Fun in Fort Stockton

On Thursday 04 March 2010 - 12:21:07 | LAN_THEME_7 Dani James

We finished up the week in Fort Stockton, TX on Sunday. It was an awesome week! Pastor Steve had opened up the fellowship hall for us to use at our convenience. Other than sleeping in there, (which we could have because it had two rooms and two full bathrooms) we spent every waking moment in there to pray, do devotions, do ministry work, cook, eat, and play. One night Dave started making jokes about the strange life we lead and how we live in a fellowship hall; we were cracking up! We are so thankful that the Lord lets us serve Him in this way!

On Sunday morning, Bill taught the message. We give praise to God for three people who came forward and committed their lives to Christ at the end of service. We spent the afternoon visiting with several brothers and sisters from the church that very generously treated us to lunch at one of the local restaurants. Sunday night Dave and Dee led worship, and we shared our School of Evangelism to encourage those in the body to take Jesus to the streets of their town. They really took it to heart and a couple of the guys are already planning to go out together to witness. We pray many others would join up with them to take Jesus to the streets of Fort Stockton. We are grateful for the time we had there and look forward to going back for a big community outreach in the fall if the Lord wills! Next stop – San Antonio! Please keep us in your prayers.

IMPACT at Immanuel Baptist in Ft Stockton TX

On Saturday 27 February 2010 - 12:57:18 | LAN_THEME_7 Dave Chaffee

During the planning of our second missionary journey, we were praying and asking the Lord for our route. As we started contacted churches and God opened doors, we could see His hand guiding us south through TX again. We looked on the map from El Paso to San Antonio and we were trying to figure out where to go in between. I saw a little town on the map called Ft Stockton and decided to look into the Churches there. I called a couple with no reply. I then called Immanuel Baptist and spoke with Pastor Steve. He was very kind and said he would take it to prayer. A few days later He called back and said he believed the Lord would use us there. It is amazing how God plans our steps!

When we arrived here it was like seeing an old friend again, though we'd never met. Steve welcomed us and made us feel right at home. His wife Becky explained that there is a spiritual strong hold of drugs and alcohol in this city. She has started a prayer group against it she told us they had prayed, “Lord, don’t even let the drugs get into this city.” The next day there was a major drug bust just outside town, as someone was coming to deliver a boatload of dope! God is good!

We put on our impact class and there were about 40 people there, young and old. I could tell it was affecting many in attendance. We spoke to many people afterward who believe there is corruption within the city's government. There were a quite a few who have seen the destruction of drugs first hand. It was a great time of encouraging people to stand against these tools of the enemy. We will be sharing worship and teaching on Sunday morning and our SOE in the evening as well. Thank you Lord for another divine appointment!

Agent Dave out!

Back in West Texas

On Sunday 21 February 2010 - 11:21:20 | LAN_THEME_7 Bill James

It was exciting to be back in El Paso. We came here on the 1st Missionary Journey and had a really excellent visit, so we were expecting more of the same. We had a full schedule planned here with Calvary Chapel El Paso.

We pulled into El Paso on Wednesday night and got to share our School of Evangelism class with the whole congregation. Dave and Deanna led worship and Bill and Dave taught the class. After the class we met a ton of people and were blessed by all of the encouragement we received.

Thursday afternoon, Dave and I headed over to University of Texas at El Paso for an outreach on the college campus. We had a great time with a bunch of students from the Baptist Student Ministries. It was amazing how receptive the students were to the Gospel. Usually on college campuses we meet a bunch of Athiests who are contrary to the Gospel, but that was not the case here. Leanne, who had invited us to come, was blessed to lead a girl to Christ at the college.

Thursday night, we went out with a group from the church to share the Gospel at a local shopping center. Again, we had an excellent night. We were so blessed to see Natalie, Logan, Nicolas and Liam all sharing the Gospel. They have all made the leap from passing out tracts to having conversations with people about Jesus!

Friday night, Dave and Deanna went to share with the youth group (Dave will write more about that) and Dani and I went with a group of guys to the border to share the Gospel with people crossing the bridge into Mexico. We pulled up at the foot bridge where people cross over from El Paso to Juarez. There were thousands of people everywhere. We passed out about 500 Spanish New Testaments, several hundred Spanish Gospel of John and about 300 Spanish Million dollar bills.

