Thursday, May 31, 2007
While it was a very good time being with the brethren at Somerset, Ohio, it is good to be home for a while. Besides our work in Howell, we will be on the summer series on a Wed. night in June and in a meeting with the Windrow Church near Murfreesboro, Tenn. in late June. It doesn't seem possible, but hurricane season starts tomorrow. Last year was easy on us, but this year may not be that way. If you have opportunity to donate some time, there are several groups that help in these kind of disasters. The Disaster Response Team can be contacted at http://disasterresponseteam.blogspot.com , Hill Top a rather new, at least to me, group that I am hearing a lot of good things about can be contacted at www.hilltop.org and also Whites Ferry Road Church of Christ. You can also contact Mike's blog at http://Mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com for more info about helping should the need arise. Of course you can also contact the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief in Nashville. This is a great supplier of food and help in many kinds of disaster. Don
Monday, May 28, 2007
Rosemary and I have had a great five days with the church here at Somerset, Ohio. We trust we have been an encouragement to them as they have been to us. This church is very active in missions and is very interested in working to spread the gospel and build the church in this community. Much of our discussion has been about ways to reach others and build the church in Somerset. They have three fine elders, Don, Dave, and Larry. Our lesson tonight will be about Jesus, "He has done all things well." We leave in the morning heading for home. By the way if you are or know someone who is interested in the Sojourners' help, it would be good to go ahead now and fill out an application for a Sojourn. You can go to the web site www.sojourning.org and pull up an application. There always more applications than we can fill, but we are very interested in helping the church and church related activities such as camps, schools etc. Don
Sunday, May 27, 2007
This is Sun. morning and I am looking forward to the worship with the brethren here at Somerset, Ohio. Early this morn, I took a mile walk thru the town, it is a pretty community about 50 miles east of Columbus. Am looking forward to teaching the bible class this morning. I will be working with the brethren on how to make the church a center in the community. Our lesson this morning is titled, "A picture into hell". This church is very involved in outreach and is growing. "Look unto the fields they are white unto harvest" Jesus said so. Don
Saturday, May 26, 2007
We had a wonderful church growth, evangelism seminar this morning with many members of the church here at Somerset. Many of the members fixed a big breakfast for all of us and it was a great time of learning and motivating each other to continue in outreach to others with the teachings of our Lord and His gospel. We have been invited out to dinner each night, tonight we are going to Dave and Chris's. Some good news about the church here is that they are open to ideas from the scripture as to reaching out to others with the gospel, striving to have a welcoming attitude toward people, and dedicated to mission work. They are very involved in the Bayou La Batre work. They use the open bible study method of teaching in their bible studies. And yes they are really growing in attendance as they are also endeavoring to grow spiritually. We plan to leave here Tues. morn and arrive home sometime Thurs. We of course miss our beloved Howell and are so thankful for their support of our mission work as well as others. Don
Friday, May 25, 2007
Fri. morn and we are now at Somerset Church of Christ. More later after we get back from door knocking this afternoon. Don
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Today is Wed. May 23rd. Rosemary and I are at at campground, just N. or Cinn.Ohio on our way to Somerset, Ohio where we will be helping in their continued development of a more and more successful evangelism out reach program at this active church. Am looking forward to having dinner tomorrow night with Don and Linda, Don is one of the elders of the Somerset, Church. Have received several telephone calls and emails while on the road about other successful works and esp about Bayou La Batre. They have signed papers on their building. I have seen it and while there is some repair work to be done on it, I believe it is going to be a big help to the work there. I have also learned the group associated with the Hill Top Church of Christ is there and they are really doing a great work helping there. I want to get to know more about Hill Top, I have heard some really good things about them esp. from Christians for whom I have a lot of respect. If I can get back on line when we get to Somerset will write more, but I imagine if it is like other effort which Rosemary and I have been on, there will be little time to sit down very long so you will probable hear about this work after we are headed home. On a personal note, thank you for letting so many people know about this blog, we receive emails and inquiries from so many places, needing opinions from the bible on how to do outreach and help the church grow presenting a seminar of the Open Bible Study method of teaching and maybe help them get a sojourn.,. Brethren the church can grow numerically as well as spiritually. Jesus said so. "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care and When you go to where people are, you can take them where you are going ". Don
