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Ministry Journal
By Bob & Sylvia
May was really a blessing!
We had several opportunities(20) to sing through the month, then on the 23rd
we sang at the beautiful Mora Valley Baptist church in New Mexico. That Sunday evening we went to Glorietta NM
for Southern Gospel Springfest. This was a time of relaxation and listening to
other people sing. We saw old friends and met many new ones. We had several
that invited us to sing at their church whenever we can work out the dates.
On May 7th I
had a stint put in my heart but I am doing great. Sylvia is getting injections
in her knees to put off having them replaced. We are thankful for the Lord’s
provisions in finance and health as we try to serve Him.
Our prayer is simply to be
used of God. Please pray that God will open the doors for us to share, give us
the message to bring, and the energy to keep up with His schedule.
Follow us on our web site (www.BobandSylvia.org), or be our friend on Facebook
Thank
you Missouri for such a wonderful and spiritually refreshing time. We
led the music for the revival at FBC Eldon with Jon Randles as
evangelist. There were 4 that we know of that were saved and several
other decisions. The pastor and his family are a great asset for the
church. Brother David White is a loving pastor of a loving church that
is going to do great things for the Lord. While we were truely blessed
stayng with our host family Charles and Mary Kay. We fell in love with
the town, church, and area and hope we get to go back there again. From
there we went to Patterson Heights in Anderson MO. Located just south
of Joplin it is nestled in the beautiful hills of southwest Missouri.
We stayed with the pastor Bob Johnson and his wife. We had a good time
of ministry and shareing music. We saw some old friends, Bob and Susie
Pope, whom we had met at a cowboy church here in Amarillo. Wow what a revival we had
at Tonopah! We saw one saved at the revival. The altar was flooded nearly every
night. With the economy and other problems people are hurting and realize God
is the only answer. We had the opportunity to minister to discouraged pastors
and to encourage churches. Please pray for us as we travel to Eldon MO. Pray
for us and the churches we will be ministering in. Our prayer is simply to be
used of God. Please pray that God will open the doors for us to share, give us
the message to bring, and the energy to keep up with His schedule.
In February we had 22 music venues
and saw 3 people saved with 9 other decisions.
Please pray for us as we travel for the next two months. In March we
will be in Arizona leading music at Tonopah
then sing several concerts around the Phoenix
area. In April we will be in revival in Eldon
MO and then sing several concerts
around the Branson area.
Please
pray for us and the churches we will be ministering in. Our prayer is simply to
be used of God. Please pray that God will open the doors for us to share, give
us the message to bring, and the energy to keep up with His schedule.
Thanks
Channing Texas for a great day of worship and fellowship. Thanks to the
First Baptist Church and Saddle Mountain Cowboy Church. What a blessing
to meet such nice people and work with two great pastors. See our Photo
ambum for some pictures. Wow, what
a year 2009 was! We were so blessed getting to share the gospel through music
at many different places. This year we traveled west to the Phoenix
area, Oklahoma, south Texas,
Biloxi Mississippi,
Estero Florida, and several places in North Carolina. Our
ministry traveled 12,835 miles, sang 285 times, and saw 38 people saved.
We
had a great revival at Missionary Baptist Church in Borger. There were
two saved. Carol Grigsby from Richwood TX was the evangelist. The
worship services were Spirit filled and Brother Carol presented
powerful messages of the gospel of salvation. Thanks to the church
for the fellowship and food. If you are searching for a church in the
Borger area we would highly recomend this church to you. Brother Bruce
Riding is the pastor there and has a heart for the ministry and people.
This fall we are staying
close to home. We have had some minor health issues to get taken care of.
Sylvia has had some injections in her knees for worn cartilage and arthritis. I
have tendonosis in an ankle, arthritis, sleep apnea, and a trigger finger. We
have had new windows installed and siding put on the house. Even with all this
we sang 24 times and saw 5 people accepting the Lord as Savior in October. God
has been so good to us and we are thankful for His provisions and humbled that
He is using us to reach people with the message of hope and salvation.
Thank you for your
prayers. Please pray that God will open the doors for us to share, give us the
message to bring, and the energy to keep up with God’s schedule.
