Dear Praying Friends, Family, and Supporters,
During the last two months, we have continued to work hard at being salt and light here in Katy, Texas. Thank you for your continued faithfulness in offering up your prayers and support to the Lord on behalf of our ministry.
A Report on Recent Activities
During April and May we have continued to settle into life and ministry at Good News Baptist Church. We have participated in planning, preparing, and serving for multiple church events, such as fellowship meals, men’s breakfasts, outreach activities, ladies’ Bible studies, and a church work day, as well as the regular meetings of the congregation for worship and Bible study. I had the opportunity to preach five times during this period, continuing my series on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Our weekly home Bible study with H. is also continuing.
On the home front, we keep working away at house repair and upgrade projects. We installed bookshelves in my office and unpacked all the boxes of books that had been stored since 2023. It is a blessing to have a functional office again! One of our goals has been to use our home as a venue for ministry; we entertained our first overnight guest, when our daughter, Beth, flew in from South Carolina for a weekend visit. Then Marla helped to host a baby shower and luncheon in our home for our church pianist. Over twenty ladies from our congregation were present. The open layout of our home functioned admirably for this purpose! (I locked myself in my office, which also functioned admirably!)
Prayer Requests for Future Ministries
We also have been diligently preparing for upcoming summer ministries. June 14-18 our church will hold an evening VBS. We will kick off events with a cookout/carnival on Sunday evening; then the regular VBS sessions will take place on Monday through Thursday. Pray that many children in the area will attend and be saved.
The following week, Marla and I will be the junior and teen camp sponsors at Southland Christian Camp (June 22-27). Both junior and teen camps will run simultaneously. We expect to have 10 to 11 campers in attendance. Pray that the campers will make important decisions that will impact their spiritual walk.
On June 4, I will begin teaching a Bible Institute course for the congregation that will run throughout the summer. Nine students have enrolled in this New Testament Survey class; I plan to cover Matthew through Philippians this summer and finish the rest of the New Testament in a future course. I was amazed at the amount of interest generated by this course offering. Please pray that the Lord will use it to increase each student’s Bible knowledge and promote their spiritual growth.
Finally, our co-workers, Gerald and Julie Hawk, are planning a trip away for several weeks in July. During this time, Marla and I will have additional responsibilities to manage in their absence, including extra preaching and administrative duties. Please pray for safety for the Hawks in their travels and blessings on the ministry while they are away.
Church Building Program
The building program is moving forward. There were a couple of meetings of the building committee during April and May, including a Zoom session with Dallas Putnam, who is a construction consultant with Continental Baptist Mission. Instructions were forwarded to our architect who is nearly finished with the construction drawings. The church has over half of its needed funding in hand (of an estimated $1.4 million); over $60,000 has come in through congregational giving so far this year. Please pray for the needs of this project. If churches would like to contribute to this as a mission project, gifts can be sent through Baptist Mid-Missions; mention “Building Project, Good News Baptist Church, Katy, TX.”
If you ever visit the Houston area, y’all come and see us!
In Christ,