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Pictured above are the three elders at Somerset, Larry, Dave, and Don. In the below picture is another inspiration, her name is Rosemary, but many of us call her "Rosebud". The Somerset church has become very much involved in evangelism and is using the "open bible method"of teaching that many of us use. This church, because of it's outreach has really grown in this last year. We will be quite busy with the congregation for the next several days, in a workshop on improving our effectiveness in evangelism, teaching a class on how to make the church a center in the community, using the pattern of the early New Testament Church, preaching and hopefully teaching a few home bible studies. While there we are looking forward to the good fellowship that Christians can enjoy. I am so proud of this church. They really want to be in outreach with the gospel. Getting the message "out of the building" . Because of our travels, our internet service will be sparce at best, but you can always call at 931-698-3150. "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care and when you go to where people are you can take them to where you are going". Don
Friday, May 18, 2007
Pictured here are several voluteers from the Somerset Church of Christ. Rosemary and I are looking forward in being with this good church next week. We will be helping in their outreach seminar next Sat. discussing methods in reaching people in personal evangelism. Invitations have been sent out to surrounding congregations and we are looking forward in participating in this out reach, church growth seminar. We will be dicussing the use of the Open Bible method of bible teaching. I also look forward teaching Bible Study Sun. morn. We will be discussing how to make the church a center in the community. We will also be preaching Sun. morn., ev. and Mon. ev. This church has studied the open bible method and several of the members helped in the Bayou La Batre mission led by Russ Blackwell. Dave, Don and Larry are fine elders there and Doug is the minister there.
Want to encourage you to read David's article "Living Waters" at www.creekwoodcc.or also received some good info on Mike's blog about the Fla. Bible Camp and also about the work of DRT in Kansas.
On a personal note, Rosemary and leave in the morning for Nashville, where we will see our 2nd grandson Donald C. Hudson III graduate from David Lipscomb High School. He will enter Lipscomb Un. the fall. Yes we are proud of him. Good Night Don
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Pictured here is a very wet yours truly having just baptized, this husband and wife and a friend who also was in the study. These are three new young christians in the Bayou La Batre Church who are very sincere in their desire to follow the Lord. We want to do all we can to encourage these three young people. I am very appreciative of groups like Somerset in Ohio and Cox Blvd. as well as others who are taking their time to spread the gospel in areas like Bayou La Batre. Good Night. Don
While we are all wondering about the upcoming hurricane season, I might make mention that many volunteers are working in areas that have been affected by weather and nature. One such effort of which I am aware is Mark and volunteers with the Disaster Response Team. They are out in Kansas now helping with the massive clean up that is going on after the tornado. If you can help, I am sure they can use the help. You can go to their blog at www.disasterresponseteam.blogspot.com for more info. By the way another way to keep up with various mission efforts is thru Mike's blog at www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com Don
Great News. I received an email that the contract for a building in Bayou La Batre has been signed. Many volunteers from many places have signed up in the repair and "fix-up" of the building. This building was before a Methodist Church building that had received some storm damage. It is a brick building with a nice sized auditorium, a very adequate fellowship building, plenty of parking and an on site parsonage. Now is a good time to help them finish paying for this building. This church is very concerned about evangelizing as influenced by the campaign just a couple of weeks ago in which 21 people were baptized. Please, if you can, make a contribution to these brethren to help in this great work. Bayou La Batre Church of Christ P.O. Box218 Bayou La Batre, Al. 36509
On an other good matter, Br. Henry Pendegrass emails me about the new work going in Lewistown, Montana. Br. Henry and his wife Agnes, have only been in Montana working with this new church sinceJan, and the work - because a lot of hard work by Henry & Agnes - is really going good. Here is an excerpt of Br. Henry's recent email. Dear Br. Don thank you for your interest in the work here in Montana and elsewhere as we have seen from recent email and your Blog site. The work here is increasing in numbers. We have been going into the "byways" and inviting everyone to the "feast". Yesterday we had our highest attendance yet - 18. We are in the process of buying a lot on which to build. It is 1 and 1/3 acres on the highway as you enter Lewistown from the east. If we can close the deal, we will need some help to build.
