AWESOME! Another Church!

Cypress Creek Baptist Church -Rev. Bill Campbell

This is where we went to church this morning. We had a difficult time finding a church that was holding services today in light of the recent affects of hurricane Rita. Well Cypress Creek Baptist did have services, and God was directing our steps.

We were there for their 2nd service and were warmly greeted by the pastor and many members. The pastor allowed me 3 min. for a testimony and to close the service in prayer. At the end of the service he announced that they were going to take us on for support as one of their missionaries.

Thank-you Cypress Creek and Pastor Campbell. We got to see God add a family to their church in that service also.

God is always working, even while we worship.

Another miracle of God and proof He cares!

-allen

A Shelter In The Time Of Storm!

What an awesome God we serve. Thank you for your prayers for our safety. We came through the hurricane with not much more than 4 hours w/o power, very little rain, and a few knocked down branches.

We had plenty of food and water ready, batteries, flashlights the entire family gathered together, God's Word, what else could we need. The sun is shining, there is no wind.

I know the situation is much more grave for 1000's of others and I truly feel for them. This is my 2nd close encounter with a hurricane this year (I was in Katrina's aftermath in Hattiesburg Mississippi, remember) We have good friends who have family near the Lake Charles area - we don't want to see them suffer.

But thank you for praying for us. A lot of churches will be closed Sunday. I am to preach at Oaklake Baptist, Sunday evening. I believe they are still planning on having services.

-allen

Just in case you are wondering what we are going to do, in light of Hurricane Rita.

Looking at the traffic conditions and taking into consideration whatever solid information we have. We will most likely stay put. If things turn real bad, we will head South and West rather than with the masses that are stuck in traffic moving North. (a 6 hour drive to Dallas is now estimated at 20 hours) Gas is scarce. People are in survival mode - it is very interesting to watch how human nature reacts -vs-God's Spirit.

Some may call me stupid, but I do not have to be my savior - I have a savior and He has given me a peace. I will be responsible, but I will not panic and let selfishness rule my decisions and actions.

Please pray for the many that will be affected and that ultimately souls come to know Christ as Savior through all of this.

In Houston,

-allen

God uses people!

Some days are better than others when it comes to seeing results in raising our support. Today could be one of those slow days.

Many calls were made, nothing definite. I drove over 120 miles and visited 3 churches. There were no definite responses from any of these, 2 of 3 citing financial strain right now.

Even though I could not get a booking, I drove home and have ended the day realizing just how great God truly is. He wanted me to stop and see His care even in the other areas of my life.

How could I not praise God for the automobile that I drove today. We had a conflict, Aase needed the van and Andrea needed to get home from work; I had to drive to these churches and make some visits. The man behind the glasses let me use his Ford Bronco!

I made one call yesterday and special financing of $1200.00 has been given for our deputation project. With that call God also used us to supply a need of that church.

Wait - God is never done so soon, He always seems to have more - I will be going to a chiropractor tomorrow, this husband and wife team are Christians who treat pastors and missionaries free of cost, 100%. They want to try and make sure I never have a migraine again. (It has been awhile since I have had one.) I did not pursue this, it wasn't even a thought of mine - again God used a wonderful person (thank-you Theresa) to meet a need I didn't even recognize.

It is hard to be in this position of transition, raising support, owning nothing more than the bare-essentials, and yet, this is where God is once again teaching us - that no need is too small or too great for Him to take care, and that He takes care of the needs even before realize we have one. THAT IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS OF DEPUTATION. I just wanted to praise Him publicly for His goodness towards me and my family.

Thank you for praying for us. Please pray for Pastor Wilkins of Northshore Community Baptist Church in Houston, TX. He is having heart trouble and has already had a heart transplant.

-allen

Church Marathon - a march to Mexico

Well probably the best part about relocating to the Houston TX area is the fact that there are 100's of churches in the area. We were able to attend 3 different churches today. All of them are great potentials for continued and future prayer and financial support.

We met some wonderful people of N.E. Houston, Community church - thank you Pastor Diggs for your gracious hospitality and unexpected love gift. We also had a great time with the congregation of 1st Bapt. of Spring Forest - Pastor Reese is a very gracious and kind man, with a heart for missions.

I had a blast preaching and sharing our field today and God took care of our needs through the generous love offerings that He supplied through His people. We started our day @ 8:30 AM with the Metropolitan Baptist Church of Houston, and met some great people there this morning. I am sure we will continue to have a great ministry relationship with this church.

God has been so good to us. I have to admit, I loved preaching and presenting our field. I am so excited to just be in the game - God could use anyone He chooses, I am thrilled He is giving us a chance to be a part of what He is doing.

Keep praying for us. We took a few steps closer to Mexico today, but we still have a long way to go!

-allen

God Answers Prayers

What an awesome God we serve! Yesterday I was lamenting somewhat over the deputation process, and today, I am humbled.

We have been praying and I shared that God has given us some ideas to try that go beyond just the "cold-calls". Well today I met a preacher and will be preaching and presenting our work this Sunday evening in his church. He has already indicated the strong possibility of support before the end of the year. We also have 2 great contacts of mission conferences, 1 in Ohio and the other in Florida. Both of these seem like sure things, I just need to get some follow-up material to the preachers.

