Fantastic Friday

Well the end of the week is here. It really does fly by. Mostly because we work so hard non-stop all week. And, I don't know if the week here in Linden, Guyana could've ended much better. We had 4 baptisms today for a total of 6 for the week. Several others a very close to making that decision as well. We pray for all of those as the local church continues to do follow up studies in the near future.

Tonight, we had the best evening service so far, with 163 people attending. The singing was especially awesome. But at the end of the evening, it is sort of bitter sweet as we have to hug and say goodbye to all those we have grown so close to. But we are ready to all come home to our families!

We now take a little while to eat, pack and get a couple hours of sleep, as we will leave for the airport at 1:30 AM to start our journey home. If all goes well, we should be landing in Birmingham, sweet home Alabama, a little after 6:00 PM central time Saturday evening.

Please pray for our speedy and safe return home.

.......'til next time.


Michael B......out.

A Terrific Thursday

As the title says, it was a great day. We are coming to that point in the week where we are winding down our studies, reaching lessons dealing with salvation. We held 16 studies today that culminated in the baptism of a young lady named Monica. Drew Spivey had studied with her and she decided that today she wanted to obey the gospel. There are several other individuals that are very close, and we hope they decide to make that decision soon. On our last day, tomorrow, we will conclude some lessons with people and follow up with others, to offer encouragement. It will be a tiring and emotional day for sure. Friday will conclude with the last evening session, which has grown greatly in attendance each night. We look forward to that night, but it is sad because we say goodbye to so many new and old friends here in Guyana,

This evening, we took a visit to the local hospital, where we handed out bags of fruit, and informational tracts about the church to the patients and nurses. Conducting several prayers with the patients and their families reminds us how this has become a part of the week we all really look forward too each year. It is truly meaningful for everyone involved.

After the hospital, we went to the church building to hold our evening services. Tonight we had 157 in attendance. We are about to run out of room! Back home we probably would be pushing the fire code limits. I doubt that is a real concern here in Guyana. Oh what a great problem. Oh yeah, we are so busy this time of the week, during service tonight, there were 3 of us conducting one on one bible studies with people who are interested finding out more about Christ. What a great day.

As I predicted yesterday, we were busy as can be today. Now as I wind down, reflect on the day and plan for tomorrow, I can only hope and pray that it will be as busy and as profitable as today. The fields are white and ready for harvest.

We are, however, oh so close to returning home to our loved ones. We miss them all so much. We know our work here is important, but when it is time to go home, I promise, we will be ready.

.....'til next time.

Wednesday - Over The Hump

I must say, that today I felt a little bit down. I had some really good lessons planned with people and out of four, only one was home when I got there. So, I let myself get down and disappointed. But then I got to thinking. While these were my plans for today, they may not have been the Lord's. The lesson I did teach today was quite good, and I look forward to more of them. Tomorrow I will re-visit todays list and see what the schedule looks like at the end of the day.

As for the rest of the group, while a few were busy as they can be, others were like me, knocking on doors and the appointment not available. We still conducted 18 studies, and we will have more successful ones as the week goes on.

Tonight, on the other hand, was another huge success for our Gospel meeting. 124 people attended, up from 104 Tuesday night, and while the adults listened to a great message from Joel Abbott, the young children and teenagers were heavily involved in their classes.

We will be extra busy tomorrow. We will leave early, go to the market to buy a bunch of fresh fruit that will be put together in bags with tracts, and then we will pass those out at the local hospital tomorrow night before our meeting. So, not much stopping tomorrow. Once we wake up, we will be running until we hit the pillow around 11:00 PM. It is a day, however, that we look forward to each year.

.....'til next time.

Tuesday Evening Post

As I expected, we had another good day today. We studied with 22 people, some new and some continuing studies. By this time of the week we are all getting our schedules full of appointments for studies, really wondering how we are going to fit them all in, and that is a good problem to have. I personally am looking forward to tomorrow. I started off a little slow, but have really "filled" my calendar for the next couple of days.

Tonights classes went great as well. We had 104 in attendance, up from 89 last night. I expect even more tomorrow night. The adults seem to be getting a lot out of their classes, and I know the children are enjoying theirs.

As we reach the mid-week point tomorrow, the mission trip will only speed up from there. Getting over that hill, so to speak. And it will be over and we will be home before you know it, having sown many seeds for the kingdom. But in the time we have left, we have a lot of work to get done. Please continue to remember all of us in your thoughts and prayers, and, especially the ones we are studying with.