I will keep you updated about these two work with which I am familiar. I believe we can see from both of these reports how important going out and inviting, offering to set up bible studies and caring can be a real asset to the growth of the church. Don
On an other good matter, Br. Henry Pendegrass emails me about the new work going in Lewistown, Montana. Br. Henry and his wife Agnes, have only been in Montana working with this new church sinceJan, and the work - because a lot of hard work by Henry & Agnes - is really going good. Here is an excerpt of Br. Henry's recent email. Dear Br. Don thank you for your interest in the work here in Montana and elsewhere as we have seen from recent email and your Blog site. The work here is increasing in numbers. We have been going into the "byways" and inviting everyone to the "feast". Yesterday we had our highest attendance yet - 18. We are in the process of buying a lot on which to build. It is 1 and 1/3 acres on the highway as you enter Lewistown from the east. If we can close the deal, we will need some help to build.
I will keep you updated about these two work with which I am familiar. I believe we can see from both of these reports how important going out and inviting, offering to set up bible studies and caring can be a real asset to the growth of the church. Don
Thursday, May 10, 2007
We received this email from Don Yelton who is the Director of the Whites Ferry Road Relief work.
Dear Friends:
By midnight last Friday eleven Greensburg families, members of the church of Christ, were homeless. Ninety-five percent of their town was destroyed. They attended Wednesday evening services in the nearby Mullinsville church of Christ and left that night having no idea that within just 48 hours their lives would be changed forever.
The small town of Greensburg, Kansas, located about 100 miles west of Wichita, was ripped to shreds by the violent tornado which hit the town in a 1.7 mile wide path of terror on Friday night, May 6. At the request of the church in Mullinsville and on behalf of WFR Relied I will go to the stricken area tomorrow to pray with the people, offer our hand of friendship, answer the phone and just help out fro a few days, We will deliver funds for immediate needs to relieve some of the suffering in central Kansas even as we continue providing Katrina relief along the Gulf Coast. We will also install a computer for Internet service to help the church there with their communications.
The first and foremost goal of our ministry is to offer hope to those who are hurting. By assuring people affected by disasters that their immediate needs will be taken care of they can look to the future with confidence and be assured that Christian brothers and sisters around the world care and are praying for them.
Almost two years ago you helped WFR Relief deliver supplies of food, water, building materials and volunteers to Churches of Christ all along the gulf coast who were striving to help their members and their communities recover from the hurricane damage. After Katrina came Rita and several other hurricanes, floods and storms in the Caribbean. There is still much work to be done all along the gulf coast and those funds are almost gone.
We must have your partnership and financial support to be able to continue to be ready to bring hope and help to people whose lives have been devastated by disasters. Please pray for us as we reach out to them.
WFR Relief is using our emergency start-up fund for the Kansas disaster We need to replenish that fund to provide more help to the churches in Mullinsvill, Pratt, saint John and other Kansas communities. We must also be ready to help others in this storm season. Even as this letter is being written, floods threaten many areas. Please be generous.
Checks may be made to "WFR Relief"and notated for the "Kansas tornadoes and U.S. Storms" account. You may also use Pay Pal or a credit card at our website: www.wfrchurch.org/relief
God Bless you for caring
Don Yelton
"If you spend yourself on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light rises in the darkness and your night shines like the noonday" Isaiah 58:10
The address of the WFR Relief Ministry is White's Ferry Road Church of Christ
3201 N.7th street
West Monroe, La. 71291
Dear Friends:
By midnight last Friday eleven Greensburg families, members of the church of Christ, were homeless. Ninety-five percent of their town was destroyed. They attended Wednesday evening services in the nearby Mullinsville church of Christ and left that night having no idea that within just 48 hours their lives would be changed forever.
The small town of Greensburg, Kansas, located about 100 miles west of Wichita, was ripped to shreds by the violent tornado which hit the town in a 1.7 mile wide path of terror on Friday night, May 6. At the request of the church in Mullinsville and on behalf of WFR Relied I will go to the stricken area tomorrow to pray with the people, offer our hand of friendship, answer the phone and just help out fro a few days, We will deliver funds for immediate needs to relieve some of the suffering in central Kansas even as we continue providing Katrina relief along the Gulf Coast. We will also install a computer for Internet service to help the church there with their communications.
