Pastor's Blog

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”  (Psalm 119:11)

Happy birthday to our daughter, Henni!  If my math is correct then she is 27 years old today.  Technically she is not our daughter but we have always included her as such.  Hope she has a great day!

No real reports from home but I am told that Bro. Johnny did a nice job of preaching the Word in our services yesterday.  Prayerfully, he was blessed with a good love offering too.

I pray that you will have a great Monday with Jesus.

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”  (Psalm 119:11)

Bro. Johnny Tucker will be in our pulpit for all three services today.  I pray the members of the Friendship family will be faithful.

Remember, we will receive a love offering for Bro. Johnny in all three of the services.  Pray and give as the Lord leads.

I pray that you will have a great Sunday with Jesus.

The team enjoyed a good Saturday.  The day started with musical worship led by Kay Ann Deubner with an assist from Dean Kapenga.  Pastor Bob Harvey then brought a word from the Word.

The medical team went one direction (I do not know which one) and the building team went West.  Both groups had really good days.  Laurie King is coordinating the mobile clinics and always does a nice job.  I appreciate Laurie and the work she does in this area.

Supper was followed by a time of fellowship.  So, it was a good day all the way around.

Pray for this team.  Thank you.

The team arrive on the mountain around 11:30PM on Thursday night, 1/31/19.  We are very thankful that our Michigan friends were able to get out of Grand Rapids as the weather had been nasty.  They met three others in Atlanta and the rest is history.

The Friday morning was different.  First, breakfast was cold i.e. cereal and breakfast bars.  The morning devotional time was a bit abbreviated with no musical worship.  Then everyone headed down the hill to the site of the new school for a ground breaking ceremony.  There the team was joined by local and state dignitaries including principals from other schools, officials from the state department of education, the head of the state department of education and the governor of the state of Chimaltenango.  Also, Delmar (the contractor) and his wife, Fabiola (the architect) joined the team along with some of Delmar’s key workers.

Deidra had planned a nice program.  Some of the children shared, one mother shared, the head of the education department shared, the governor shared, Lazaro shared and Deidra shared.  Then a photo-op with the shovels symbolizing the “breaking” of the ground.  Afterwards a reception was held in the feeding center building and it was nicely done.

Ok, enough of the soft stuff.  The building team under the direction of Dean Kapenga took off and they completed three houses to the point of being ready for concrete while getting the lumber in the ground on three more.  The medical team under the direction of Dr. Mark Stid (actually Dr. Karen is the boss but do not tell Dr. Mark) headed out and had a fairly easy day of doing medical.  Terri Scholz cleaned teeth of some of the children in the feeding center ministry.

Supper was served and then a time of fellowship followed.  That was this team’s Friday.

Thank you for praying and thank you for checking on this team.  All is well.

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”  (Psalm 119:11)

Let’s begin with some good news!  This is what I received from Larry Whitehurst yesterday – “the oncologist did not see any damage to surrounding tissue from the radiation. The tumor has not grown. It does take an uncertain length of time for the radiation to kill the cells in the core of the tumor but 90 percent of the time it does work. We will follow up with another MRI in six months.”  Praise the Lord!  Larry & Judy have been trusting God through all of this and they continue to do so.  Keep praying!

Gloria Whitmore has been discharged from the hospital – are you kidding me!  What an amazing person Gloria is when it comes to going through surgery and then recovering completely like two hours later.  Seriously, pray for Gloria as she goes through rehab (which will probably be like two days!)

I am told that Miss Catherine Leach is doing well and has a great attitude.  She always seems to be one with a positive attitude.  Keep praying as she too will be in rehab.

Bro. Benny and our bus workers meet this morning at 8:30AM.  Pray for this ministry.

Our basketball leagues play today beginning at 8:00AM.  I think Marcus is working so that means Eddie is totally in charge – help us!  (I am going to see if Bob Evans can lend Eddie a hand!)  Pray for this ministry.

Evangelist Johnny Tucker will be our guest in the pulpit at Friendship this Sunday, 2/3.  Friendship family, please be faithful to attend all three services.  Remember, we will receive a love offering for Bro. Johnny in all three services too.  Pray and then give as the Lord leads.

The amount given and pledged to the school construction now stands at just under $522,000.  Amazing!  Just amazing!  We hope to continue receiving gifts and pledges as we would love to be fully funded for the first year before it begins and to have the third level completed as well.  Thank you to all who have prayed and to those who are giving.  What a blessing!  Glory to God!

I pray that you will have a great Saturday with Jesus.

Ok, we obviously know that God can do miracles.  What?  Read my last entry regarding the offering.  So, this morning I am asking you to join me in praying for Larry Whitehurst as he meets with the doctor to get the results of the MRI taken yesterday.  Let’s believe for a good report.

Keep praying for Gloria Whitmore and Catherine Leach as they recover from their recent respective surgeries.  I continue to be amazed at how well Gloria does following surgery.  Miss Catherine is obviously older and more frail so pray for these ladies.

Anna Carol will have her procedure done in about ten or twelve days.  Keep praying for Anna Carol.

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much!”  “Pray without ceasing!”

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”  (Psalm 119:11)

“HALLELUJAH!  HALLELUJAH!  HALLELUJAH!”  We have now seen the thirty one days of January come and go and we were able to witness a special move of God regarding the building of a school in Guatemala.  I do not know if we ever had a “goal” per se in the beginning of this effort but our Hallelujah goal was five hundred thousand dollars.  The Lord honored that and it pleases me to announce that we have received $516,160.74 in gifts and pledges toward the construction of the school.  I am telling you that will make a Baptist shout!  It did me!  I have been shouting for days because I have been looking at the numbers and just kept saying, “thank you Jesus!”  Absolutely amazing!

Individuals, churches, ministries, et cetera have graciously given to help get us to this point.  No gift has been too small and obviously none has been too large.  I can only say “thank you” to each person, each church, each ministry that has given.  We have crossed denominational lines, state lines, racial lines, social lines, gender lines, age lines, all lines and have come together working for a common goal.  Together, with God, we can!  Together, with God, He did!  Give Him glory!

I am pumped!  Have you figured that out yet?  The mission house just got invaded by thirty three Northerners and not even that has rained on my parade – LOL!  I am obviously just kidding as these are some of the finest folks you will ever meet.  All of the team arrived together and we will all be taking part in a ground breaking ceremony at 9:00AM tomorrow.

We still have a way to go in order to be set financially for the first year as there are administration costs, curriculum costs, uniform costs, food costs, et cetera.  We also want to add the third story quickly.  So, will you pray and spread the word?  We hope to have another video up and running real soon.  (Looking at you Tony!)

Wow!  How does one wind down after this news?  Hallelujah!

I pray that you will have a great Friday with Jesus!