening.   The ranch has goats, donkeys, cows horses and wild life when the ranch is quiet.  So far we have seen one fox and three rabbits close to our trailer.   Please pray for these campers as they go back to their homes and the world pressures around them.

From July 19 through July 22, we traveled 1,700 miles from Kansas City, Kansas to Moreno Valley, California.  We parked our trailer at Victory Ranch Baptist Camp where we are ministering for the next three weeks.  Our trip was very hot and long, but we arrived on Thursday at around 10:00 in the evening.  During our trip, on the west side of Los Vegas, we had a tire blow out on our trailer that damaged our fender on the passenger side of the vehicle.   Please pray that our insurance will cover the damage on our trailer and that the tire company will cover the defective tire and the deductible that we must pay to fix the trailer.

After arriving at Victory Ranch, we packed the truck to travel to Santa Monica, California for a one day Vacation Bible School.   Bible Baptist Church in Santa Monica invited us to come and be the speaker at this one day event.  We stayed with Pastor Boone and his family Friday and Saturday night.  I spoke twice on Saturday for the Bible School presenting our theme “Quest For God’s Treasures.”  We had several visitors from the community come and enjoy the stories with Rawley and Randy and the two large jumpers and slides that the church rented.  Please pray that the visiting families will come to understand who Jesus is.  On Sunday I spoke for a whole family Sunday School and preached for the morning service.  Sunday afternoon we traveled back through Los Angles to Victory Ranch to begin their “Junior I” week of camp. 

From July 11 through July 16, we held a Daily Vacation Bible School at Olivet Baptist Church in Westwood, Kansas.  The children were very faithful at bringing their friends each day and inviting their parents on Friday night.  One boy trusted Christ as his Savior on Tuesday night.  The platform of the church was decorated with a mining-treasure scene.  They used ladders and other materials covered in brown fabric to form a large mountain and mine with mine cars and jewels spread on the ground.    

My allergies developed into a sore throat, my voice dropped to bass, so all my friends sounded like Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.  I am praying that my throat will clear up as we travel out to California.

On Sunday, July 18, I preached in the morning at Faith Baptist Church in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.  Sunday night,  I was able to rest my throat and think about next Saturday and Sunday in Santa Monica, California at the Bible Baptist Church.  We will be leading a weekend VBS.  Please pray for us this week as we make the big trip from Kansas City, Kansas to southern California.

From July 4 to July 9, Caleb and I ministered at a Daily Vacation Bible School in Britt, Iowa which is known as the Hobo capital of the world.  We had several children raise their hand for salvation, but only one came back to pray for assurance.  Please pray for the lost who heard the gospel but did not respond to the invitations.  We hope to hear of some of those children respond in the near future.    It was a joy to work again with this growing church in the northern part of Iowa. 

We had a youth group come down from Minnesota to help with Vacation Bible School and to do some landscaping in the back of the church.   Please pray for this church and the Baums as they strive to reach this area with the Gospel .

We are in the beginning of a very busy summer ministry.  From June 20 through July 2, I was the evangelist speaker for the Junior 1 and Junior 2 weeks at the Raccoon River Bible camp.  Praise the Lord, we saw 3 Salvations, 6 decisions for assurance, 3 dedications and 10 other decisions.  Director Jan Kolar and I met at Faith Baptist Bible College while I was attending seminary.  So, it was a blessing to serve together.  Pray for him and his wife Judy as they continue their ministry at the camp.  They have several children who currently attend bible college. 

The camp is located on the Raccoon River just a few miles east of Carroll, Iowa.  Although we had rain, the flooding did not reach the cabins, but the mosquitoes were thriving.  Back in 1988 I was able to speak at this camp for the Iowa Scholarship camp for Awana.  As a result I have spoken for the Bible camp several times throughout the last 20 years.  And we will be back to this camp in 2014 as the Lord permits. 

This last week June 14 through the 18 we held meetings at Camp Manitoumi in Lowpoint, Illinois.  The 80 plus children enjoyed their large pool and horseback riding.  Each evening they had a hay rack ride and snacks from the kitchen and open canteen.  I was able to use Rosie this year for the first time in my camp ministry.  We saw three trust Christ as their Savior and others that made life changing decisions.  One of the children shared with me that he was going home and destroying his Pokemon Cards and dream catchers.  We enjoyed seeing friends who helped in camp and others who dropped off children for the week. 

As we were leaving the camp, we got bogged down in the wet grass land between the road and RV gravel park.  It took several of the camp staff and two tractors to get us up on the road.  After getting out we made our way to the state of Iowa for our next meeting.  Jane is in lots of pain with her broken foot making it very hard for her to travel.  Please pray for healing power.