Missions with Don & Rosemary

2009-05-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

"Disaster Assistance" has just completed a short mission with the Hemly Rd. Church of Christ in Bayou La Batre, Al. Just a couple of weeks, ago Brs. Dave Neal and Doug Oaks from the Somerset Church in Somerset, Ohio spent time in BLB. There they taught and baptized 5 people. A call came to us, to come and help teach these new converts as well as several new Christians more about the doctrine of Christ. This church does not have a regular preacher. Thanks to your support in these spiritual matters, we were able to go there and really be a big help to this young growing church. As you may recall, prior to hurricane Katrina, the only congregation in BLB had ceased to meet some 2 yrs before the hurricane. When "Katrina" came to BLB, shortly thereafter, several Christan's came there to help. Out of this help, the church began to meet again, Christians bought another building, have a dynamic outreach program, are now a center of activity in the community and this past Sun. had 80 people in worship service. Your help greatly aided in the development and growth of this congregation. Br. Mike Baumgartner, Director of "Disaster Assistance", with the help of Rosemary and others cooked and fixed some really good meals, 460. The church invited the community in and was the community ever impressed by the friendliness of this church? We inter mingled with them and talked them about the Church of Christ at the supper time meal. We invited them to worship with us Sunday.Several of them who had not visited the church before came to worship that Sunday morning and I personally know some that have expressed an interest in studying God's word. This was an excellent outreach project that you helped make possible. With our spiritual outreach arm of "Disaster Assistance", while there we had 21 in attendance during 12 different bible studies. Now while our effort there was to help "ground" new Christians, one was baptized and I believe two more will be baptized shortly. We left the Hemly Rd. Church of Christ with a renewed appreciation for the outreach of this church, esp. with young people. Of the 80 people who were in attendance at worship Sun. I believe over half of them were young people. I went around to the Sunday School classes Sun. morn. and was deeply impressed with the dedication of the teachers. Sun. Ev. we went to the Creekwood Congregation in Moble. Br. David Sargent had an excellent lesson on Christian's caring We had an opportunity to renew old acquaintances there from our work in Katrina.
As we are back home now for awhile, I think, we have a lot of activity planned this summer at the Howel Church where I preach and which sends and supports Rosemary and I on these various home missionary trips. Our gospel meeting is in June, I am in a meeting at the Mc Burg Church in July, we have our Super Sat. Bible School in July and then there is the upcoming Sycamore Bible Bowl in Cookeville, Tn. in early Sept. then I speak at the Heritage Christian Un. Lecturship in late Sept. In between all of these activities, "Disaster Assistance " remains ready to "Drive at Dawn"to help organize and work for the local church should disaster strike. We can always use volunteers "at the ready". I must tell you, this is work. We start early in the morning and it is usually nearly dark, when we finish. That's 7 days a week, with time off to go to worship. While it's work, it has, I believe, the greatest reward of all on this earth, the knowledge that you helped make a difference in someone's life physically and you also and at the same time had and used the opportunity to show and teach people about Jesus. If you would like to be a part of this Home Mission Work, email me or call me at 931 659 6643 cell 931 698 3150. Also please see Mike's blog about "Disaster Assistance" www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com http://mikesmissionupdates.blogspot..com Don

2009-05-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

"Disaster Assistance"is fortunate in having so many fine Christians working to help in the caring for people both physically and spiritually thru DA. One such great helper is Russ Blackwell. Russ has told Heritage Christian University about our work and we have been invited to speak at their lectureship this year. We will be discussing the great opportunities for home missionary work with "Disaster Assistance". This lectureship is in late Sept. Rosemary and I have attended this lectureship several times. I always come away encouraged. Heritage Christian University is located in Florence, Al. You too may want to make plans to attend this year. They do have some RV spots available there. I have been deeply impressed on several occasions by the education that students receive at HCU. Don

2009-05-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

"We Drive at Dawn" to Bayou La Batre, Al.
Rosemary and I leave early tomorrow morning to spend about a week helping the young church, Hemly Rd. Church of Christ, in Bayou La Batre, Al. This church literally rose from the disaster of hurricane Katrina. The church at BLB had ceased meeting some 2yrs. before Katrina, but when Katrina hit, many Christians worked tirelessly in this area, helping people both physically and spiritually. From the efforts of many dedicated Christians during the devastation of Katrina came forth the Hemly Rd. Church of Christ. This is a new young congregation. The face many of the challenges that a new church can have. They have some truly remarkable, hard working members, that are dedicated to spreading the gospel in this area as they help build the church. It is a growing church. Mike, The Director of "Disaster Assistance", Rosemary and I are privileged to have had a part in the development of this church from the very beginning. A couple of weeks ago, Dave Neal, an elder at the Somerset Church of Christ in Somerset, Ohio, and the minister there, Dave Oaks, went to BLB and spent some time having bible studies. The people were very receptive to being taught the word of God. They baptized 5 people into Christ. We wished we could have been with them but were working in Murfressboro, Tn. helping in the aftermath of a tornado. The Church at BLB has requested that we of "Disaster Assistance" come and, as a major part of our effort is evangelism, help teach these new converts. We truly appreciate this opportunity and are thankful for the confidence that Christians have in us in helping, not only in the physical part of a disaster but in the evangelism opportunity as well. Please remember us in your prayers. Also please know that while we are NOT requesting any funds at this time for this effort, it is your prayers and sacrificial donations that have made this work in evangelism possible. We appreciate the confidence that you have in the mission that we Christians have working thru "Disaster Assistance" and we will doing our very best to wisely use your donation to spread the border of the Kingdom.
Please go to Mike's blog http://mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com You can read there about the great work that Dave Neal and Doug Oaks did while at BLB and learn a lot more about the Hemly Rd. Church of Christ.
"Disaster Assistance" is under the oversight of the Elders of the Alachua Chruch of Christ 14505 NW. 145 ave. Alachua, Fl. 32615. By the way, another good blog, greatly concerned with evangelism is Royce Ogle's blog http://gracedigest.com
Don

2009-03-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

Because you asked. There are people on a regular basis that stop me and ask, "exactly what does Disaster Assistance do? We are always glad to answer their questions. May I again talk with you about what we do and how we have been so successful in signing up so many people for bible study?
First of all, it is getting to be spring time and this can be a time of weather damage. We are ready to go. We go into an area, meet and work with the local Church of Christ, prepare and cook a good hot meal for often hundreds of people. This meal is served to them and they are told and know it is from the church of Christ. We are now able to give bible tracts out to the people where ever we are. We keep several on hand so that we can immediately give them out. We want them to know that the meal is made possible by caring Christians in the Churches of Christ. People often reply with such thanks as "Thank God for the Church of Christ".
We also help the local church unload supply trucks. When a supply truck pulls up to a congregation who has never been in a disaster before, everything can be overwhelming. We offer not only to help them unload the truck, but also show them how to store and distribute the supplies. Churches we have worked with are very pleased that we help them do this, because as I say the supply situation and how to properly get them out can be overwhelming.
The other effort in this evangelism work is to sign people up for a study of God's word. Believe me when you are there helping to supply them with food and other necessities, they know that these Christians really care. Actually,we have people that hear about our bible studies and come asking us to be signed up for a bible study. We have their names, address and telephone numbers and we work with the local church in setting up the bible studies. We have found that when members of the local church conduct the study or at least go with us on the study, students have a better connection with the local church and this helps them in there beginning days with the church.
Last summer during hurricane season, we set up over 500 bible studies for local churches.
Now a logical question, and I was asked this question today from a Christian in Florida, how do you get funds to do this? The only answer is from sacrificial Christians like you who are interested in helping people and have a special interest in evangelizing here at home. This is a great work. We don't have a paid staff, no paid advertising, etc. We are under the elders of the Alachua Church of Christ AlachuaChurch of Christ 14505 N.W. 145 ave. Alachua, Fl. 32615.
If you would like to volunteer to help, we would love to hear from you. You can certainly email me. I would be honored to hear from you. You can go to our Director's blogsite http://www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com and find out more about this work in evangelism. I hope you will tell your local congregation about this work too.
If weather disaster strikes, you will be hearing from us,and we really mean this, if you can add this work to your prayer list, we would appreciate that too. Don

2009-03-04T12:03:00.000-08:00

As this blog site is dedicated to evangelism, outreach, personal work, church growth, names that I use to basically mean the same thing, we want to bring a lesson on how to help make the church a center in the community.
As we are always ready to leave "on the spur of the moment" with "Disaster Assistance to help people, we may have to interrupt, but as long as we are home, Howell, Tennessee, we want to bring this lesson. It has helped us at Howell to reach others with the gospel and I hope it will help you too.
MAKING THE CHURCH A CENTER IN THE LIFE OF THE COMMUNITY
1.Where better to learn about Christianity than in church?
2. Where better to learn of Christian conduct than in church?
3. Where better to learn to grow spiritually than in church?
It has been said and I hear it often, in the "old days" people went to church a lot because there were few other places to go. Now I want to tell you, if I live to July 2, I will be 68. I was born and lived in the old days. There were plenty of places other than church to go. We had movie theaters, television, football games, basketball games, baseball games. We had cars. That did not keep us from going to church. By the way that still doesn't keep people from going to church. Turn on the television to nearly any religious program and what do you see? A building full of people. How many of these people do you suppose do not have any other place to go? You see we can help engage the community thru
the church.
When I was growing up the church was very much a center in our lives. It promoted activities with the teaching that promoted my spiritual growth. We can still do this and look to the scriptures for guidance.
Should there still be an opportunity for the church to be a center of people lives?
If the church a center of people's lives will this help them grow spiritually and the church grow numerically?
Can we,by effort and guidance from the scripture, encourage the church to be at the center of peoples' lives today?
YES! YES! YES!!!
In the coming days we will be discussing some ways that may help you make the church a center of life in the community. For those of us already working at that maybe we can share some ideas as to how to improve. If you have some suggestions to help, please email me at donhudsoncoc@gmail.com If you know of other who might profit from these lessons, please tell them about this blog www.donchudson.blogspot.com Don

2009-02-28T16:47:00.000-08:00

From time to time, I like to remind everyone of the great opportunity that we have in home missions with the Sojourners. If you are a person that would like to be involved in home missionary work, have a certain like for travel and are looking for an opportunity to really make a difference, you may very well enjoy being a Sojourner. If the congregation where you attend could use some help in evangelism, teaching people how to evangelize or have physical work that needs to be done, the sojourners may be able to help. In either case go the the Sojourners' web site at www.soujourning.org read the info and see if this will help. If you would like more info on the sojourners and what a wonderful organization it is, you are certainly welcome to email me donhudsoncoc@gmail.com and I'll be happy to help. We may be able to put you in contact with Sojourners in your area. Don

2009-02-21T17:25:00.000-08:00

We have had so many inquires as to home mission work this week. I believe that we have had more person-to-person, telephone conversations, and email inquires this week than any week sense we have been at this blogsite. It is wonderful to see such renewed interest in home mission work and your desire to be a part of this mission effort. Or Director of "Disaster Assistance" is Mike Baumgartner and you can contact him thru his blogsite at www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com for specific info. We can use help. Mike is over all in charge and we all help in some way in the preparation, serving and cleaning up after, the meals, but he has delegated me to help in the helping people spiritually aspect of this ministry. If you are interested in visitation, prayer with people and bible studies we can certainly use your help. You need to be advised that if you have an R.V. it can be a real help, but if you don't we will try and make provision for you too, but it might not be like at home. Besides Mike's blog, may I recommend Royce Ogle's blogsite at http://gracedigest.com Remember our email address has changed. It is now donhudsoncoc@gmail.com Don

