To Wichita Falls, the U.S, and the uttermost parts of the Earth.

Sunday we had our beloved missionary from Peru, Segundo Rodriguez, in for a visit. It has been almost 2 years since we started supporting Segundo, after he first visited our church at the request of Pastor Counterman. Pastor knew Segundo from a previous mission trip to Peru and through their mutual friend Tim Chapman.

Segundo spoke during our Sunday School hour, our morning service, and our evening service on Sunday. During Sunday School Segundo gave the church a report on his activities in Peru. It was a blessing to see God working through him, from the institute he is a part of to the remote mountains and forests he travels to.

During Sunday worship, Segundo encouraged us on toward evangelism in a unique way. He called it the "Basic Approach." He walked us through examples of people coming to Jesus in the early chapters of John's gospel. These people that came were all the result of other people saying, "Come and see." Segundo said that this is the most persuasive method we can use in presenting the message of Christ. We are changed people. If we live that change and when people see it, all we have to do is share that change with them. "They can't ignore that, " Pastor Rodriguez shared.

Sunday evening, he came with the Great Commission and its relevance to us. Segundo related Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth to Wichita Falls, United States, Canada/Mexico etc, and, well, the uttermost parts of the earth. He spent time on each region, expressing the need and offering methods for reaching each. It was a time well spent.

Segundo is a man blessed with the gift of handling God's word. His attitude of submission and servanthood is visible to all. We just say, "Praise God for such men!" Our prayers and thanks go with him and his work.

Also a big thanks to Arnoldo Matamoros for translating Segundo's message. He did an awesome job!

(Photos: Top - Segundo (right) and Arnoldo Matamoros, Middle - Pastor Lukus with Segundo, Bottom - MBC hears the word preached and translated).

To seek and save the lost

Since coming to know the Lord, Mark Deboe has ached for those who do not know Christ. That ache has translated to time spent going out to where the people are to be a witness to what Christ has done in his life.

Mark and Josh in a role play

Mark doesn't stop there. To pass on his passion for Great Commission work, he began a class out of his home to teach the folks in our church the basics of sharing one's faith. Hoping to have a few disciples to teach, Mark was overwhelmed by the response. Soon his livingroom would no longer accommodate the hungry saints, and the moved the study time over to the church.

Iron sharpening iron

Recently the masses went out to meet the masses during our town's 4th of July parade. Hundreds of tracts were passed out, but more than that, brothers and sisters in Christ went into the world to share the message of God's judgment and God's love to those who have likely never heard the truth before.

The 4th of July Team: Longoria's, Stevens', Smith's, Deboe's and a few Pond's

Please pray that through this ministry at Messiah Baptist Church, hundreds would come to know the grace of God.

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.