Missionary Weekly Update

September 2010

Week of August 30-September 3, 2010

Scott & Brooke Greening, Schaumburg, IL
Less Mosquitos, More Contacts!
Thank you all for your continued prayers for our “End of Summer Celebration” outreach. We had another great night on Sunday. Several of the kids that came the first week were back and we got a chance to meet one of their mothers. We had several other good contacts with new families in the neighborhood. If nothing else we have learned a great deal about the neighborhood. This activity has confirmed our desire to pursue family support ministries. There is a huge need. We met an unmarried teenage couple that already have two kids, single mom’s, and kids that have little to no knowledge of the Bible. Pray that our last week of this effort will result in continued contacts and more relationships for the church. Pray also that this outreach will translate into visitors for the church and more gospel contacts.
New Move In Dessert
In July we started sending postcards to 100 new families that moved into our community. A few weeks latter we sent another postcard and a few weeks after that we stopped by to visit these homes. When we visit the homes we invite people to a dessert that will take place in our home this Saturday night. Brooke will be phoning the interested people tomorrow and following up with them. Pray that many of these people will come on Saturday. Pray also that we can begin redemptive relationships that lead to people coming to trust Christ as Savior.
Pella Mission Team
Late Friday afternoon the group from Berean Baptist Church in Pella, IA arrived. We enjoyed a great weekend with this group of teens and sponsors. We are thankful that they were able to help us canvass approximately 1,000 homes. Some of this canvassing was simply leaving a doorknob hanger, while others were knocking and seeking to speak with the people. We were encouraged with some good contacts from these visits. It was also encouraging to hear reports of people knowing about our church because of the various mailings and outreaches that we have done. Continue to pray that God will continue to build His church through our efforts at Great Commission Baptist Church.
Bible Studies
I am now doing two evangelistic Bible studies each week with men in our community. The Bible study with Leo continues to go well. It is exciting to see him understand more and more about the gospel. Pray that he will understand not just the concepts but his personal need for the Savior.
The newest Bible study is with Alonzo a contact from the first night of our “End of Summer Celebration” outreach. I am trying to wade through where he is at spiritually. He is from Colombia and comes from a heavily Catholic background and some of that background is seeping through. He was baptized at a mega-church in the area but is no longer attending there. He has been doing a “Bible study” with a Jehovah’s Witness but praise the Lord he said now that he is meeting with me he is going to stop that. Please pray for wisdom as I interact with Alonzo. Pray that Alonzo will come to a true understanding of the gospel if he has not done so already.
We are also hopeful that we can get another Bible started with another contact from our recent outreaches. Please pray that William will be willing to meet with one of the men from our church.
Praise & Prayer:
Praise: Lots of contacts made with the help of the Pella Group.
Praise: New relationships started with people on Sunday night.
Praise: Continued Bible studies with Leo & Alonzo.
Prayer: The last “End of Summer Celebration” on Sunday night.
Prayer: Fruit from the contacts made over the weekend by the Pella group.
Prayer: That People would come to the “New Move In Dessert” on Saturday night.

Blane & Kelly Barfknecht, Chalco Hills, NE
It is exciting to see the Lord at work! In two weeks we will have Chalco Hills Baptist Church’s first Baptismal Service. This is a wonderful testimony of the fact that God is working in lives. At this point we have three people scheduled to be baptized. One is my daughter Halli, she is 8. She recieved Christ around the age of four. There are two others who have come to Christ through the ministry of Chalco Hills Baptist Church in the last few months. These are answers to your prayer!! Please pray God will use this service as a testimony to their friends and family as they demonstrate their commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray for us as we work toward formal incorporation as a church. Our goal is to have all things in order and sign our charter on October 24th. Pray that God would work in people’s hearts to commit as members.
Please pray also that God would bring a new family to become a regular part of Chalco Hills Baptist in the next month’s time.

Bill & Jan Paton, Missionary Acres, Silva, MO   - New phone number: 573-244-5488.
We finally have internet, and it is the same address, wjpaton@gmail.com. Before we were using the computers at the hospital, but since Bill came home last Wednesday, we have not had access so that we could write to you.
We are greatly praising the Lord for sparing Bill’s life, and also for doing so much for the healing process. Last Wednesday one of his doctors came in at 5:00 a.m. and took the dialysis port out of his chest and said that he no longer needed dialysis. Then an hour later another doctor came in and took the drains out of his lung. About noon, his hospitalist doctor came in and said that he might as well go home. We got home about 6:00 p.m. It’s so wonderful to have him home.
He is now receiving in home therapy and a visiting nurse is coming weekly to check on him, etc.
Please rejoice with us in the goodness of our Lord.

