Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Breakfast on the farm
We have been blessed in so many incredible ways over the past few weeks. We have gone from the deep south to NYC which provided a pretty stark contrast as you might expect, yet the love of the Lord Jesus and burden for souls is there regardless of accent or culture. The conference in Murfreesboro was outstanding, I learned a tremendous amount about the unreached people groups around the world and the means by which we all can and must be a part in reaching them. We had the privilege of ministering to the kids while we were there and established many contacts for the future. In Garfield, NJ we were encouraged by a young couple that facilitated the missions apartment for us. Derek is the assistant pastor of the church and was a good friend to us during our stay. While there we had three meetings at churches in the area and praise the Lord for the relationships established. We also had opportunity to join our friends from Rochester to distribute thousands of tracts to the lost at the St Patricks day parade in NYC. The following day we hit Times Square and got a poor reception as you might expect to our tract distribution efforts. The kids were very excited as we drove around New York and saw lady liberty out in the harbor. We must have played the New Manna Youth Choir song about how the Cross is our statue of Liberty 20 times! We stopped by our home (continue to pray for its sale) for one day prior to heading to Utica where we are now for a missions conference. We have been staying in the home of a family that is in California helping with their kids. It is out in the sticks and it has the feel of a farm - a wood stove, a chicken coop for our eggs in the morning and a glorious unhindered view of the stars at night. We are enjoying our stay and the conference has been great. The speaker is a pastor from Buffalo that we have a meeting with in November so we praise the Lord that we could make his acquaintance in advance. He has been quite a blessing already, Sunday night we hadnt had dinner so were going to Denny's with another missionary when the preacher came in and paid for the meal for all of us. This was a great help indeed. The kids are doing good, learning lessons along the way seeing many places they have never seen before. Emma thinks she is funny as she has learned how to shake her head no when she is asked if she is going to be a good girl at church - she starts giggling as she emphatically turns her head left and right. We head to Naples on Sunday for a much anticipated meeting with our friend Tom Street and then off to another missions conference in Beaver Dams, NY. Praise the Lord for His protection and grace shown toward us. He have wanted for nothing and would pray that we can be a blessing to those we are with in even a small proportion to what they have been to us. So as we sit down to our farm fresh eggs and morning devotions, we are praying for our dear friends and church families to be blessed and want to encourage you that the Lord is answering your prayers on our behalf.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Hartselle Ala to Murfreesboro TN
God has a great way of working things out, amen? While at Grace in Ocean Springs we were invited to be a part of the unreached peoples conference with First Bible International in Murfreesboro, TN. by Bro. Fielder. We were scheduled to go from Pensacola to NY for a meeting on the 8th but with this conference on the 9th back in TN we made a call and the Pastor in NY graciously rescheduled us for a few weeks from now. This left us with Sunday open before the conference in TN on Mon. So we called a church with a prophet chamber in Alabama and he not only let us use the chamber (which was beautiful) but he allowed us to present and preach Sunday Morning. We had a great meeting with Pastor Mike Eaton and the great church family there and then through that I was invited to the Southern TN/Northern Ala Ind Fund Baptist fellowship meeting on morning morning in...yep, Murfreesboro. We went to the fellowship and gained some exposure to a number of good brothers and pastors in that area as well as being given some great tools and resources for our travel convenience. The key speaker was Dr. Shelton Smith, the president of the Sword of the Lord. We walked out with names and numbers of more than 50 churches in that fellowship. The Lord is so good, all the time. That led us to the FBI conference monday night where we were totally blessed. I will post again on this conference as it continues tonight but pray as we have opportunity to minister to the kids etc while we are here. Also pray for two men I witnessed to today at the playground - Michael (former pentecostal - admittedly lost and concerned) and Charles - unchurched father of four. Both of them were receptive to the gospel and said they would read the tract and strongly consider visiting Franklin Road Baptist in the near future.