On Saturday Morning, we went out with a group to a local park and all shared the Gospel with the local park goers. It was a huge park with hundreds of people and we all had a great time telling people about Jesus.

Tomorrow morning (Sunday), we get to go and be fed by Pastor Charlie as he teaches out of the book of Genesis! Whew what an awesome few days!

To God be the GLORY!
Bill

CC Santa Teresa, NM

On Saturday 20 February 2010 - 23:56:07 | LAN_THEME_7 Dave Chaffee

I have to say that so far, in this second mission trip, the Lord is doing a new work. We all seem to be more focused and past the test of living in RVs. We have grown as a team and as a ministry. With that said, it was another blessed time when we came to share with CC Santa Teresa. Pastor Martine is from CC Sun City and planted this Church. It is a growing body and a loving bunch of people. It’s cool to hear they will be opening a High-School with a serious focus on helping young Christians grow in the Lord and learn to defend their faith! We shared our SOE on Monday and shared in worship also. I am blessed to have Logan joining in with us by playing the djembay more often. There were just a few people there, but it really was an awesome time. The family of God welcomed us with open arms. They had lots of questions and really wanting to learn more about sharing their faith. It is so cool to me when believers are excited to share the gospel!

The next night there was about 19 of us who went out and we went to a shopping center to share the Word. It was a great night! Everyone had great conversations about the Lord. Even little Liam (our 9 year old)! All the kids are really becoming bolder to speak to people. The best part of the night was when we all met together at the end of the night to hear that two people had given their lives to the Lord! We all huddled up and prayed for all the seeds spread and for these new. We hope a team will continue to hit the streets there in Santa Teresa and lead many to Jesus. We are truly thankful for our time spent there with our family in Christ and for Pastor Martine’s heart to win the lost!

Agent Dave out!

Las Cruces

On Tuesday 16 February 2010 - 15:57:00 | LAN_THEME_7 Dani James

Saturday morning, we left Deming, and headed about 40 miles east to Las Cruces, NM. We arrived at the church, excited to meet up with Pastor Dwayne and his family; friends we met last year when we shared at their church, Calvary Chapel Three Crosses. We spent the afternoon hanging out with them at White Sands National Park. This was one of our favorite parks to visit last year when we came through NM. By the looks of it, you would think you were in the snowy mountains, but it’s actually warm, and it’s all white sand, hence the name of the park. We played all afternoon, sliding down the slopes on plastic sleds. We had a great time, and afterward, Pastor Dwayne and his family treated us to a delicious dinner at a local Mexican Restaurant.

Sunday morning we shared our School of Evangelism, teaching the body at CC3C the importance of going out into Las Cruces where God has planted them to share the gospel!
We encouraged everyone to join us as we hit the streets of Las Cruces later that day.

After a quick lunch at the church, about 16 of us went out to Young’s Park in Las Cruces. Clearly, God had a divine plan in leading us there. Not only was it a warm day, it was Valentine’s Day, and there was a fundraising benefit for Haiti going on. Needless to say, the park was filled with people hanging out and relaxing. A perfect and ideal opportunity for evangelism! We all had many wonderful conversations with people, including the conversation with these boys which led them to repent of their sins and accept Christ as their Savior. Thank You Lord that we GET TO share You with others for Your glory!

As Agents, it is always a blessing to see our brothers and sisters catch the fire to share the gospel and step out past their comfort zone for Jesus! Today was particularly special though as Agents and parents! The two youngest Agents, Liam and Nicolas stepped out beyond their comfort zone of just handing out tracts, and actually had a conversation with a group of four elderly people who were sitting down at the park. Liam began the conversation by asking them the million-dollar question. Together, he and Nic took them through the law using the 10 commandments. One of the men admitted that he would be guilty if God judged by the 10 commandments, which prompted the boys to share the good news of Jesus Christ with them! Another blessing for us today was when Natalie was randomly asked to sing a karaoke song to help raise money for Haiti. Since they only had secular music, and Natalie didn’t know any of the songs, the MC told her she could sing acapela. She braved the mic and sang a song called “Until Then” which is about God, this life, and this world not being our home. It was very sweet and went right along with our heart of evangelism. We thank God for His Spirit working through all four of our children for the sake of the Kingdom!