.....'til next time.

Monday- Mission Possible

The week started off good on Sunday, got better on Monday. After breakfast we traveled to the Burnahm Drive Church where we would be working this week. We met with the local members who are going to help navigate for us this week, sang a few songs, then held a quick devo. Being the first day of the campaign, we divided into teams, received our marching orders and headed out. We were to conduct Bible studies, some pre-arranged, and then door knock (or cold call as I like to say) up until 2:00 PM when we would head in for lunch.

Over the course of 4.5 hours, our group studied the Bible with 20 people, culminating in the baptism of one sweet lady named Waveny. Joel and Che' Abbott had studied with her a couple of years ago, and got word she would like to study some more now. After they studied today, she decided to immediately obey the gospel. That alone, will make this effort worth while. I can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds.

Tonight we conducted maturity classes for all ages and had 89 in attendance. Not too bad for our first night. As the week goes on, and the word gets out, I expect more people to come to the evening services.

As it approaches 10:30 PM local time, I find myself about to drift off, feeling good about our start, but looking forward to rest these feet and eyes, for a few hours before we do it all again.

.....'til next time.

On The First Day of The Week

A great first day here in Linden, Guyana. This morning there wasn't much sleeping in, after the long travel day, Saturday, getting here, we could have used it. Everyone arrived safe and sound, so far with no travel "issues". We had an awesome day of worship, with some of us worshiping with the Amelia's Ward congregation and the rest of us with the Burnahm Drive congregation, who we will be working with all week. There was a good number in attendance today at both congregations; around 100 at Amelia's Ward and 60 or so at Burnahm Drive.

Several of us from Hoover led the Sunday school classes and worship at both services and will continue to swap up duties all week. As usual, we are all eager to help wherever we can.

This is my fifth year in a row to come here and spread God's word. I look forward each and every year to come back, see old friends, make new ones and see how the new members of The Church are continuing to grow. We will start early tomorrow with a devo and then we will door knock, conduct one on one bible studies, and invite people to our nightly enrichment classes that we will conduct.

I look forward to an inspiring week, and to the personal growth that I will surely gain from this experience. I hope I have lot's of great news to report everyday. Please remember all of us in your thoughts and prayers, as we remember all those back home.

.....'til next time.

Final Numbers and Wrap Up

I've said it before but I will say it again. What a great week it has been here in Cusco, Peru. We finished the medical campaign on Thursday seeing another 184 patients with 164 requesting Bible studies. Amazing. The sad part about Thursday's clinic was that we had to turn away about 40 people because we had to close early to set up for a seminar we were hosting on Thursday night. Remember, we were going to the village of Corca for a clinic on Thursady but the bus strike prevented us from doing so. Thursday's cliic at the church building was an unadvertised, impromptu clinic and we could have seen well over 200 people if time allowed. The great news for the week was we saw a total of 968 patients with 802 of them requesting Bible studies and followup. That is 83% of patients seen! As we begin, and continue, some campaigns back in the States I pray the receptiveness will be just as strong.
As for Friday, we took a sight seeing day to some remote areas of the Cusco region. Some of our team went to Machu Picchu while the rest of us that had been there before went on a day hike, yes hike, through a couple of small villages that featured some ancient ruins and other historical sites. I took quite a few pictures, but I promise they will never fully represent actually hiking through the remote Andes Mountain villages and ruins. We hiked at elevetions between 10,500 and 12500'. For those wondering, the Birmingham area probably averages about 300 to 600' above sea level, in the low areas. I admit the uphill parts of the hike we a little trying on my lungs and the downhill parts wrenched my knees a little. But, I stayed at the front of the line, my heart stayed inside my chest cavity and I finished as good or better than this 46 year old probably should have.
As before, this experience was awesome. But as the week has come to an end, I am ready to go home and see my family. I want to thank everyone who supported this mission, at church and at work. I am blessed to have a church family and work family that affords me the opportunity to take part in such efforts.
Today we will board the plane in Cusco, fly to Miami and return in B'ham on Sunday. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we travel.
　
　
......'til next time!

Controlled Chaos

Controlled chaos is the phrase for Wednesday. When we arrived at the church building there were already well over 100 people in line. As we found out from two of the earliest patients, they got in line at 4:30 AM to make sue they would be seen today. A lot of other people got in line early, so by 8:00 AM when we arrived...they were just a little bit fired up. We relied heavily on our security guards once they arrived, to explain to the crowd that if they didn't act orderly, we would not even hold the clinic. Needless to say, order was restored and our day began.