2009-02-16T17:03:00.000-08:00

The Howell Church, for which I preach and serve in a missionary capacity, had a wonderful period of fellowship, last Sun. Ev. On the third Sun. Ev., at Howell, after our evening worship, we engaged in another period of fellowship in which we enjoyed a common meal together. Sun. night, we went to the Catalpa Church of Christ, had evening worship with them and then joined them for another period of fellowship in sharing a common meal with them. It was certainly a great period of exhortation. I was asked to speak on the mission efforts of "Disaster Assistance" . This congregation which is only about 10 miles away, had greatly helped us in the disaster work last summer and fall. We wanted to tell them first hand of the great effect that they had in helping feed so many needy people and setting up so many bible studies. I also explained what an opportunity we have in reaching Hispanic people and that I was spending an hour a day in trying to learn the language so that we can better serve and help in mission work.
The Catapa Church is very interested in helping in the mission work of "Disaster Assistance" as we stay in contact thru email, phone calls and when possible personal visits and updates as to the numbers of people we are helping not only physically but also spiritually in our success in setting up bible studies with people.
Some of the members of Catalpa also told me that they would like to volunteer and go on some missions with us. We can sure use volunteers who want to help people both physically and spiritually.
Mike, our Director, is keeping a very watchful eye on weather reports and forecasts. We certainly hope that there won't be any weather related incidents this spring, but if there are, we want to be ready to help. And because of your prayerful support, we expect to be ready. When people see us pulling up in our rigs and our Orange Shirts that reads "Disaster Assistance" Church of Christ, they know the Church of Christ is there to help. They are thankful and grateful for Christians showing they care.
Make sure you keep up with preparation and other info about "Disaster Assistance" by regularly going to Mike's blog site. http://mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com Good Night Don

2009-02-12T14:47:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for an opportunity to become involved in evangelism and mission work right here at home, I believe you will really appreciate this information. Mission work is all areas is greatly needed. For those of us who can help in home missionary work, there are several organizations that are highly involved in helping people.
One of these mission efforts in which Rosemary and I are very active is "Disaster Assistance". "Disaster Assistance"is made up of many volunteers, who go to areas of disaster, esp. weather related, and help people in need. Not only do we cook and provide meals, help churches organize and distribute relief supplies, but we also provide spiritual help in talking with people about the Lord. Evangelism is one of our chief efforts. We endeavor, not only to talk with people, but also offer to visit with them, pray with them and set up bible studies with them. It is our effort to help spiritually,as well as physically.. We have found that when we go into areas hard hit by floods and storms, provide much needed food and supplies, that the people are eager to know of this God we happily serve. They are very receptive to the idea of studying God's word. Last year, we signed up over 500 people for bible study thru this effort.
You can be a big help. We always need volunteers. We need people who can help cook, wash and scrub big pots and pans, clean tables, serve food, organize and distribute supplies and we very much need volunteers who can help conduct bible studies. Of course your sacrificial donations of money and supplies help make this mission effort possible.
When we volunteers go into an area wearing our bright orange shirts that read, "Disaster Assistance Church of Christ" it is a message that says to people, "The Church of Christ is here to help." As you may desire to help and be a part of this mission work, here are some ways you can let us know that you want, in some capacity, to have a part: Write the Elders who oversee this work, Alachua Church of Christ 14505 N.W. 145 ave. Alachua, Fl.
email our director Mike at mbaumg7736@aol.com "Disaster Assistance" Blog http://www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com/ . You can also email us donhudsoncoc@gmail.com you are invited to see our blog site www.donchudson.blogspot.com Again, thanks for all you are doing in this mission effort. God is being glorified, Christ is being magnified, and the Church is being edified. Don

2009-02-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

It is so good to begin to see so many more articles appearing concerning evangelism. There are so many important components in evangelism such as teaching, friendship, caring just to name a few, that it gives many of us an opportunity to be involved.
Last year with our work in the hurricanes, I noticed that in areas where we served, that there was a great number of Hispanic people. Some of them could not speak English. Now I know enough Spanish that I was able to set up bible studies with them, but I did not know enough of the language to be able to conduct the study. So... I got busy, because with the number of Hispanics that we saw and helped physically, I saw a great opportunity to teach. They were very receptive to studying the bible. If only I could teach them. Now I am taking a rather good Spanish course and am gradually becoming somewhat conversant. It is my goal that by this hurricane season to be conversant enough to conduct these studies. The fields really are white unto harvest. I study an hour or so everyday and being the slow learner that I am, gradually I'm making progress. I might say one of the reasons that I don't keep this blog updated as I should is because so much of my time is devoted to the study of this new language.
For good updates on preparation and readiness to help with "DA", check out Mike's blog Mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com Don

2009-02-05T07:37:00.000-08:00

It is not an overstatement at all to say that those who worked with "Disaster Assistance" during the hurricane damage of last year helped greatly in introducing people to the Church of Christ. Many people who knew nothing about the Church of Christ signed up for bible studies and members of the church from across the country joined in helping, spiritually and physically this great work in introducing the love of God by helping feed people in time of need and by showing and teaching God's word to them.
Because of your generosity we in "Disaster Assistance" are going to be able to greatly expand this ministry in helping and reaching even more. We are in preparation right now for any disasters that may occur because of spring floods and other weather related incidents in which we (you & us) may be able to help in an effective way. It is always our aim not to just feed and care for people physically, but to also use this time to teach people the word of God. We have found that as we provide meals and other necessities, that they are appreciative of us and want to know more as to who we are and to study and learn God's word. Hence over 500 signed up for bible study during our work in the hurricane season of last year.
Please go to Mike's, our Director, for information as to upcoming plans and how you too can help in this very productive ministry. www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com
I also want to remind you from time to time of other websites and blogs that tell about evangelism work. Royce Ogle has a web site that is very informative www.gracedigest.com
Remember, "Disaster Assistance" is under the elder ship of the Alachua Church of Christ in Alachua, Fla. Church of Christ 14505 N.W.145 ave Alachua,Fl.32615 Thank you for your involvement and we will do all we can to live up to your faith and confidence in us and this work for the Lord. Don

2009-02-02T14:56:00.000-08:00

From time to time, I really am impressed by a particular work that is taking place. Such is the case at the Florida School of Preaching in Lakeland, Fl. You are referred to their web site for information about this school. www.fsop.net As I was invited to speke at this years annual lectureship, I was was able to attend some very fine lectures. Many were impressive, but I was partlicularly impressed by the lecture of Br. Jackie Stearman. This attitude and message, I believe, was not only courageous, but also encouraging. Br.Stearsman delivered not only a very informative message, but one could easily sense his conviction. Amen. Br. Brian Kenyon is going to be the new Director. He and Br. Gene Burgett also delivered well studied, well prepared messages and on the panel discussions display good common sense applications of Christian Principles. Please go to their web site and find out more about this school. Their telephone number is 863 683 4043 or 800 320 9780. Don

2009-01-31T14:58:00.000-08:00

We had a great mission in Key West. We found many people there receptive to our out reach. We went into many homes inviting them to the "Super Saturday" VBS and to worship with us the following day.
Our main goal as we went on this mission trip was to strengthen the new brethren which we had baptized in the previous years. This we worked at with due diligence. We were pleased however at the efforts the church is making in out reaching to the community. They wanted us to develop a program and plan to involve the church with the community. We developed another "Super Saturday" . For three days leading up to Sat., many of us went door to door with fliers telling about the "Super Saturday" We offered transportation to those who needed it. Many of us worked hard. When Sat. arrived we didn't know if anyone would show up. The teachers were very well prepared, but would the people come? THEY DID COME. We had 52 for VBS that morning. Around half of them came back for services Sunday morning and some of them brought their parents. Who said people are not interested in church anymore? The church has names and addresses to do future follow up. Due to all of our efforts there, there have been 5 baptisms. It was a good mission. Thank you so much for your prayerful support of this mission.
In our future reports, we will be reviewing our efforts at the lectureship at the Florida School of Preaching. Don

2008-12-29T17:37:00.000-08:00

Our next mission begins Jan. 5th, next Mon. Rosemary and I plan to leave rather early in the morning for the 3 day trip to Key West, some 1100 miles south of here. This is our third year working with the Key West Church. There will be a group of us sojourners there highly involved in evangelism. During the past two missions, we have taught and baptized about a dozen people. We will give special emphasis on this mission in teaching more material to these new converts. Our team leader is Doug Shepherd and his wife Maxine. This couple has been doing this type of mission work for over 10 yrs. They are great leaders. They are great servants. Rosemary and I count them among our very best friends. We are planning to have a "Super Saturday" on Jan. 10th. We will be teaching lessons on the life of Christ. There will be a break for refreshments and at the conclusion of the three hour teaching sessions, we are planning to have a cook out. We will be using this occasion of pleasant experience for the children and adults who attend to set up further bible studies with them. We hope to sign up a lot of people for bible study. The Key West Church is looking forward to our coming as we are looking forward to this effort. Good progress is being made in the area of community evangelism, I really believe good things will be occurring with the church. This is a mission that is developing into a real success story.
Am looking forward in speaking at the Fla. School of Preaching Lectureship in Jan. We will be teaching methods in helping get people back in church. We have had some real success this year in this area of evangelism at Howell. One reason is the very interested friendly brethren that make up the congregation at Howell. There is a great desire for teaching and also a great desire for fellowship. "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." When you go to where people are, you can take them where you are going." More on the lectureship in the next report. Don

2008-12-26T16:50:00.000-08:00

I received this info from a sojourner brother of mine, Br.Rod Crane, who knows first hand of this work having worked with the missionaries there.
The Allisons are missionaries in Tanzania and Kenya and have sent out this call for help.
" I just want to remind you of the great need that is still present on Mt Elgon. The Red Cross recently made a survey and found that there are 2000 widows of men killed in the conflicts there. At least 30,000 people lost everything, their houses were burned their likelihood destroyed, schools were closed and ransacked, church houses looted of their timber and metal roofing, food stores burdened or looted all that beside the loss of countless loved ones.
Within the past 2 months peace has returned to the mountain. The government stepped in and destroyed the home grown militia that had caused so much trouble. government army camps have been set up to monitor the peace. People have begun pouring back in to try to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. most of them did not get to plant food crops this year. Janet and I are planning to be back on the mountain from Feb. 10-12, 2009 to take benevolent help to the Christians there. We will need to help some of them construct new houses. For most of them we want to give seed corn and fertilizer for planting. Their planting season begins in Marc and they nee a kick start to help ensure that they will have food next year.
You still have time to make a year- end tax deductible donation to this good work....A godly church committee has been selected to oversee the screening of those in need and the distribution of the materials.
Please make your check out to Monmouth Church of Christ and indicate it for Elgon Relief Fund. Send the check to Monmouth Church of Christ 312 Hance Ave. Tinton Falls, N. J. 07724

I believe I have passed on this info correctly. For further info about this work, you may write the Monmouth Church of Christ at the above address. Don

2008-12-24T11:40:00.000-08:00

We are nearly finished with this lesson on personal evangelism. The material in this lesson is some of the material that I personally use and that we use in classes that we teach on evangelism.
#3 A third method that is very helpful in retaining new members, is giving them something to do. Now we are not talking about forcing something on them. We are talking about taking some time with them to find out what they would like to do and are qualified to do and then helping them to engage in this. If someone isn't interested or qualified to take a leading role, surely we can find something for them to do that helps them have a sense of belonging and a part of the work. We have found that when we go door to door advertising our meeting or our "Super Saturday" VBS that this is something all can be a part of. I am sure you can think of additional
opportunities. The point is it is hard to retain new members if their only opportunity to serve is "sitting on the premises."
We close this lesson with these thoughts that have helped me a great deal in evangelism:
PEOPLE DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE.

WHEN YOU GO TO WHERE PEOPLE ARE, YOU CAN HELP THEM GO WHERE YOU ARE GOING.

