A gospel poem...

I have been going through the book of Romans, well actually the first chapter of Romans. I am going verse by verse and have been for the last 5 days. I have journaled each verse each day and it has been very beneficial and encouraging. I pray this poem that I feel God inspired me to write the first day of my study is uplifting to you. [The message of that which happened upon the tree at Calvary is now a glorious revelry that I can cry out on the streets. The God whom saved many from their sins has now given me the privilege to call some in. Though not my might or strength does lend to the saving power that goes through the wind. When the Spirit meets my words before they fall upon a sinners ears then a transformation of life appears. Oh, to see this occur is my hearts desire so this is why I must aspire to continue to harken and herald and preach so many a sinner can hear my speech with prayers the Spirit may intercede. ] Now as we approach the Holiday of Christmas I would like to encourage each of you to think about how God is using you to share the gospel in your scope of influence. I also would like to speak to a select group of you who may be feeling that God is asking you to do more than you currently are doing. This may be in the area of prayer, or personal witness, or missions support. As many of you that are reading this know, My family and I are full-time missionaries with Open Air Campaigners and we have been for the last 5 years. God has been very faithful to provide for our needs through the generous donations of people just like you. I am looking to go to another area and become a branch director but, without additional support I am not able to do that. I have actively been increasing my family's support through various means and if you feel God may be directing you to support my family with a one-time gift or on a monthly basis, you can do that by simply going to www.oacusa.org and click on the donate button. Please pray about this and if it is something that you feel prompted to do it would be greatly appreciated. For me personally I can say it has been such a privilege to be called of God to be an evangelist and preach to message of salvation on the streets, in schools, on college campuses, and many other places and I just wanted to take a moment and thank God again for this opportunity and thank Him for His provision throughout the years.

A morning in the branch office...

Good morning, Today is a very unique day but, also a very normal day too. I got up this morning and drove my daughter to the bus stop. Her bus picks her up about 1 mile away from the house and it is dark in the morning when she has to walk to the bus stop so, I started driving her to the bus stop and even though it is now not dark in the mornings, I continued this practice. Then I went into the family room where my wife and our youngest daughter are usually watching cartoons or a old show from the 80's on Nickelodeon. This morning "Full House" was on and it was the episode, ok I should stop. The episode that was on the television this morning really does not add to anything in this blog. Back to why this day is as it is. I am currently in the branch office with Ryan Itzel, an associate evangelist and friend, and he is painting up his message for this afternoon and I decided to write a blog post while I waited. I have not done a very good job at keeping up with this blog so, I probably have am writing this for myself as a journal. That is ok but, on the off chance that someone else does read this I hope it is entertaining, informative and will give you reason to pause and access you situation. If you were to ask me a question yesterday about contentment and if I felt any contentment. I would have probably said "sometimes". Although, this morning and even now as I type this blog it somehow gives me purpose and contentment. This morning my youngest daughter, Aria (22 months) came out to the kitchen and climbed up on the stool and said "juugukis" or at least that is what is sounded like she said. Then she pointed to the cake pops that my wife had made last night. Cake pops are a mix between a lolipop and cake. There is a machine that she bought a few months ago that bakes cake batter into lolipop form and then you melt chocolate and put the cake on a stick and cover it in melted chocolate and you have cakepops. So, this is what she wanted. I gave her one and she smiled and began to eat the cakepop. This moment when she smiled at me brought a joy into my life and caused me to look back and see how far God has brought me from where I was ten years ago. Now, as I sit in the office waiting for Ryan to complete his painting so we can go to Chinatown and preach the gospel I see how God has a plan even is cakepops to remind us of how good He is and how much He has done in our lives. So, if you feel like you are just going through the motions of day to day life and do not see your purpose then I say stop and think about a cakepop! Have a blessed day, until you read again...

As Christmas approaches us quickly and everyone is busy out searching for that last minute gift for their child or spouse or girlfriend or whatever category you would fall into, I will be out in the malls sharing about the true reason for the season. I have used the Christmas season for the last 5 years to go out to the malls and shopping centers to share the gospel of Christ with all those looking to buy many gifts but not really understanding why they are buying. I think if you have never shared your faith with others then make this year the year you start. Just take a pocket full of tracts and go out to where people are gathering and jump in. It may be scary at first but, the alternative of not sharing your faith should be more scary. After all if you do not share the love of Christ with someone this Christmas season then who will. As you share the gospel with others you will receive such a joy from the presence of God that soon you will be saying, "Why haven't I shared my faith sooner." God bless each and everyone of you and have wonderful Christmas. Until you read again...

Quick update

Well, it has been several months since my last post and a lot has occurred. I finally got back into this blog. What do I mean, well I forgot again what email I used and what password I used for this blog. I spent several hours doing to recovery process to gain access to my blog again. I suppose I am glad it is so difficult to gain access to this account it let's me know it is fairly secure. I have many old post on this blog and as I was looking back over them it brought back many good memories. Ok, now on to current information. I will be leading Mission Possible One again this summer. In fact, we are starting again in one week. Our final training is tomorrow and I have much to cover to get the teens ready for ministry. This year, Zana, is going to be on my team. I am excited that I will get to share this time with my daughter this summer and I am praying this summer will transform her life and my of the other teens lives as well. Alright, I better go for now. It is late and I have to get up early so now that I have access to this blog again I will once again try to keep it somewhat up to date. Until you read again....