To make matters more difficult for us, we were going to close an hour earlier in order to pack up supplies etc. needed for Thursday. So, I originally only gave 220 passes for people to be seen. See, we were going to leave at 7:00 AM on Thursday and travel to a poor village called Corca, and conduct a medical mission clinic there for a few hours then travel back to Cusco. As Wednesday morning progressed, we found out that all of the bus, taxi and public transportation drivers would be going on strike Thursday morning at 6:00 AM until Friday morning. We now had no 'safe' ride to the village and we would have to cancel our plans. At this point, we issued more passes, satisfied a lot more of the crowd, and I am proud to say we saw a total of 275 patients, with 248 either studying the Bible or requesting Bible studies. That is an unbelievable 90%!

I did find out from some of the local people that this church is known throughout the city and community as, The Church that Helps People. What a great reputation to have been developed in just the short 4+ years these missionaries have been here.

Even though we are sad we cannot travel to the village of Corca on Thursday and help them, we will be open for a clinic at the church building. So it will be business as usual until 1:00 PM or so. What a Great day. Actually what a great week, it has been!

.....'til next time.

Another Great Day

Wow! Tuesday was another great day. I'll go ahead and report that the clinic saw 278 patients with a few more that were seen twice for multiple issues. even better news is that out of the 278 patients through the door, 219 requested Bible studies and/or more information about the Church. Many studies are held on sight but a lot of follow up will be needed and I know the local missionaries are extremely excited about that.

All of the doctors, specialists and volunteers are working non-stop and at the end of the day are tired as ever. But, I notice evryone has a smile on their face. It is definitely one of those good tired feelings, I expect Wednesday to be even busier. I'm not sure how we can see any more patients, but I know we will try to if we can. Once again thank you on behalf of everyone of us volunteering here in Peru for your continued support

.....'til next time.

What A Start

Monday was a great start to the medical campaign. As I expected, a lot of people came by to see the doctors. I expect more Tuesday and forward. As for the numbers, the clinic saw 231 patients on Monday. Out of that number, 171 requested Bible studies and to learn more about the church. If Monday was any indication of things to come for the rest of the week, the missionaries here are going to have mucho followup to do. But, that is a great thing.

I haven't had time to take many pictures yet, but I will try to post some as I take a few to illustrate what we are doing here. Thanks for all your continued prayers and support.

....'til next tine..

It all Begins Today!!

Everything got set up at the clinic yesterday ready for today and hundreds of patients. We were able to have a nice dinner at Fuego, where I had Alpaca steak and I also tried some Cuy as well. That's Guinnea Pig for most people. I'll have to say I only tried a couple of small bites. There isn't much meat on the bones and you about would need to be starving to death to work that hard at getting some of it to taste. Oh yeah, it didn't taste like chicken. It tasted like rat. Not bad however, just won't be my first choice.
After dinner we got got back to the hotel a little after 9:00 PM tired and ready to go to bed only to have a puppy crying outside the window for the next hour or so. I guess me being exhausted took over as the next thing I remember it was this morning.
So here we are on Monday morning getting ready for a great, but long, day. The rest of this week will probably fly by as like any mission trip I go on, we start early, run hard and fast all day, and end late. It is a great feeling to help a lot of people and show the love of Christ.
.....'til next time.

Well after a long nights sleep, hot shower and a good breakfast, I am ready for a good morning of worship with the local congregation. Then we will start the mad dash of setting up for the medical clinic we are hosting this week. A lot of work goes into the planning, preparation and set up for this program. The local missionaries work extremely hard, and when us "volunteers" arrive we jump right in and help pullmit all together. It truly takes the entire team to lead this effort.  This is my third year here and am excited to get the week started.

To back up a little, we all arrived safely and the altitude (almost 12000 feet) has not been extremely hard on anyone, so far. I do have the normal headache, but not as bad as in the past. Hopefully this will continue. I look forward to sharing the daily events/ conditions we encounter with this blog each day.

Please continue to pray for all of us here, the local missionaries, the entire effort and all of our families back home.

....til next time.

So Far So Good to Peru

Well to let everyone know, we have made it safely to Miami and had a nice late lunch at TGI Fridays. Now the fun part of travel starts as we hurry up and wait about 6 more hours until we board the next flight to Lima. We are set to arrive in Lima at 5:45 AM eastern time and then to Cusco at 8:50 AM Saturday morning. I am hoping to get a little nap before as I cannot sleep much on a plane.

....til next time.