Cross and Crown Baptist Church - Pensacola Fl
Not willing that one should perish - the theme for the conference. Praise the Lord for His longsuffering
After GIBC we went about 2 hours east to be with Pastor Joe Davis for a conference at Cross and Crown. Pastor Davis is a Phd and was a Bible professor at PCC for a number of years before taking the Pastorate about 19 years ago. The two families with us at the conference were the Tessins - 16 year veterans to the Philippines! and the Rickers, who are leaving at the end of March to go to Peru to minister to the deaf there. It was exciting to see that young family packed and ready to go to the field with deputation finished - we look forward to the sweet time that will be also.
Both of these families call Cross and Crown home so we were the outsiders at the party but we praise the Lord that they made us feel like we were old friends - it is good to have blood relatives at every conference we go to amen?!
They had a Kids4Missions picnic on Saturday and the girls had a great time. They have kids as young as 7 that participate in faith promise missions giving there. It is a blessing to see the zeal for God's mission in the youngest of them.
The church was a great blessing in taking us out to dinner, having a ladies day out and much more. Each of us had opportunity to present and preach and Stephanie even gave her salvation testimony in front of the church for the first time, Praise the Lord!
God has been so good to us. We stayed in the home of a man named JB who loves kids and really had a great time with the girls. He has been faithfully ministering in many areas fo years and is praying about the Lord using him someday on a full time basis. Pray for JB that the Lord would work out an insurance issue from the last hurricane that damaged his home. He would appreciate it. The Lord has blessed this church with a number of missionaries sent and a church plant already and we are excited to hear what he will continue to do as they move into a long awaited building in the next couple months.
When I have time I will put in some pics from these conferences. Thanks for your prayers. Next up - Hartselle Alabama
After GIBC we went about 2 hours east to be with Pastor Joe Davis for a conference at Cross and Crown. Pastor Davis is a Phd and was a Bible professor at PCC for a number of years before taking the Pastorate about 19 years ago. The two families with us at the conference were the Tessins - 16 year veterans to the Philippines! and the Rickers, who are leaving at the end of March to go to Peru to minister to the deaf there. It was exciting to see that young family packed and ready to go to the field with deputation finished - we look forward to the sweet time that will be also.
Both of these families call Cross and Crown home so we were the outsiders at the party but we praise the Lord that they made us feel like we were old friends - it is good to have blood relatives at every conference we go to amen?!
They had a Kids4Missions picnic on Saturday and the girls had a great time. They have kids as young as 7 that participate in faith promise missions giving there. It is a blessing to see the zeal for God's mission in the youngest of them.
The church was a great blessing in taking us out to dinner, having a ladies day out and much more. Each of us had opportunity to present and preach and Stephanie even gave her salvation testimony in front of the church for the first time, Praise the Lord!
God has been so good to us. We stayed in the home of a man named JB who loves kids and really had a great time with the girls. He has been faithfully ministering in many areas fo years and is praying about the Lord using him someday on a full time basis. Pray for JB that the Lord would work out an insurance issue from the last hurricane that damaged his home. He would appreciate it. The Lord has blessed this church with a number of missionaries sent and a church plant already and we are excited to hear what he will continue to do as they move into a long awaited building in the next couple months.
