Family Fun Fest in Spartanburg

One of the privileges of being home during this month of June has been the opportunity to participate in a community outreach event of our church. Last Saturday, Cleveland Park Bible Church hosted a "Family Fun Fest", which included free games, food and Bible challenges for the whole family. The idea developed out of a desire to once again seek new and different ways to get into touch with the unsaved community around us. Our entire family participated in the event. Tim had the opportunity to preach to the teens, and Ruth donned her clown gear as "Calamity" in the Clown College skit. About 75 people (young and old!) from our community attended the event. Micaiah and Miriam eagerly joined their number in trying out all the booths and participating in the class times. Please pray with us that the efforts of our church family will prove fruitful as we now endeavor to follow-up with some of the contacts made at this event.

In other news, with the ordination behind us, Tim is now preparing for some upcoming preaching opportunities. He'll be preaching seven times in the next two weeks as he fills in for our pastor while he is away and also conducts a marriage ceremony on June 28. Thanks for your prayers and for your interest in our ministry endeavors. We'd love to hear from you!

Ordination Weekend

In spite of the sweltering heat (the mercury reached 99 on Saturday and 100 on Sunday), God gave us a special ordination weekend. At 2 p.m. on Saturday, 10 men gathered for 3 ½ hours of questioning. It was a humbling experience, but the men were very gracious and the time was truly beneficial.

The ordination service was held on Sunday, June 8, at 10:30 a.m.. Pastor Ken Casillas gave a special charge to the congregation, Phillip Dodd presented me with the ordination certificate, and Robert Hurst with a new Bible. A special highlight for me was to have my dad pray the ordination prayer from France via a telephone connection. (Dad and Mom were able to watch the service live through Skype.) It was also very special to have Bob Bixby, Jr., my brother and mentor, preach the charge to the ordainee.

The church prepared a lunch for everyone in attendance, and then we gathered again at 2:30 for us to give our “official” missionary presentation to our home church. We’d like to give a big thank you to all our family and friends who came from out of town to join us for the special occasion. And a big thank you to Cleveland Park Bible Church for your love, support and interest in our ministry. See below for a slideshow of the weekend.

Ordination

We would appreciate the prayers of all our ministry friends and partners regarding this weekend's ordination activities, which are as follows:

Saturday, June 7
Ordination questioning: 2 p.m.

Sunday, June 8
Ordination service: 10:30 a.m.
Dinner on the grounds: 12:15 p.m.
Missionary presentation to home church: 2:30 p.m.

All of the above events will take place at our home church: Cleveland Park Bible Church of Spartanburg, S.C. And, of course, any of you who are able and/or desirous are invited to attend!

We desire that these activities would bring glory to our Lord and Savior and give us a sense of the solemnity of the Lord's setting us (and specifically, Tim) apart for the Gospel ministry. Thank you for your prayers for us on this occasion.