From May 16 20, 2009, the conference for our mission board COME was held in Pella, Iowa at BereanBaptistChurch.Please pray for George Zinn who was not able to attend the conference because of an irregular heart beat and pneumonia. Many of the COME evangelists preached and all gave annual reports.I was able to preach Sunday night and lead the singing for Tuesday night.
Jane was able to minister through playing the piano on Monday and Tuesday morning and sing on Monday night.Caleb and Jane sang a duet on Tuesday night.In the middle of Until Then, Calebs voice dropped an octave, but he stayed on key and kept on singing.Yes, Caleb is growing up.
During the morning, we meet each morning to pray and discuss the issues that we all face in the ministry.The church took good care of our children during this time.They went boating, biking, and hiking.They also went to the ScienceCenter in Des Moines.This conference was well attended and very encouraging to us all.
After the conference was finished we where able to stay one extra day and enjoy the sites in Pella, Iowa.One of those great sites that we saw was the large windmill in the center of town that they brought over from Holland.
Caleb is spending the summer with his grandparents Pastor John and Jean Baughman in Kentucky.They picked him up on Wednesday.He is already having a great time planting squash and feeding the rabbits and helping Grandma with cooking.
From April 29 through May 10, we were able to park at the SilvisHeightsBaptistChurch in Silvis, Illinois.We started our ministry with their Awana Awards night and that night praise the Lord one child trusted Christ as her Savior.Then on Thursday, April 30, I spoke to the teens using my Bible study introducing the Sons of Proverbs.On May 2, we helped put river rock around the church for landscaping.That evening we took the teens out for an ice-skating youth outing and I presented the devotional.
For Sunday, May 3, we left our trailer in Silvis and drove a few miles to CoyneCenterBaptistChurch near Milan, Illinois.That week one of the deacons had gone to be with the Lord after being in a nursing home for several years.Because of the funeral several family members attended and through their tears both the congregation and the visitors were rejoicing to know that this dear loved one was in heaven.His life was a testimony of the blessings of faithfulness: although he served as a deacon in a small church, he is the father or grandfather of five pastors or evangelists.
That evening we went back to Silvis to minister to the needs of SilvisHeightsBaptistChurch.Their Pastor Greg Javaux was graduating that week from Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota.For Wednesday night I spoke for the Awana Workers Appreciation Dinner. Then on Thursday, I presented the second lesson on the Sons of Proverbs to the teen group.For Sunday for the teen class, I presented the final lesson on the Sons of Proverbs.Then, I preached on the return of our Savior.On Sunday night, I presented our ministry to the church closing with the pictures from my Philippines ministry.