FFM Online Newsletter - February, 2007

God has proven His faithfulness to our family over and over again during the month of February! We began the month enjoying the fellowship at our home church, Fairview Baptist. We are so thankful for the love and support of our church family! We also enjoyed celebrating birthdays. Rick's mom turned 91 on the 6th, and Rick turned 54 on the 7th. God blessed us with a wonderful fellowship with Bethel Baptist Church in Hartselle, AL on Valentine's Day weekend. Their banquet was at a delicious seafood restaurant on Saturday night, and then the Lord blessed us at the Sunday services as we sang and Rick preached. The van was packed tightly that morning to begin our journey to NC, Mexico and Texas! We headed for Lenoir, NC and asked the Lord to lead us to a conservative church at which to worship on the way. He blessed, and we stopped at Shenandoah Baptist Church in Cleveland, TN., and then stopped at Rick's brother's house for the night. We enjoyed the drive through the NC mountains the next day, and then started the Bible Conference at W. Lenoir Baptist Church with Pastor James Lockee. What a week it was as we heard the godly preaching of Tony Finney, Tommy Steele, Rick Safreit, and Steve Daggenhart . While enjoying the sweet fellowship there, we were earnestly asking the Lord to provide for the remainder of our trip. On the last night of the conference, a precious saint gave us an envelope containing the exact amount of cash that we needed to continue on to Mexico! He is so faithful!! We E-mailed our son, David, to get his bus ticket....we'd meet him at the Mexican border!!  We drove for three days, stopping in Denham Springs, LA to minister at Mt Olive Baptist Church with Pastor Dave Robertson. We drove until 12:30 am where we gratefully stopped south of Corpus Christi, TX for a few hours sleep! Monday morning found us at the US - Mexican border at 10:30 am, looking for David. At the very moment that we drove up and parked, he walked out of the crowd! In a few hours, we crossed the border and headed for Linares, Mexico! For a detailed account of the Pastor's Conference there at Battlefield Baptist Church, please click on our Mexico Update on the main page. The week was far and above anything we could have imagined or hoped! What a precious people they are! Several people were saved during the week, and our
spirits were revived.

After our week in Mexico, we drove to the border  with David and enjoyed shopping at the local market in Reynosa before saying our sad goodbyes at the bus station. Thankful to be across the border again, we drove to San Antonio, one of our favorite spots! We enjoyed the Riverwalk at night, and made our plans to tour the Alamo the next day. We were thrilled when we found that this was the very weekend of the Annual Reenactment of the Battle of the Alamo! We went from the Alamo to enjoy the boat tour along the Riverwalk before leaving town for Cleveland, TX. That weekend we ministered at Victory Independent Baptist Church with Pastor Daniel Goodman. What a sweet church!

We spent the next two days at the IBLP Dallas Training Center. In Dallas, God gave us the opportunity to tour the JFK Memorial. What a history lesson that was! We enjoy these field trips with our "students"! We also enjoyed sweet fellowship with a good friend there in Dallas. God is so good to bless us with such dear friends! From Dallas we drove to Winnsboro,TX where we ministered at East Point Baptist Church with Pastor Bill Miller on Wednesday night. Their church was packed and we enjoyed the fellowship there! We journeyed on to Linden, TX where we were blessed to be able to stay in a house belonging to a church member. There, we enjoyed three days of R & R out in the country with plenty of space for the boys to play and explore!

We are constantly amazed at God's grace and faithfulness. Whether it is providing tomatoes for our lunch, providing money for our Mexico trip, or working in the hearts and lives of people, He is mighty!!  As we reflect on this past year of Faith Family Ministry, we thank Him for the 78 churches He has opened up to us, the safety of travel for 43,000 miles, and the mighty works He has done. We are so unworthy to serve Him in this way, but we thank Him for calling us into His service! Praise His name!!