Talking to Pastors

The assignment for today was to go on the edge of the rain forest and meet with different pastors. We got to meet and hear some amazing testimonies about what God is doing. God is using these TICO pastors to see their communities won for Christ. We saw three pastors and each one of them have an amazing testimony of what God is doing supernaturally.

We also met with a couple that have sold everything in the US and moved to Costa Rica to share Christ. They are not sponsored and they are just living on their savings.

I talked to Charlotte tonight and she said that Preston has gone trick or treating three times this week. I am sure I will be able to con him out of some of his candy. For you all that think this is bad, its not. I am trying to keep him from being a glutton.

Church Search

Today the mission team went out into a large suburb of San Jose called Heredia. We were trying to find different Baptist churches and map them with GPS coordinates. We found a church called Primera Iglesia Bautista. The pastor is Jose Antonio Solis. He is a man of great insight and vision.

We also found three other churches. At one of the other churches, we came across an Independent Baptist Mission Team from West Virginia. It was amazing to see people that were from the states so far in the deep of the urban city that only has Costa Ricans.

Tonight we went to a meeting with all of the missionaries in Costa Rica. We had a great time of worship and prayer with the Costa Rican team. We are blessed as Southern Baptists to have the missionaries that we have working in Costa Rica. I am amazed at the stories that they shared about being on the field here in Costa Rica. They are HEROES.

Great Day in Costa Rica

Today, we went and met a pastor and his family. His name is Oscar Brenes. Their whole family is awesome. Oscar and his family are church planters outside of San Jose. He is starting a church in a Catholic village. They are being persecuted by their neighbors. People line up on the street when the girls go to school and curse them as they walk. People throw rocks at the family when they are in the town. God is doing great and mighty things through their work. They have started three churches in the area. Each church runs about 35 people. On Sunday Oscar and the family were returning home after the last service and were going by the Catholic church when their car began to smoke. At the same time, the Catholic church was having a party that turned out to be an orgy with Homosexual and Heterosexual people having sex in the middle of the street. When they saw that the car had Oscar and his family in it, the people tried to pour alcohol on the car and set it on fire. They got the car started and drove off before they could set it on fire.
Oscar was very upset when he told us the story. We all gathered around him and the family and prayed for them. It was a very powerful time of lifting another Christian up to the Lord. I felt very inadequate praying and counseling a person that is going through something that I can not even imagine.

Possible House In Costa Rica

Where we are staying

front of possible house.

Day 2 in Costa Rica

Charlotte wanted me to make sure everyone knows the people on the trip with us. Gerry Davis is from First Baptist Church in Enterprise. Jeff Fields is from Hillcrest Baptist Church in Enterprise. Josh Keely is from County Line Baptist Church in Hiram, GA.

Today is day 2 of the 7-day mission trip. The biggest part of the day we went through training on the strategy and focus of the work in Costa Rica. The leaders of “Operation GO”, Mark and Kathy Kemper, spoke to us about place the Gospel of John in every home in Costa Rica. Mark and Kathy are true missionaries that are sharing the gospel with everyone they come in contact with. www.mikeandkathykemper.blogspot.com or www.opgocostarica.blogspot.com .

I also got to see my possible new home here in Costa Rica. It needs to be renovated but I believe that it is a nice house. The next entries will be pics of the house, language school and where we are staying at now.

Supper with the Duvalls

Tonight Gerry, Jeff, Josh, and I went to Steve, Debbie, and Hannah Duvall's home for supper. Steve is the strategy coordinator for the country of Costa Rica. Debbie prepared a wonderful supper. She is such a great host and made all of us feel welcomed. Hannah is in 5th grade, the same grade as Christian. I think they will be good friends.
Also at supper was a missionary named David Brown. David is part of the masters program with the IMB. He is from Michigan. We had a great time getting to know him.
We went to a grocery store that had all the American brands that you can find at any store in Enterprise, AL. They were higher than we pay but its nice to know when you need an Oreo you can get it.
The apartment that we are staying at is very nice. We have internet and cable. What more does a person need? We also have 3 bathrooms which will come in handy with four men.

I AM HERE

We have made it to Costa Rica. We have internet service. More later tonight.

