Let me start with an update on our travels. We appreciate your prayer as our family looks forward to a series of meetings in NYC and Delaware next week. It will be our first journey with the trailer so many new lessons will be learned i'm sure. We had a real blessing the other day when a pastor in Delaware that I had reached out to originally in April and then left a message for in May contacted us just a few days ago asking about meeting as we pass through that area. We praise God that he has invited us to present/preach next Thursday, that was an unexpected blessing.
I also wanted to share a testimony/blessing that I just learned of last night that touched my heart in a great way. My family has a history of working in bus ministry - my dad drove buses for years, my uncle Dave and aunt Dee are still faithful to the bus ministry to this day and my late uncle and his wife Elaine also worked in bus ministry for many years. So I got a call from Elaine last night and she was just thrilled to share what the Lord was working in her heart about. In her years of bus ministry, she always loved doing the "little things" (which we know are not little in God's eyes) to touch the lives of inner city/poverty stricken kids for Christ. Singing songs, story boards, crafts, candy etc. - things to show the kids her love for them and more importantly - the love of Christ for them. Well for years now she has been making various handmade ornaments etc to be a blessing to people and she wanted me to know that the Lord impressed upon her to start making them in abundance for use in ministering to kids in the Philippines when we go! If you have never worked with kids in an inner city or third world country, it is an incredible and humbling sight to see them brought to tears over something as simple as a piece of candy, an article of clothing or a small toy. From Juarez Mexico to Zambia Africa to Manila Philippines - the reaction is the same. To realize that someone loves them, that they would get a blessing they otherwise would not have touches their heart and opens their ears to the Source responsible for the love that was shown them. My aunt went on to share with me how she wants to put John 3:16 on each of these ornaments and that he already has nearly 50 of them made, what a blessing - every one of them made with love and prayer. Until glory I doubt that any of us will know the true eternal impact of the softened hearts, willing hands, creative minds and prayerful lives of many saints like this who have a burden for the souls of others. Praise the Lord for the example that is to all of us, amen?
About five years ago I heard a message on being creative for missions. The preacher gave testimony after testimony of all the ways in which God has touched peoples lives in different areas for missions. There were stories of people giving up certain activities or foods or trips or hobbies in order to do more for missions, stories of those who sold off many belonging and others of people finding creative ways to contribute more to the work of the gospel. I was rebuked and challenged by it and shortly after had the opportunity to challenge the Sunday school class with this concept of "getting creative" to raise money for Bibles to go to Africa. The Lord worked on hearts and a class of about 60 kids and their counselors through prayer, creativity and work raised nearly $5000 in just 3 months. It was because God was in it, He got the glory for it, His purpose of getting His word to Africa was being done and the faith of those kids were increased that this happened. God has taken many of those kids now and grown them into teens that are serving God. Some of them will be in NYC next week preaching on the streets, witnessing and ministering to kids. Be it going to a foreign field, giving "sacrificially", being creative for the comission etc - it is a privilege to serve our worthy King and it is for all of us - our Reasonable Service.
Souls are on their way to hell all around the world and God's will is that none would perish - what more can we do before the harvest is past?
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Wednesday
In an effort to conserve vacation time, we have gone back and forth a few times this week. Wednesday we left off plenty early and headed to Hastings. We made it about halfway when it became apparent that the alternator wasnt working and before we reached the next exit, the truck lost power and stalled. While we were discouraged to miss the last meeting of this great conference and have opportunity to spend more time with the people, there were many blessings that came of this. We were on the side of the road counting our blessings for this taking place. Here is some of what we came up with then and a few that were realized since
1) we had a cell phone - allowing us to call the pastor...and a tow truck
2) it was daylight - no power, no light, little girls - dark, side of the highway - would have been scary for them - grateful it was still light
3) when the power died on the truck we safely got to the side of the road
4) it was not our night to present/preach - that was Sunday, so at least it did not put the Pastor in a tough spot.
5) I had roadside towing service so that was covered
6) the garage we towed it to was literally next door to a Days Inn hotel
7) We had a cooler with some cold drinks and some snacks to keep the kids occupied.
8) The garage got to work on the truck early in the morning and it was done by checkout time so we didnt have to sit around at the garage waiting with the girls
9) Pastor Zopff was very understanding - we got back to the church, got our display materials and was even treated to lunch - what a blessing.
10) arrived home safely thursday afternoon
11) work has been very accomodating and understanding as well
12) When we picked up the materials from the church we found that one of the members bought us a box of diapers and left it for us - always a blessing, amen?
There are many more that we likely didnt consider or I am not thinking of now.
It has been a good week. Praise the Lord!
