Happy Campers

Front row: Cameron Longoria, Caleb Kettula
Back Row: Josh Longoria, Austin Pond, Tyler Pond

Several weeks ago our teens made their 4th annual trip to Southland Christian Camp. In the heart of Louisiana, Southland sits near the tiny town of Ringold, roughly 45 minutes south of Shreveport. As an attendee of the camp myself for 3 years I know that camp is always a treat. The ability to get away from everything else for a week and just chill, you and God--well, plus a couple hundred other people doing the same thing. The week incorporates, good food, crazy games, devotions, Bible memory, hot, humid weather, and powerful preaching.

The speaker this year was Will Galkin, a big hit with our young men. It's been neat to see the influence his speaking has had on the youth who attended camp. Our campers were, Caleb, Tyler, Austin, and Cameron. Josh Longoria, our youth leader, took the teens solo this year. When responding to the teens' gratitude, he said, "I know y'all view it like me taking you, but the time is just as blessed for me as it is for you."

Find one of our crew in the Camper Choir (hint: It's not Josh)

Galkin spent his morning services talking about the life of Joseph and living a life a purity and forgiveness. The nighttime services were centered around salvation and living for God.

Melee!

Look hard to find Cameron, Tyler, and Austin in this free-for-all photo!

The atmosphere of isolation from the rest of the world, and being surrounded by things of God for a whole week, makes you far more sensitive to the areas of your own life where you are failing; you really feel conviction. That and the godly fellowship are superb reasons for camp attendance. Any camper who has gone with us will tell you how worth it camp is.

From big ball and water games, to chicken sandwiches and pizza, to Bible memory and life lessons from Joseph, this year's camp was once again a blessed a time for our teens (both young and old).

A taste for Chile

Sometimes when family rolls into town, you batten down the hatches and make the most of it. When you have to finagle to figure out how you're related, that bodes doubly ill.

Such was NOT the case when David and Kristi Flink tumbled into town from the great green north. David and Pastor Counterman, while not blood, are related in that their siblings, sister and brother respectively, married up a few years back. Since that time, God has burdened David's heart to serve Him as a missionary to Antofogasta, Chile. He's blessed him with a wondrous wife who grew up as an "MK" (missionary's kid) in Chile, and now three young children, Jordan, Ben, and Kaylee.

Our church family met them during meals on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and we grew in our knowledge of God's work in South America as David wonderfully handled God's word during Sunday school, Sunday worship and during our Sunday evening service. You can access his messages on our Church's web-site here.

Please pray for them as they are now resituated in Edinburg, Texas (about as far south as you can get and still stay north of the Rio Grande) as David finishes up his foreign language training. They have almost attained to the total need for their support to head down to Chile next January. Please pray for God's provision to that end, too.

We sure had a GREAT time with them as God's family should. Please check out the latest with the Flinck's on their blog here. You'll even see our church.

Vaya con Dios!

3 Items in the Box.

Hi all, I apologize for getting a little behind here, but I encourage you to check back here throughout the week. I'll be posting on three exciting stories including our 4th of July ministry success and our Way of the Master program, teen camp, and our missionary service.

Thanks for your patience. God's peace.

A Sweet Smelling Aroma

No we don't offer burnt offerings to God anymore, but we can still offer savory sacrifices. Music, for instance.

Recently our church was blessed with a visit from a vocal team of Maranatha Bible College students, the Heritage Singers. Members of our church opened up their homes to the team so they could minister to us on Friday night, June 27th.

The team has been traveling all summer, spending their time out of school on this mission trip, sacrificing the summer free time they could have spent with their family, friends, and fiances.

Not only did they bless us with their voices but they also helped with a special Teen Time after their service. Good times had by all.

Many thanks to the Heritage Singers

Thanks, too, to those who housed the Heritage Singers. Thank God and pray for them during their travels.

Make a joyful noise!

Tracking Down the Truth

The evening of Sunday, June the 1st, we celebrated the end of our 3rd year of Truth Trackers, our Wednesday night discipleship program for children Pre-K thru 6th grade.

It was a joy to watch and listen as the kids recited the numerous Bible verses they had committed to memory over the past year. When all was said and done, I'm sure I was not the only one of 18+ years that was put to shame. What a blessing to see the faith of parents being passed on and hidden in the hearts of the young.

Many of our kids memorized all of their verses and did all of their devotions for the entire year. A majority of those who did not were simply not here the whole year. Great effort by the kids, but even more so on the part of the parents. "Train up a child in the way he should go..."

Lastly, special congrats to Jeremiah Stevens. This was his last year in Truth Trackers. He was one of the students who memorized every verse and did all of his devotions. In addition, he also memorized each week's bonus verse. He won the "Truth Tracker of the Year Award" here at Messiah Baptist Church. Keep up the effort in Youth Group, buddy!

How good it's been to watch this program grow in our body. Praise God for his blessings in this regard, and pray for the continued growth of the program abroad for the purpose of training up little saints and the spreading of the gospel.

Summer Sunday School Series....

....say that five times fast.

A week ago our adult Sunday School class started a new series led by Pastor Counterman. The series is focusing on Men and Women, including their roles in the family, church, and workplace, and how they are to act as members of their gender.

This is a highly relevant matter for Christians today. As our culture seeks to blend the differences of men and women together, we need to go back to the Bible and see what it says. That's what this class is about.

Pastor Counterman will continue to show us how we were created to function, while alerting us to the corruptions of our culture and how we can protect ourselves, our families, and our church from them. True to the gospel and certainly not politically correct, the men of our church seek to teach the Word of God only. This class is no different.

So come on out and join us for Sunday School if you're not already a regular attendee. Good stuff from God's Word.

Under New Management

Hi all,

Drew Pond here. Just wanna give a shout out to let you know that I have been entrusted with keeping this blog up to date. If you have news from the church or photos of church functions please email them to me at messiahbaptistwf@gmail.com . I appreciate it.

God's Peace.