Our next entries will be about Rosemary's and my up coming mission in Key West. We leave on this mission on Jan.5th. This a mission with Sojourners We will also be discussing the Florida School of Preaching Lectureship.This lectureship begins about the 19th of Jan. I will be a part of this lectureship, teaching about evangelism esp. about how to bring members back who have discontinued coming to the worship. If you have questions or want more info about the school of preaching please email me at donhudsoncoc@gmail.com I'll be happy and honored to tell you about this school. By the way Mike, the Director of "Disaster Assitance" will have a booth there and I will be helping some in the booth also. Come on by and let's share some ideas with each other esp. as it pertains to evangelism... Don

2008-12-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

To continue our lesson on Retaining new Members:
#1 we want to emphasize that Christianity is not a "flash-in-the -pan religion. You are in this for the long haul- - eternity.
#2 Continual efforts in fellowship with them. Fellowship is important for all of Christians, but especially is this true for new Christians. This may be all new to them. They may have had to give up some long time friends because they are now Christians. There is a good chance that they don't really know many people in the church. Calls, visitation, helping them have a part is all important. It will take a lot of your time. Is it worth it? For me it is. You may rest assured that Satan doesn't mind giving of his time if it means another convert. Can I do less? I have found the following statement to be very useful. "People don't want to leave where they feel like they belong". Let's make the effort to help Christians realize they belong. It's worth the effort. Don

2008-12-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

Thank you for checking this blog. We are having difficulty with our server at this time. As soon as we get this corrected, we will be putting more lessons on personal evangelism on it. If you have sent emails to us, we probably have not received them We hope to have this corrected by this coming Mon. or Tue. Dec. 15th or 16th. Thank you for your patience. Don

2008-12-08T16:41:00.000-08:00

Now to sum up what we have talked about as far as developing bible studies, we remember 1. Use opportunities 2. Pray for opportunities 3. Make opportunities. If you have any questions about these or how to more effectively use them, please email me at dhudson@mcis.us I'll be honored to hear from you. Also remember these principles: PEOPLE DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE. WHEN YOU GO TO WHERE PEOPLE ARE, YOU CAN TAKE THEM WHERE YOU ARE GOING.
Now let's talk about some ways to retain new converts. I wish I could tell you that in using the following methods, all the people I have taught and baptized have been retained. Sorrowfully, this is not the case. We have, however retained a great percentage. There are three principles that we try and practice. #1. Emphasize that Christianity is not a flash-in-the-pan religion. This is not meant to be just some "new toy". Just because you are now a christian, you will still face problems in life. Didn't Jesus teach that in the story of the wise man building his house on the rock? The floods, wind, and rain came to him too. His house, however, stood because it was founded on a rock. Talk with new Christians about stength from God thru His word and the support of the brethren. These are new Christians. Don't leave them alone. Be a brother. Be a sister. That's #1. We'll talk about some other helpful ideas next time. Don

2008-12-04T12:17:00.000-08:00

We always encourage our readers to make sure they read the "Disaster Assiatance" blog written by Mike, http://mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com , now we want to add another blog of which I have only recently learned and that is the blog written by Royce Ogle http://gracedigest.com/2008/12/04/infantrymen-for-jesus/ It is a blog that brings some really good news about some of the good things going on in the body. Don

2008-12-03T11:55:00.000-08:00

Because of your support, we at "Disaster Assiatance" are going to be involved in more mission work than we originally planned. Under Mike's leadership, we had hoped to be able to minister to people affected by the late summer and early fall storms. We knew it would take a lot of support, but we hoped and prayed to be able to do this. Your support has simply been overwhelming and because of it, we are now able to plan to be involved in other disaster work as in weather related events such as spring floods and the like. We will be notifying you on Mike's blog www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com and on our blog www.donchudson.blogspot.com as well as other means as the need arises. You may want to give consideration in helping us. We can use people to help cook, serve and wash up after cooking. The days are long,usually from 7:30am until finish, mostly around supper time that night. If you can help set up and teach bible studies, the opportunity is great. We do not single in on any specific method, but I personally use the Jewel Miller Videos and a method very similar to the Safety Chain.
Again thank you for your support of "Disaster Assistance" and we will do all we can to continue to merit your trust. As you know, "Disaster Assistance"is under the over sight of the Elders of the Alachua Church of Christ. You may contact them at Alachua Church of Christ P.O. Box 237 Alachua Church of Christ Alachua, Fla. Don

2008-12-02T11:43:00.000-08:00

If you want to read of an excellent work in the mission field, may I suggest you email Br. Henry Pendegrass lewistncoc@midrivers.com Br. Henry and his wife Agnes, both of retirement age, left Mid-Tennesee just a few years ago to establish a congregation in Lewistown, Montana. They have done that. The church now has purchased some land on which to build and that should be taking place shortly. Now while that is encouraging, even more encouraging is Br. Henry's monthly report esp. as he talks about the outreach work which he doing. To think, no congregation, now a congregation that is growing. All of this in an area where there are very few congregations. Email Br. Henry for his monthly letter. No charge of course, and you will be uplifted and encouraged by this work. Don

2008-11-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

For some updated info about the work of "Disaster Assistance" please go to Mikes blog http://mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com Mike and I talk together nearly everyday. It is a real privilege to work with this organization that is so given to helping needy people, especially with one that is has so much opportunity for evangelism. Don

In our last discussion, we learned how important it is to let people know of your care and concern for them. We seem to live in a very uncaring world and when you show you care, it stands out. Now here are methods that we have found very helpful in letting visitors at church know you appreciate them.
Cards. Some people are just given to seemingly pen just the right thing. My wife, Rosemary, has been very helpful to me in our evangelism work, because the people I am trying to teach have often received a card from her thanking them for their visit at church or a congratulatory card on some accomplishment. People really appreciate her thinking about them.
Telephone Calls. It may be that you choose to express your appreciation for someones visit at church or some other happening with a telephone call. Remember to keep the call brief. It might be a good idea to invite them to call you or ask if you may call them back. Remember the call is about them. It is very easy ( especially for me) to talk about your children or grand children. There will be time for this, but make that first call about them.
Visiting someone at their home. I have found, at least for me, that this is most effective. Often people appreciate you taking you time to stop by their house. It is my practice and my suggestion to always take someone with you on your visit. On the first visit, I make it a practice not to go in even if invited. I don't want to disrupt anything. If we are invited in, and we often are, I say we'd like to come back. When is it convenient for you? Now there are those rare occasions when we determine it is almost a necessity to go inside, but this is very rare on the first visit.
There have been some interesting findings is showing care to those whom you contact. The sooner the visitor receives a card or telephone call or personal visit, like on a Mon. or Tues., the more likely they are to return the following Sun. or soon after. If at all possible, we don't wait until Fri. or Sat., just before worship the next day. It just seems to be more productive if contact is made earlier in the week.
Now from time to time we want to answer the question, do the practices and methods which we are teaching really work? I can only tell you of personal experience. A few years ago, when we began the work at Howell Church of Christ, our attendance was in the upper teens and low 20's. Last Sunday we had 67 in attendance. God really does give the increase. Don

2008-11-20T16:47:00.000-08:00

We have always found that if we could help the person, that we are trying to teach, know that we really had their best interest at heart, then we are well on the way to a successful bible study. Most often, I have found, it does little good to tell someone "I care" unless you also can show them that you care. That is one of the reasons that our approach in working in neighborhoods where I have never met the people before, is," I am here with the local Church of Christ. We are here to help people. Do you know anyone that could use a few groceries, or some diapers for the babies, or do you know someone that use a gallon of milk"? I must tell you that on average I have spent very little money having to buy for people. Most people say no I don't know anyone that needs help. Having asked to help people, it is easy and natural then for me to ask about spiritual help. Could we come in and pray with you? Could we pray right here""? If the answer is affirmative a study of God's word may very well follow. Now I don't want to tell you that everyone responds favorable to this invitation, but at least they know that they have met a caring Christian from the local church.
Our next lesson will be a discussion how to help assure visitors will come back. Don

2008-11-18T13:27:00.000-08:00

May I suggest that you read the blog about "Disaster Assistance"? You can read about the latest updates at http://mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com When Mike started this service back last summer, Rosemary and I were privileged to work with him from the beginning. At that time, there was no funding, and few people had ever heard of us, but Mike, our director, with the input of others, wanted to have an organization that could go right into the affected area. We wanted to be able to be of help as soon as humanly possible. We wanted to be able to go in whether there was electricity, water or anything else. As long as there were "hurting people" we wanted to be there to help. It was also our effort from the beginning, that this would be more than an organization that just helped physically, we wanted to be able to help spiritually. If there was a natural disaster, we wanted to show God's love, to teach God's word, to show thru the haze of hurt that we as God's children cared for them. We have been able to achieve this beyond our greatest hopes. This is being done, because you saw the potential for this work in being of service where there was destruction and also the potential in the building up process, showing the love of God. This work of "Disaster Assistance " has meant so much to the image and knowledge of the Church of Christ in areas where we have serve. People are saying such things as" thank God for you Christians and your church has really helped us". Is it any wonder why we were able to set up 505 bible studies? The people really responded to members of the Church of Christ because of our help. One last note, many of us have worked and worked hard. Cooking and serving up to 1000 meals a day is hard work, but our director, Mike has set the example of hard work. It is his routine to start preparing meals, often before 5 a.m., and then not quit until "dark thirty" that evening. All of this work is important, but I am persuaded that those of you who made this work possible financially, are just as important and just as helpful as those of us who work so diligently in this work of the Lord. God has been glorified, Christ has been magnified, and the Church has been edified by all of us working together. Don

2008-11-15T12:02:00.000-08:00

We have studied three very important principles in out-reach, personal evangelism: 1. Use opportunities 2. Pray for opportunities 3. Make opportunities .
It is certainly rewarding to me to hear from you by email that you are putting these three very important principles into practice. We always try to impress on those we are striving to teach that we are here to help. It has well been said, "Care unshown, is care unknown". We live in an uncaring world. When you show you care, it stands out. It is noticed. It make an impact of good. Here are some ways that have helped us in our work. Send cards. Now, you may be like me and not very good at it. Rosemary, my wife is, maybe your spouse is too. Often when I get to minister or teach someone, they feel like they kn0w me because they have already heard from my wife. The cards that Rosemary sends are often great reinforcing messages of the spiritual relationship we sustain in Christ Jesus. It reinforces the "belonging ship". And.... People do not want to leave where they feel like they belong". Don

2008-11-13T16:21:00.000-08:00

We are discussing three important methods of obtaining bible studies. We have seen that we can use opportunities, we can pray for opportunities, now let's explore the third principle, we can make opportunities.
If I had a loved one ill in the hospital and someone I knew asked if they could go by and visit, I would be honored that they would want to take their time to spend a few moments with my loved one. That person would be appreciated and I would come to the conclusion that they really have my interest in mind. They are interested in what I'm interested in. If after they visited my loved one, they were to ask me if they could read the bible with me and pray, do you think I would reject their further interest in me? Not likely. What about lonely people? I've found that in spite of all the hustle and bustle, there really are a lot of lonely people today. It seems it is just in us to want to communicate with some one who can "make my day a little brighter". And what about people who are lost? I want to look for ways to show these people that when the time comes that they have a spiritual interest in things eternal that I'll be there. I want them to be left with the understanding that "God is just a prayer away and a good friend is just a phone call away". By the way, that time for spiritual interest in them may very well come sooner than later. I want to be there to take opportunity to lead them to the Lord. Now here's the clincher, with all of these opportunities, we can always leave them with this thought, "Jesus cares and I care too". Remember now we always want to spend some time studying the word everyday, because the next person we meet may be our opportunity to teach them of Jesus. Don

2008-11-13T11:52:00.000-08:00

Just received this message from Mike. "Disaster Assistance" and Hilltop Rescue & Relief will be working together in Port Bolivar. Bolivar has jus been opened to the public to enter. They will have their base of operation at the Fire Station. "Disaster Assistance" will be feeding the workers and others who may need help and Hill Top will be doing the clean up and rebuilding. I think this is a good example as to what may be accomplished when we work together. For more info on this work and how you might help if you would like to, go to the Mike's blog at http://mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com Don

2008-11-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

This article was passed on to me by two of my sojourner friends, Doug & Maxine.
Why did Jesus fold the napkin, the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? The Gospel of John tells us that the napkin which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head.
Please read John 20:6&7
The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant and every Jewish boy knows this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the Master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the Master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly and then the servant would wait, just out of sight until the Master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table until the Master was finished.
Now if the Master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. for in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm done". But if the Master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table.
Because......
The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"
Just receive a wonderful teaching from Sara another good friend who is also a sojourner. Sara says, "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle".

