Monday

Steve Sanders has been hospitalized in Hammond since last Wednesday.  Please keep him in your prayers.

Mrs. Ferrie Gene Blackmon was at Sunday School yesterday.  Thanks for your prayers for her last week.

Mission Canada Team

. . . .  Thanks to all for the prayers.   We have felt God’s hand on us during these days in Canada.  We took some time on two days to see some of God’s great creation here and have been in awe at the beauty of Canada and the awesome creative works of our God.  We have also been preparing for Childrens Events that will start tomorrow.  In addition to that we have been leading worship for some renewal worship services(kinda like a revival) here in Nanton and Cayley.  In the three worship services so far, we have seen God work in lives.  Bro. Butch leads the worship, Brett Thornton does the MC stuff, some of our people have sang and shared testimonies, and Bro. Joey and Bro. Bucky have been preaching.

This morning the two teams were separated so that we could worship with two different churches.  The Cayley team was in Nanton and the Pincher Creek team was at Heartland Fellowship in Pincher Creek.  Tonight we all worshipped at Cayley Christian Fellowship.

Beginning tomorrow the Cayley team will so a Children’s VBS Kid’s Camp in the mornings and will lead the renewal services at night.  We will also participate in the Canada Day activities including a gospel service on Wedesday.  Canada Day is like our 4th of July.  The Pincher Creek team will lead a Sports Adventure Camp in Pincher Creek Monday through Thursday afternoons.  After spending some time together for the last few days, the two teams will not see one another again until we meet at 4:00 am on Friday to head to the airport.

Please pray for the team members as God uses us to encourage and build up the body of Christ in this part of Alberta, Canada.  Pray for physical strength, rest from the fatigue, and spiritual insight to know how to minister to those with whom we come in contact.  Pray also the the children that come to the activities.  Pray for the revival services and for anointing on the singing and preaching.  Pray that God would encourage the Christians in this area.

We miss home and are grateful for the family of God that He has given us.  We look forward to seeing you all and will share more when we get home.

God Bless!
Bro. Joey

From Jimmy Dukes

Another Week in New Orleans

We have spent another interesting week in New Orleans. It has been wonderful in many ways, and not so wonderful in a few ways. The wonderful has occurred because I got the opportunity to preach last Sunday at First Baptist Marrerro, a wonderful church on the west bank where I had the privilege of serving as interim for about a year several years ago. The people there have been so generous and so loving to my family. I am forever thankful to them.

Our stay on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has also been wonderful for several reasons. One reason is the hospitality of the Drs Kelley (Chuck and Rhonda) and the staff and faculty of the Seminary. We have been cared for royally and we have been welcomed with open arms. I cannot imagine what we would have done if this accident had been in some unknown place. But our long time friends here have made it possible for us to keep moving on the road to recovery while not having to worry about how we would live or where we would stay. Thanks to all the NOBTS folks who have made us feel welcome. The manager and staff at Providence Guest House have been especially helpful. Every need had been met without ever having to make a request. Thanks, Linda and staff. We also have had the privilege of visiting with many friends and students in Cafe New Orleans. This cafe is the source of the best coffee in the world. It is a place where they never put too much water in the coffee. Thanks, Loretta and staff. We also have enjoyed some of the best grits and eggs in New Orleans in the NOBTS Cafeteria, bar none. Thanks Sheila and staff for that. Finally we have had a wonderful week eating in good New Orleans restaurants

, thanks to the generosity of a number of friends who have played host to us. Let’s see, II Tonys (thanks Clay and Carol), Copeland’s (thanks to a number of friends), Zea’s (thanks Taylors), Drago’s (the oyster place, thanks to Dan and Tom) and a few others. We even had a visit to Emeril’s (Bam) thanks to Mike and Ginger. In addition, we had Bud’s Broiler hotdogs a couple of times at lunch. We are still trying to catch up on the great New Orleans eateries. I recommend them all.

Then, the week has been wonderful because all eight of our grandchildren and our two wonderful daughters-in-love were here for Father’s Day. The best ever. Four of the grandkids (Jason and Jen’s were here all week. You have not had real fun until you watch four kids from 7 and one half down to six months travel through the Insectarium. It was great.

Then, I would have to say one of the most wonderful experiences has been spending the week with Jason during the weekdays and Erik on the weekend. The experiences, conversations, and food have been priceless. Watching them serve their mom and dad, especially watching them care for Retia in the hospital, has been a phenomenal experience.

There have been many other wonderful experiences as well, like meeting people, hearing about people praying for us, watching the church be the church, and many other things. Thanks to you all for that.

The not-so-wonderful has been watching Retia suffer pain and difficulty. She is fighting hard through the therapy and other treatments. We continue to pray that her thinking, focus, memory, and physical ability, especially in her left arm and leg, will continue to get better. We have trying hard to watch patiently, but we feel helpless as we watch. We are grateful to doctors, nurses, and therapists who are working so hard to make her better. We are longing for the time when we will be able to get back to Orlando and home to see what the new normal will be. While we appreciate our friends here in New Orleans and all they do for us, we miss our friends in Orlando as well and want to get back there. As I say, we are trying to be patient.

Thanks again to all of you who are continuing to be generous with your financial support and your prayer for us. Please keep it up. We need you desperately.  Thanks for being true friends.

I am going tonight to eat with Ken and Jordan Taylor and a friend from Orlando who is a student at NOBTS. (We are going to Copeland’s, one of our favorites). Erik just left a little while ago to return to his family and his work for the week. He will be back on Friday. Jason has a speaking engagement in Florida on his way back here tomorrow. He will be back tomorrow afternoon and will be here for the week. My brother Dan will take me to eat tomorrow morning. Someone will show up to get me to lunch tomorrow. I will get to work in Cafe New Orleans, drink some good coffee, and see some wonderful friends during the day. My thanks to them all. Isn’t it great how God uses his people to provide for his people? He is doing that every day for us. We are grateful

Thanks again to you all for praying and supporting. Please keep up your intercession to our gracious Father for Retia’s healing. It will be so wonderful to see her get out of bed and walk again.

I love you all.

blessings
jdukes

Robert R. Lee

(January 29, 1942 – June 28, 2009)

Robert R. Lee was born on January 29, 1942 and passed away at 6:15 p.m., June 28, 2009 at the Ochsner Medical Center of Baton Rouge. He was 67 and a resident of Amite.

Arrangements are incomplete at this time.

KneEmail

Bandage

WHEN I WAS a little kid, I got a pretty nasty burn on my leg…

The doctor applied a bandage designed to adhere to the burned skin. The bandage was made of a material that had a healing ointment in it, and as the burn healed and the skin began to grow, the bandage and the skin fused. It worked almost like a skin graft, and it was very effective in the process of healing.

This is a picture of what the local church should be. We are not to be a band-aid that provides a small amount of healing and protection for the hurting people around us, only to be taken off and once again made separate. The church should be fused with those who have been “burned,” working as a unit to bring about healing. Part of our strategy is to become a vital part of life in our region, not just to be a place for people to visit on the weekends but truly to be a healing place for a hurting world. We want to be involved, to be part of the cure, and to be a resource for rehabilitation and spiritual restoration. (Dino Rizzo)

“And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude;

and He was moved with compassion for them,

and healed their sick.

Matthew 14:14

Posted by Mike Benson

Thanks for praying.  Your prayers mean so much to so many!

Anna Lee