A special
thanks to our friends at Walnut Creek in Azel for the warm welcome. We
had a blessed time singing at your Jubilee Celebration. Thanks for the
great food and fellowship. Tell Mary and Dewey thanks for putting us up
in their home and taking care of us. Where
did the summer go? I have heard it said that the older you get the
faster time flies by. August is gone, and September is half over. We
have had some health issues lately that have kept us in town. Sylvia
has been having trouble with her knees and feeling tired all the time.
I have arthritus and tendonosis in my ankle and have been going to
therapy. There are enough ministry needs right here in Amarillo to keep us busy. We
are still serving through the North American Mission Board as music
evangelists and still singing the gospel message of salvation through
faith in Jesus. Serving Jesus is still a blessing. God is so good! In
August we have seen 5 people come to know the Lord as Savior. That
makes a total of 26 through the month of august. Hello
to our friends in the Oklahoma panhandle. Thanks for letting us come
and minister at you senior adult rally. The food and fellowship were
great! Special
friends camp was such a blessing and inspiration. This camp is held
each year at the Panfork Encampment near Wellington. This year we had
75 campers and about 50 councilors and staff. These special friends
range in age from teenagers to people in their 70s. Each one has major
physical, emtional, or mental challenges. The camp is directed by
Eddie and Joberta Helms from Calvary Baptist in Tulia. Eddie serves as
the camp pastor they have a great love for the campers. The campers are
teamed with a buddy which eats and sleeps in their cabins. They help
them get ready and know where to be throughout the day. They are vital
to the camp! Several told us that this was the hardest thing they had
ever done. We also have a full time nurse tha spends full days making
sure each camper gets their medications on time. The activities were
crafts, paddleboats, fishing, zip line, and worship. Sylvia and I love
to do worship there because they sing with all their hearts and love
the Lord with all their abilities alow. On
Sunday night the altar was filled with campers, staff, and councilors
getting their heart right with God, some praying for friends and
family. This year there were 5 saved. Each was counciled by Eddie to
make sure they understood what they were doing. Each got to go outside
and ring the victory bell. Each went back to a chalenging life but with
Jesus in their hearts. Last week we got back from our Florida/North
Carolina tour. It was such a blessing. We were in Mansfield
TX, Warren TX, Ocean Springs MS, Estero FL, Montezuma NC, and Newland NC.
(We put 3,845 miles on the car for the month.) We loved the visit and met many
new people and some old friends that we had not seen in years. One couple in NC
we met about 15 years ago at a Mission Service Corps orientation. (MSC is a
plan through the North American Mission Board to organize volunteer and
self-funded missionaries.) Dennis and Maria were volunteers at a battered
women’s shelter in Oklahoma.
A few years after that, he was called to preach and went back home to NC. They
have asked us to come to their area for years. This time we were able to
include that area on our tour. What a beautiful country! They live in the beautiful
blue ridge mountains of NC. It is some of the most beautiful country I have
ever seen. It is matched only by the people. The only bad thing is that the
roads wind, twist and turn with trees everywhere. You couldn’t see a sun rise
or sunset. For flat-land people from Amarillo
it was nearly too much. Sylvia said she had green overload. Anyway God used us to
touch many people and let them know that God is still in control in spit of
these hard economical times and He still loves His children.
Your prayers are
appreciated. I turned 62 in April and we both are feeling the aches and pains
of getting older. These trips were hard on us, physically.
Just a personal note of thanks to Turning Point Community Church in Lubbock and pastor Brent Hardegree for ministering to our family during the loss of my cousin. Thanks FBC of Texhoma for such a warm welcome. What a blessing you are! I
would like to tell you a little about Prairy View Baptist church. They
invited us to sing at their 5th wednesday night special event. Their
biggest attendance and outreach is their wednesday night kids night.
They run busses and vans and pick up children and teens from all over
that area and bring them to church and feed and teach them about God's
love. I commend them for their love for these special kids and their
love for the Lord. They will be baptising at least eight here in the
next week, several others express a desire to talk to the pastor about
salvation. The
revival in Frio Texas was a great sucess. I felt the spirit of the Lord
in that small church. Frio is one of the most mission minded churches
we have ever ministered in. God is really using you to reach the world. Thanks to the churches in Noconna for letting us come and share the gospel through music. Thanks for the hospitality. On our Arizona tour seemed like the message that God
wanted us to bring is about the hope we have through Christ. These are tough
financial times but God will go with us. Southern and bluegrass gospel is
uplifting to the soul and puts a smile on your face. A special thanks for the warm reception we received in Arizona. We sang at Spur
Cross Cowboy church in Phoenix, Black Mountain Baptist in Cave Creek, a Bible
study class from North Phoenix Baptist, Baptist Retirement Village, Del Monte
Missionary Baptist Church and Valley Baptist Church in Tonopah. (Be sure to look at our photo album.)