2008-11-10T16:24:00.000-08:00

Over 800 meals served today in the pouring rain as director of "Disaster Assitance" Mike, the "Big Fellow" with help from sojourners and other christians cared for people today in Galveston. That's dedication. This work of "Disaster Assistance" has caught the attention of Christians from seemingly all over the country as we have had people constantly calling and asking how can we help? And help you have. The tremendous expense of feeding over 500 meals a day, 7 days a week is enormous and it could not be done without your sacrificial help. We do hope to have some totals before long as to the number of people fed, the number of bible studies carried out and some of the results of these studies which may be on going at this time. Again thank you so much for your help. We will continue to try and live up to the trust you have placed in us. Don

2008-11-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

There are three important principles that I use in our endeavors to set up bible studies. The first we have discussed - use opportunities. New people in the community, sick folk in the hospital or nursing home are two examples of opportunities that are present for most of us at any time.
The second method that I personally use, is praying for opportunities. Often we sing a song, "Lord lead me to some soul today", why not pray a prayer similar to it. I believe the Lord answers prayers and I certainly believes he answers this one for me. You see God wants people to go to heaven, that's why He sent Jesus. Jesus prayed in Mt.6:10 Thy will be done. Peter records in IIPet.3:9, the Lord is not willing that any should perish. Now it just seems to me that if God wants people saved, and He most assuredly does, that if God finds a person who wants to reach out to others with the saving message of Jesus Christ, that He will bless them greatly in this effort. Just makes sense to me. Don

2008-11-06T17:39:00.000-08:00

Just talked with Mike, "Big Fellow" the director of "Disaster Assistance". He informed me that yesterday and today combined, they served over 1900 meals. Mike is receiving some much needed help in serving from Christians who are driving well over an hour to get there to help. This effort in Galveston is really reinforcing the principle of caring Christians. We know that this effort can bring much good for the cause of Christ in this area.
For more info on other areas of interest from the hurricanes' damage, you can read Carol Ogle's article on Mike's blog. www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com
Another lesson on evangelism is planned for tomorrow as well as information on our next mission trip planned for early January. Don

2008-11-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

A good way to get started in setting up bible studies is the use the opportunities that are presently available. These are often over looked in an effort to look else where. The best opportunity the you may have at present could very well be right where you live. Paul says in Gal.6:10 as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially those who are the house hold of faith. Solomon says in Ecc. 11:1, cast you bread upon the water.... New people that have moved into your area are a great place to start. Think about it, they are new there, probably don't have any friends, don't know anybody, a friendly face and visit could be very welcomed. Show you care. Another way to secure bible studies, is by visiting sick people in the hospitals and nursing homes. Those you are visiting may be to ill to study, but they may very well have relatives and often are deeply appreciative of your concern for their sick folks. I have found in using these opportunities that they, later have lead to bible studies. Use opportunities, "Use them of Lose Them" Don

2008-11-03T16:15:00.000-08:00

Just talked to Mike, the Director of "Disaster Assistance". They served a record number of meals today. 1005 meals were served today and as of today, since beginning with the Goodwood Church of Christ in Baton Rouge, La. "Disaster Assistance" has serve 28,380 meals. You can imagine the enormity of the cost to be able to help like this. It could only be done by your sacrificial support. During this great effort, God has been glorified, Christ has been magnified, and the Church with its' participation has been edified. You can find out more about this effort on Mike's blog. mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com Don

2008-11-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

Two of the important principles that guide us in evangelism are as follows: "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Another principle that guides us is, "When you go to where people are, you can take them where you are going." Let's discuss each of them and see how by putting them into practice we can be more effective in leading people to Christ.
In every way, we encourage people to study the bible. This is especially important to those engaged in outreach. You want to know the material that you want to present. You want to be able to go to the bible for answers. Just today, someone asked me why we did not have musical instruments in "our church"? By going to the bible and reading to them, I let the authority of God do the talking. His word is far more influential than I am. Very probably most of us could give a biblical answer, but it's getting the chance to explain what the bible says in their "comfort zone" so that they will be receptive to the answer. That's where "knowing how much you care" comes in. The people with whom I studied today, ( we were blessed with 2 bible readings & studies today) have already been shown that we at the Howell church care about them and their concerns, both physically and spiritually. We are finding that showing careing concern is a definite help in developing a study.
The second principle that is a great help in obtaining a bible study is " When you go to where people are, you can take them to where you are going" Jesus was the great example of both of these principles. Think how many times He fed people, think how many times, He healed people, Think of the times He told them of God's providence. He went to where people were. Now by going to where people are, we don't mean their address, we mean being able to help them with those things that are of great personal concern. It may be finances, it may be family, it may health, it may be a whole host of things. As you have shown care for people, often they are apt to share with you those things that are crowding out our ability to discuss spiritual things with them. I have found that a great place to start showing God's care for them is in Matthew chapter six. Remember, and this is important, go the individual with an attitude of leading and helping, not arguing, brow beating and driving. We have found it is much easier to lead someone to Christ rather than to try and drive them. In fact, I don't remember anyone I have successfully driven there. Without a doubt, argumentation, debate, etc. has it's place, but when you are privileged to talk with someone about their soul, we might rember the words of James as recorded in chapter 3,v.17, "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gently, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits,... "We can do it." Don

2008-11-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

The next mission with which Rosemary and I are involved is a sojourn with the Key West Church of Christ. This will be the third mission in which we have served with this church. During the past two, we have taught a number of people the gospel and have baptized 10 or 12. The Key West church now has a person located in the area who plans to be there until for sometime. His name is Connell Taylor. He and his wife Ann have a great interest in the work there. Connell is working diligently trying to help locate a preacher who will come there and live. While I have yet to meet Connell, I have talked with him several times by telephone and he has deep abiding interest in reaching out to others with the teaching of our Lord and His gospel. Members of the church working with him are planning a lot of out reach activity over the next couple of months including work with the sojourners, we will probably conduct a "Super Saturday" VBS. This will help bring a lot of young people in contact with the church. After that they are planning a campaign in an effort to reach other members of the community. There are also several other couples who are planning to spend some time there helping the church. This is all certainly great news. With the church working with those of us who are trying to help, and the help of the Lord, this church can and will grow both spiritually and numerically. It has been my experience that the people in Key West are receptive to bible study, but they, like all places, need follow up, visitation and bible study. I believe the church is very fortunate to have people like Connell and Ann willing to leave the comforts of their home and spend a long period of time helping this church grow. Rosemary and I look forward to joining with a lot of interested christians in the Key West mission in early Jan. It's about 1100 miles south of here so we are planning 3 days to make the trip. Don

2008-10-31T14:23:00.000-07:00

Work feeding and careing for people in Galveston is progressing well. There were 884 meals served today. As you can imagine the cost of preparing these meals everyday is most expensive, but "Disaster Assistance"is able to provide this service because of so many christians like you sacrifically helping in this great work. Christians from Bayou La Batre, Al. came over to help. They are Daphne, Billy, Tina, Judy, and Pam. Christians from El Campo came over to help also. They are Larry, Jane, and Judy. Of course Mike and DD work everyday preparing and serving these meals. The Church of Christ is greatly appreciated in the area for showing their caring concern. Don

2008-10-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Well how do I succeed as one who is reaching out to others with the message of Jesus? How do I get bible studies? How do I get contacts? These are excellent questions and we will start coming up with some answers in this session and for the next several sessions. Some of the answers and methods may not seem logical for the moment, but many who are involved in personal out-reach will tell you they are of great help.
In anything in life, if we are going to succeed, we have to prepare to succeed. Discipline is vital for success in any field of endeavor. Just so in our own personal outreach. One of the first things we need in outreach, is a realization of who we are. We are children of God Gal.3:26&27. We are strengthened by God's Spirit in our inner man. Eph.3:16. As a child of God with His influence in me, I can grow as I pray to the Great I Am. As a child of God, with His influence in me, I can grow as I read His Word. Someone has said, "when we pray we are talking to God, when we read the bible, that is God talking to me." Makes sense to me. So to succeed in our personal out reach, we need to prepare to succeed. Talk to God about it. Ask His advice, He wants people saved, thats why He sent Jesus. Isn't it reasonable that when God finds a person who wants to help save souls, that God would bless them mightily in this endeavor. I think so. I know of nothing more important in outreach than working to be prepared. Remember, it is work.
Another important principle in personal work, community evangelism, out reach, church growth, along with preparation, is "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care". I have always found it is easier to lead a person to the truth than to try and drive them to the truth. Do you like to be driven? Nobody else does either. We want to approach people with the honest desire of helping. There are those whose approach is to show people where all they are wrong and why. Do you accept much advice from people who approach you like this? I don't either. When, however, I meet someone, whom I have determined has my interest and well-being at heart, I'm prone to listen to that person. Probably, you are too. So the first thing I want to do after I have spent time preparing myself, is to let my prospective student know I care about them. If this is a long standing friend, they may very well know it. But it doesn't hurt to say, "You know ( name) I've known you for so long a time and you know that we are interested in each other, may I talk with you about something that is very important to both of us? Our souls, Jesus, God? You are showing genuine concern for this individual. You are showing you want to take your time and efffort to be of service to them. Your friend may very well say yes, or they may say no. If they say no, leave the conversation with this thought, if you ever want to talk about spiritual things, as your friend, I am available. When we are on a mission, inviting people to church and trying set up bible studies, my approach is this, I knock on the door having a bible tract in hand. I tell them I am with the local Church of Christ and we want to help people physically and spiritually. Do you know anyone who could use some help? It is on occasion that the person says yes I do. I want to talk with someone. I have a bible study. If I can, I study right then or I make an appointment convenient to them. If they say yes, "we need some help with groceries or something else, I do what I can. I, personally am limited to some money for some bread, eggs and milk or some diapers, so I go right then and get them and on my return I ask right then if I can pray with them. After that I immediately ask if we could study the bible together? It has been rare ( I can't remember one time) that as I help someone in this fashion that I have been turned down for a bible study. If they do turn me down, there's a good chance they will say something good about the Lord and the Church. If they say, I don't want to talk about it now or just plain no, I ask, : may I leave this tract with you? Never underestimate the power of a good tract. Remember, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Don

2008-10-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

Just talked with the Director of "Disaster Assistance", Mike, who reports that there were 909 meals served today. There is still a great need for this service in the Galveston area. Several Christians from the Lake Jackson Church as well as some Sojourners were there to help today. It was still a very full day. This work, including the opportunity to reach people with the message of Jesus, is made by not only your prayers, but also your sacrificial financial support. You can imagine the cost of serving 7,8,900 meals a day, seven days a week for this period of time. This work could not be do without you. God is being glorified, Christ is being magnified and His Church is being greatly appreciated and recognized for the caring concern Christians are showing. You are making a great work possible. We are doing our best to live up to the confidence and trust you have placed in us. Don