The first and foremost goal of our ministry is to offer hope to those who are hurting. By assuring people affected by disasters that their immediate needs will be taken care of they can look to the future with confidence and be assured that Christian brothers and sisters around the world care and are praying for them.
Almost two years ago you helped WFR Relief deliver supplies of food, water, building materials and volunteers to Churches of Christ all along the gulf coast who were striving to help their members and their communities recover from the hurricane damage. After Katrina came Rita and several other hurricanes, floods and storms in the Caribbean. There is still much work to be done all along the gulf coast and those funds are almost gone.
We must have your partnership and financial support to be able to continue to be ready to bring hope and help to people whose lives have been devastated by disasters. Please pray for us as we reach out to them.
WFR Relief is using our emergency start-up fund for the Kansas disaster We need to replenish that fund to provide more help to the churches in Mullinsvill, Pratt, saint John and other Kansas communities. We must also be ready to help others in this storm season. Even as this letter is being written, floods threaten many areas. Please be generous.
Checks may be made to "WFR Relief"and notated for the "Kansas tornadoes and U.S. Storms" account. You may also use Pay Pal or a credit card at our website: www.wfrchurch.org/relief
God Bless you for caring
Don Yelton
"If you spend yourself on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light rises in the darkness and your night shines like the noonday" Isaiah 58:10
The address of the WFR Relief Ministry is White's Ferry Road Church of Christ
3201 N.7th street
West Monroe, La. 71291
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
This is a copy of a magnet "sticker" that we have just ordered. We will use this as we door knock, setting up bible studies. Frankly, I got the idea from another group that I saw going from house to house leaving a small flower with people from their church. Everybody seemed to appreciated it and it was quite a positive talking point about that church. I have a good friend whom I baptized a few months ago and wants to help in evangelism. She makes these magnet stick ons for about .40 cents a piece. When I give this to someone as I am trying to set up a bible study, my hope is that if not at that time, maybe later they will call me to either set up a bible study with them or get someone else to. I believe this will be a good door opener and will leave people with a positive identification with the church. If you or your congregation would like to have some of these magnet "stickers"made with your message, at this very reasonable price, email me and I will get you in contact with Cathy. Looking forward to leaving in a few minutes and going to Friendship in Lincoln Co. Tenn. to teach the 2nd lesson using the open bible method of bible study. You might check Mike's blog site for info on the DRT going to Kansas, www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com My email dhudson@mcis.us Don
Monday, May 07, 2007
Just a short message tonight. We are making our perparations for our upcoming trip to be with the church at Somerset, Ohio. Am looking forward to working with the church there for a few days, and am especially looking forward to renewing old friendships. Vinton and Peggy who used to live here in Lewisburg where Vinton preached at West View, lives not from Somerset. Rosemary and I are looking forward to seeing them as well as a whole lot of people that we have come to know thru volunteer work and evangelism. A couple of blog sites I want to pass on to you for info about disaster work and evangelism: www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com and www.creekwoodcc.org Last night, we were blessed at the Howell church to baptize a wonderful young lady into Christ. It never ceases to amaze me how many wonderful young people have a deep interest in spiritual things. Brethren, the fields are white unto harvest. Our Lord said so. Don
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Just received a message from Mike. Go to his site at Mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com He has some pictures and an article about the tornado. He and the DRT are checking to see if they can be of help. Also just received David's "Living Waters" You can read these good articles at www.creekwoodcc.org Good Night, Don
Pictured here are three people studying the bible with me in the "rig" at Bayou La Batre. This is from r. to l. Mike, Joan, and Joseph. What you can not see is Rosemary has Joan's little girl at the other end of the "rig" engaged in coloring and playing with toys so Mother can study. Rosemary is the silent pardner in most all of our studies. A good silent pardner can be invaluable to you in a study. All three of these people were baptized after this study using the open bible method of study. The open bible study method is a very simple method that encourages the student to play a big part in their learning. We are teaching this method now in at Friendship in Lincoln Co. Our next seminar will be with the Howell Church. We are scheduled now all the way thru the middle of Oct. when we will begin the Open Bible Study Method with the Church St. Church in Lewisburg, Tn. This method of teaching is the method that all of us used in the mission in Bayou La Batre this past week. Hope you have a good day at church tomorrow. I look forward to being with my beloved Howell. This church, though a small country church is highly involved in out reach. They are an enormous help in our mission work. Two weeks from this coming Mon. Rosemary and I leave for Somerset, Ohio. This church is really involved in out reach and it has made a real difference in this congregation. Good Night Don