My son on a wall.

I took a walk with my son a few weeks ago and he decided to take a break by sitting on the wall outside of the developement that we live in. I clicked a picture with my phone camera and we had a nice talk on our walk home. It was a good day and I realize how important it is to spend time with my family. I pray I am able to be a Godly example to him as he grows into a young man. Until you read again...

Mission Possible One is now officially over for this year and I have to say it was an incredible experience to lead the group of teens this summer for six weeks. There were 3 girls and 6 boys and Christine Barrington was my co-leader for the girls. It seems like the six weeks went by really quickly as I look back at it now but, the memories of how God moved throughout this mission trip will last a lifetime. Now I have the task of seeking God's will for me in the future of Mission Possible. I know how ever or in whatever capacity I am used in Mission Possible in the upcoming year it will be a blessing and it will be worth while because I will have the privilege of sharing and sowing into the lives of our future Christian leaders. To update all of you on some of the events and things MP1 did this over the last six weeks I would like to begin with a brief overview of our schedule.

The first week we helped with VBS at Forcey Bible church.
The second week we helped out by volunteering at Camp Bennett.
The third week we preached to children at "Christ on the Mall" in DC.
The fourth week we conducted a childrens program in Langely Park.
The fifth week we went to Boston, MA and worked with the OAC branch.
The sixth week we went to Ocean City and preached on the boardwalk every night.

Now, I will get into some more details of each week. One of the highlights of the first week at VBS happened on Thursday because we were able to preach the gospel to over 240 children and many of the children made professions of faith in Jesus as their Savior that day! What a way to start the mission trip. In the second week at Camp Bennett it started out slow because they were not aware we were going to be there the week we were so not much was prepared for us to do. Although because of having more free time than expected we were able to spend a lot of time getting to know each other and coming closer as a team. Then again on Thursday we were asked to present the gospel and Chris, one of the teens, gave the message to over 60 children. Chris did a great job and the children were very attentive throughout the entire message. It appears that Thursday may have been significant during these first two weeks. Let's see if this pattern continues. The third week on July 4th, which happened to be a Monday (sorry no Thursday pattern here) God showed us how He works all things together for His good purpose. After a long day of preaching on the mall we went to a restaurant to get dinner prior to watching the fireworks and Jianna, one of the girls on the team, got sick from the food. She had a headache and stomach ache and some of the boys decided to ask some people if they had Tylenol. They asked this one young guy and he said " I may have some under the six pack of beer in my backpack." We this encounter turned into a really long and meaningful conversation and it turns out that this guy had previously went to church at the same church as one of the girls on the team. She was able to talk to him and encourage him to stop leading a life of sin and turn back to the Lord. He said he would go back to church and try to change how he had been living his life since he had compromised his faith. Praise the Lord for headaches. The fourth week was an incredible week throughout. We had great days of preaching the gospel to the children of Langley Park and I feel it had a lasting impact on many of the children's lives. Week five in Boston was incredible and words can't describe some of the powerful things God did in the lives of some of the team. Friday night we all went to Dunkin Donuts for our devotionals and by the end of the night two of the teens had re-dedicated there lives to Christ. It was such an awesome experience to see how God broke down walls in some of the teens hearts. Like I said I can not ever begin to describe the night except to say "God your are amazing." The final week in Ocean City was the pinnacle of the trip because we were able to share the gospel on the boardwalk every night and over 1000 people heard the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified throughout the week. Also, one of the teens that re-dedicated her life to Christ got baptized in the ocean and Christine and I had the privilege of baptizing her while the rest of the team stood around us in a circle holding hands. So now I am home from Mission Possible One and looking towards the ministry God has for me here in Maryland but, I will be praying and seeking God's will for me as to how He will use me next year in Mission Possible. Until you read again....

Mission Possible update...

I mentioned a few post ago that I will be leading a Mission trip this summer and I wanted to update you and request pray for myself and the team members. We have met three times as a group to do some training in preparation for the summer and all of these trainings went well. Last week we had a meeting with the parents of the teens who are going on the trip and it was very productive. I am looking forward to leading this team of youth this summer along with Christine Barrington. Christine will be leading the girls on the team and I will be leading the boys although we will be working together Christine will primarily mentor, direct and supervise the girls and I likewise will do the same for the boys. We have 9 teens on the team and this is a relatively big team so your prayers are appreciated. I would ask that you pray that we have unity as a team and that every aspect of the trip from the traveling time on the highways to the meal preparation to the daily devotionals as a team to the ministry on the streets and boardwalk would glorify God and accomplish His purpose in our lives and the lives of the people we come in contact with and minister too.

We will be starting this mission trip on June 20th and it will run through the entire month of July. Many of the weeks I will be away from my family so, this also is something I would ask you to pray about. Laurie will be taking care of our new baby girl on her own as well as our 3 year old and our two older children. Please keep her in your prayers.

The mission possible team will have a blog post also if you would like to follow it you can do so by going to www.mp1summeractivitylog.blogspot.com. Your prayers are appreciated until you read again....