2008-10-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

The last attitude that is experienced in out-reach is one that can be especially appreciated by all of us involved community evangelism. This is the attitude of , "we can do it.'' This attitude grows from a realization of God's power and influence working the lives of His children. It is written in Eph.:3:16 ...That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. v.18 And to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. " It is also written in Phil. 2:13 "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. "
Now these are powerful passages. God working mightily in the lives of His children. It's not just wishful thinking. God wants to work in His children, hencethe motivation, "we can do it."
There may some who right about now who are saying "this sounds good, but does it really work?" All I can tell you is of my personal experience. Some nearly 15 yrs ago, we began the work at Cornersville, Tn. In our nine years there, we baptized well over 100 people and the church more than doubled in size. I "retired" in 2003 and a year or so later began part time work with the Howell Church of Christ in Lincoln Co. Tenn. Our attendance at that time was in the upper teens to lower twenties. This morning Oct.26, 2008, we had 70 in attendance and had two families place membership. These are not necessarily spectacular results, they developed by striving to consistantly apply principles of church growth as found in the New Testament. With God's help, "we can do it". Don

2008-10-25T17:56:00.000-07:00

Another attitude that can greatly diminish our effectiveness in out-reach, goes something like this, "People are not interested in the bible, church or religion anymore." May I tell you this, as a christian, I have found people are very interested in spiritual relationship with God. But don't just take only my experience, just look at the TV. Turn on any religious program. What do you see? Generally a building filled with people listening to a preacher, isn't that right? Now ask yourself this question, how many of those folks that you saw in the church house on TV got up in the morning and said, "I believe I'll go down to the church and get some false doctrine". I dare say none of them did. They thought they were going to hear a message from God's word. The point is today there are people who are not interested in spiritual things. There were those even in Jesus' day. Today, however, there are thousands, no doubt millions who are looking for relationship with God, and we have the "treasure in earthen vessels". You see the devil wants us to believe that people are not desirous of being right with God, but what did Jesus say? He said, "say not you there are three months and then comes the harvest? Behold I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look unto the fields for they are white already to harvest." Jesus teaches us to see the possibilities. The formula is simple. See the possibilities (goal), determine the price(needed effort), go to work.
Our next lesson will be, we can do it. We will look at how God helps us. Don

2008-10-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

Another attitude that sometimes we hear expressed concerning church growth is, "they got to be doing something wrong to be growing that fast." This attitude will certainly not contribute to the growth of the congregation from where that remark is made. It has been my experience that when a congregation makes a real concerted effort for out reach, people respond, bible studies take place, people become christians and the church grows numerically. This should come as no surprise, didn't Jesus teach us to see the possibilities when he said, "look unto the fields they are white unto harvest". Now we never want to practice anything unscriptural nor do we want to encourage anything unscriptural, but a growth attitude might be, I want to see what they are doing that leads to their numerical growth. When I find out, if there is anything unscriptural, I don't want to do it, but if there is something a growing church is doing that is scriptural I want to see if I too can put it into practice. Now out reach takes work, it takes study, it takes prayer. It is my opinion that only seeing the faults of others is often an excuse for doing little. That's my opinion anyway. On the next lesson we are goingto discusss some church growth principles and attitudes. Don

2008-10-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

Just talked to Mike at "Disaster Assisatance" this evening. They served 812 meals today. Mike got up at 1:30 in the morning to get the cookers going, as it takes several cooking to feed that many people.
It was our privelge to speak at the West Fayetteville Church of Christ last night and to be able to tell them some of the results accomplished by the workers of "Disaster Assistance". Well over 12,000 meals served and over 500 bible studies set up. As a supporter of "DA" we wanted to personally bring them up to date. The elders expressed appreciation in learning first hand the results of their efforts.
This is the first year of operation for "DA" and those of us associated with it are appreciative and really over whelmed by the support so many of you and so many congregations have given us. With your continues support we will continue to reach out to the hurting and those that do not know Jesus thru this ave. Make sure you read Mike's blog for nearly daily updates. www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com Don

2008-10-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

Let's discuss some attitudes toward outreach, community evangelism, personal work etc. that can lead to the growth of the church, both spiritually and physically.
This first attitude would be hard for me to believe if it had not been said directly to me. Many years ago, I lived near a congregation of the church, I did not attend there, but I knew many people there and of course wanted to be of any help I could be. I asked one of the leaders of that congregation if when their meeting came around if I could join them in handing out flyers or tracts up and down the road and invited people to the meeting? He said, "We don't do that." Now a church certainly doesn't have to pass out flyers up and down the road to let people know of a meeting. There are many other good ways. It was the rest of the sentence that dismayed me. He added, "they know we are here". We attended the meeting and frankly were impressed with the number of members they had at that time. Today however, it is a different story. It probably isn't surprizing to you that church is only a "shell" of what it used to be. Sadly this attitude, "They know we're here " is still around. Ask yourself would you want to attend a church with the attitude, "They know we're here"? You can only imagine how a person who visits a church like that for the first time would feel. I doubt they would be back. It is true the message of Jesus is" You all come", but it is also His message, "YOU All GO!!!" "I write unto you of all that Jesus began to do and teach." Don

2008-10-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

Let's discuss some methods which we use in getting a bible study. We especially use these method in "Disaster Assistance". We try to adapt our methods to the situation we face. Remember when we are working with "Disaster Assistance", under the eldership ot the Alachua Church of Christ in Alachua, Fla. (near Gainesville) , it is not difficult to go to where people are. It is obvious. Distress, in need and often in sorry. A good meal and supplies for the house are greatly appreciated.
When we go in to the community with food and supplies, we have pad and pen ready. We ask, " my I write you name so that we may check back with you to see if you can use further assistance"? If they give their name and almost always they do we then ask, may I have your telephone number please"? We assure them that someone from the church will be calling them in the next few days checking on them and ask them could we come by and visit, could we pray with you, could we read the bible with you, could we study the bible with you? Again the answer is almost always yes. In fact it is not unusual, if we miss someone for them to come to me and say, "can I sign up for bible study"? If we have the opportunity we, ourselves set up the bible study with them. It is good, however, when members of the local church go to these studies as that gives people at opportunity to meet members who obviously care about them and that they will see when they attend the local church. It is a good idea when you visit with people to let them know you will be looking for them when they get to church and you want them to sit with you. We have found that people want to belong to something they appreciate and admire. We have also found the people do not want to leave where they feel like they belong.
If you would like to find out more about "Disaster Assistance", go to Mike's web site www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com Don

2008-10-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

Lesson #1 Community Evangelism

When it comes to teaching people about the Jesus of the bible, there are many names given to this process. Personal work, evangelism, bible study etc. I particularly like the idea of "community evangelism". We live in a community and we are seeking, for the most part, to encourage our friends, family and neighbors to involve themselves in a study of the bible.
In community evangelism, there is something for everyone to do. You may be saying, "I just can't go up and knock on someones' door and say, " would you like to study the bible? " There other important things that maybe you can do. You see for someone to obtain a study usually someone has to "open the door" for them. You may know someone who has expressed an interest in spiritual things and you may introduce a teacher to them. In the years we spent with the Cornersville congregation, we baptized a great number of people and the church grew greatly. When I moved there, I only knew one family. Members of the church introduced me to people and from there bible studies took place and several people were baptized into Christ. Maybe you know someone that you would like to know about Jesus. You can introduce them to the teacher. Kindness is a re inforcer of teaching. As someone is learning the word of God you can express to them the of the joy, care and concern that they can receive as a member of the church. There are many things you and I can do to make the introduction of bible study very interesting to new people. "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Believe me great doors of opportunity for teaching have been opened for me to teach, because some christian first showed they care about the person that I was going to teach. Remember Jesus cared and He showed it. "Care unshown is care unknown."
Community evangelism is a real opportunity for growth, both spiritually and numerically. The apostle Peter's last words recorded are "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." II Pet.3:18 When you pray about someone that you want to reach, it's an opportunity for growth. When you study to prepare yourself to reach someone, it's an opportunity for growth. When someone obeys the gospel after being taught from the bible it's not only an opportunityfor spiritual growth, but also numerical growth.
Many christians have found that community evangelism is an excellent way to help reverse the trend of fewer christians in a congregation. Numbers going down? Remember how we used to involve ourselves in bible study with our friends? You, as I, may remember when we use to go to people's houses with our various teaching tools. People responded then and they respond now. The devil wants us to believe in "impossibly thinking" People aren't interested in the bible anymore, people aren't interested in church anymore". Jesus teaches us of "possibility thinking" He says look unto the fields they are white already unto harvest" Jn.4:35 We can see the possibilities, make a determination to pay the price and get moving. The truth is that people are very interested in church and the bible now. Just look at religious programming on TV. The church house is full. Do you really believe that someone got one morning and said "I believe I will go down to the church house and get some "false doctrine"? Of course not. People are seeking relationship with God and we have the treasure in earthen vessels. We can do it. Jesus said we could. I don't believe that God has given me a task and hasn't given me the where with all to do it, do you? Let's go.

2008-10-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

While Rosemary and I had a great mission, serving in the areas damaged by the recent hurricanes, it was after over a month, good to get home. It was especially good to be able to worship with my beloved Howell Church of Christ. Working with "Disaster Assistance" under the leadership of Mike, the "big fellow" Baumgartner, we accomplished a great deal. Well over 11,000 meals were served and over 500 bible studies were set up while we were working in the Gulf Coast Region incl. Baton Rouge, Lake Jackson, Tx. Surfside, and Galveston. It is not routine to be able to set up that many bible studies in a single mission and it was impressed on me of the need to teach others a method of conducting a study so as these opportunities arise we will be able to accomplish our mission of making known the manifold wisdom of God. Our efforts in the foreseeable future on this blog will be to teach an easy method of engaging and teaching bible studies that can lead one to the Lord. We plan to begin this method of teaching tomorrow. As you can imagine, being gone for so long, we have a lot of catching up to do, but we will do our best to begin this class tomorrow. Your questions and suggestions are certainly welcomed esp. as it may improve these lessons. Our effort will be to help each other in leading people to the Lord and I need all the help I can get.
One more word about "Disaster Assistance". You can follow this effort at www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com This goal of this mission is to help people both physically and spiritually. The two efforts work very well together. Meals are set up under the leadership of Mike and people like me meeting the people there for physical help have opportunity to help them spiritually especially as we set up a study of God's Word with them.
I hope you will tell others of the blog so that we can have as many as possible learning together some ways to gain bible studies and to teach them effectually. Please remember Mike in your prayers. He is still in the Galveston area serving meals to the needy. About 600 were served yesterday-Saturday. "Disaster Assistance" is a great mission that so many of you are supporting. We will continue to strive to live up to your trust. I especially appreciate all of you who make Rosemary and my participation in the effort possible I especially appreciate my wonderful brethren at the Howell Church'encouragement and "gentle insistance" in this great mission work. Don

2008-05-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

Just read Mike's blog and he is paying close attention to the fires in Fla. He also has an update on the upcoming hurricane report. You can go to his Disaster Assistance blog and message at http://www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com/

At the Howell Church we are working on our upcoming "Super Saturday" that is to take place Sat. July 26th. We are planning a three hour VBS followed by a cook out, followed by a hay ride. In preparation for this, we are encouraging our young people to make sure they invite their friends. We are also planning a door to door, house to house campaign. We plan to visit all of the houses in the community with a personal printed invitation to attend. We plan to put large posters up in many of the places of business. The names address and telephone numbers of all who attend will be taken so that we can follow up encouraging them to attend the church in Howell. We hope to set up several bible studies from this effort. We have found that these "Super Saturday" VBS's are an excellent way to engage the surrounding community. We are working now to put together a seminar that we can present on our mission work with other churches so that they too, if they desire, can make use of this "Super Saturday" method in Church Growth.

The material from the Sycamore Bible Bowl should be arriving anytime now. At Howell, we are looking forward to fielding a competitive team for the Bible Bowl that is in Sept.