Our schedule is filling up
for the Arizona
tour. So far we are scheduled for six concerts and worship services. Please pray for us as we travel, our Chrysler van
has 165,000 miles on it and God has kept it going for several years now and I
think it has a lot more miles left in it.
As you can see from the statistics table below we are still averaging
singing about 21 times a month, about 5 times per week.
A special thanks to Calvary Baptist Church Tulia. What a friendly church! You were a blessing to us. February
was a time to celebrate the love of the Lord as we celebrated
valentine's celebrations with Pleasent Valley Baptist and Bolton
Street Baptist. If
January is any indication of this next year, it is going to be an exciting
year. This January we have seen 9 people saved and numerous other decisions. We
have recorded, produced, and paid royalties and licensing fees for our new CD
“Jesus, He’s my Savior.” We are
scheduling an Arizona and a Florida tour and have plans for two camps. And on top of this in May I will start collecting Social Security.
A special thanks to
our friends at Oak Dale Grace Fellowship it was truly a blessing to lead in a
time of worship this last Sunday. Thanks also to brother and sister
Garrison for asking us to come. They have become very special to us. Your church is
one of the friendliest and most Spirit lead churches we have sang at.
This has been a great
year for us and our ministry. God has richly blessed us with opportunities for
service. As we look back over the year of 2008 we are reminded of God’s
provisions and blessings. This year we have sang at the Evangelism Rally in Friona,
Missionary Baptist church revival in Borger, Ladies Night Banquet in Dimmit, Frio
Revival, Cousins Reunion, Special friends camp at Panfork, ABA Fish Fry at
campgrounds, Barrow family reunion at HPBCC, Girls camp, Boys camp, FBC
Clarendon at the bar H ranch, FBC Allison, FBC Texhoma, Montague Sesquicentennial Fair, Saint Jo
revival, Tri-state fair in Amarillo, Calvary Friona Revival , Banquet for the International
Commission, Easter Star Thanksgiving Masonic Lodge , High plains Encampment
Appreciation Banquet, Faith City Mission, Randall county jail, and several cowboy
churches, funerals, retirement homes, nursing homes, and churches.
This
year the Lord has provided a new sound system, travel expenses, and resources
for our CDs.
The
most important blessing this last year is that our ministry saw 31 people saved
and many other decisions made for the Lord.
2008 This
December we have sang for 12 Christmas celebrations. The schedule for
January looks a little lighter, maybe we can get back to recording a
new album. Any suggestions for songs would be appreciated. Thanks
for your prayers for Sylvia's headaches. After many tests and doctor
visits it was determined that her eyes had gotten worse and her
contacts were no longer helping. She has gone to glasses and the
headaches have gone away. This
is a busy
season for Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. It is our purpose
not to be
just entertainers but share the good news of God’s love through music.
While
people are thinking turkey, Santa, and parties this is the perfect time
of year
to tell them about God’s love and redemptive plan for mankind. During
the month of November we saw nine people come to know
the Lord as savior.
This year we have averaged singing about 4 times a
week. Most of the time, we set up our sound system. The Fender sound system we have used for about
5 years now is getting older and heavier each year. This month our ministry
bought a new Bose L1 system II. This unit sounds better and is lighter and
easier to hook up and use.
Thankful! I am so very thankful to the Lord for so many things: family, friends,
and not only the basic necessities but the abundance. I am so blessed having
Sylvia as my soul mate, my wife, and my best friend. I am also thankful for the
ministry that God has called us to. We are called to go and present the “gospel
through music.” We have felt God’s
leadership in opening doors and then helping us walk through those doors. This month
we were honored to sing at 6 Thanksgiving celebrations. It is our prayer that our
music was a reflection of our thankfulness to our blessed Redeemer.
