NEXT STOP: CALVARY HILL BAPTIST CHURCH - Pacolet, South Carolina

We leave tomorrow morning to make the 5 hour trip to Pacolet, South Carolina. I will be preaching a meeting at Calvary Hill Baptist Church where Bill Pickel is the the pastor. Bro. Pickel gave me my first opportunity to preach 26 years ago this past Monday. I have preached there several times but this will be the first revival meeting. Please pray God gives us a great week!

CHATTAHOOCHIE VALLEY BAPTIST CAMP MEETING

It was good to be back in Valley, Alabama for the annual Chattahoochie Valley Baptist Camp Meeting. The Lord gave us a wonderful meeting and I am so glad we were able to come. I had the privilege of starting off on Sunday morning by preaching the first message.

This is our first time back in several years and it was good to see lots of friends and make some new ones. The meeting is held on the grounds of Emmanuel Baptist Church where Darren White is the pastor, but the camp meeting is the burden and ministry of Evangelist Ronnie Trenton. All week long the services were tremendous. There was lots of worship and good preaching. Stacie had the opportunity to speak in one of the afternoon sessions for the ladies as well as interpret for a deaf lady who is a missionary to the deaf. We became good friends with this dear servant of God.

I am actually writing this update on my phone so I will post pictures at a later time.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - FIRST UP: ALABAMA

We are spending the day today packing up the van and doing some final "running around" in preparation to hit the road tomorrow and head south.

On Sunday we will be at the Chattahoochie Valley Baptist Camp Meeting in Valley, Alabama.  Evangelist Ronnie Trenton is the meeting host and moderator and the meeting is held on the grounds of his church: Emmanuel Baptist Temple (Darren White, Pastor).  We attended this meeting the first four or five years we were on the road and are happy to be able to be back.

Please pray for this trip.  We leave tomorrow and do not come back to Western New York until June.  It is our prayer that God blesses the upcoming meetings.  We are expecting God to do some great and mighty things!

"UNOFFICIAL CLOSE" TO MISSIONS CONFERENCE - Old Time Baptist Church

As you know from the previous post our Missions Conference at Old Time Baptist Church technically ended this past Friday night.  We usually always have some type of missions emphasis on the Sunday following. 

It was good being at Old Time for one final Sunday before we head out on the road.  I had the privilege of giving a testimony to the teen boys Sunday school class this morning.  The teacher, Frank Perkowski, asked me to share a little of what we did in evangelism.  I also shared the most important message and that was FAITH IN CHRIST for salvation.

Tonight we had a very special speaker share his ministry and then preach to us.  Bro. Duane Motley started the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms over 30 years ago.  He had pastored a church for many years and saw the need for Christians to have a voice in the state capital in Albany.  NYCF is a Christian lobbying ministry and God is using them to not only represent Christians from New York State.  Another big part of their ministry is preaching the gospel to the 212 representatives (state assembly and senate) and the over 3,500 staff members.  Bro. Motley has turned the day-to-day operations over to Bro. Jason McGuire, but he still stays on as a lobbyist and also works as a part time lobbyist in Washington, DC doing the same thing but on the national level.  He preached a great message tonight on the need for Christian Soldiers.

New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms

Duane Motley, Founder of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom

Jason McGuire, Director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom

DAY #6 - MISSIONS CONFERENCE - Hamburg, New York

What a wonderful closing night God gave us to our annual Missions Conference tonight at Old Time Baptist Church.  The presence of God was evident in a big way for the entire service. 

The first presentation of the evening was a Skype call to veteran Missionary Rick Weimer in Dresden, Germany.  They are sent out of Shady Acres Baptist Church in Houston and hey have several children, all of whom except one were born in Germany.  It was good to have the entire family in front of the computer so we could see them all during the video call. The Weimars were there before the Berlin Wall fell so they know the days of East and West Germany and had works in both.  Currently they are having a big push for Resurrection Sunday and are also working on the military installation bases in the country.  We were blessed to hear the family sang a song both in German and English.  Bro. Weimar and his boys all gave testimonies with his oldest son, Samuel, telling us the Lord has called him to be a missionary to Italy.  A group from our church went to visit the Weimars back in 2002 and so it was good for those people to get to see them again.