Even though our time was short in Las Cruces, we are thankful for every moment we had with our brothers and sisters there, and for the love, support, and encouragement they gave us! We pray the Lord would bless them and continue to use them for His glory!

Next stop: Santa Teresa, NM!

Blown Away in Deming, NM!

On Monday 15 February 2010 - 17:07:00 | LAN_THEME_7 Deanna Chaffee

We had a killer time last week with Calvary Chapel Deming NM. It was good to be back with Pastor Marshall and Pastor X! This was the first church we have returned to on this second journey. We had a great time last year and knew we had to come back to see this awesome bunch of believers again. Last year Liam split his head open in Deming when he fell of a rock. When we rushed him to the hospital, Pastor Marshall and X were there to meet us and pray from Liam. This really spoke of their heart to Deanna and me.

This year we put on our SOE for the church, it was a great time in the Lord. The next day we hit the streets to share the good news. It was cold and windy, but we still had a few people show up! Deming is a pretty small town, so the best place to go is Wal-Mart. It is pretty much the hub of the town. I was blessed to see some of the youth group excited to share the Lord and brave the weather. We passed out lots of tracts and had some great conversations.

One convo was with a lady coming out of Dollar tree with a bundle of about ten balloons for Valentines day. One of the kids from the youth group approached her and she stopped to listen! We began to share with her and she was really listening. I was thinking to myself, “This lady is going to say, ‘Sorry I don’t have time!’”, but she didn’t. She was just about blown away with her balloons, but she held on strong and listened to the good news! We must have talked for about 5 minutes. She thanked us very much for what we told her and said she would read the Gospel of John we gave her. I was amazed that this lady would stand in the freezing wind and listen. It just goes to show when the Lord is moving, nothing can stop Him!

The next day the church had a praise night and Deanna and I were able to join in with Pastors Marshall and X to lead worship. Bill shared a devotion from the Word. It was a relaxed and refreshing time in Jesus.

We were encouraged to hear that Pastor X and his youth group want to continue hitting the streets on a regular basis! We pray they will be bold and not let the enemy get in their way. We hope to be back again to visit our bothers and sisters in Deming and hear what the Lord is doing as they share His message!

Agent Dave out!

Time in Tucson

On Tuesday 09 February 2010 - 23:00:33 | LAN_THEME_7 Dani James

Saturday morning, we headed to Calvary Chapel Oro Valley, just outside of Tucson. We had been invited by Pastor Kevin to put on our School of Evangelism class and take a team out on the streets to share the gospel. We had a small, but great group of people join us, and everybody seemed to enjoy the kids as they presented their “sin skit” during the class. Afterwards, we headed out to a nearby shopping center so that everyone could put what they’d learned into practice. We are so thankful to be a part of God’s great plan of salvation for those who heard the gospel. We trust that as the Word says, HE will make the seeds we watered and planted - grow! 1 Co 3:7 After SOE and our outreach, we met back at the church to present IMPACT for the youth group. We had a great turnout, and as always, we are so thankful for the opportunity to encourage the youth to live a life that is surrender to Jesus and not the world!

On Sunday morning, Bill shared a powerful message about being a living sacrifice from Romans 12:1-2. (It’s definitely one to listen to, so we’ve posted it in our audio archive). After service, we met many more wonderful brothers and sisters in the Lord and were blessed as we visited with them. Sunday afternoon we went to a super bowl party where we had lots of good food, fun, and fellowship with some of our new friends! We had a great time!

Monday morning, Dave and Bill headed over to Teen Challenge in Tucson to share with the guys there. This is something that is very dear to both Bill’s and Dave’s heart. Anytime God opens a door for them to point people to the Lord, they jump at the chance. That had a great time worshiping, teaching, praying and encouraging the guys!

University of AZ

On Friday 05 February 2010 - 21:51:19 | LAN_THEME_7 Dani James

Tonight we met up with some friends we had met last year when we were in Tucson, AZ. We spent the evening witnessing in the area around the University of AZ campus. Quite honestly, this was hard ground. Many weren’t even open to hearing the gospel, but we did plant some seeds, and God gave us a few divine appointments! At one point, Deanna was having a great conversation with a Muslim man, (something God has been stirring in our hearts ever since we met Samy Tanagho), when a guy who was clearly contrary to the gospel approached Natalie and asked her if she was handing out the tracts she was holding in her hand. She told him she was and he began interrogating her as to her age and who her mother was. In order to not disturb Deanna’s conversation, I encouraged the guy to talk to me and Natalie elsewhere. He harassed us for sharing the gospel and even went as far as claiming he was with Child Protective Services and said that we were breaking the AZ law because we were FORCING our children to pass out tracts. He had no evidence for what he was claiming and was clearly frustrated with us for not going along with his threats and fear tactics.