It has been said, When you show an interest in people, they show and interest in you. Could it be, that as the church shows and interest in the community, the community will show an interest in the church? "I think so".

Good Night, Don

2008-05-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

Rosemary and I had a good mission trip helping the Hemly Rd. Church in Bayou La Batre. We were given the job of going and visiting new members of the church. This we did and were successful in our visits and study with them. This is a very young church and is striving to help people in that area know the gospel. They have done a lot of work on their building and I was privileged to preach the first gospel sermon in their auditorium. This church works hard to influence the youth in the area.

Some other good news: The Plain View church in Merianville, Al. has an interest in helping the Church in Key West. I believe with the proper help they could have a great work in Key West. Of all the places, that I have door knocked, setting up bible studies, I have never had a more favorable reception than at Key West.

Our work on the fellowship hall is nearing completion at the Howell Chruch. We are looking forward in making good use in outreach for the Lord with the completion of this building.

Camp Joy will be hosting the Fri. night singing Aug. 1st at 7:00pm. If at all possible, I plan to go to this singing.. For more info about Camp Joy, you can write them at Camp Joy P.O.Box 8192 Lynchburg, Tn. 37352

Speaking of camps and the great work they do, I spoke to Mike at the Fla. Bible Camp in High Sprigs Fla. and he tells me that the camp is really booked for this summer. He is doing a great work at this camp. You can go to Mike's blog at www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com

If you are retired -or not retired- and are looking for a great way to serve the Lord, may I suggest you look at the Sojourners. You can go to the web site www.sojourning.org and find out a lot about opportunities for service in this great organization. You will meet some of the finest christians you will ever want to meet and you will have an opportunity to work and grow side by side with them.

Neal Holt and several sojourners will be working on the New Hebrew Chruch building starting June 1st. This is near Lewisburg, Tn. Even though I have to go to Fla. for about a week in June to see my Dad, Rosemary and I hope to spend some time on this sojourn.

Thanks for your email and updates about what all good is going on. Don

2008-05-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

What abeautiful time to be in middle Tenn. The trees have leafed out, flowers are blooming and the birds are singing. Living out in the country as I do, with the windows open, I hear the whip po will at night and awaken to the Bob White's call in the morning. The rest of the day the finches by the score line up at the bird feeder. I hope it is pretty and nice where you are too.

Received an e mail from Henry Pendergrass from Lewistown, Montana. They are in the process of getting their plans approved for their new building. You can email Henry at lewistncoc@midivers.com I know he would be glad to hear from you. He and Agnes are doing a great work there.

If you received or can get a copy of "Christian Woman" please read the article about mission work by Maxine Shepherd. It is an informative article. Maxine and Doug are Sojourners, two of the finest Christians I have ever known, who do an unbelievable amount of mission work in this country. Rosemary and I have served on many sojourns with them and count them as some of our dearest friends.

Do want to remind you of Mike's blog involving his work at the Fla. Bible Camp and his Disaster Assistance Work. Mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com

We are, as I write in the process of loading the rig for our trip to Bayou La Batre (BLB) for a weeks work with the Hemly Rd. Church of Christ. I was talking to Daphne, an unbelievable hard worker for the Church, today, they have 70 names for us to visit while we are there. Dave Neal, from the Somerset Church in Somerset, Ohio and two others are going to join us there in this effort. We are not only planning visitations and bible studies, but also a "Super Saturday" Flyers will be put our all over town as well as going house to house with them inviting people to the "Super Saturday". Their "Super Saturday" will consist of a devotional, a cook out and a community sing. ( With plenty of invitations to the guests to come and worship the next day and hopefully set up some bible studies.) They are always so appreciative of our mission efforts there, but truthfully, we are the one that come away blessed.

We went and visited the new Church Camp, "Camp Joy" Fri. afternoon. We are looking forward to tomorrow night at the Howell Church We have some of the brethren from the camp ivitied to tell us about it. This camp borders Lincoln and Moore Co. in mid. Tenn.

We will be away from the blog for a few days and I may not even be able to get on line to answer your email for a few days. As soon as we get back, we will resume. Thank you again for all of you who are supporting our mission efforts. We will be making a report as soon as we get back home. Don

2008-04-28T17:45:00.000-07:00

Those of us who are involved in evangelism, know there are many opportunites to teach people the gospel. An opportunity that we might not think of is our bible camps. I learned just yesterday that a bible camp is being developed, probable not over 5 miles as the crow flies from where I live. It is called Camp Joy. Some brethren visited us at Howell last evening and told us about it. It sounded so interesting that we have invited them back next Sunday evening to conduct the evening service and better inform us about the opportunities in helping reach people thru the use of "Camp Joy". For more information about this good work, you can go to their web site at www.campjoyinc.com. Some of us are planning to ride out this Fri afternoon and see the camp. This could really be a great opportunity to help with our young people as well as other good works. On another note, I was talking with Russ Blackwell and received an email about an upcoming campaign with the Creekwood Church of Christ in Mobile, Al. Russ is an excellent teacher and teaches the "Safety Chain" method. If you and the congregation would like to learn this method you can contact Russ at judrus@gmail.com The campaign is going to be June 22-27 with preaching each evening. Larry Kilpatrick, who is a very good speaker will be preaching each evening. I really appreciate the Creekwood Church. We stayed at the church for the better part of 2 mos. helping in the aftermath of Katrina. David Sargent i s the minister there. I was at a church recently and when they sang the song, "Send the Light" they sang instead "Take the Light". I thought that was rather meaningful. I personally use the "Safety Chain Method" in most of my studies, it is easy to learn and it is easy for the student to read what the bible says about salvation in Christ. Good Night Don

2008-04-25T08:02:00.000-07:00

Rosemary and I are looking forward, with great anticipation, to our next mission trip. We leave Mon. May 5th to go and work with the Hemly Rd. Church of Christ in Bayou La Batre, Al. Now it is always an honor and privilege to be asked to work and help churches, whether with the Sojourners or just an independent effort as this one will be, but we especially love going to Bayou La Batre to help the church there. The history of this church is nothing short of fascinating. It started as a result of many of us working the the BLB area after hurricane Katrina. This congregation has faced a lot of challenges, yet they have remained faithful in bringing the message of Jesus to the community of BLB. Many people have been baptized into Christ as a result of their efforts. They help with food, and other necessities, many people in the community. They make a great effort in working with young people, it is not unusual in some services for them to have more "young people"than they do adults. The continue to work on the building which is becoming an excellent facility from which the church can work. Many of you, thru your prayers and financial support have helped make this work what it is becoming today. Much of our work this time will be in working with potential members and studying and encouraging many of the new members. One principle that we employ in reaching people for the Lord is "When you go to where people are, you can take them where you are going". By this I mean when we visit someone we listen and try to determine what is important to them. ie. Jesus at the well, "water" . We then try and show them how a close walk with the Lord can help them in life. We do not try and attack their precepts, but rather try and "lead them in paths of righteousness for His name sake". Thank you for your help and prayers in our mission work. By the way. may I refer you to what I believe is an excellent newsletter on the internet. It is David Sargent's newsletter from the Creekwood Church of Christ in Mobile Ala. www.creekwoodcc.or There are alot of good things going on in the Church of Christ. Don

2008-04-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

It is always good and a real joy when we can report good news in out reach. We were talking a couple of days ago with a member of the Cape Coral Church where we were involved in a sojourn this past Feb. The church asked us to come up with an idea as to how they could get the community involved with the church. The have gospel meetings and for the most part members of the church attend but few members of the community. We developed an idea for a "Super Saturday" which included a three hour vacation bible school and a community cook out. The VBS was well attended and then another large group of people showed up for the cook out. The results were nothing short of amazing. The next morning- - Sunday- - the church had over a 25 percent increase in attendance over the previous Sunday. Many people came who had never attended the church before. Something else that is also great is that they now have at least 5 on going bible studies -- just from that outreach effort. A "Super Saturday " can be done in many different ways, but I believe they can be an excellent way to get community involvement. We leave in three weeks to work with the Hemly Rd. Church in Bayou La Batre in a mission effort. We are going to have a "Super Saturday" there. We will go thru the community with flyers and pass them out to every house making as many personal contacts as possible, inviting them to the Community Sing and cook out for the next Sat. We will also be endeavoring to set up bible studys as we make our rounds in the community. I might say at the Howell Church, we are planning to have a "Super Saturday" with a VBS, cook out and hay ride. We believe this will really involve a lot of people with the church. We are also having a gospel meeting. Again we will go into the community, house to house with flyers inviting people not only to the "Super Saturday", but also to the gospel meeting. If you have ideas about outreach that can help, please send them to me and I will share them with others. Good Night Don

2008-04-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

Have you ever considered the ministry? May I suggest in your considerations of schools the Fla. School of Preaching in Lakeland, Fla. This past March I was privileged to preach in a meeting at the South Fla. Av. Congregation in Lakeland. This Church houses the school of preaching. I had an opportunity to set in on a couple of classes, hear a couple of professors and quite frankly was impressed with their sincerity, depth of study, and desire to tell the story of salvation in Jesus Christ. I was also most impressed with the attitude of the faculty. You can find out more on the web site www.fsop.net Received an email from "Big Mike" from Disaster Assistance. He has hurricane info on his blog site. http://www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com Work continues to progress at the Howell Church of Christ on our fellowship building. Much of the electric wires have been pulled, we await the insulation, then the sheet rock and painting. In the mean time bricking is taking place so it won't be long before we can use it. We hope to put it to good use in outreach. The church at Howell is really growing. We are working hard to keep up with visitations and we constantly make every effort to help all who want to have an active and supportive part in the church's growth. It has been said, "People do not want to leave where they feel like they belong." Looking forward to our next mission trip- - Bayou La Batre, Al, first full week in May. This church is really active in outreach and esp. works hard with the young people in the community. We are looking forward to opportunities for bible studies and visitation and study with new members. Good Night Don

2008-04-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

As many of you know Henry and Agnes Pendegrass are in Lewistown, Montana working with a new congregation. Henry tells us that they have been averaging16 in attendance for worship, but on the 23rd of March, they had 26 in attendance. That is near the capacity of their present meeting place. The church has bought land and is in the process of building a meeting place. This is a young work and there are not many congregations of the church of Christ out there, but Henry and Agnes are very dedicated Christians and the church is growing there. The Montana State Lectureship is going to be in Belgrade Mt. this year. On another note, I am aware of another good work that needs a located preacher. The Key West Church of Christ. They have a very nice building, a nice fellowship hall and a beautiful preacher's house on a canal lot in Key West. I have found that Key West is a great place to engage people in bible study. In fact we were only able to be there a week back in Jan. and yet in that weeks time were able to baptize 5 people into Christ. Follow up is very important. We try to call all new converts, with whom we have had a part in teaching, at least once a month to be an encouragement to them. If you are interested in this work or might know someone who is, you can contact them at cbrewster@bellsouth.net Work on our fellowship hall continues, we have the roof on and the windows should be in this coming week. Everyone in the community is interested in the growth of the Howell church and several people that are not even members have stopped by to help on the building. Good Night Don

2008-03-31T16:59:00.000-07:00

We need to make a correction on a blogsite. Mike's Disaster Assistance blog is as follows www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com This is a very informative blog as to some of the good things going on. More tomorrow Don

2008-03-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

Work on the fellowship building continues at the Howell Church. We thought we would get the shingles on the roof today, but we got rained out. The church is really growing and it is good to see the building filling up. We are really fortunate to have so many hard working members. We are planning a VBS for this summer as well as preparing a bible bowl team to participate at Sycamore in the early fall. We would like to recommend a web site, www.hemleyroadchurch.org This is the new congregation that was started after Katrina devastated the area. Many of you have been involved in helping this congregation and what a joy it is to see it grow. We also received an update from Mike on the Fla. Bible Camp. It is very interesting reading and you can read about it as well as other good thing going on at Mike's blog www.mikesmissionupdates.com We have had a good week at the Howell Church. We were able to visit with several families and have invited many people to join us in services tomorrow. Talked with Dave Neal in Somerset, Ohio and Daphne today at BLB. Dave and I are looking forward to working with the Hemley Rd Church in early May. Good Night Don