After this we were introduced to Bro. Jeff Harris.  Tonight was the first time he has been to Old Time and he explained how he is answering God's call to start a church to minister to the deaf in Rochester, New York.  The need is great for this type of work as Rochester has the largest per capita deaf population in the entire Untied States with a total of over 90,000 people who are deaf or hard of hearing.  Both of Bro. Harris' parents are deaf as well as his two other siblings, while he is hearing.  He started a church in Kentucky and pastored there for 12 years before resigning last July to follow God's leading to this new ministry which will be for both hearing and deaf folks.  His goal is to start the first Sunday in May but as of now he does not have a place to meet and he asked us to really pray for God to provide a building. 

Pastor Danny Farley brought one final message on missions tonight entitled "What It Takes to Take the Next Step".  Let me just say Bro. Farley's preaching has been absolutely tremendous all week long.  God used him in a big way to help a lot of our folks in this area of missions and Faith Promise missions giving.  Even though the emphasis was on the getting the gospel to the regions beyond, the preaching was aimed at the heart and conviction was deep each and every single night.

At the end of the service we handed out the Faith Promise cards to everyone who wished to participate.  There were small children, teens, adults, couples, singles on up thru seniors filling out cards writing down what they were going to give to missions from now thru next March.  When the total amount was announced the place came unglued!  People were shouting and praising God at what He did.  The figure is about a 35% increase over this last year and we are praying it all comes in.

After the service most people headed over to the fellowship hall to take part in our annual "International Taste of Old Time".  A lot of our folks made traditional, ethnic dishes from all over the world and we all got to sample them.  All dishes were judged based on certain criteria and prizes were awarded for first, second and third place. 

To see the complete photo gallery of the Missions Conference - CLICK HERE.

"Impact Your World" Old Time Missions Conference

Missionary Jeff Harris (Deaf community of Rochester, New York)

Skype call with the Rick Weimar Family in Germany

Ladies Trio singing special music

Pastor Danny Farley giving one more message on missions

Giving out prizes for the best dishes at the International Taste of Old Time

Dishes served at the International Taste of Old Time

Dishes served at the International Taste of Old Time

Good fellowship after church

Missionary Jeff Harris prayer card (front)

Missionary Jeff Harris prayer card (back)

DAY #5 - MISSIONS CONFERENCE - Old Time Baptist Church

Tonight was another great service filled with singing, special music, missionary presentations and awesome preaching!  It was also filled with "technical difficulties" as we connected (or tried!) via Skype to two missionaries we currently support. 

First up was Jim VanVoltenburg in Scotland.  We had a hard time with the Skype as there was a very long delay with the audio.  Finally we ended up connecting on "FaceTime" (go iPhone!).  The conversation was not as long as we would have liked but we were able to get the following update from Bro. VanVoltenburg:

• The church is doing very good.  Some battles that they were fighting the Lord has taken care of.
• Visitors have been steadily stopping by the services.
• A lost man (Billy) has come four weeks in a row and we were asked to pray specifically for his salvation.

After our conversation to Scotland we were able to get a good connection to Bulgaria and hear from Missionary Nick Maulucci.  He and his family have been on the field there for many years and the Lord is really doing a great work in that part of Europe.  Here are some highlights:

• They have handed out over 50,000 John & Romans since the first of the year.
• Their goal is to completely cover each door in one city per month.  The major goal is to give every home in the whole country of Bulgaria a copy of John & Romans.  Since they started this project they have given out over 600,000 - praise God!  This translates to approximately 40% of the country.
• The church recently had their second missions conference and saw the Faith Promise increase from $500 per YEAR to $350 per MONTH - a big jump.
• A public school ministry has been started and that is also now a big focus of their outreach.

Pastor Danny Farley hit the nail on the head again!  God has really been using him in the preaching this week.  The message  tonight was a missions message but could apply to an individual's life, the church, a ministry and so on.  Acts 13 served as the text and I will just simply give you the outline as it was preached.  The idea was on OPPORTUNITIES...

1. They come to those who are already busy (verses 1-2)
2. They produce opposition (verses 6-8)
3. They reveal character - the possession of it and the lack of it (verse 13)
4. They reveal and produce leadership (verses 9-10, 2 and 13)

Bro. Farley also gave two quotes tonight that really stuck out to me...

• Don't get so hung up on the past that you forfeit your future
• Opportunities that are neglected are lost forever

We have one more service tomorrow night and are praying God will give us a great finish to the meeting.  After the service we will be having an "International Taste of Old Time".  The service will be live streamed beginning at 7:00pm (EST) on the church's website.

