Dear Reader,
Many may think that their lives are two insignificant to make much of a difference. Perhaps some consider themselves but a small piece in even a bigger puzzle, but what we fail to realize is that without that piece the puzzle goes uncompleted. Each of our lives have meaning and with each day of our lives we can do everything we can to make a difference in the lives of others. The decision is ours to make. Will we allow God to use us to complete the will He has for us or will we decide to let this opportunity pass us by.
After a very busy week in the Philippines, I returned and we were on the road again! We had a lot of missions conferences already scheduled, the first being in Longview Baptist Temple. Pastor Bob Gray was gracious enough to have us be a part of his mission month and I had the great privilege to preach Wednesday night! It was such a great opportunity to stand behind the pulpit where many great men 
had stood before. Bro Bob Gray has been a great example in my life and I was overwhelmed with this chance! Elyssa also was able to see her dear friend DeAnna Gray who grew up together and were part of each other’s weddings. Thursday I attended some of the classes at Texas Baptist College and the chapel services where Missionary to West Africa, Bro. Holmes, preached an encouraging message to all the students of the college. After eating lunch with the students we went to the academy and had an hour of question and answer time with the young people. I thoroughly enjoyed that as we anticipated what sort of questions would come from the younger aged children. Questions from the first through third grades like “Are their banks and robbers there?” or “Did you see any sharks?” we found so delightful as their little minds raced for yet another question. Many, however, even from the younger grades had very good questions showing they had put much thought to them and some even had lists of questions in their hands. This was such a special time to be able to give them a visual of what life was like in the Philippines. The entire time we spent
with Longview Baptist Temple was such a pleasure for us and felt very honored by their kindness and generosity.
That night we were able to go out to eat with Josh and DeAnna and spend a great amount of time catching up with them. Josh and I were able to talk quite a bit, at least until my jet lag, which had been giving me a great amount of trouble that week, kicked in. He was very kind and both treated us to a wonderful night of conversation, food, and, best of all, friendship! We enjoyed them very much and appreciate all they did for us.
God has allowed Elyssa and I to have such great relationships with people in many areas and deputation has simply added to this. We are so grateful for such a blessing to not only have the pleasure of doing God’s will for our lives but to meet so many others serving Christ with their lives.
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Texas Baptist College Chapel
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| The Man, Jordan Gray |
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| Sarah, Gabriella, Elyssa, Joanna |
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| Wednesday Night |
Our next conference was in San Antonio, TX, only about four hours away from our home in Dallas. Beautiful Gate Baptist Church, pastored by Pastor Carrizales, invited us to present in their Tuesday opening service of their conference on February 7th. What a great church filled with loving people with hearts for missions. As they came by our table they shared such interest and made us feel right at home. We were able to also run across another fellow missionary who we had seen in another conference in the area and have some great fellowship! Bro. Cox preached the beginning sermon opening it up with a great and encouraging message! You can always see his heart for mission work as we have heard him preach at many mission conferences already. After a few specials done by the people of Beautiful Gate, Pastor Victor Alvarez was up next. What a great sermon as he preached also on the importance of faith promise and the importance of giving. He always seems to have a way with people and usually has the crowd laughing with his many jokes and stories. It was a great night followed by food and fellowship where we were able to speak with other pastors and Pastor Carrizales’ family. Gabriella made her appearance as usual having with her little smile and jumping into the hearts of those present. She has truly been such a blessing to our family, and we are so happy to have her in our lives.
The next morning, Wednesday February 9th, we traveled to Beeville, TX where we were scheduled to be with Pastor Tim Stowe and his people. We arrived early and were able to sit down and enjoy a nice lunch and fellowship with Pastor and his wife. We had a great time and really enjoyed getting to know them even better. We were able to talk about years past as their church has brought their young people to our youth revival for many years. After some time at the hotel Elyssa, Gabriella, and I headed for the church for service that night. We were looking forward to it, even more as we heard Pastor Swope was the guest speaker for this first night of their conference! He too was a pastor we had known from youth revivals past. We had a great time as we sang mission songs, heard testimonies of other countries, watch the church honor the Swope family, and allowed us to present our field. They treated us with such great love and generosity that we felt very overwhelmed with their support for us for simply coming and being there. There is no way we could ever thank them enough for being such a blessing to us on our journey in God’s will. Bro Swope preached a great message and the altar was filled. After services a large group met at the local Subway and we enjoyed fellowship with the church members and reminisced of times past! 