2008-03-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

We had good experience in outreach with the Cape Coral Church of Christ in Cape Coral, Fla earlier this month. Many of us Sojourners have been going there helping the church for a number of years. This year they ask for us to come up with a way to really enter act with the community, a way to get the community to come and see what the church was "all about". We had had several meetings there before and many Christians from other congregations came, but few people from the community. We came up with a one day "Super Saturday Vacation Bible School" and a cook out that evening. The week before "Super Saturday" we went house to house with flyers that told about the "Super Saturday" VBS and the cook out that evening. The reception to our invitation was very good and we were hoping that a few people would show up on "Super Saturday", but we didn't know. What a success.... When VBS started at 9:00 Sat. morn. we had almost 50 people present. Surprisinglymore adults than children, and that night more and different people came to the cook out. The next morning, Sunday, the church had over a 25 percent increase in attendance as compared to the previous Sunday. Several from the "Super Saturday"came back Sun. to hear the gospel preached. In our bible studys while there we baptized two people into Christ Later, after we sojourners left, one of the members called me to tell me that they had set up several bible studies. What a success.... Who said people are not interested in church anymore? This example was so powerful to us at Howell, that we are planning a "Super Saturday"this late summer before school starts. We believe this is one way to get the community involved in learning about our Lord and finding out about His Church. Should you become interested in a "Super Saturday" VBS approach contact me and I will be glad to help. I might add that early in May, several of us are going to the Hemly Rd. Church of Christ in Bayou La Batre, Al. to help them put on a "Super Saturday" with bible teaching and a cookout followed by a singing. Dave Neal is bring a crew down from Somerset, Ohio and we are going to be working evangelizing the community the week before the "Super Saturday" Don

2008-03-22T17:31:00.000-07:00

It is always good to get home. (for a while) The Howell Church where I preach is really growing. Our new fellowship building is not far off from completion. A lot of work has been done by the members. We all see how this building can be used to involve the community and help set up more bible studies and lead more people to the Lord. I am fortunate to preach at this little country church. They are very supportive of Rosemary and me in our mission work. The church really has a family atmosphere and that is said also by visitors as well as the members. Our nest schedule mission effort is with the Bayou La Batre Church of Christ beginning May 5 th. You may have read about this church in the Christian Chronicle. This is a very evangelistic church and they are doing a lot of work with the young people in BLB. The church building is now located on Hemly Rd. hence the name Hemly Road Church of Christ. We have done many bible studies there. Last year we were there for a week of bible studies with Russ Blackwell and co. We had many bible studies and baptized several people. We found people there very receptive to the gospel. I believe Dave Neal, an elder from the Somerset, Ohio Church of Christ is going to be there the week we are there. It is always a joy to work with Dave and his co. He is very dedicated to evangelism. Remember, the fields really are white unto harvest. Good Night Don

2008-03-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

We just received from Brian Kenyon of the Florida School of Preaching, an invitation to be on next year's lectureship. They want us to teach on how to reach the lost thru personal evangelism. How to approach and set up bible studies and the "how to" as is involved in this. We are looking forward to this opportunity. Brethren the devil wants us to believe that people are not interested in God, Jesus, the Church or the Word anymore. I have found that nothing could be further from the truth. Jn.4:35, Our Lord said look unto the fields they are white already unto harvest. Our is still to seek those who are interested and teach them the word. Gal.6:9 Ours is to not be weary in well doing in due season we shall reap. We, as time and opportunity allows present about a 4 hr. seminar on how to develop prospects for teaching and also a method of teaching very similar to the "chain link" method that have proven highly successful in leading sincere students to put on Christ in baptism. Among other places we will be teaching this method is at the Oct. workshop for the Sojourners at Camp B in Marshall, Tx. Even though our schedule is pretty full we try our best to fulfill every request for the seminar, also I personally know other good instructors with very similar seminars who are very effective in converting the lost. Call me if I can help or e mail me. 931-659-6643 or dhudson@mcis.us and we be glad to help. Good Night Don

2008-03-20T09:13:00.001-07:00

After several months being away from this blog, we are now able to rusume this work. I must say, that I did not know how may of you appreciated and read this blog until we were unable to publish it for a while. The problem was that we were, with all of our other evangelistic work, building a new house. We also had a two month mission trip with the Sojourners that we wanted to complete before we started again. We had a great mission trip in the state of Florida. We worked with congregations in Key West, Hollywood, Cape Coral, ( near Ft. Meyers) and Lakeland. We were involved in Vacation Bible Schools, Gospel Meetings and many Bible Studies. We baptized nine people into Christ on this mission trip. We found many people very receptive to the gospel message. We would have liked to have worked more in door knocking and setting up Bible Studies, but other work was also required on this mission. By the way some really good news, many of you know Mike, who has worked in so many disaster related activities, well good news, he is now heading up a new program called "Disaster Assistance". You can find out more info about it by going to his blog www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com It will certainly be one of the efforts about which we will be writing. In my opinion, Mike is one good guy. Again thanks for your encouragement and support of our mission efforts. Please tell a friend about the return of this informative blog. Our blogsite is www.donchudson.blogspot.com Don

2007-06-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

Pictured here are two of the elders of the Somerset Church of Christ in Somerset, Ohio, acting out parts in VBS, "The Incredible Run". This is a congregation of about 100 members who are very active and becoming more active in out reach in the community. They had a very successful VBS. In part an e-mail I received reads as follows, "Our attendance, Sun. 106, Mon. 116, Tues. 109, Wed. 107, Thurs. 166. We had classes for the very young to the adult. A special effort was made for Thursday to get the parents of the kids from the community to attend. It worked. We plan to follow up with those from the community from the attendance records of the kids. This has been our best community effort and response for many years. Now it's on to prepare for our Church booth at the county fair next month. We share a booth with a sister congregation each year to promote Jesus, pass out literature,offer Bible studies, and give away bibles and commentaries.

This is a church, with which Rosemary and I worked this past May. It is a great group of Christians and are always endeavoring to reach out with the gospel to others. They have three really fine elders: Dave, Don and Larry.

2007-06-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

As we will be away in a meeting, I probably will not have internet service until I return home, but will answer you email and return to the blog as soon as possible. Don

2007-06-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

We just finished our gospel meeting at Howell with Br. Benny Burns. The attendance, esp. from those who were not members of the Church of Christ was just amazing. This was accomplished by many members of the church going out - door to door- passing out literature and giving a personal invitation to people to attend. I know that we often hear that people are not interested in church anymore, but believe me, it has been our experience that a personal invitation is still a very effective way to get people to come to church. I am very proud of my brethren at Howell, they were all very much involved in getting ready for our meeting. A lot of work was done on the building, but the personal work done by our brethren was just a magnificient example to all. Rosemary and I leave in the morning, Sat. for Murfresboro to begin a meeting with the Church of Christ at Windrow. It goes thru Wed. eve. When we get back we hope to do a great deal of follow up and hopefully bible studies with many of the visitors at our meeting at Howell. Don

2007-06-17T13:56:00.001-07:00

Our meeting started today at the Howell Church. Br. Benny Burns is speaking and Br. Stephen Bryan is leading the singing. After services, we all had dinner together. The church had worked hard in door knocking and personally inviting people to services and many came this morning who are not members. I am very proud of the Howell Church and its hard, diligent work in out reach to the community and the surrounding area. It is really beginning to show and have an effect on the community but also on us as members as we see what really can be done and that evangelism is a "good thing". Next week I begin a meeting with the Windrow congregation near Murrfresboro, Tn. If you know people there, I hope you will invite them to attend this meeting. Our messages during this meeting will have emphasis on out reach and helping the church grow, both spiritually and numerically. Don

2007-06-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

Many of us at the Howell church had a grand experience last evening, Fri. Our gospel meeting begins this Sunday. It is always good when other christians from other congregations attend, but we wanted to make a special effort to encourage non members to attend. So... several of us, 12 I believe left the building about 6:30 and endeavored to walk or ride all the roads that lead away from the building for a distance of about a mile and personally invite people to attend this meeting. We received many favorable responses. Some ask us to pray for them, some asked us to visit their loved ones and all in all I believe we made a very favorable impression to the community at large. I really expect some bible studys to come from this effort as well as many of them attending our meeting. From my latest discussions with members of the Bayou La Batre Chruch of Christ, they are continuing to work on their new building, and are continuing quite well. They continue to need our prayers and encouragement, but they are a determined group of christians. Don

2007-06-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

We do apologize for not having much on the blog as of late. This past week, however and the next week are very busy with gospel meetings, and VBS somewhere every night. I will tell you that tomorrow evening, Wed. we will be at Wilson Av. in Tullahoma speaking in there Summer Series. Our message is entitled, "Battling for the souls of men." We just finished with our Open Bible Classes with the Friendship Church of Christ in Lincoln Co. This Fri . evening many of us at the Howell Church are going out door knocking in the surrounding community inviting them to our up coming meeting starting Sun. with Bro. Benny Burns speaking and Br. Stephen Graham leading the singing. We are looking forward in meeting the people with this invitation and it is a real opportunity to let them know that this meeting is important to us and that we are taking our time to let them know how much we would appreciate their presence. This also gives them the opportunity to meet us, many of whom they may not know. We also may be able to set up a few bible studies. Don

2007-06-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

Good News. I just received an email from Russ Blackwell who has just returned from the 32nd annual Back to the Bible Campaign in Tulsa, Ok. There were 68 studies taught and 34 people were baptized into Christ. The method of study that is used is the Open Bible Method. This method of study really helps the student to teach himself as he reads just what the bible says about various subjects. We just finished teaching this course of study at the Friendship Church of Christ in Lincoln County. Our next sessions will be with the Howell Church of Christ. It is so positive to see these kind of results, it is work, but it also indicates to us that there really are a lot of people who are interested in the Lord and our relationship with him. Good Night Don

2007-06-04T18:18:00.000-07:00

Would like to suggest a couple of blog spots with some very positive info of good things happening in the church. Mike works with the Fla. Bible Camp just north of Gainsville, Fla. and has an interesting article on his blog. http://mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com Also Carol emailed me and told me there is a very good article about the Bayou La Batre Church of Christ and it's work in out reach and their new building. http://www.christianchronicle.org There is also an article in the chronicle about are we growing that I found very interesting. Looking forward to returning to the Friendship Church of Christ this Wed. night for another lesson on the use of the open bible study method. This congregation is quickly learning this method and I know will make good use of it in reaching out to others with the message of Jesus. Don

2007-06-03T13:35:00.001-07:00

Good News, the Church of Christ that meets on Hemley Road in Bayou La Batre in now in their "new building". They had services there this morning and it is my information that they about 70 in attendance. This is the church in which several of us were in a door knocking campaign under the leadership of Russ from the Cox Blvd. Church in Sheffield, Al. this past month. As you recall we had 21 baptisms during that week. Certainly a big thanks goes out to so many who have donated time, energy, money and a whole lot of love in helping this new congregation become a reality. There will, no doubt be continued challenges, but with their determination, our continued support and the help and direction of the Almighty, it is looking very good for this new congregation. Brethren our Lord said it best, "Lift up your eyes unto the fields, they are white already unto harvest." Jn.4:35 Bayou La Batre Church of Christ p.o. box 218 Bayou La Batre 36509 Don