After a few minutes, Deanna joined us and we determinedly explained that our kids have the right to freedom of speech, and that they were not being forced to share the gospel, but rather doing it of their own free will as an act of love and obedience toward God. The guy ended the conversation by making threats to call the police, which we encouraged him to do so that we could get it all straightened out. We don’t know if he ever actually called the police or not, but they never stopped to talk with us and the guy left! We felt disappointed that this guy had rudely disrupted and ended the conversation Deanna was having with the Muslim man, but strangely enough, he actually came back to talk to us. He thanked Deanna for sharing the tract with him and encouraged us to keep doing what we were doing. We spent about 20 minutes just simply talking with our new friend "Hishon" and encouraged him as to some of the things Jesus has done in our lives! This was a truly blessed time! Needless to say, it was an interesting, but great night!

Blessed in Blythe

On Monday 01 February 2010 - 15:47:12 | LAN_THEME_7 Bill James

We spent 3 days in Blythe, CA, and as always, God's plans are far above what we could ever think or hope for!

On the 1st night, we put on our school of evangelism training class. The Lord brought a great turnout. The kids did the "sin" skit, Dave and Deanna led worship, and Bill and Dave did the training.

The 2nd night we shared IMPACT with the youth as well as some of the adults. After the class Bill and Dave had an opportunity to minister independently to some of the kids and were able to encourage them in the Lord!

The 3rd night we did an outreach in the community. We were amazed at how many people stepped past their fears and came out to share the gospel. There were over 30 people who joined us! We split up into groups and went to four different locations.

We give all praise and glory to God as at each different location, we were blessed with the privilege of leading someone to the Lord. Five people were brought into the kingdom of God that night! There really is nothing better than being led by the spirit to help someone see their sinful condition, their deperate need for a savior, and then freely choosing to accept Christ as their redeemer and friend!
"Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so..." Psalm 107:1-2

From Role Play to Real life

On Monday 25 January 2010 - 16:15:07 | LAN_THEME_7 Dani James

We were blessed this past weekend to serve in El Mirage, CA. A good friend of the Agents, Glenn Rowlands, recommended that we go and help out at this church. Dave called the Pastor, who invited us to come and partner with them in their community.

On Saturday night, we put on our School of Evangelism class. It was a small, but intimate meeting. Dave and Dee led worship and Bill and Dave taught the class! It was awesome to worship with our brothers and sisters in El Mirage.

The next day, we planned an outreach in El Mirage. We met at the local market and shared the Gospel with several people who came to the market. After several witnessing encounters, we decided to move over to the local county park and see if the LORD had any divine appointments for us there.

We arrived at the park and discovered that there wasn’t a soul there. Laverne, one of the church leaders, asked us to do some role playing so everyone could get a more practical idea of how to share their faith. Deanna and Danyal agreed to role play with the teenage girls that came to the outreach. Deanna began to share the Gospel with Vicki, who agreed to be involved as the role player. Deanna shared the entire Gospel with her from the Law to Grace. Then Deanna asked her if she would like to make a commitment to Christ. Vicki said, “yes.” We all had a strange feeling that Vicky was no longer role playing, but that she actually wanted to commit her life to Jesus Christ.

Laverne spoke up immediately and asked Vicky if she was role playing or if she really wanted to accept Christ. Vicky admitted that she was for real. It was awesome! Deanna prayed with Vicky as she made a commitment to repent and trust in Jesus as her LORD and Savior. We all had tears in our eyes as we rejoiced with the angels in heaven over this one lost sheep who came to the shepherd.

We praise God for using us in such an awesome way. After the Outreach, we all returned to the church for the Sunday church service. Dave and Dee led worship and Bill preached on the Parable of the Sower. It was an amazing weekend as we taught, sowed, and reaped in joy!

Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him. Psalm 126:5-6