Pray for the Central Baptist Church - they will be building a new church building on 50 acres of land they obtained likely starting this summer. Their pews are full now and they are excited to see God putting all this together. They love missions and God is growing them so they can grow their impact in all the world - praise God!
1) we had a cell phone - allowing us to call the pastor...and a tow truck
2) it was daylight - no power, no light, little girls - dark, side of the highway - would have been scary for them - grateful it was still light
3) when the power died on the truck we safely got to the side of the road
4) it was not our night to present/preach - that was Sunday, so at least it did not put the Pastor in a tough spot.
5) I had roadside towing service so that was covered
6) the garage we towed it to was literally next door to a Days Inn hotel
7) We had a cooler with some cold drinks and some snacks to keep the kids occupied.
8) The garage got to work on the truck early in the morning and it was done by checkout time so we didnt have to sit around at the garage waiting with the girls
9) Pastor Zopff was very understanding - we got back to the church, got our display materials and was even treated to lunch - what a blessing.
10) arrived home safely thursday afternoon
11) work has been very accomodating and understanding as well
12) When we picked up the materials from the church we found that one of the members bought us a box of diapers and left it for us - always a blessing, amen?
There are many more that we likely didnt consider or I am not thinking of now.
It has been a good week. Praise the Lord!
Pray for the Central Baptist Church - they will be building a new church building on 50 acres of land they obtained likely starting this summer. Their pews are full now and they are excited to see God putting all this together. They love missions and God is growing them so they can grow their impact in all the world - praise God!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Central Baptist Church
Hastings, NY - This has been a wonderful week for us. Pastor Michael Zopff is a great brother who is being used of the Lord to grow a great work here just north of Syracuse. It is a great blessing to hear the testimonies of souls saved, encouragement in the midst of difficulties and growing excitement about God's work from the people as well as the pastor. The church is about 7yrs old and this is their 6th missions conference. We praise God for the opportunity to have an hour to present our ministry and field questions on Sunday morning and then preach in the second hour. The people are excited about what God is doing and desires to do in the Philippines.
Another great blessing for us is that the keynote speaker is Pastor Eddie Wyatt from Happy Valley Baptist Church in Villa Rica, GA. He has preached many times at Youth Ablaze in Rochester as is a a wonderful Spirit-filled preacher. Monday night he preached on the cross and how the first three statements Christ made were for others - forgive them, today, you will be with me in paradise and then speaking to John of Mary. His message was on love of others and was a great challenge and encouragement. Monday we stayed in Syracuse and then had time to fellowship with Bro. Wyatt, Zopff and the Thrum family - missionaries to New Guinea. Take a moment and pray for all these servants of our Lord. Tuesday was another hot day and a lightning storm took out power at the church all day - from about 11:30am until oh, 6:30! The Lord is good, we were scrounging for generators and extension cords etc and the Lord showed us that He would be the source of our power for the night!
Pastor Wyatt preached on the excuses of Moses and challenged us not to limit God and not to doubt a call that He has placed on us, another great message.
Wednesday, well that is another post :)
We have had a great conference, we have met pastors from other churches, we have been blessed with encouragement and gifts from the church family and even enjoyed a great church picnic at a nearby park Sunday afternoon, it has been a full and blessed week!
Another great blessing for us is that the keynote speaker is Pastor Eddie Wyatt from Happy Valley Baptist Church in Villa Rica, GA. He has preached many times at Youth Ablaze in Rochester as is a a wonderful Spirit-filled preacher. Monday night he preached on the cross and how the first three statements Christ made were for others - forgive them, today, you will be with me in paradise and then speaking to John of Mary. His message was on love of others and was a great challenge and encouragement. Monday we stayed in Syracuse and then had time to fellowship with Bro. Wyatt, Zopff and the Thrum family - missionaries to New Guinea. Take a moment and pray for all these servants of our Lord. Tuesday was another hot day and a lightning storm took out power at the church all day - from about 11:30am until oh, 6:30! The Lord is good, we were scrounging for generators and extension cords etc and the Lord showed us that He would be the source of our power for the night!
Pastor Wyatt preached on the excuses of Moses and challenged us not to limit God and not to doubt a call that He has placed on us, another great message.
Wednesday, well that is another post :)
We have had a great conference, we have met pastors from other churches, we have been blessed with encouragement and gifts from the church family and even enjoyed a great church picnic at a nearby park Sunday afternoon, it has been a full and blessed week!