Now I would have called that a great and very successful day (by the way Alexandra made a comment today at breakfast, that her dad no longer has a job - ouch), but God goes beyond what we expect and stretches our faith. When I got home this afternoon, I checked my e-mail and a pastor had written me informing me that his deacons have voted to take us on for support and will be presenting our work to the church this Sunday evening!

Again, I have been humbled. I am so glad God works in spite of who we are. Thank you for your prayers and support. This was a great day. We have a long way to go, but this was the encouragement we needed right now. I trust my daughter can see, that even though I am no longer pastoring, I still have responsibilities.

-allen

Deputation dilemmas & Duties

Deputation - who cares what Webster's Dictionary says about it, it can be the pits.

I was at one time the senior pastor who had instructed his staff how to put the missionary through the maze that would never lead to my phone extension.

When a missionary got through to me, we usually saw him in a service or our conference. It is so hard for me to say "no" to a missionary.

Apparently I was not the only pastor out there doing the same. Calls, calls and more calls, and rarely do I get to actually speak with the pastor. I understand of course. Yet I must still raise support or never get to the field and continue developing the vision that God has given me.

Prayer - what an amazing gift God has given us, and the cool thing - He listens. God has given me a couple of ideas that will be added to my arsenal of support raising.

These will involve some heavy finances for a new missionary, but if God can give the ideas, I am sure He can finance it also.

Please pray for these additional efforts in raising our support.

-allen

We now have internet in our aparment thanks to my genius husband. He figured it out by himself we did not need them geeks to come and install it.

Andrea is now at the vet working her first day. Please pray for her as she is trying to learn more things about animals that can be a help in our ministry.

Alexandra is a little jealous, she wants a job too and have her own income. She is really working hard at her school work.

Alissa is just having fun and enjoying her virtual school. Today she can do it in her own bedroom.

Both Alexandra and Alissa enjoy their soccer teams and the friends they are making there.

I have been able to go to a Beth Moore Bible study here in Houston every Tuesday. She is a wonderful teacher, and to be there in her class with over thousands of women is great. I get to experience her life in her home church. Just a great time out with the "girls".

Have to go and be the homeroom teacher for the rest of the day.

Åse

God uses sick dogs!

Woody is a collie dog with arthritis and ADD. He takes medicine, and w/o his meds he is a spaz! He has been in tremendous pain lately. I have an 11 yr. old nephew who has a new shotgun, vet bills can be very expensive, a shotgun shell costs very little.

Hey now, where is your mind going?

Well I picked up Woody from the vet for my sister. Andrea went with me. Andrea now has a job at the vet's office 15-20 hours a week. This will be a great experience for her and a tremendous aide to our ministry some day in El Saucillo.

God put the pieces together to answer a very specific prayer. He is awesome! Now don't you feel bad about the shotgun solution? (I'm just glad Woody isn't a cat, we would have never met the vet!)

Well I thought I had better give you a quick update. Deputation is deputation - you know some people don't mind going to the dentist, while others absolutely hate it? Well it doesn't matter how you feel about it - it is still deputation so what can I say.

I have been making phone calls (my first 20 netted me 1 booking) and I have begun driving to churches in the area and looking for the chance to personally present our ministry to the pastor or pastor of missions. I prefer this to phone calls, but it is still tough to get in to see the senior or lead pastor.

The girls are all doing well and have one week of internet schooling under their belts. Alex and Alissa are on soccer teams with the YMCA and both have games on Saturdays. Andrea rollerblades everynight for at least an hour.

I met a neighbor tonight who bikes and will try to hook up with him some time. I went to ride today for the first time since moving here and I had a flat. Spent the late afternoon finding a bike shop and fixing it, so I will ride tomorrow.

I will post more later and try and get some picts for you.

-allen

Well I am home, in Houston after a 36 hour trip that should have only taken 22 hours. Beauzer made it home too. This trip took me into the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and face to face with the brutality and destruction of this storm. I was touched by the human tragedy and my heart is broken for the those who have been affected by this event.

Some may see this as God's judgment on the city of New Orleans, but so many more were affected than just those living in the Big Easy. I see it as a gracious, loving God, who knew that so many would never call out to Him or be introduced to Him, if He had not allowed this occurance in their lives.

I believe God has people in the affected areas who He wanted to make some changes in their lives and maybe even make a major move, but they were holding on to something temporal that kept them from making that change - but now they are free to do so.

I met Kirk and his family, evacuees, who had lost everything. I witnessed to him and helped him with some finances, and then I just sat in my rental car and cried and read God's precious word praying for so many others whose lives were now totally disrupted. I have much to be thankful for - God has been so good to me and my family.

Finding gas was a real problem in getting to Houston from PA, especially all the way through Mississippi and Louisiana, but God worked in miraculous ways - I could share it with you, but you probably would not appreciate God's devine intervention or the true miracles that were worked since you were not in the crisis and the very real danger that I saw. But let me just say, my God still works real-life miracles and I have witnessed them.

I am home and have much work to do in order to get our support raised and get to the field. We have a world to win for Christ and it is not going to get done unless we, as His servants get busy.

Please pray for me,

-allen

My dad is finally here in Houston, he managed to make that 22 hour drive into a 36 hour drive. But during his long trip he managed to meet some of the evacuees and share the Gospel with them.