*Street Fishing in Downtown Oklahoma City*

Greetings, friends, according to the will of God and the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus. “Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord (II Timothy 1:2).”

It has been well over a month since my last real email update, and, needless to express, much has happened for the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ. I sincerely apologize for the lull in communication; we have been very busy trying to settle things down a little here in North Carolina. I trust that everyone had a Merry CHRISTmas and that the Lord will bless you all in the upcoming new year.

Before I begin a quick recap from where I last left you all in Capulin, New Mexico, it behooves us to briefly comment on the present status of Full Proof Gospel Ministries and what the future may hold. Our first missionary journey has fully and finally ended, but our sense of calling and our responsibility to continue the public proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ goes on indefinitely. Just as Paul and Barnabas completed their first missionary journey, returning to Antioch “from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled” (Acts 14:26), so we have returned to North Carolina from whence we were recommended and from whence we are established. Just as Paul and Barnabas abode in Antioch for a time with the disciples and “rehearsed all the God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27) before their second respective missionary journeys (Acts 15:36-41), so we will abide here in our hometown for a time rehearsing all that the Lord has done and a time of sabbatical in preparation for the next journey.

Presently, we have started a weekly Bible Study here in Hickory that we hope the Lord will blossom into a house church. This is church-planting at its most basic level. Please pray for this endeavor. Casey Willis, the young man that my brother and I led to Christ last Spring on the Hickory streets, has been coming faithfully. He yearns to be discipled and instructed in the milk and meat of God’s Word. He has also been bringing a friend. Samantha does not know salvation in Jesus Christ, but she is open and very close. She has been reading her Bible and has been asking some good questions. Please pray that the Lord will save her soul through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For Casey and Sam, our weekly gathering is the only church they know. Many of the existing churches in this area are lukewarm and dead; we dare not send them into such seeker-driven, compromised, and “social-club” environments. Our responsibility is grave. Please pray for the church that now meets in our travel trailer on Monday nights.

On January 14, my brother, Matthew, and I will depart for Yakima, Washington. We will be taking about three weeks to go out and get my family’s stuff that is currently gathering dust in a storage unit. After much prayer, I believe that the Lord is leading us to make a missionary journey of sorts out of this opportunity. We plan to take the Gospel to the streets of more major U.S. Cities, adding to Full Proof Gospel Ministries’ current list of about fifty.

While Matthew and I are enroute to Washington, Jamie and Bethany will be traveling down to Guatemala in Central America so as to visit and briefly partner up with some missionary friends. My mother and my sister-in-law will also be joining them. Please pray for their safety and that the Word of the Lord will go forth. We just sent off for little Bethany’s passport yesterday. ‘Twas quite a complicated endeavor.

The work of the ministry is our calling; it is our labor; it is our livelihood. The specific journeys begin, and they end. The calling remains. May we be faithful and always open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Our plans are ever subject to the will of the Lord, for his ways are far higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9). Please continue to keep us and Full Proof Gospel Ministries in your prayers.

So, let me return to a recap from the road. Unlike previous updates, the lateness of this hour forces me to be concise. As mentioned in our previous emails, we spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Capulin, New Mexico. The Lord blessed us with Christian fellowship there last Thanksgiving when I was pedaling in the area, so it looks like we have started somewhat of a tradition. The week spent in Capulin was very fruitful, and the Christian fellowship was again sweet. Not only were there numerous witnessing opportunities, but hopefully, our exhortation and our presence lended toward the planting of a house church right there in Capulin. Presently, this little town has no churches, and some local Christians who have no church home are involved in a weekly gathering. Please pray that the Lord brings about the planting of a local church body in Capulin. I also had the privilege of doing another radio interview with Perfect Gift Ministries. Together, we exhorted the remnant body of Jesus Christ to hold fast the profession of its faith without wavering (Hebrews 10:23).

On another occasion, I took two local boys hiking for the day. We decided to tackle Black Mesa (the highest point in Oklahoma). This is located about as far west in the Oklahoma Panhandle as you can get. The hike was about 8 miles, and the scenery was expansive. More importantly, however, the venture allowed us to proclaim the Gospel by leaving tracts in the summit register, spelling out a large Gospel message with volcanic rock on the ground, and opening our mouth to a lost soul at a general store in the podunk town of Kenton. On a side note, one of my most enjoyable hobbies is to read and study atlases and maps. As a teenager, I used to gaze at maps and dream about standing in the remotest of places. By God’s grace, he has brought me to many of the very places I used to envisage. The far northwestern corner of the Oklahoma Panhandle was one of those places. I don’t know why; on a map it just looked so remote and so desolate. But, the Lord not only brought me there, he put me there with the privilege of proclaiming his glorious Gospel.

Back in Capulin, we also met a young single pastor from Springer. We visited his church and were amazed by his faithfulness to his ministry. Most Sundays, he only has one person in his congregation, an elderly woman that he, himself, brings in from the local rest home. Still, he remains faithful to preach the Word and be about the business of discipleship. This man obviously understands ministry in a New Testament vein: It is about obedience and not about results (diametrically opposite from the approach and methodology of typical 21st century lukewarm “churchianity”). Please pray for Agape Baptist Church. May he not grow weary in well-doing, and may the Lord give him increase in due time (Galatians 6:9). This same pastor is also the head nurse at the local rest home in Springer. After church, he took us over there, and the Lord allowed me to share the Gospel with an elderly lady named Etta. I think she was suffering from the effects of Alzheimer’s, so pray that the words of the Gospel pierced the mental barriers.