Friday, May 04, 2007
Pictured here is Brandon being baptized in Moble Bay during our mission at Bayou La Batre. Would you like to become a missionary? You may be like me and never really thought about it or thought to be a missionary you had to go over seas. Believe me there is plenty to do here at home and the need, just as overseas, is tremendous. There are many ways you can learn and begin, but let me tell you about a way that can help you learn as you are serving . The Sojourners. We are a group of 800 - 1000 christians, mostly retired, but not a requirement, who have RV's and receive far more requests from churches and church activities, such as camps and schools, than we can possible fill. The Sojourners provides you an opportunity for training as well as learning in the teachings of our Lord and how better to serve the church while reaching out to those who do not know Jesus. The RV's which we use range from very small, very inexpensive, to large motor homes. The quality and price of the RV is not the issue. The Sojourners provides all of us with very warm fellowship with other Christians of like desire to serve and very good teaching that is most useful in our mission work. Those who teach the classes, "have been there, done that" and are still working right along side us as we serve. If you are looking for a way to serve, I am sure there are many good ways, but may I encourage you to go to óur web site, www.sojourning.org for more information. Call me. 931-698-3150 I'll be happy to help. I have only been in sojourning for about 3 years and I can tell you it has been and is wonderful. You can belong to a wonderful group of believers and servers who can really help you grow. Yes we love the missionary opportunities that are provided to Rosemary and me thru the Sojourners. Don
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Pictured here are Russ and Judy. Every successful venture requires a good leader and in the Bayou La Batre Mission, we had great leadership with Russ and Judy. They brought with them about 30 volunteers from the Cox blvd. Church and with the other volunteers we needed direction, leadership and the where with all to use our time wisely. Russ and Judy provided this. The story is that the church in BLB is alive and well, has 21 new members, and is about to get a new building, but this story of success would not be nearly a exciting and positive had it not been for the hard work and 'ram roding" leadership of Russ and Judy. We leave in just a few moments to go to the Friendship Church of Christ in Lincoln Co., Tn. to begin teaching a seminar on church growth esp. using the "Open Bible Method" of teaching. More tomorrow on great things going on in the church, but thanks again Russ and Judy. Don
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
This picture is of a baptism we had last Tues. night in our mission in Bayou La Batre. We baptized three that first day of the work. Joe, Joan, Mike. They are surrounded by some of us who witness their baptism. Far right Dapne, far left Sandy, George, Don, Rosemary in front holding Joan's baby. We are looking forward to telling you about this weeks mission work. It was great. Many people went door to door inviting people to worship, inviting them to study the bible and we really worked. There were 21 (twenty one )baptims in this effort. Who said people are not interested in studing the bible any more? Who said we can't reach people anymore? Brethren the word is still just as powerful as it always was. Wise people still seek Him. I want to thank so many of you who prayed for this effort, for so many of you who supported this effort financially. With your help the kingdom in the BLB area was greatly expanded. We are looking forward to starting a seminar at Friendship tomorrow night and for the next 5 weeks on how to help in church growth thru the use of the Open Bible Method of bible study. I can tell you this the Open Bible Study Method is one of the most effective, easy, methods that I have ever used. It was Rosemary and my personal experience that only one person with whom we studied and there were several, did not respond to the invitation to be baptized at the conclusion of the study. They really teach themselves. By the way I want to refer you to Mike's new web site on the work in missions in which he is involved. www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com It's late but just had to get this good news out. Brethren the fields are still as white as they ever were. I heard a devotion the other day talking about Peter getting out of the boat to walk on the water and how this experience was a faith builder for him. I thought, "just as Peter got out of the boat, we have got to get out of the church building and into the community with Jesus message". Jesus message wasn't just "you all come", it was also you all go." More tomorrow. Please tell your friends about this blog. http://donchudson.blogspot.com If we can help in your church growth outreach program, our time is your time. And please know this if we can help there is no charge. Again I say no charge, we just want to help and we know that a good out reach program is still very effective. Good Night. Don
