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FAMILY TIME
May the Lord be merciful to us at Christmas time. These are unsettling days, but we have so much for which to be thankful. Our prayer for all of our friends is that the Lord would give you a blessed time with your family and friends. Although Silas and Sarah were not able to join us for Thanksgiving, we had a houseful of family then and are looking forward to another visit for Christmas!
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| At Fort Drum with Chaplain Gary Fisher |
FROM SOUTH CAROLINA TO
NEW YORK
As we reported in our September Update, our ministry would take us from coast to coast and many points between. In mid-October we enjoyed a wonderful Missions Conference at our own church, Faith Baptist in Taylors, then I headed to Western New York, with a visit to Fort Drum to see CH (LTC) Gary Fisher, the Division Chaplain for the 10th Mountain Division. There, I enjoyed a "Casing of the Colors" ceremony where the 10th Mountain flag was furled in preparation for its most recent deployment to Afghanistan. Next, I spoke three times for a Men's Retreat at Longview Camp, part of the Ironwood family of camps located in Western New York. The retreat was hosted by Hedstrom Baptist Church of Cheektowaga, and First Baptist of West Seneca.
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| Becky with her adopted nieces, Rita and Susan, at Faith's Mission Conference |
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FROM KANSAS TO
NEW ENGLAND
Next stop was in Wichita, KS, to speak in Sunday Services at Midland Baptist Church with Dr. Dale Heffernan. On Monday, October 19, we drove to Norfolk, NE, to speak three times in the Central Regional FBFI hosted by Community Bible Church and Pastor Arin Hess. I had encouraging fellowship and good rest at the home of my hosts, John and Beryl Bair. After a few days at home to catch up on desk work and laundry, Becky and I flew to New England to speak at the Village Chapel Baptist Church in Weare, NH, then a visit with grandson Alex who came to see us in Manchester. Then we enjoyed the beautiful fall colors at The Wilds of New England in Deering, NH, where The Wilds Board of Directors meeting was held this year. From there, we drove to Milton, VT, to join Pastor Randy Boardman for his tenth anniversary service at Harvest Baptist Church. We then flew home for a three day turnaround.
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| Alex enjoying a science museum |
| We enjoyed our visit with the Boardmans |
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| Becky in her customized van |
FROM GEORGIA TO CALIFORNIA...
Those who have followed our JCVEA updates for several years are aware that Becky drives her own very sophisticated vehicle that is loaded with adaptive and computerized equipment. The van has low miles but the equipment has endured eight years of constant use and needed expensive maintenance. We drove it to R&R Mobility in Conyers, GA, and left it there while we were in California ten days. Our first stop in Californa was in California City, where it was surprisingly cold! We spoke in Sunday services at Victory Baptist Church with Pastor Ron Smith and enjoyed several meals with Rob Trautman and family. We enjoyed two days of ministry at the Southern California Regional FBFI Fellowship held at Victory, then headed to Oakland for a Wednesday evening Veterans Day emphasis at Cornerstone Baptist Church with Pastor Brent Snow, followed by two days at the Northern California Regional FBFI hosted by Berean Baptist Church and Pastor Art Zacher.
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| The Northern California FBFI was hosted by Pastor Art Zacher |
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| Hamilton Square Baptist Church |
...AND BACK AGAIN
Dr. David Innes drove us to San Francisco and put us up at the classic Opal Hotel in the same building as the famous Mel's Diner where we happily took several meals! Both are located just a short block from Hamilton Square Baptist Church (HSBC). Dr. Innes and his daughter, Deborah, took us on a windshield tour of the city on Saturday which ended at Becky's favorite spot of the trip, Ghirardelli's, for an amazing hot fudge Sunday and lots of "souvenirs" at the Ghirardelli Gift Shop. We spoke in the Sunday services at HSBC then headed home via Atlanta to pick up the fully repaired van and enjoy pizza with the "Marietta Gang," which is what we call the grandkids who live there. Of course, we enjoyed their families as well. My sister, Nancy, always opens up her home for us when we pass through and provided lots of transportation, food and love while we were there.
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| Ghirardelli Chocoloate Shop! |
| We enjoyed fellowship with Dr. Innes |
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| Sharing ice cream with Jonathan |
Adoline Trautman
with Becky |
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Our new friends,
George and Roberta Rhone |
MYRTLE BEACH, SC
After two days at home, we headed to the East Coast for Sunday services at Calvary Bible Church in Myrtle Beach. Calvary was the very first church we attended after I came home from Thailand in 1974 as a new Christian. Dr. Tom Harper (who was the pastor back then) sent us off to Greenville to prepare for the ministry. The current pastor (Burt Bosworth) and his family were in Florida for a wedding and had asked us to come to fill the pulpit in his absence. We were hosted by our new friends, George and Roberta Rhone, who treated us like royalty. Thus, after thousands of miles and many different beds, we finished almost six weeks of non-stop travel and ministry.
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| Pray for the Bolivia ministry opportunity |
OPPORTUNITY AND MATTER FOR PRAYER
Several years ago, a few leaders from some churches in Bolivia started attending the Caribbean Regional FBFI in Puerto Rico. For a few years they have been asking me to come to their meeting in Bolivia where up to 300 national pastors attend each year in March. Family responsibilities, time, distance and expenses have not yet permitted me to attend and encourage the brethren there. This year I told the men led by Pastor Franz Carreon that if the Lord provides the needed $2000 to make the trip, that I would come to Bolivia to preach during the week of March 14-18, 2016. Usually, when we travel overseas on ministry trips, the Lord provides some of the needed funds through JCVEA. To go to Bolivia, JCVEA will need to provide most, if not all of the funds. Some gifts may come in through FBFI, but we want our update readers to pray with us about this and if the Lord should impress any of you to participate in this ministry, we need to make the necessary travel arrangements in mid-January. I would make this journey alone, since it would be too hard for Becky. We need prayer for wisdom and provision for this to be possible.
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ENCOURAGING THOSE WHO CARE FOR OTHERS
Please pray for us as I head off to California for a couple of nights to encourage some ministry colleagues who need to meet with me on December 16. Although it sounds punishing to see where we have been and what we have been doing (and yes, it was exhausting for Becky) we are rejoicing at the many opportunities we have had to share our story and open the word over thirty times in the last two months! Thank you for your prayers for our safety and for continued opportunities to "Encourage Those Who Care for Others."
Love and Prayers,
John C. Vaughn and Becky
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