FFM Online Newsletter - January, 2007

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions they fail not.
They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

 The year 2007 began at Albany Independent Baptist Church at their Watch Night service! We sang and prayed until the New Year was official, and then we stayed around to fellowship after that. Rebekah called us at 1:30 am, so our year started out in a wonderful way! We are so thankful that God's mercies are new every morning!! He gives us a fresh new start every day! We left Albany and drove to Louisville, KY to spend a day with Nancy's parents. Then we headed home for our final two days with David! He left for Mexico on January 4th, and we hit the road again for Hilliard, Florida on January 6th. We enjoyed a wonderful day of worship at the great Buford Grove Baptist Church and Pastor Curt Harrington and his wife, Gail! What a precious fellowship of believers! On Monday we headed for Cocoa, Florida and the Florida Jubilee at Calvary Baptist Church. We enjoyed the Spirit of God there as we heard dynamic preaching from Tom Gilliam, Dana Williams, and many other godly preachers. During the week we enjoyed the blessings of God when our family was given tickets for the Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida! What an amazing place! Only an Almighty God could create such  a magnificent universe and give men the wisdom to explore it. We left Cocoa, Florida with a new set of friends and family in Christ! We then headed to Hilliard where we stayed until Sunday morning when we drove 3 hours to Okahumpka, Florida to worship with Pastor Chris Hayes at the First Baptist Church. The aisles were crowded with chairs as they anticipate moving into a brand new sanctuary very soon! What a blessing they were to our family. We left Okahumpka and stopped in Gainesville, Florida to visit Rick's niece and her husband and family. We left their home and looked for a place to worship for the evening service. God directed us to the N. Gainesville Baptist Church where we enjoyed the wonderful Christian fellowship there, and were privileged to sing during the service! Pastor Gary Manning is doing a great work for the Lord there.

The Gilley Gang then headed home to prepare to move Rick's 91 year old mom into his sister's home. The week was spent getting her new place ready, and packing things at the old place. Moving week came, and we 7 Gilleys, along with Rick's sister, Martha, her son, William, his brother, George and George's wife, Pat, pitched in and loaded the U-Haul truck, (we just THOUGHT that we were through with U-hauls!!)  moved Gram's furniture and things, and then spent the week sorting through 32 years accumulation of "stuff" and having a moving sale. Much to our delight, all was accomplished by Saturday morning, and we all enjoyed the rare opportunity to fellowship! Gram is now settled in her new home and seems very happy there.

In the middle of all this moving, we took a night off to drive to Ripley, MS and the wonderful Unity Baptist Church where we were so blessed to spend time with our dear friends, The Rochesters!! What a blessing and an inspiration they have been to our family through the years. They are our "heroes"! Pastor Ronnie Barefield and his church were so special to have us to share in worship that night. What a pleasure to sing there! We look forward to returning to Unity Baptist in March.

God blessed us in a special way with an afternoon visit from special friends from Southport, NC.
Isn't it wonderful that Christian fellowship is not severed by time or distance?!

We finished the month at Philadelphia Chapel in Cullman, AL with Marcus and Leah Day and their family. We were privileged to minister and worship there in December, and are thankful for the chance to share in their fellowship again!

As we approach the one year anniversary of Faith Family Ministry, we cannot express our gratefulness to God for all that He has done! We have ministered in 78 churches and traveled over 40,000 miles. We have seen the hand of God at work in the hearts and lives of people! The Lord has blessed us with so many new Christian friends, and we have been blessed by the many churches around the country who are on fire for the Lord and serving Him. What an encouragement this has been! God is at work! We'd like to take this opportunity to thank each of you who have supported us in prayer, with your love, or with financial gifts that help keep us on the road. Thank you for allowing God to use you in such a mighty way. Without your support, we could not keep going.

God has blessed us so abundantly, and we can't wait to see what the new year holds. We are ready to hit the road again and fulfill the calling that God has laid upon our hearts. He has been so faithful!! Please pray for us as we prepare to head to NC and then to Linares, Mexico! Our heart's desire is to follow His leading. What an exciting ministry He has given us!!