When I have time I will put in some pics from these conferences. Thanks for your prayers. Next up - Hartselle Alabama
Grace Independent Baptist Church – Conference ‘09
Lam 3:40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
Lam 3:41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
This was the theme of the conference this year at our sending church in Ocean Springs, MS. It was a wonderful time of fellowship as my family got to know our church family better during this week. Our girls were thrilled to spend time with Pastors family and the other 50+ kids that were there! I never set out to write a book and considering the hour of night I sit to write this, I am more intent to keep it brief. Let me first brag on God. The Lord saw fit to orchestrate a good group of missionaries at this conference that got along well, sought to sharpen and encourage one another and were genuinely all excited for what God was directing the others to do. The families were the Blackburns to the Congo, the Hayfletts to prisons of America, the Jimenez family to the West Indies, Bro. Chang to the Hmong people of Thailand and the primary speaker for the conference – Bro. Ken Fielder of First Bible International. In 2007 after God made it clear he was calling us to the Philippines, we traveled to Murfreesboro TN to meet with Bro. Fielder and Dr. Charles Keen to discuss FBI and how perhaps we might have some interaction in the future as the Lord directs surrounding the tribal groups in the Cordillera Mountains of the Philippines. It was a privilege to get better acquainted with him and his family through the week and more than that, for the Lord to use him to be a blessing to us through the preaching and fellowship. It is always a blessing to hear the testimonies and presentations of our brothers heading to different fields and this week was no different. The passion, the burden, the tears that flowed – it doesn’t get much better than to spend a week in a conference with a bunch of families that have tender hearts for God, amen?! The church was a great blessing to us in many ways but I will say that there were some highlights surrounding the food and fellowship. They put on a wonderful lunch and dinner each day for us that not only was great food prepared by chef/evangelist/singer/graphic designer…Bro. Zeb McDaris and a great crew of laborers but they set up kids tables and saw to the feeding and caring of the kids during the meals! This allowed for unprecedented opportunity to enjoy the fellowship of the other missionaries as well as Pastor and Sister his wife. We had the privilege to stay with the Perkins while there and were told in advance that late nights of fellowship were in store for us. They were, and it was a blessing. It was also great to see the Paul and Abigail Miller family again, they also now call GIBC home. It is amazing where God has brought us in the past 15+ years since we graduated from Northstar Christian in Rochester. The Lord has done some amazing things.
Before heading out, the church blessed my wife and our kids with gift cards and sent us on our way to the next conference in Pensacola with a full tank of gas. From ministering to the kids in Sunday School to giving a charge to close the conference on Thursday night at the international banquet, we counted it a blessing that God would allow us to be part of His work here. The biggest highlight of the week though had to be when Steve Perkins daughter Hannah (Pastor’s niece) got saved at Walmart, right in the water aisle. Pray for Steve as he heads out in the future also, God has called him to be an evangelist and to have a strong emphasis on family conferences and ministry. The only regret we have is that we couldn’t be there the following Sunday when Bro. Zeb McDaris preached for the Faith Promise commitment week. From what I understand, there were a number of people that surrendered to preach, jail ministry and to the Lord’s will for their lives – all glory be to God!
This is only fitting, after all, it is God’s will that first we give ourselves, the rest will follow.
2Co 8:5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
Lam 3:41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
This was the theme of the conference this year at our sending church in Ocean Springs, MS. It was a wonderful time of fellowship as my family got to know our church family better during this week. Our girls were thrilled to spend time with Pastors family and the other 50+ kids that were there! I never set out to write a book and considering the hour of night I sit to write this, I am more intent to keep it brief. Let me first brag on God. The Lord saw fit to orchestrate a good group of missionaries at this conference that got along well, sought to sharpen and encourage one another and were genuinely all excited for what God was directing the others to do. The families were the Blackburns to the Congo, the Hayfletts to prisons of America, the Jimenez family to the West Indies, Bro. Chang to the Hmong people of Thailand and the primary speaker for the conference – Bro. Ken Fielder of First Bible International. In 2007 after God made it clear he was calling us to the Philippines, we traveled to Murfreesboro TN to meet with Bro. Fielder and Dr. Charles Keen to discuss FBI and how perhaps we might have some interaction in the future as the Lord directs surrounding the tribal groups in the Cordillera Mountains of the Philippines. It was a privilege to get better acquainted with him and his family through the week and more than that, for the Lord to use him to be a blessing to us through the preaching and fellowship. It is always a blessing to hear the testimonies and presentations of our brothers heading to different fields and this week was no different. The passion, the burden, the tears that flowed – it doesn’t get much better than to spend a week in a conference with a bunch of families that have tender hearts for God, amen?! The church was a great blessing to us in many ways but I will say that there were some highlights surrounding the food and fellowship. They put on a wonderful lunch and dinner each day for us that not only was great food prepared by chef/evangelist/singer/graphic designer…Bro. Zeb McDaris and a great crew of laborers but they set up kids tables and saw to the feeding and caring of the kids during the meals! This allowed for unprecedented opportunity to enjoy the fellowship of the other missionaries as well as Pastor and Sister his wife. We had the privilege to stay with the Perkins while there and were told in advance that late nights of fellowship were in store for us. They were, and it was a blessing. It was also great to see the Paul and Abigail Miller family again, they also now call GIBC home. It is amazing where God has brought us in the past 15+ years since we graduated from Northstar Christian in Rochester. The Lord has done some amazing things.
