Family Night in Tyler

It was a good crowd tonight for family night although the people were slow in arriving. We ended up getting started a little late but everything went really well. The kids did a great job singing the songs, JJ showed up we followed the service with a grilled hotdog supper and miles and miles of cookies and cupcakes.

We are loaded and back in the room for the night. We will pull out in the morning for Yazoo City and spend the night before heading home on Sunday.

We appreciate the prayers for my voice…it wasnt real good but strong enough to make it through. Keep us in mind as we travel.

Blessings,
John

Thursday Night

The crowd did not pick up as we hoped but there were 32 there and the energy was still good. I’ve been real impressed with the dedication of all the workers at all the VBS venues. A wonderful group of dedicated workers that you simply can’t do without. This church is no exception with workers of all ages.

We rejoiced to see 6 professions of faith tonight. There will will followup of course but we thank the Lord for moving in the hearts and lives of the little guys!

Tomorrow is Family Night so the kids will sing then there will be lots of hotdogs, cookies, and a jump house!

Time is short here and that’s probably good. We’ve enjoyed our time but there is something in the air that along with excessive ventriloquism has caused me to just about lose my voice. I’m hanging on and look like I’ll be able to make through tomorrow night, Lord willing, with your prayers.

Blessings,
John

Wednesday in Tyler

Easy to preach on he’ll when it’s 103-108 during the day and at 8:45 it’s still 95. Ha ha
Wow, what heat but that hasn’t dampened the spirit of the kids. We were down tonight. Not sure if WED had anything to do with it. Not sure if some kids went to their own churches tonight. I guess we will find out tomorrow night.

All the leadership is pleased with everything and the pastor plans the appeal for tomorrow night so gear your prayers that way and we would be grateful.

Blessings,
John

Tuesday in Tyler

It was fun seeing how excited the people were when 42 children showed up for VBS last night. The only time they’ve had more was the year the main campus (Green Acres Baptist) did not do VBS due to construction, which was my first year with them, I believe.

The kids really seem to be getting into it and that’s making it fun for everyone. The core group seems to be made up of 1st and 2nd grade. There is a nice group of 3rd, 4th, and 5th, but not as large over all.

Tonight we will begin the gospel presentatio, unsure if we will have an invitation tonight or wait until tomorrow. Pray for wisdom as we do the work.

Today we will be going to lunch with the campus pastor and his wife.

Blessings,
Jon

Monday Night

Great start to VBS tonite with 31 kids. That’s a really good group to begin with allowing all the volunteers to “get their feet under them” and make any adjustments necessary for tomorrow night.

Today we managed to walk a bit before the heat overtook the area. It was 108 at 4 p.m. We ate lunch at one of our hosts house and had a great visit. Now, we a chillin’ in the hotel. Whew!

Patty’s dad had a bit of a heart flair-up this morning and his heart dr wants to see him tommorrow so your prayers would be appreciated. I’ll keep you informed of any further developments!

Blessings,
John

Sunday in Tyler

We attended the morning service today and had lunch with our host. In just a bit we will be heading up to the church to move in all our equipment for this week’s VBS. Things will kickoff tomorrow night.

I was told that much advertising and personal contact was done leading up to this event. This is a small church with a lot of potential so pray that the kids in the area show up and that we have a great group.

I will blog tomorrow night,probably around 9 p.m. or so, and give you updates and any prayer requests we may have.

Blessings,
John

Safe Arrival in Tyler

Hey gang,
Thanks for the prayers. We pulled out of Forest, MS, about 9:15 a.m. and arrived at 5 p.m., here in Tyler. After a bite to eat we settled in the hotel. Tomorrow we will worship with our host then tomorrow evening we will set up our equipment for VBS.

I’ll keep you posted!

Blessings,
John

Thursday in Forest

Patty and I had a nice day today celebrating our 32nd anniversary.  Obviously there were limits to what we could do being out on the road so Patty asked if we could go to Pizza Hut for lunch.  That was where we went for our first date.  So….that’s what we did.  Nice day!

A wild time tonight as The Debt was paid off.  The debt went something like this.  Every VBS  has an offering as you know.  It was a unique offering of canned goods.  The church wanted to take up canned goods for the county’s Crisis Center so they set a goal of 250 cans of food.  The deal was, if the kids made their goal the preacher would have to “run the gauntlet” on Thursday night.  The gauntlet consisted of kids on both sides making a lane and loaded with buckets of water, water balloons, and the like.  Well, tonight’s total was 388 cans.  Awesome!!  The preacher AND his wife ran though.  The kids had a blast and the two were super sports!

Tomorrow night we will have family night and a commencement of sorts.  We will have our program, let some of the kids share, and of course I’ll have a friend make an appearance.  Afterwards we’ll eat something!

We sure appreciate your prayers as we continue the work.  Probably won’t be blogging tomorrow night.  It will be late by the time we load out at the church.

I’ll check back in when we get to TX on Saturday evening!

Blessings,
John

Wednesday in Forest

It’s getting a bit late now but I wanted to thank you for your prayers as we saw 3 children receive Christ in a public profession of their faith.  We are excited about these and thank the Lord for them.

It was another good night with just a bit smaller crowd compared to the past few days.  We had approximately 50 kids tonight and the energy was still good throughout as they participated in all the songs and responded to Vern the Bird and listened intently to Judah the Lion tell the Bible story of the resurrection.

Tomorrow we’ll take it a bit easy during the day.  Patty agreed to marry me 32 years ago on the 21st so we are going to go grab a bite to each at a local establishment for lunch then when we get off the road and have a little more time we’ll do something a bit more special.  It is what it is.

Thanks for the prayers!
John

Wednesday in Forest

Sorry I didn’t get my post out last night. It seems difficult to do once we get in with us staying a ways from the church and things not wrapping up until after 8:30.

We didn’t have any professions of faith last night although there was a lot of spiritual seed planted. We are praying that tonight with some follow up, there will be.

We appreciate your continued prayers, specifically for the kids attending tonight. Pray for vocal strength as well. Things are going well but my voice is tired. Lots of singing and ventriloquism.

Blessings,
John