Bathed in Blessings
Dear brothers and sisters,
Greetings to you all in HIS name!
Two weeks ago at this time I was at Medaryville Christian Church (Indiana) ready to make a presentation about Living Water. The sanctuary was animated with different conversations going on. It was full of old and new friends who drove near and far from other towns to come to attend. How was the presentation?
I don’t know, but I enjoyed those brilliant kids. I enjoyed the fellowship with my friends. I enjoyed the meal. I enjoyed the hugs and the handshakes. I enjoyed the hospitality of Ron and Judy Tanner. I was bathed in blessings through those wonderful people. Thanks to all of them.
The next day we headed east to Cincinnati, Ohio. There again I was bathed in blessings. I was blessed to visit with my dear sister Regina Green and her children and grand children. Tanner, Fletcher, and River are all great boys. They got the out-of-shape guy tired pretty quick on that trampoline. In case you are wondering if I jumped, I knew better. I did not. I was on the ground catching them. They enjoyed running from the trampoline and jumping off so that I caught them. There were close calls but all ended well.
I also spent a good time with my dear brother Luke. He is at CCU now. I also had a blast at the Hahns with my friends who went to Haiti last January. That was another great time of fellowship, Haiti stories, good food and ice cream at Li’l Goodie Shoppe. Yummy!!! Just thinking about the experience again makes my mouth water. Seriously!
When I thought that it could not have been better the worship service on Sunday morning proved that I was dead wrong. Those young guys are devoted to the Lord. They all give their best to HIM. It is amazing to see what is going on there. I was overwhelmed by the Spirit-filled and loving atmosphere that was there.
I did miss a couple friends during that experience, but I had to accept that and enjoyed my old and new friends. Thanks to Bill and Sarah Fudge who were the icing on the cake. They came to see me. However I know I am in trouble too. I have to confess because some of my Cincinnati friends did not know that I was in town. Just think about it, aren’t all those blessings?
Thank you God for your loving-kindness. It was God to say goodbye.
In the middle of the afternoon we headed back to Missouri. We got home late. Our Great God gave us a safe trip. The next day it was time for laundry, shopping (fun!), and packing for Oklahoma and the Kiamichi Clinic in the Kiamichi Mountains.
I was not there five minutes when I got hit by a big ball of wonderful surprise: Brother Cody McDaniels. We were roommates during my 2010 mission trip to Africa. I could not believe my eyes. He could not believe his either. For the people around us we were two crazy guys, and we were. Needless to say what an experience that was! I was also blessed by brother Paul Parrish. I met so many servants of God coming from Montana to Texas and in between. There were wonderful messages! Great challenges!
Like all mountain top experiences you cannot stay there forever, so we departed Thursday afternoon. We headed down to Texas. In case you missed that, I was blessed beyond measure during those days of worship, praise, messages from godly brothers.
I know that I am getting too long, but bear with me. You need to know the other blessings. Maybe you are saying, if I had other blessings I was not just bathed in blessings, I was rather drowned in blessings. Well, it looked like it.
From the beautiful and tall woods of Oklahoma, where all is quiet and calm, and the only sound is a bird or the whistling in the wind through the leaves of the trees, we arrived at Dallas in late afternoon (May 3rd). It’s a whole different ball game there. Life is fast there: tall buildings; several levels highways; cars and people.
There again, I was the object of many blessings. I got to see my friends Russ and Melissa and their lovely kids: Mia, Little Russ, Eric and Sara. Oh I had fun, a lot of fun with them, particularly with Eric. I had a blessed time with Margareth and Richard in heartfelt family conversation. They were blessings to me and I pray blessings on all of them.
We spent the night in Dallas. The next morning we headed further south to visit one of my heroes in the Faith: Jack and Judy Little. The live in Lockhart. We got there in the middle of the afternoon. Jack has been going to my hometown in Haiti since 1976. He baptized me into Christ in 1986. It has been 15 years since I saw him. So it was a family reunion.
Judy prepared a big thanksgiving meal, just like we do on Thanksgiving. That was meaningful to mom, dad (Fred and Jan Green) and me. I cannot even begin to describe how blessed I felt. We had an extremely good time.
We began the return trip that evening. We stopped in Joplin Saturday night. We worshiped with two different churches: College Heights and Villa Heights. We were blessed with a great message at College Heights and the atmosphere was so friendly, Spirit-filled. They look like the way real Christians should be.
Our visit at Villa Height was the icing on the cake. There we visited with another giant in the Faith: Reggie and his wife Esther. After hearing a challenging sermon we went to Ryan’s, not to visit the place, but to enjoy a great meal with great friends. Now you see that I am bathed with blessings.
In case you are wondering what my pictures have to do with this update, they show another collection of blessings. Students at the Bible College who are serving in different churches actually write their final paper. The roof of the health clinic was being poured. Our high school girls playing with their nice outfits donated by a school in Rensselaer, Indiana. You can see our second grade girls who will be my future leaders, doctors, and nurses. The last picture shows even more progress on the health clinic. They are all tremendous blessings.
Thank you! Thanks for your prayers. Thanks for your encouragements. Thanks for your financial contributions. Thanks for dreaming about a great future for Haiti with us. May the Lord bathe you also in His blessings as well.
In Christ,
Salonique and team