Before heading out, the church blessed my wife and our kids with gift cards and sent us on our way to the next conference in Pensacola with a full tank of gas. From ministering to the kids in Sunday School to giving a charge to close the conference on Thursday night at the international banquet, we counted it a blessing that God would allow us to be part of His work here. The biggest highlight of the week though had to be when Steve Perkins daughter Hannah (Pastor’s niece) got saved at Walmart, right in the water aisle. Pray for Steve as he heads out in the future also, God has called him to be an evangelist and to have a strong emphasis on family conferences and ministry. The only regret we have is that we couldn’t be there the following Sunday when Bro. Zeb McDaris preached for the Faith Promise commitment week. From what I understand, there were a number of people that surrendered to preach, jail ministry and to the Lord’s will for their lives – all glory be to God!
This is only fitting, after all, it is God’s will that first we give ourselves, the rest will follow.
2Co 8:5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The long day of driving
The sight most likely to be seen in a 12.5 hours driving day
This was how we knew we were in TN :)
We then spent the next day going from TN to Oxford AL and praise the Lord it was a shorter day on the road, less eventful with sickness and weather and we found a beautiful little park called Nocolulu Falls in AL to stop at.
Feb 19th was a new record for us. We drove 700+ miles from Rochester to Church Hill, TN where we stayed at a prophets chamber at Liberty Baptist Church. It was an adventure. First Sarah got sick (i'll refrain from details), then Emma got sick in the same manner, followed by, yep, Sarah again... By the second day of travel, 3/4 of them had runny noses, coughs etc beside the stomach issues experienced on day one. We went through a number of snow flurries and some pretty slick roads in the north but the Lord brought us to our destination safely, in good time and with tremendous thanksgiving. Not everyone had such an uneventful trip considering we saw a tractor trailor jackknifed in a ditch, a tanker truck that hit a guardrail and a mercedes spin out and end up in a ditch. The highlight of the day for the girls was driving through tunnels that went through mountains in WV and VA.
Since I was driving, I couldnt take pictures out the window like I might have otherwise while driving through such beautiful areas but Emma was happy to sit in the back with a play camera and say cheese for hours on end! Other fun times were when Steph tried getting Emma out of a craft box in the prophets chamber and ended up getting her hands covered in glue in the process and when Sarah locked us out of the bathroom door at the church leaving me to take apart the handle assembly to get us access again. Fun times.
This was how we knew we were in TN :)We then spent the next day going from TN to Oxford AL and praise the Lord it was a shorter day on the road, less eventful with sickness and weather and we found a beautiful little park called Nocolulu Falls in AL to stop at.
Day three brought us to Ocean Springs and our home church of Grace Independent where we enjoyed an incredible conference and tremendous blessings through the week. I look forward to sharing some of the great things God has done the past couple of weeks in future posts but it is now time to hit the road again from Pensacola to Al for a meeting on Sunday and then off to TN for a conference on Monday. Thanks for praying for us.
