Hello,

We had an average day on Sunday, with a few less teens and kids than last Sunday. But there are some good things happening, with kids coming back, especially older kids. We had a teen come back whom I thought we probably wouldn’t see again, also. Teen attendance was down some from last week, but still relatively high.

I would like to share with you an encouraging thing that happened. Sometimes a person wonders if he is doing any good, if his efforts are being used at all. I have mentioned the short-term detention center that we go to. Last week my daughter and I were out knocking on doors. We had walked from the church to the place we were working in, and the thought occurred to me that we should pass out the rest of the tracts we had left as we walked home. We finished knocking on doors, went in two stores looking for a cheap pop to drink, then headed back to church. On the way I gave a tract to a young man who stopped and didn’t seem in a hurry to go on. I stopped also and began talking to him. Pretty quick he said that he knew me. When I asked where he knew me from he said he had been in the short-term detention center. Though he said nothing to me at the time he said that from that time he had wanted to come to church and see what it was all about, but he had lost the tract and invitation he got from me in the detention center. I am hopeful that he will come this Sunday, the 31st. If my daughter and I, or he, had been even one minute sooner or later, we wouldn’t have met. I took this incident as a reminder that God can and does intervene in the affairs of men. This young man is not saved, nor has come to church yet, but I believe that God does draw people to Himself, and uses our efforts when he does.

Last week I mentioned two people in the church here that were battling with some issues. One has gotten victory, but the other (actually a family) I fear for. I will try to help them this week.

We would appreciate your prayers for this Sunday. We have more contacts to follow up on this month than we have had for some time. Contacts can evaporate with amazing speed and completeness, but we are still hopeful and will do what we can to bring people to the Gospel, or take the Gospel to them.