"IMPACT YOUR WORLD" - 2013 Old Time Missions Conference

Thank God for the Bus Ministry

The VanVoltenburgs - Missionaries to Scotland

 

"I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor" - You have to know Bro. Saunders to understand!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Maulucci's - Missionaries to Bulgaria

 

DAY #4 - MISSIONS CONFERENCE - Old Time Baptist Church

We are now past the halfway point in our annual Missions Conference and again tonight we had another great service.  Tonight was not just another night - it was packed full of MISSIONS WORK.  One of our young men, Tom Rood, read excerpts from some missionaries that our church supports:

1. Angelo Serino - he is a missionary to Italy.  Currently he is in the United States taking care of the necessary paperwork to go back to Italy.
2. Stewart Harvey - Exeter, England.  They just celebrated 18 months of having a bus ministry in the church there and it is growing very fast.
3. Dan Roberts - Japan.  They have been in a rented building for ten years and are having to do some remodeling.  A group from Michigan will soon be arriving to help with the work.  Their emphasis recently has been massive tract distribution.

After these updates we connected via Skype to veteran missionary Craig Ledbetter in Ireland.  He has been on the field for 19 years and is pastoring two churches.  Here are some highlights from the conversation:

• He has recently had to have a battery replaced in his pacemaker and is doing good from that.
• They are still trying too purchase a building - something that has taken two years so far and is still not done.  In Ireland the government has to give a church permission before they can purchase and that is what the big hold-up has been.
• A 19-year old single mother was saved last week.
• They currently have 9 people in the Bible institute.
• The average church attendance has been around 120 on Sunday mornings.

Next we heard from Pastor Ram Angad who is a native from Georgetown, Guyana.  Bro. Angad was raised by his parents in the Hindu religion and was even named after one of their false gods.  Seventeen years ago Bro. Ram was saved by the grace of God and then called to preach.  He served as an assistant pastor for a while on the island of St. Maarten and then God called him back to Guyana to start churches.  On the church's third anniversary there was over 300 people in attendance and they just celebrated their fourth anniversary this past Sunday.  During this time under Bro. Ram's leadership they have started two other churches - one 15 miles away and one over 70 miles away thru the jungle.  Pastor Ram Angad is a good man who has a heart just to do whatever God wants and he wants to see people saved.

All this was good and then it was PREACHING TIME!!!  Pastor Danny Farley preached a great message from Acts chapter 10 on the purpose of missions: to carry the true gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost.  A great portion of the message was emphasizing and explaining what exactly the true gospel is: FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST!  Religion will not get people saved.  Works will not get people saved.  Sincerity will not get people saved.  Praying a prayer will not get people saved.  The gospel is believing in Jesus Christ.  It is always such a blessing and encouragement to hear the true gospel preached.  Many of our churches today are preaching a perverted gospel - even in our independent Baptist churches.  Praise God for the TRUE GOSPEL!!!

"Impact Your World" - 2013 Old Time Missions Conference

Old Time Baptist Church - Hamburg, New York

Old Time Baptist Church and Academy - Hamburg, New York

The Crown of Glory singing special music

Tom Rood reading some missionary letters

Guyana Flag

The Beyea Family singing special music

Guyana, South America

Missionary Ram Angad prayer card

Missionary Ram Angad in front of the Guyana display

Missionary Craig Ledbetter (Ireland) and his family

DAY #3 - MISSIONS CONFERENCE - Old Time Baptist Church

I am not trying to sound repetitive or sensational, but it is just a fact, and that is this: the Missions Conference this week at Old Time has been outstanding.  God has met with us every service and tonight was no exception.  It really has been building all week - each service God seems to be doing just a little bit more.  The singing has been great.  The preaching has been absolutely powerful and God-ordered.  And the best part - it's only Tuesday - we still have thru Friday!

Again there was good special music and congregational singing.  Pastor Danny Farley (Shady Acres Baptist Church in Houston, Texas) is our main speaker for the week and he (to use a southern phrase) "hit it out of the park" again tonight.  His message was "What Kind of People Get the Job Done?" taken from Acts 11.  He hit some of our independent Baptist thought processes and mindsets and tried to get us to think.  The kind of people who get the job done are: (1) Those who are open to things they don't understand; (2) Those who are obedient to God when he speaks; and (3) those who help others get things done.  I would highly recommend you to listen to the message if at all possible.  The link is listed below.