The Putneys
March Prayer Letter
Dear praying friends, March, 2009
Genesis 12:1-2 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
There are a couple of steps in the process of going to the mission field that are rather significant to the family. One of them certainly is leaving employer, house, hometown, friends and family for a radically different schedule of events on the road. The very things that for years have served to offer comfort and, in part, a sense of security are now far away yet it was not those things and people that brought comfort and security but our Lord that was responsible for those things, and from Him we are never distant. I am writing this from a man’s kitchen that we hadn’t met until we arrived, my girls laid their heads on pillows tonight in the fourth different place in two weeks and we will drive from Pensacola to Hartselle, AL tomorrow to make it five. I have now parted ways with my employer of 10+ years and our house is being shown to potential buyers on a regular basis (pray for its sale, amen?!). We are adapting to life on the road in much longer stretches. Yet, this was all to say that we are greatly rejoicing. As with Abraham, God has blessed us and we pray that we also are being used as a blessing to others. No matter the changes of surroundings, states, churches or prophets chambers we have seen - we have felt at home. It is a wonderful feeling to know that while so much is changing, the grace of God that had been so wonderfully given to us at home is not only present but poured out in even greater abundance at this time, to the glory of Jesus Christ!
We are excited about the two conferences that just concluded in MS and FLA and look forward to meetings and conferences in the next month in four states. We have had a great time with our sending church at Grace Independent in Ocean Springs, MS. The girls have been adapting very well and have made many friends at each church. It is a wonderful thing to see how quickly they connect with other missionary kids. In fact in this last conference at Cross and Crown Baptist Church in Pensacola it was an all girl event with 10 girls and no boys in the three families. The girls have gathered seashells at the ocean, had a personal tour of a creation science theme park and enjoyed their new found friends at every stop, the Lord is so good!
We would ask for prayer for the duration of our year to be filled with meetings and that the Lord would continue to connect us with churches that are burdened for this country of 91 million souls.
For the glory of His name,
Aaron & Stephanie Putney – Autumn, Anna, Sarah & Emma
Eph 3:20-21
Genesis 12:1-2 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
There are a couple of steps in the process of going to the mission field that are rather significant to the family. One of them certainly is leaving employer, house, hometown, friends and family for a radically different schedule of events on the road. The very things that for years have served to offer comfort and, in part, a sense of security are now far away yet it was not those things and people that brought comfort and security but our Lord that was responsible for those things, and from Him we are never distant. I am writing this from a man’s kitchen that we hadn’t met until we arrived, my girls laid their heads on pillows tonight in the fourth different place in two weeks and we will drive from Pensacola to Hartselle, AL tomorrow to make it five. I have now parted ways with my employer of 10+ years and our house is being shown to potential buyers on a regular basis (pray for its sale, amen?!). We are adapting to life on the road in much longer stretches. Yet, this was all to say that we are greatly rejoicing. As with Abraham, God has blessed us and we pray that we also are being used as a blessing to others. No matter the changes of surroundings, states, churches or prophets chambers we have seen - we have felt at home. It is a wonderful feeling to know that while so much is changing, the grace of God that had been so wonderfully given to us at home is not only present but poured out in even greater abundance at this time, to the glory of Jesus Christ!
We are excited about the two conferences that just concluded in MS and FLA and look forward to meetings and conferences in the next month in four states. We have had a great time with our sending church at Grace Independent in Ocean Springs, MS. The girls have been adapting very well and have made many friends at each church. It is a wonderful thing to see how quickly they connect with other missionary kids. In fact in this last conference at Cross and Crown Baptist Church in Pensacola it was an all girl event with 10 girls and no boys in the three families. The girls have gathered seashells at the ocean, had a personal tour of a creation science theme park and enjoyed their new found friends at every stop, the Lord is so good!
We would ask for prayer for the duration of our year to be filled with meetings and that the Lord would continue to connect us with churches that are burdened for this country of 91 million souls.
For the glory of His name,
Aaron & Stephanie Putney – Autumn, Anna, Sarah & Emma
Eph 3:20-21
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