Special
thanks to Rick and Calvary Baptist in Friona. Thanks for the
spirit of revival that we felt there and for taking such good care
of us. Our time with you was so short but we enjoyed getting to
know Brother Rick, Brother Norman, and getting to know your
church better. The best way to tell if a revival was sucessful if after
all the services are over - were God's people changed? Hello
to our friends in Saint Jo. Thank you for letting us lead music at the
revival. What a blessing it was. You have a great church and pastor.
Keep reaching out with the apartment ministry. Tell everyone we
said hello and thanks for the great meals. Thanks also for making my
aunt and uncle feel so welcome. This
has been a busy month for our ministry. We sang more times than you can
shake a stick at. One of the many blessings was singing at the
tri-state fair here in Amarillo. We had the opportunity to sing
(or play) two or three sets every day. This was an excellent way to
share the gospel out where the people are. It is our prayer that those
who heard the music were touched by the Hole Spirit and that He would
continue to work in their lives. There
was one saved at Fall Revival & Ranch Sorting last Sept.
6 & 7 at the Golden Spread Cowboy Church. We had a great time with
some very special cowboys and cowgirls. We had never been to a goat
sorting or ranch sorting. The fellowship was great and we met many new
friends. Be sure to see the pictures in the photo album. Howdy to our
friends at the Golden Spread Cowboy Church in Amarillo. We enjoyed our
time with you last Sunday. We are looking forward to the revival on
September 6th and 7th. Howdy to our
friends in Geary Oklahoma. We enjoyed our time of sharing songs and the
word with you at the cowboy church. If you happen to be in the area on
Thursday night drop in to the sale barn and you will be blessed. Sorry
we haven't had much time to write here lately. July has flown by. We
lead music at the special friends camp at Panfork, helped at girls camp
at Highplains Encampment ( mostly in the kitchen) and led worship at the boy's
camp. Thanks
to FBC of Clarendon for inviting to sing at the church outing at the
Bar H Ranch. Hope we blessed you as much as you blessed us. Thanks for
the warm reception. Sylvia and I have
been in full time music ministry for a little over eleven years now.
Boy has the time flown by. We have some pictures our grandson, who is
now nine, sleeping in a child carrier in front of the keyboard as
we sang. One time I was singing at Jan Werner adult day care and I
brought Jadon Sylvia was out of town. He was sitting at a table playing
with his cars quietly while I sang using the guitar and mic
stand. About half way through he came up and knocked on the the
mic stand like he was knocking on a door and said "Papa I need to go
pee-pee" As you can imagine that brought the house down. We have had
some wonderful experiences and met some great people. I wouldn't take
anything for the experience of walking in God's will. Last night was
very humbling. We sang a song at our business meeting at Temple Baptist
Church and gave them our ministry report. They took up a love offering
of $228.50. It is such a blessing to know that our church supports us
in prayer as well as through donation. What a great time
of worship, fellowship and Bible study we had at Special friends Camp.
They are truely special people that God loves so much. There were 3
saved and a number of people that came forward for prayer and
rededication. The camp is hosted by Panfork Encampment, and led by
Eddie and Joberta Helms of Calvary Baptist in Tulia. They are great
people that love the Lord. His church in Tulia had a big hand in the
camp sending people to decorate, council, and lead in camp. See the
Photo album for pictures. We were honored
to sing for the memorial service at the veterans hospital and on
memorial day to sing at Memory Gardens Cemetery. We pray for the
safety of our soldiers and the leaders of our country. God Bless America! We had the
privilege to sing at Love and Sons nursery at their mothers day
celebration with KNNK. At the live remote we set up and sang gospel
music as people shopped for plants and flowers. We enjoy the
opportunity to take the gospel to where the people are. Howdy,
to all our friends at Canadian Rivers Cowboy Church in Geary OK and Golden spread Cowboy
Church of Amarillo. We appreciate the opportunity to share the gospel with
you. If you have not been to a cowboy
church you don’t know what you are missing. The fellowship and
non-traditional service brings a fresh
breath to worship. Cowboy churches reach people that do not attend our
traditional churches. They are seeking God and the truth and are anxious
seekers.
Thanks for
all the calls, emails, and cards as I celebrated my 61st
birthday. I remember thinking (when I was a kid) that people in their 20s were
old. I am thankful for the years of good health and God's
watch care over me. I still remember the day when a six year
old boy walked down the isle of a startup church meeting in the
front part of a building that at one time was a cleaners in
Lubbock Texas. Through the years - God has been
faithful!