Don't forget - we are live streaming the services each night this week at 7:00pm (EST).

Link to Old Time Baptist Church

Link to listen to tonight's sermon

"IMPACT YOUR WORLD" - Old Time Baptist Missions Conference 2013

Flags decorating one side of the pulpit

The platform decorated with various flags of the world

Pastor Danny Farley from Shady Acres Baptist Church (Houston, Texas) preaching

DAY #2 - MISSIONS CONFERENCE - Old Time Baptist Church

Tonight was our second day of Missions Conference and what a night the Lord gave us!  Two more missionaries arrived and we will be hearing from them during the week.  After some congregational singing we had the missionary "presentation" of the night.  We connected via Skype to Missionary Dennis Celestine who is a national pastor in Grenada.  Old Time has supported Bro. Celestine for many, many years.  He is a good man and has a great ministry there.  The highlights of what the Lord is doing in Grenada included...

• They have started their fourth church and will be starting their fifth within the next two months
• Close to 20 folks have been saved and baptized within the last few weeks
• They are currently waiting on materials from here in the states that will be used to build a Christian school building for their church
• Their deaf ministry is growing
• He currently has a weekly radio broadcast that reached the entire island of Grenada.  It is actually a Catholic radio station and they have given him liberty on the radio station to preach the truth.  He was originally on a Baptist radio station but they were liberal and did not like what Bro. Celestine was preaching.  Amazing, isn't it - the Baptists did not like the Baptist but the Catholics did!

Pastor Danny Farley arrived from Houston this afternoon and he preached a powerful message tonight entitled "What's It Going to Take For Us to Fulfill the Great Commission?"  He brought out how the Lord told the disciples to preach the gospel in Acts chapter 1 but missionaries weren't sent out until chapter 13.  The events of Acts 8 caused the churches to start taking the Great Commission seriously: they had to come out of their comfort zone, they lost their fun, they lost their privacy, they lost their freedom, they lost their orderly church services and they lost their togetherness.  Sound like modern-day America?  We may not like our current situation in America but God just may be allowing it to happen so His people will get busy and take the Great Commission seriously.  The altars were full during the invitation.

There was a great spirit in church tonight and it was a blessing to see God work.  After the service many people headed over for some food and fellowship.  This is more than just a time to eat, this time is a great opportunity for people to get to know the various preachers and missionaries who are in town for the meeting.  It really is a big part of the Missions Conference.

The church has many missions-themed decorations around the building

 

7:00pm - time for church!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at these fine ushers!

Bro. Mike Saunders singing special music

Pastor Danny Farley preaching

Grenada in the West Indies

One of the Old Time groups singing

Fellowship after service

DAY #1 - MISSIONS CONFERENCE 2013 - Old Time Baptist Church

Before I get into Missions Conference I just wanted to share that I preached this morning at New Hope Baptist Church.  This is the same New Hope where we were at last week for the winter revival.  Pastor Jack Seiler had some health issues the past few days and called me yesterday and asked me to fill in this morning for him.  The Lord blessed and there was a good spirit in Sunday School and the morning service.

NOW ONTO MISSIONS CONFERENCE...

I believe we had a great start to the meeting today.  The reports from this morning were very good and encouraging.  Missionary Wes Neill preached this morning and tonight and did a great job.  He preached tonight on "Strange Fire".  While not a "missions message" per se, it was exactly what the Lord ordered to prepare the hearts of the people for the week ahead.  The congregational singing was uplifting and the special music was also a blessing.

This morning Bro. Neill presented his call to Moldova in eastern Europe.  His goal is to be on the field by the this time next year.  Tonight we heard from Bro. David Smith who is on deputation to go to New Zealand.  Both men have a wonderful testimony and God is using them in a great way.

After the service each night we are enjoying some food and fellowship in the fellowship hall.  Bro. Gary Reid handles the food court for camp meeting every year and he is at it again this week.

REMINDER: The services will be live-streamed each night this week at 7:00pm(EST) on the church's website - www.oldtimebaptist.com

"IMPACT YOUR WORLD" - Theme for Missions Conference 2013

Missionary Wes Neill prayer card (front)

Missionary Wes Neill prayer card (back)

Missionary Wes Neill (Moldova) standing in back of his display

Missionary David Smith prayer card (front)

Missionary David Smith prayer card (back)

Missionary David Smith (New Zealand) standing next to his display

Missionary Neill Smith (Moldova) preached in both the morning and evening services