So, after a fruitful week, we departed Capulin, New Mexico and again headed east, making a beeline to Oklahoma City. There, we spent a couple of days. Jamie’s mother flew into Oklahoma City so that she could accompany us on the final leg of the journey (Her help with little Bethany was truly invaluable). This allowed me to saturate the airport with Gospel tracts. Also, I spent an entire afternoon walking the streets of downtown and proclaiming the Gospel. Tracts were placed all over the grounds of the state capitol; I prayed with a newly born-again Christian (George) who had just gotten out of jail and was trying to get his life back together; I placed Bibles and Gospel tracts all along the memorial fence outside the sight of the Oklahoma City bombing; I handed out tracts to people; and there were several good conversations about the Gospel. Back at the campground, Jamie and I were also able to exhort and edify a fellow believer (Mary) who was really struggling with some stuff. It was obvious that the Lord brought her to us for encouragement and exhortation.

From Oklahoma City, we headed east toward Branson, Missouri (or so we thought). Enroute, we planned to stop in Claremore, Oklahoma and have lunch with the same single pastor from Springer, New Mexico that I previously mentioned. He will be getting married soon, and his fiancé is from Claremore. He just happened to be in the area, and he wanted to introduce us to his soon-to-be significant other. Well, what we thought would be a quick bite to eat and some brief fellowship turned into an entire weekend. This encounter ultimately led to an opportunity for me to share my testimony at a Christmas Party and then preach twice at Baptist Chapel in Owasso, Oklahoma, exhorting fellow believers to boldness for the Gospel. Many were edified, convicted, and emboldened. All the praise to the Most High God! At Baptist Chapel, the Lord again demonstrated to us that he reserves to himself a faithful remnant in the midst of the modern disease that is lukewarm “churchianity.” These people were so precious, and the fellowship was truly sweet—a true high note near the end of our first missionary journey, new friends and more prayer support in this ministry.

When we left Claremore, Oklahoma, home seemed all the more within reach. Claremore was special and memorable closure on a long missionary journey that included many such encounters with faithful believers. Not much happened between Claremore and Hickory. Many tracts were put out, and there were some witnessing opportunities in Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Our last night on the road, we camped just east of Nashville, Tennessee. We wrestled with where to grab dinner, and it seemed like the Lord kept drawing us to a specific place. Little did we know, but a divine appointment awaited. A young waitress was drawn to cute little Bethany, and this opened up an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel. Monica Smith, a young mother carrying her second child in her womb, must deal with her husband being in Iraq. He is a soldier, and Monica has not seen him in many months. We proclaimed the Gospel to her, and she was very open. She did not have a biblical understanding of salvation by grace through faith (the free gift that is in Christ Jesus), for she kept referring to her works, her attempts at “trying hard.” I explained that this was not good enough (Romans 3:10-11; Isaiah 64:6), and she accepted a Gospel tract. We then prayed for her and her husband, Cody. Truly, this was a divine appointment. Perhaps the entire journey—all the trials, tribulations, heartaches, blood, sweat, and tears—were for this one soul. If so, ‘twas all worth the while.

In that same restaurant, our work was not done. Our waiter, we would later discover, was a solid Christian. Parker was greatly encouraged when he saw us witnessing to Monica, for he had spoken to her several times about the Gospel. Our conversation was therefore uplifting, and I believe that he was emboldened for Jesus. I passed a stack of Gospel tracts on to him, and he promised to give them out. He also promised to follow-up with Monica. Please pray for her salvation and for his boldness. We were truly thankful for these encounters. Again, such gave good closure.

At 5:45pm on December 8, 2004, our first missionary journey came to a full and final end as we safely pulled into Jamie’s parents’ backyard. There, the trailer will be parked for the next several months, and this place will temporarily be called home. I can only sit back and marvel when I think of all the Lord has done for us and all that he has brought us through since this whole thing began in the spring of 2003. “Now unto the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen” (I Timothy 1:17).

*Finally, back in Cooksville, North Carolina*

Since arriving in North Carolina, much has continued to happen. Chad Currin and I hit the streets of Charleston, South Carolina; I had a long and fruitful conversation about the Gospel with an insurance agent; the Lord gave me the privilege of preaching and giving testimony of our ministry at a local Baptist church; we have started a house church with the intent of effectively discipling Casey Willis; we have had the privilege of fellowshipping with the precious people of Living Word Baptist Church in Butner, NC (our home church); and the Lord has miraculously met many of the ministry’s needs. I will not go into any more detail, for I have again become long-winded. Just know this: The Lord has been good, and he continues to work. Thank-you for all your prayers and support. These have not be in vain.

Before I sign off, let me give praise to God for another miraculous provision. When we left Yakima, Washington to begin our trek toward home, we knew that we would be facing some major expenses upon arrival in North Carolina, expenses that we knew would be extremely difficult to meet. So, I simply listed these out on a yellow sheet of legal pad paper and committed them to the Lord. As I now compose this email, I can say with gratitude that the Lord has met every single one of these needs, and the provision came through completely unexpected avenues, many of which were fellow believers who were complete strangers to us prior to the final leg of this journey. The Lord truly put such in our path. Furthermore, as has always been our practice, we never had to ask anyone for help but the Lord himself. Again, he proved to be faithful. For all of you who were a part of this provision: THANK-YOU. The Lord truly used you all to answer our prayers. All will most assuredly be used for the furtherance of the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers, and stay tuned for more adventures. Have a blessed New Year, and serve the Lord with gladness (Psalm 100:2). For those of you who know the Lord Jesus Christ personally and have embraced his free gift of salvation by grace through faith, determine this new year to be a bolder witness for him. For those of you who have not committed your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, please receive his gift of eternal life this new year. He is your only hope, and “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3)?

Jesse, Jamie, and Bethany

an ending, a beginning