Blessing from inconvenience
Praise the Lord that we were able to obtain a trailer this past month. In picking it up, it became obvious that the truck was sagging in the back from the weight of the trailer. The suggestion was to go to a spring shop and have the back end built up with helper leaves. So I took it in with the trailer attached so they could see what it needed and help line up the hitch and trailer as well. This was unexpected but necessary to ensure safety in travel. So friday I got the call that they were finished and that I could pick it up, I asked when they closed so I could leave work early enough. My coworker took me over 40 minutes before closing time (after I had said I would be there that afternoon) and the place was completely locked up. I looked all over and no sign of people. The truck and trailer sure enough were locked up all weekend. We are grateful that we didn't need the trailer. Well, monday rolled around and we were in the midst of a great missions conference. It is near Syracuse so we have been driving back and forth so I can work by day. I called the place and they apologized and said they would knock $75 of the price. It is not worth arguing about the price when God holds a hearts of people in His hands. By the time I got to the shop the man said the owner heard what happened and how I was left for the weekend without the vehicles. He decided instead of a $75 discount to instead do the whole job for free. We praise the Lord for this blessing and the savings helped defray the cost of the light truck tires we needed to put on and the a/c that had a leak. All glory to the Lord!
June Prayer Letter
Dear praying friends, June, 2008
We are encouraged to report to you of God’s blessings and answers to many of your prayers as we transition into deputation. We have a full month of June with a missions conference near Syracuse, NY early in the month and some meetings in New York City and Delaware later. With each passing day we can see some sort of progress in our preparations and it reminds us of Christ’s promise to continue to perform the work He began in us until the day of Jesus Christ.
Our family is doing well and is healthy and excited about the upcoming meetings. Autumn just finished Kindergarten via homeschooling and we are blessed to see how well she is reading and that she measures how well she is doing by how good she can read the Bible. When we sit down to do family devotions, she is eager to read the scripture for us and we pray that will always be the desire of her heart.
The Lord blessed us this past month with a vehicle for deputation. By way of testimony we want to praise the Lord for bringing it to us in a way that had His orchestration written all over it. It fits our need to tow a trailer and we were able to obtain it for a great price. We have also been blessed this month by obtaining a trailer that we will call home on the road once our house is sold. In the meantime, we are cleaning the house, departing with clutter and getting it ready for sale. We look forward to leaving work, selling the house and being able to devote all our efforts to the work of the ministry, be less restricted on where we can travel for meetings and to have time to invest in learning the Tagalog language through a software course we have.
Your continued prayer is appreciated in a number of areas. We would ask for prayer for our girls as they will see their first stretch of life on the road from church to church this month and also that we would be a blessing to the churches we visit. Pray that the Lord would have His way in our lives and others during this time. Our desire is to see others yield to God’s will for their lives regarding missions, in whatever role that might be. Prayer for more meetings, partners in ministry and knit hearts for the burden God has given us for the Philippines would be appreciated.
For the glory of His name,
The Putney Family
Aaron, Stephanie, Autumn, Anna, Sarah, Emma
Eph 3:20-21
We are encouraged to report to you of God’s blessings and answers to many of your prayers as we transition into deputation. We have a full month of June with a missions conference near Syracuse, NY early in the month and some meetings in New York City and Delaware later. With each passing day we can see some sort of progress in our preparations and it reminds us of Christ’s promise to continue to perform the work He began in us until the day of Jesus Christ.
Our family is doing well and is healthy and excited about the upcoming meetings. Autumn just finished Kindergarten via homeschooling and we are blessed to see how well she is reading and that she measures how well she is doing by how good she can read the Bible. When we sit down to do family devotions, she is eager to read the scripture for us and we pray that will always be the desire of her heart.
The Lord blessed us this past month with a vehicle for deputation. By way of testimony we want to praise the Lord for bringing it to us in a way that had His orchestration written all over it. It fits our need to tow a trailer and we were able to obtain it for a great price. We have also been blessed this month by obtaining a trailer that we will call home on the road once our house is sold. In the meantime, we are cleaning the house, departing with clutter and getting it ready for sale. We look forward to leaving work, selling the house and being able to devote all our efforts to the work of the ministry, be less restricted on where we can travel for meetings and to have time to invest in learning the Tagalog language through a software course we have.
Your continued prayer is appreciated in a number of areas. We would ask for prayer for our girls as they will see their first stretch of life on the road from church to church this month and also that we would be a blessing to the churches we visit. Pray that the Lord would have His way in our lives and others during this time. Our desire is to see others yield to God’s will for their lives regarding missions, in whatever role that might be. Prayer for more meetings, partners in ministry and knit hearts for the burden God has given us for the Philippines would be appreciated.
For the glory of His name,
The Putney Family
Aaron, Stephanie, Autumn, Anna, Sarah, Emma
Eph 3:20-21
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