Dear Church,
Our year ended jam-packed with activity and began the same way. We count it an honor to represent you in church planting and serve the Lord in Astoria. Our sights are set on April 24th for “Covenant Sunday” when Anchor Baptist Church will unite together as a local body of baptized believers. Dr. Rick Adams, my pastor will be there to preach the charge and celebrate this great milestone and lifelong goal with us! I stress much need for prayer as this great day approaches.
In December I added some liquid glass to the radiator of our smoking church van. The smoke subsided and after several days, the van seems to be running despite the blown head gasket. I have no confidence in the longevity of this repair, but the van lives! In addition, we were able to purchase a 2007 Honda minivan for $6,000. Stacy is living in the lap of luxury driving a fully loaded minivan. She is excited about driving to some meetings in the area now that she has reliable transportation. Thank you for praying and we appreciate those who sent extra gifts!
In December an all-points bulletin (APB) was issued over the police radio for our white church van. An officer came to the church and had some questions. As it turns out, we were accused of “human trafficking, and/or kidnapping” by some people in Astoria. We were shocked to hear this news and began to compare notes with the Astoria Police Department. As it turns out, when we stopped by to pick up Bella from work, a young lady was standing between the only two parking spots on the street communicating with someone across the street. I motioned for the lady to cross and she dropped a bag of trash and ran away. Stacy and I looked at each other with a smile and I said, “strange folks in Astoria!” We didn’t think anything of it as Elijah ran to pick up Bella and we waited several minutes for her to get in. Later the young lady’s mother reported an attempted kidnapping to the police and her employer took to Facebook and told people, a white Baptist Church van creepily approached her employee and told her to get inside. This woman claims to be a witch doctor and sells some wicked things at her “Kits Apothecary.”
To God be the Glory! The Astoria Police Department set the record straight on their social media page with a press release. They gave some kind words about our family and Anchor Baptist Church. We never responded to the woman once we discovered her predisposition and hate for God. The majority in the community saw the interaction for what it was and had compassion on our church. Please ignore the woman on social media and join is in thanking God for turning an attack into a blessing! As a result of the situation, a family started attending church several weeks ago!
Some men in the church have been going out soul-winning with me. A couple weeks ago one lady trusted Christ as her Saviour. The plowing is rough but so worth it! We have a lot of work to do and an Old-Fashioned Gospel Tent Meeting to plan. Please hang in there with us!