Getting Ready

Today I am spending the day getting ready to preach the homecoming service at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Enterprise, AL. I am very excited about getting to share with people I know and love. I left Mount Pleasant in 2002, but I am still close to many of the members. The greatest thing about getting to go back to Mount Pleasant is getting to see the people, which will be the last time before we leave to go to Costa Rica.
Steve Bruce the pastor of the Mount Pleasant has been a friend for a very long time. Steve is just getting back from a mission trip to Moldova. God is really using Steve in a great way. He goes twice a year on mission trips to Moldova. They worked with pastors, in an orphanage and doing evangelistic work. I believe that God is using Steve to share an international perspective to the church.
Sunday afternoon I will meet up with Gerry Davis and Jeff Fields for our trip to Costa Rica. I am really looking forward to this trip. I believe that God will use it to help me to begin to have a more real vision for the work we will be doing in Costa Rica. Our flight is Monday Morning out of Atlanta. Be in prayer. I will have my computer so that I can blog while I am gone. I will also be posting pictures.
Charlotte and I have a neat opportunity tonight. We will be doing a “shop” at the Sheraton in Nashville. It is a five star hotel in which we have to order room service, use all the amenities and eat in their restaurant. This job of Charlotte’s is a rough one, but someone has to do it. If you do not understand what a “shop” is I will attempt to explain it. We are contracted to go to restaurants, stores, and hotels to critique the service and other attributes of the business. We are reimbursed the money for the shop and paid a small fee for the report. It is fun and we get to do some things that we would not normally be able to do. It does not pay a lot, but it is helping make ends meet.

Great Day

We had a great day at Temple Baptist Church in White House, TN. The people of Temple are such good and caring people. I preached from Genesis 3 about playing "Hide and Seek." The pastor of Temple is a wonderful pastor and I can see why my parents love him and his family. We also went to church tonight and joined in on a study about prayer. It is nice to have a time of study with your dad, brother and with other Christian men.
I will be in Enterprise next Sunday at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church.

What a WEEK!

Many things have happened since my last blog. My last Sunday at the Church on the Circle was last week. It was a very sad time as we said good-bye to all of our friends at the church. I know that God has great things ahead for everyone. We all must continue to seek God and be true to His will. Everyone at the Church has been, and will continue to be, a true blessing to Charlotte and me. Parrish and Holly had the church over to their house for a farewell lunch. We had a great time of fellowship.

Last Sunday night we had a great time at the ordination service for Slade Stinson at First Baptist Church of New Brockton. I believe that God is going to use Slade in a great and mighty way. I am so excited about what God is doing in Slade's life. I had the honor of preaching the ordination service. I went back to my old style of preaching. I had to - I was wearing a suit and a tie!

Last Saturday my lap-top crashed. No, I did not back up my files. All the work that I have done for the past 10 years is gone. On the positive side, I was able to get it fixed at the Apple store in Nashville. Apple took the MacBook, put a new hard drive in it and fixed the case all for free. I am a true believer in MAC. If you don't have a MAC you need to get one. It will change your life.

We have moved to Nashville to live with my parents until the end of the year. The kids will be able to go to school for nine weeks and they will get to see my parents before the big move. I have somewhere to preach until January allmost every Sunday. God is so good. We did not have a lot to move but it was one of our hardest moves. We loaded a U-haul trailor and the Expedition down. We could not fit another thing in either one of them. Wednesday was the day we drove up to Nashville. We unloaded on Thursday.

In Janaury we will move to Brewton, AL to spend time with Charlotte's parents. God has blessed Charlotte and me with good parents that are helping us during this time of transition. I believe that this time between Church on the Circle and the time we will go to Richmond for orientation will be a hard time of limbo. Pray for us as we are going through this time of adjustments.

It seems that our lives have been turned upside down. This is only the beginning. We will be going through much more change. I believe that God is using friends to help us get through it. On Thrusday Tommy and Robin Johnson came to Nashville to see Brent, their son, perform with his band "The Springs". We were able to spend about an hour and half with them. Today, Craig Lewis also from Enterprise, came to visit. We had dinner with him at my parents' home. It was a fun time.

