Ministry Update
September - December 2011
Dear Praying Friends,
Christmas is almost here and along with it the end of yet another year! It has been fifteen years since I pulled out of the parking lot at Bible Baptist Church in Fairbanks and headed off into full time evangelism. It has certainly gone by quickly, but my father used to tell me that the older you get, the faster time moves.
We had a great Fall season of revival meetings and special services all around the country and were privileged to see God work in amazing ways in the lives of many people. What a wonderful privilege to be a part of God's work! (1 Timothy 1:12) "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry." We are thankful every day to not only be a part of the ministry of the Saviour, but to be able to work together with so many great churches across the country.
I will give you a quick "rundown" of some of the highlights of the past few months. You may have been following the ongoing saga of our truck problems for the last couple of years. I am pleased to announce that I finally got tired of being left on the side of the road by our 2004 F-250 6.0 diesel and traded it in (along with a pile of cash) on a much older and (hopefully) more reliable 1999 F-350 7.3 diesel dually. For many of you that will mean absolutely nothing, but those of you who are truck people will understand the significance of the trade. Please pray with us that the "new" truck will keep us moving along safely for many years to come.
We know that it is just a matter of time until we will need to be looking for a new trailer as well. The average RV gets about two weeks of use every year and ours gets at least 34 weeks every year and thousands of miles. We are trying to save up as much as we can toward the expense that we know is coming our way. Please pray that the Lord will give us clear direction regarding what and when to buy.
In September we had the privilege of being part of the 25th anniversary services at Fellowship Baptist in Emlenton, PA. It is well worth celebrating 25 years of ministry and the folks there at Emlenton are doing a great job.
We celebrated Hope's 7th birthday while we were at Bible Baptist Church in Bennington, VT. We had a great meeting there and were encouraged to see how the Lord has blessed there through the years.
In November, we had a special Sunday at Faith Baptist Church in Fredericksburg, VA, that concluded on Sunday night with a special banquet encouraging the people to look toward the future and continue to give of their finances, abilities and time in the service of our great Saviour. Pastor Watson Morgan is doing a tremendous job there and I believe there are great things in store for Faith Baptist!
December started out for us with a 20th anniversary revival meeting at Bible Baptist Church in Cambridge, OH. They have just moved into a new building and have seen the Lord doing some amazing things.
We were also able to work several new churches into the schedule this Fall. It is always a blessing to meet new folks and to see what the Lord is doing in places we've never been. We were able to be at Augusta Highway Baptist in Greenwood, SC, Vandalia Baptist Temple in Vandalia, OH, Trulite Baptist in High Point, NC, Temple Baptist in Statesville, NC, First Freedom Baptist in Brimfield, OH, Anchor Baptist in Massillon, OH and Lighthouse Baptist in Payette, ID.
Right now we are in Pasco, WA, with Pawpaw Paisley and having a wonderful time. Right before Christmas we will fly to Alaska to spend some time with Grandma Rogers and be at our home church for a few days, so it is a very busy season for us, as I'm sure it is for you.
Hope and David have just recorded a five song Christmas CD and in my (completely objective) opinion they did a wonderful job! They are available on the website (www.mrogers.com) for only $5.00, so you may want to order some before we run out! You will also want to take a look at some of the new pictures on the website.
All in all it has been a wonderful year and we are excited about what the Lord has in store for next year!
Merry Christmas from Liz:
It seems at Christmas time we pause to reflect on the events of the previous year, the mountains, the valleys and all of the plateaus in between. I find myself feeling more grateful each year for the gifts that the Lord has given, not just the material things, but the family, the friends and the wonderful promise of Heaven. When I was just a little girl, I would hear older people say, "There comes a day when you've got more people there (Heaven) than here." I used to think that was such an odd thing to say -- I don't think that way anymore; I suppose that means I'm old, but it is becoming more and more the case that we've got more loved ones there than here. How it makes me long for that country I've never seen, but call "Home!" This Christmas, I am grateful beyond measure for His Unspeakable Gift; to think that the God of heaven would choose to use me in any way for His service is beyond my comprehension. What a wonderful Lord we serve. Merry Christmas to you all.
Merry Christmas, and may God richly bless you in the new year,