2007-06-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

Good News from the new work in Lewistown, Montana, where Br. Henry Pendegrass and his wife Agnes are helping the church. Br. Henry writes, "interest continues to grow in the work here. Our highest attendance for the month of May was the 13th when we had 18 present for worship. We have now a total of 38 different people in attendance. We have been having a good bible study at the home of for several weeks now. They usually last about 2hours. After a 2 and 1/2 hr. study two were baptized. From Don, It is encouraging to see that a new work can be started by this type of dedication by Henry and Agnes. May their efforts be an encouragement to all of us to continue in our outreach to others. Don

2007-05-31T14:18:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-28T13:35:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-27T04:22:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

Fri. morn and we are now at Somerset Church of Christ. More later after we get back from door knocking this afternoon. Don

2007-05-23T16:58:00.001-07:00

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

2007-05-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-18T17:27:00.001-07:00

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

2007-05-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-10T07:17:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-07T18:26:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-05T18:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-04T18:06:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-21T18:38:00.000-07:00

Just received an email from Russ, the "ramrod" of this upcoming effort in Bayou La Batre. There will be about 40 of us. Dave and his crowd from Somerset, Ohio passed thru Mid. Tenn. today on the way down. Dave, an elder at Somerset, is scheduled to speak in BLB tomorrow night. I know it will be an excellent message. We are planning to visit every home in the BLB area, some 8,000 people and invite them to worship with us, try and set up a bible study and leave material about our Lord with them. We will probably not be on the blog for the next 10 days until we get back. Rosemary will have plenty of pictures and we hope to have some great encouraging success stories about this outreach effort. Thanks for you support, everyone, and your prayers. Good Night, Don

2007-04-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

Pictured here in the blue blouse is Daphne, a real worker, not only in the church in Bayou La Batre, but a great helper of people in the community. I received this email from Carol Ogle of the White's Ferry Road Relief Ministry, Coordinator. Carol wrote, "Daphne German, director of the Bayou Relief Project in Bayou La Batre. was named the recipient of the 2007 Heart of Gold"award by the Moble County association of Lions Clubs on Thursday, April 19. What a recognition of Daphne's tireless and dedicated work in the hurricane relief efforts for the last year and a half." Daphne is one of the most sacrificial dedicated people in the church that I ( Don) know of. She has helped me a great deal in setting up bible studies in the Bayou. She knows "everybody" and "everybody" knows her. May I also add Daphne's e mail address is daphnegerman@hotmail.com is you want to contact her. On another subject, Br. Mike Baker has a daily devotional site at www.ourdailywalk.org . I find it to be very encouraging and uplifting. We are making final preparations for our mission trip to BLB this coming Mon. The Howell church has bought and marked 50 student bibles for us to use in this effort. The first Wed. in May we begin our next seminar teaching the Open Bible Method of Bible teaching. We received a case of 50 bibles which we will use in this upcoming seminar at the Friendship Church of Christ in Lincoln Co. Tenn.

Received such an encouraging email from Dave Neil of the Somerset Church of Christ in Somerset, Ohio. This is a congregation of nearly 100 members who are quite active in outreach and they have had 5 baptisms this year already. Several of their members are coming to BLB for this evangelistic effort. Br. Dave is going to speak this Sun. night. He is an elder and a very dedicated worker esp. in the area of outreach. Rosemary and I are looking forward to being with the good Somerset Church in late May. Thanks for your prayers and support of these efforts. Don

2007-04-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

At our bible study at Howell tonight, the brethren are going to help mark the student's bibles that Rosemary and I will be useing on the mission in Bayou La Batre, Al., next week. We were going to pass on some more info about the progress of the new work at BLB but I received and e mail from Charlie in Bay St. Louis about their campaign and was so encouraged by it that I thought I would share some of this news with you. It is called "Victory in Christ Campaign in Bay St.Louis, Ms." 18 Christians there have been walking up and down the streets of Bay St. Louis and Waveland and have held 15 bible studies and have had 3 baptism as of April 17. There are several more studies set up for the rest of the week. They have a meeting that begins today thru Sat. Brs. Mike Price and Willie Tolison will rotate as speakers. Isn't that great? Who says personal evangelism doesn't work anymore? Who says people are not interested in studying the bible anymore? Brethren the gospel is still the power of God unto salvation. Brethren we can do it. We have got to focus on seeeing the possibilities (Jn.4:35) and not "freting and hand wringing "on the impossibilities. Our seminars on the open bible study are going great. The brethren are amazed at how easy this method of teaching can be and how receptive people are to this method of study. Our next seminar begins at the Friendship Church the first Wed. night of May. It takes about 5-6 Wed. nights to teach this so it can be effective. I believe after that We go to Howell. After that we are fully booked until sometime in Oct. If you are in driving distance and want this method of teaching presented at your congregation, we will be happy to do this. Rosemary and I do not request or will we take a fee for this work. If you are in a distant place, where we can not drive, I know teachers who will be happy to help. Isn't the news from Bay St.Louis encouraging. Have to get ready to go to Bible study at Howell. By the way some more good news about Howell. Bible study is in one of the members homes tonight, because our building is being remodeled. Don

2007-04-17T17:40:00.000-07:00

Just two of the wonderful people in the Bayou La Batre Church. This is Roosevelt and his wife Florida. They are relatively new members of the BLB church, but have made a difference in a lot of people's lives. There will be about 40 of us in this mission in BLB and Roosevelt and Florida will be cooking three meals a day for all of us. Another member of the BLB church, Daphne, has been nominated for the "Heart of Gold" award in Moble Co. Ala. This award will go to someone for their volunteer service to the area. Daphne not only has been an enormous help in getting the Church started in the Bayou, but spends hours and hours each week helping get people lives back together after the horrible effects of hurricane Katrina. Thank you so much for your support of all of us who are working in this mission field, but Rosemary and I want to thank you for your support of our efforts. Especially do we want to thank the Howell Church for their encouragement in this work. Tomorrow night at Bible study, they are going to help mark the students' bible for this upcoming mission in Bayou La Batre. If you would like to contribute to the work in Bayou La Batre and make a contribution to the building fund, the address is Bayou La Batre Church of Christ P.O. Box 218 Bayou La Batre, Al. 36509 Don

2007-04-14T17:25:00.000-07:00

A photograph has been requested of yours truly for several upcoming events of this year including the work in Bayou La Batre. As I am not experienced in filing attachments, this is the only way I knew how to get it out over the internet.

Have talked with Daphne and Russ as well as others thru the day and everyone is excited about the upcoming mission in Bayou La Batre. This afternoon, I called some people that I had met while working down there. I asked them if I could study the Bible when I came down there next week and they gladly accepted. We received a shipment of 50 Bibles yesterday. The Howell Church is going to help us mark them this Wed. evening. We hope to use all 50 of them. The church there is very excited about their new building possibility, even though it needs some repair work, when completed, it will be a great aid in the growth of the church there. Many of you read David Sargent's message each week and I'm happy to tell you that this fine young man is going to speak at the lectureship at BLB two weeks from tonight. Thanks for you continued contribution to this work. As we last reported the contributions that you have sent for their building program is now over $45,000 and I have received a call today of another contribution that is being sent. This is a work, that I believe you can feel good about helping. Keep praying for our efforts there. Don

2007-04-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

Great News The Church at Bayou La Batre has now been sent by wonderful Christian like you just over $45,000 toward it's building. So many are to be thanked. You have done a great work and don't come down. We are all looking forward to our upcoming mission in just over a week at BLB. Bible classes are already be set up and we are looking forward to leading people to the Lord.We plan to visit every home in the Bayou La Batre - Coden area. The cost of the building and property is $125,000 so you see we are about one third of the way there.
Received a letter from Br. Henry Pendegrass who along with his wife Agnes are working in the mission fied in Lewistown, Montana. On March 25, they had an attendance of 10 which was a result of their visitation. The local newspaper did a nice write up on this new work. You can read about it on www.lewistownnews.com The Montana State Lectureship is in Belgrade Montana April 20,21,&22. You can email br. Henry and his wife at lewistncoc@midrivers.com Let's remember to pray for this work.
Good Night Don

2007-04-12T18:04:00.000-07:00

Some of the members of the Somerset Church getting equipment ready for use in helping people. Several of these members plan to come to Bayou La Batre next week to help in the outreach campaign. There are at present several thousand pieces of literature being printed to hand out to the residents in the area. We are looking forward to setting up several bible studies, and have a lecture program scheduled in the community center - don't have a building yet- on working together in the Lord. There has been a lot of work done already by a lot of people, but br. Russ Blackwell is really the "ram -rod" and he is doing a great job getting this mission together. The church in Howell is going to supply the bibles that many of us use in these studies as well as some funds to be used to help in any benevolent work that might be needed as we reach out. "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care". When people know you are there to help physically as well as spiritually, doors of teaching are more easily opened. Hope you will remember to pray for this effort. Don

2007-04-10T17:20:00.000-07:00

Pictured here is some of the work in which we have been involved in the area of Bayou La Batre, Al. A lot of physical work cutting trees, cleaning debris, cleaning houses and helping feed people. Just look at some of the results. There is now a congregation of the Church of Christ where there had not been one. The church there now is about to get there building. Under br. Russ Blackwell's hard work, the church is going to present to the community a lecturship the week of April 21st., entitled "Standing Strong Together " Phil.1:27 Here is the schedule of the lectureship. with the speakers.

April 25 Wed. John McCord, El Campo, Tx.

April 26 Larry Kilpatrick, Cox Blvd. Sheffield, Al.

April 27 Royce Ogle, White's Ferry Rd. West Monroe, La.

April 28, David Sargent, Creekwood, Mobile, Al.

April 29 Don Hudson, Howell, Howell, Tn.

We are expecting a big crowd every night, because we are going to knock on the door of every house, moble home, tent or any other place of abode. show people we care about them, endeavor to study the bible with them, and invite and supply them a ride to the building. We will plant, water and The Almighty will give the increase. This is going to be a lot of work but we believe we can reach the people and we are sure going to try.

The work at Bayou La Batre is a great work. Rarely have I seen so much being done to advance the cause of Christ, by such a new work. If you want to help this work, and it is a very deserving work. please send a contribution to the church to help them with their building program. I can tell you it will be an encouragement to these young Christians, and as you see this work grow, it will be and encouragement to you also.

Bayou La Batre Church of Christ

P.O. Box 218

Bayou La Batre, Al. 36509 \

Looking forward to being with the Wilson Av. Church in Tullahoma tomorrow teaching personal evangelism. Br. Randy Davis is doing a good work there and this church is so interested in reaching the lost thru personal evangelism. I can not close tonight without telling you how fortunate I am to be involved with the Howell Church of Christ. This small country church is such an encouragement to us in doing mission work. They are directly involved now in the mission work that we are in. Full pardners. Good Night Don

2007-04-09T17:23:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of just a few of the children that attended Bayou La Batre Church of Christ, when we were there last. This church is blest with a number of young people and the church is deeply interested and involved in reaching out to others. We look forward to working again with the young church in just a couple of weeks. We will be knocking on doors introducing people to the church and setting up bible studies with them. We look forward to again attending the Wilson Av. Church of Christ this Wed. evening for our last session in teaching the Open Bible Method of teaching the Bible. This church is really looking forward to using this method which is so easy yet so effective in teaching the Word. Evangelism is so important. There are many ways that individuals and churches can be involved. Let me pass on to you a very effective method used by the Howell Church of Christ. This is the church where I am privileged to preach when we are home. The church has been very helpful to Rosemary & me is our efforts of missions. Now they are not only helping, but facilitating our work so that even more evangelism can be done. Last night this congregation of between 30 and 40 souls began providing great financial support to us in these missions. The church not located in a heavily populated area such as a town where opportunity for local evangelism is readily available, but rather is a rural community where many of us drive many miles, 5, 10, 20 to 25 miles to worship together. Yet they so much want to help in reaching others with the gospel. Yes there is a lot that churches small in number can do. Don

2007-04-09T17:23:00.000-07:00