Busy, busy...

Last week was one of the busiest weeks we've had yet on deputation.  Last Sunday we were at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Santa Ana, California.  Pastor Avila has been a friend of ours for a few years now and it was an honor to be with them at Gospel Light.  I was able to teach Sunday school and Elisabeth and I both gave testimonies during the main service.  I enjoyed having the opportunity to speak to new Christians about growth in their Christian lives.  Since we will be planting churches on the mission field, it is good for us to visit new church plants and see how things are going.  It gives us a taste of what to expect for the future.

I received an invitation to present our ministry at a Great Commission Conference in Northern California last week as well.  After preaching at Gospel Light on Sunday, I went to the airport on Monday morning to catch a flight to San Francisco.  Unfortunately, my plane was delayed for over two hours, and instead of getting there in plenty of time I had to rush to make it to the meeting.  The meeting was an hour and a half from San Francisco, and I barely beat rush hour traffic, but I made it to the meeting with an hour to spare.  It was a crazy day, but the meeting was great!  It encouraged my heart to hear preaching on the Great Commission and I enjoyed the opportunity to meet new pastors.  I was given a few minutes to present our ministry to the pastors on Tuesday morning and it looks like we will get at least one more supporting church and a couple other meetings.  Overall it was a profitable trip.

On Wednesday I had to rush back to the airport to catch a flight back to Southern California.  After a short fight with traffic, I was able to make it to the airport and the flight left on time.  I was scheduled to preach again for Pastor Avila on Wednesday night, so I worked on my sermon on the plane.  How thankful I was to see my wonderful wife and kids at the airport!  Though it was only two days apart, I missed them a great deal.  At home I put a few finishing touches on the sermon, and then off to preach again 6:30.  I preached on Lessons for Growth from the Life of Joseph.  I felt like I had liberty to preach and enjoyed preaching the message, and afterward we had a great potluck.  As I settled down in my bed Wednesday night, I was glad to relax after a couple exhausting days, but thankful what God had done in my heart through the preaching of His Word.