Herb & Wanda Taylor, Front Royal, VA
Purgatory: Many years ago while traveling in missionary evangelism we were traveling north on Route 13 to New Boston, NH. Only a few miles from the church we literally came to complete stop with our 40 ft. 5th-wheel on a steep hill - we just couldn’t “make the hill”. A local driver suggested that we back down the hill onto a side road and he would lead us across Route 13 onto another road that would eventually bring us to the church. We followed him through one of the worst roads we had ever experienced. The road was under construction and was nothing but gravel, holes, and heavy equipment. We were relieved when we finally made it back to the road that led us safely to the church. However, we laughed when we saw the name of the road we had just traveled - it was “Purgatory Road”. We recently returned to New Boston but this time we passed “Purgatory Road” and traveled safely on to meetings at New Boston Baptist Church. Perhaps we are the only Baptists who have been to purgatory and back and have lived to tell about it!
Northfield: On August 1 we were met by this sign as it welcomed us to Camp Northfield in Northfield, MA where Herb was the speaker at Family Week. Our family had two “additions” that week as Andrea and Alex Miranda (from our home church) traveled with us. They fit right in to the activities, made new friends and were challenged spiritually from the messages. Throughout the week we sought to challenge the families from God’s Word and share with them our burden to reach Hispanics here in the U.S.. We saw the Lord work specifically in several hearts (sometimes with tears) and we rejoiced!
Canaan: We recently returned to minister at the Independent Baptist Church in West Stewartstown, NH to participate in a Bible conference and present our ministry. We had ministered in this church MANY times years ago. It was a blessing to reminisce with the church family and fellowship with Pastor and Mrs. Matt Coons. This town is a few miles from Canada and a short walk from Canaan. We see this sign as we cross the bridge into “Canaan” (Vermont, that is).
Costa Rica or Texas: Here’s a location sign we hope to see sometime before long. We are presently seeking to determine when and where we can continue our Spanish language training. While working out the details we are saving all we can toward this future project. We rejoice in God’s provision already!
See further stories and photos on our facebook page (Taylor Ministries) or on our website at www.herbandwanda.com.
REMEMBERING OUR PURPOSE:
Planting: help our team of 7 establish a Hispanic (bilingual) Baptist church in Lorain, OH.
Partnering: assist churches in developing Hispanic ministries.
Preparing: train Hispanic church leaders for future ministry to Hispanics.

Kellyann Mascarenas
August has been a good month for Team Lorain!!  I’d like to share some exciting praises:
1.  David Whitcher has a diagnosis!  He has carbon monoxide poisoning.  Praise the Lord that they finally have an answer, that it was not something worse, that it is treatable, that the prognosis is good, and that his family was protected from having severe symptoms like his.  To God be the glory- they were told by several experts that they were “lucky” to be alive.  We know the truth is that God has protected them and this is such a powerful testimony of His work and care in their lives!  He is getting treated and already is doing much better.
2.  Herb & Wanda Taylor have experienced some vehicle difficulties in their deputation travels but in each situation were exactly where God wanted them to be, so that they were already at or could get to an auto shop quickly.  He also provided a couple days ago for Herb to be able to fix a part for $25 that an RV shop wanted to charge $500 for!  God took care of the needs in ways that His hand was clearly evident, and He has been using them in great ways as they minister throughout the U.S.
3.  Ralph & Rita Palmer have been working fervently to meet people in Lorain and get a Bible study started.  A couple Thursdays ago, Rita had the privilege of leading a young lady to Christ!!!  We are grateful to God for this precious soul who has placed her trust in Christ alone for salvation!  Please pray for Karla, to grow in her newfound faith in Christ.
4.  I’ve been truly enjoying deputation!  It’s exciting to be able to present the work that the Lord has placed on my heart.  It’s also been good to be home with my family during this time.  Please pray that I will be a faithful witness to my relatives; for me, they are the most difficult mission field.  I don’t want to strain any relationships, but I truly desire for them to know Christ.  I had a good conversation about spiritual things with a couple of them yesterday morning.  Please ask the Lord to continue to bring those opportunities, and to fill me with power and boldness by His Spirit. 
Thank you for continuing to pray for the Quick family.  Pastor Quick went home to glory yesterday morning (August 19), and we praise the Lord for His life and his homegoing, but please especially remember his family and flock as it is still a very difficult process. 
I appreciate your continued earnest prayers.  God is faithful to answer- in His way and in His time! 
Praises:
~Diagnosis for David Whitcher
~Protection & Provision for the Taylors on the road
~Karla’s salvation
~Great deputation meetings
~Opportunities to share the gospel      
Requests:
~The Quick family & First Baptist of Elyria
~Boldness and opportunities w/unsaved family
~Growth for Karla
~Many unsaved in Lorain, OH