You will
notice on our schedule that we go to Temple Baptist regularly.
This is our home church. They support us in prayer and always
encourage us in our ministry. When we are there we usually
lead a song in Jess's Bible class and help out on the praise
team. Sylvia does vocals on one of the teams and I play horn
or harmonica. We have a great worship team lead by Will on
guitar, with Janice on the piano, Linda on keyboard, Michele on
the organ, Kerry and Russ on the drums, and Roger on the base.
If you are in Amarillo sometime come by and visit our church
at 3208 S. Van Buren. You will be
blessed!
April
17th I was invited to sing "entertain" at the Ladies Night
Banquet at FBC Dimmitt. Sylvia was out of town at a WMU
meeting in Waco. I had a great time! This was the first time I
had been to Dimmitt. The church is beautiful, food was
delicious, and the people wonderful. Many thanks to the
church, pastor, deacons, and the ladies for making the night
such a blessing to me. If you are in Dimmitt check out First
Baptist Church of
Dimmitt.
Thanks
to Jean's Bible study group in Naconna, FBC of Saint Jo, and FBC of
Noconna for the hospitality and the warm reception. What a blessing it
was to be with you at the fifth Sunday singings. I am sorry I
forgot the camera, I'll try to do better next time.
We
had a great revival at Borger Missionary Baptist Church. This small
church across the street from Huber park on Cedar has one of the
friendliest congregations we have visited. They had paved the way for
revival with prayer and God blessed their efforts. There were three
saved, one rededication, and a family joined the church. Their pastor,
Bruce Riding, has a love for the Lord and for the people God placed
into his care. Thanks to all those praying for us during this
time. Please look at the pictures under the gallery tab to the left.
Sadly
we say goodbye to our pastor Troy Richardson. He has been our pastor,
mentor, and friend. Troy has accepted the call from FBC in Warren Texas
to be their pastor. There he will be close to family and returning to a
part of the state where he has many ties. Troy has also served as our
supervisor for Mission Service Corps. As supervisor he reviewed
our monthly reports and served as our accountability partner. He will
surely be missed.
The "Panhandle Pastor and Laymen
Conference" inPlainview
was great this year as always. This year’s theme, Transforming
Churches Through Transformed Lives, focused on Matthew 6:13-20. We
heard from Calvin Miller, Sandy Maddox and Leighton Flowers
and several others. The music is one of the features that I go
listen to and it was refreshing to my spirit. We heard many choirs,
quartets, and solos. We also met a young man Blake Bolerjack who
is in full time concert ministry. Great voice and a
great heart for the Lord.
I am really a romantic. I took Sylvia to 4
valentines banquets this February. But she had to sing at each
one. Thanks to Pleasant Valley Baptist, Pleasant Valley
Christian, Hillcrest Baptist, and Colonial Hill Baptist in
Snyder for the invitations to come and share about God’s
love.
I have fought the good fight – on February 2nd
it was our privilege to sing at aunt Ruby’s funeral. This was not
a funeral but a celebration of a life lived for the lord. Although she
was Sylvia’s aunt, I claimed her also. I loved her sweet spirit
from the first time I met her because she loved the Lord and preached
His gospel. We would like to thank pastor Lynn and his wife Nancy and
Fruita Assembly of God Church for their ministry to the family. We also
thank them for letting us sing and share in the Worship service Sunday
morning. To see the obit click Ruby Henry Obit
Please
pray for Sylvia she has had sinus and respiratory problems for nearly a
month. We have sang several concerts but she has not been 100% and at
times unable to sing at all.
Thanks to all the folks in the Llanos Altos Baptist Association. We enjoyed leading music at the Evangelism Rally in Friona. We thank you for the fellowship and food. Please invite us back again.
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Thank
you for your prayers. The most important need for our ministry is your
prayers. We have several prayer warriors and many churches that pray
for us. Here are some needs:
1) God will open the doors where He wants us to be.
2) Pray
that He goes before us to prepare our hearts to see the needs and
the hearts of those we minister to. Many seeds are planted, pray
for others to come along and water and pull a few weeds.
3) Pray for strength to keep up with God's schedule for us.
4) Pray
that the Holy Spirit would guide us to know what message in song to
bring and what message in testimony to say.
5) Pray for the pastors and churches we visit. So many of
our pastors need
encouragement, pray we will be sensitive in this
area.
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