I should be back into a regular rotinue of posting. Sorry for the time off. Pray for me tomorrow as I preach at Temple Baptist Church in White House, TN. I will be wearing a suit and a tie!

I Have Been Cleared!!!!

I have recieved notice today that I have been medically cleared. We are on our way to Costa Rica as Career Missionaries. Our next big event is the appointment service in Houston on November 11. We will be in Houston November 7-12. This will truly be an exciting time. Thanks to everyone for praying.

Prayer time for trip to Costa Rica

This morning I met with Gerry Davis and Jeff Fields. We had a prayer time for our trip to Costa Rica. We will be leaving in 18 days for a 7 day trip. I know this trip will be a great one because of what God is doing in our lives before we even leave. I also can't wait to see where Charlotte, the kids and I will be living and the work that we will be doing in San Jose, Costa Rica.

This Sunday evening I have the honor of being a part of the ordination of a good friend of mine, Slade Stinson. Slade will be ordained at First Baptist Church New Brockton. I will be presiding over the ordination council and preaching the ordination sermon. Slade and I have know each other since we were in first grade. He has always been a good friend. The ordination council will be at 4:00 pm and the service will be at 6:00 pm. I believe the service will be a time of revival because of what God has done in Slade's life. I want to encourage everyone to come and be at this very special service.

GOOD OLD FRIENDS

Last night we went out to eat with some friends that I have known all my life. We had a great time at McLin's in Daleville, AL. The food was so good. The friends that we met were: Roy and Judy Byrd, Scott and Sue Byrd, and their daughter Anna Beth, Mrs Mildred Hall, Andy and Karen Maxwell and their daughter Lydia. All of these people have had such a major part in my life. It was fun and sad at the same time as we had fellowship. It was fun seeing each other, and sad because we won't get to see each other for a long time. One thing I do know, they will be with us in Costa Rica because of their prayers for us.

Today Charlotte and I went and saw Dr. Andy Maxwell at his office for an eye exam. Charlotte is getting old. She needs reading glasses. She is 40! Andy took such great care of us. If you live in south Alabama and need your eyes checked - go and see Dr. Andy Maxwell at Denney Vision in Dothan, AL.

We also ran into Roger Stone at LifeWay bookstore. Roger is the pastor at First Baptist Church Pinckard, AL. We had a nice time talking with him about what God is doing in our lives. He invited us to speak at his church on December 7th in the evening service.

Enterprise has had another tornado. It went through the middle of town hitting the civic center, town hall and Wal Mart. No one was hurt, but their is a lot of damage. The damage is nothing like the last tornado. The schools released the kids at 2:00. Four of the school were without power. The tornado went about 3 blocks behind John Robert's school. They were without power, but had no damage. You can imaging that there are many people who are shaken up over it.

The Shack

Many people have asked me about the book "Shack" This video by Mark Driscoll is the best point of view that I have seen about the book.

Park Ave Baptist Church

Last night I had a great time speaking at Park Ave Baptist Church in Enterprise, AL.  Park Ave is the church that I accepted Christ and was baptized.  The people of this church have had such an important part of my life and ministry through out the years.  It was such a special time that I will remember forever.

I shared about my family's calling into international missions.  At the end of the service they all gathered around my family and prayed for us.  Park Ave agreed to be our prayer partners while we are on the field.  This means so much to me as we face the challenges ahead.  

I also want to express my gratefulness to Leon Adams the pastor at Park Ave.  He is a great man with a heart for missions.  Leon also serves the North American Mission Board as a chaplain to the Coffee County Sheriffs Department.  

All the test are done? - I Think!

As of today I have been cleared by the Cardiologist, Gastroenterologist, and the Hematologist.  Now all I have is to be cleared by the International Mission Board Doctors.  Since my last blog I have had my small bowel x-rayed and met with the Hematologist.  The x-ray is clear with no problems.  The Hematologist said  the day that I went that I was not anemic, but he did see there was a problem from the other reports.  He told me that he believed that the consumption of tea was hindering the absorption of iron into my body. He told me to stop drinking tea and wine and I should not have any more problems with low iron.  He cleared me.  Pray that I will be cleared by the IMB within the next week.