Wayne & Shanna Dale, Surprise, AZ
MINISTRY:
Praise the Lord that the work we do for Him is eternal!  We have certainly been working hard out here in Arizona.  The last week of July we held our first Vacation Bible School at Faith Baptist in Glendale.  It was an exciting week as we saw so many of our members step up to be teachers and group leaders to be involved in VBS.  We had a high attendance of 90 on Thursday night, which was our “Parent Night”.  The children also raised over $300 for our missionary project –“Pennies for Peru”.  We know of at least 2 children who made salvation decisions during that week.  We also praise the Lord for the 40 children who visited our church during that week, as well as for the regularly attending children.  Thank you for praying!  We are planning on following up with those visitors when we kick off our Kids’ Club next month. 
We have also been focusing a little more on fellowship this month at the church.  The morning services are separated by language, but the evening service is bi-lingual with everyone all together.  So, we have been having a fellowship time after the evening service where the Spanish and English speakers can have an opportunity to mingle and fellowship together.  This seems to have been helpful so far.  Please continue to pray for increased unity for the church.
Wayne and our partnering pastor had the opportunity to go to the California Association meetings last weekend to encourage the churches to think about Spanish ministry.  They were also able to bring about 9 of the Spanish pastors together for a time of fellowship and encouragement.  They were all very grateful for the opportunity, as they said it probably would not have happened if we had not arranged it.
FAMILY:
We are also excited to announce that our son, Rylee (6) will be getting baptized on Sunday!  He has been taking a baptism class with his dad, and understands that this is the first step of obedience as a Christian.  He wants to tell everyone that he knows Jesus as his Savior and wants to serve Him with his life.  Gloria is also growing spiritually and it is so wonderful to hear her singing all the Bible songs she is learning.  She sings in the van, at swimming lessons, at home, in the grocery store, and anywhere she sees a One Way sign!  Claire is also learning more about her need of a Savior.  She loves her Spanish Sunday School teacher, and last night at Kids’ Club she was so disappointed that she could not find the Books of the Bible in the Sword Drill time that she began to cry. We praise the Lord for our children. 

Roy & Fran Cupples, Fullerton, NE
A guy can hear many interesting things at the “round table” at the café.  This past week a man told Roy about a young couple that was soon going to be moving to town.  They had asked the man if there was a Baptist Church nearby.  Well, there is and so Roy and I found out how to locate the couple and went to visit them.  They were not present so we put some church info in their pickup.  Tonight we went to Subway after church for a sandwich and guess what pickup we parked beside?  Yes, it was the young couple’s pickup and when we went inside we had the opportunity to talk with them for a short time.  We invited them to next Sunday’s morning service and the carry-in meal to follow.  Please pray that they will come and that we will have an opportunity to visit with them at length.
Ted and Carolyn accepted our spontaneous invitation and ate supper with us on Friday night. They are a friendly, enjoyable couple and really like coming to church.  During our visit I learned that Ted had been the fire chief and was still a fireman.  Today at church I asked him if it would be possible to have a fireman bring one of the fire trucks to JOY Club.  He said, “I think I can do that for you.”  So, the JOY Club kids are going to have a surprise visit on their first club day - Wednesday, September 1. 
Prayer requests:
* June had shoulder surgery and it went well.  However, she is greatly confused; does not understand where she is or why; is not cooperating; wants to take the sling off her arm.  Maybe it is the meds affecting her.  Anyway, please pray that she thinks clearly and cooperates so she can get on with rehab and recover.
* JOY Club begins Sept. 1; pray for good number of kids attending on a consistent basis; children saved and growing in their knowledge of the Lord Jesus; wisdom & direction for me as I direct club; families reached for Christ
* Visitors in the Morning Service this Sunday - ladies’ trio from Omaha singing for us.
* Roy and I visited with D; he is a Christian but has been absent from church and fellowship for some time.
* We need to do some more inside work on the church; finish remodel, etc.
* Susan, Ted, Carolyn - salvation
* Individually and as a church family - love God wholly, live godly, imitate Christ.
* Our country return to God, His Word and His way.