This is the second time I have had the privilege of working with Jim Bass.  He and his wife Deb are wonderful!  We are so comfortable around them.  Even when it’s been years since we’ve seen on another, when we get back together, we just pick up where we left off.

We were so close to Galveston, we had to go and check out the gulf and the beach.  Felicia’s favorite quote is, “if you’re lucky enough to be at the beach, you’re lucky enough.”

There is something soothing about walking on the sand along a beach.

It was good to have a few minutes to relax before beginning a week of ministry at Friendswood.

Some seagulls hitched a ride on the ferry we were riding.

Jim is having a great ministry in Friendswood.  They have built a beautiful new worship center and the staff is hard at work putting together a strong fellowship of believers.  I am thrilled that Felicia and I had the chance to join them in ministry this week.

In the city, it’s hard to ask folks to come out at night after a hard day at work and the challenge of Houston rush-hour traffic, but we were pleased with the turnout.

We had a lot of fun with the children in BibleQuest.  We had worked with their children’s director, Lee Ann Love,when she served at FUMC, Canyon, TX.  They worked hard on Bible memory and loved the songs and stories.

Here are a couple of pictures of their program at the end of BibleQuest.

Here are the medal winners along with Rev. Bass and Lee Ann Love, children’s director.

We rejoice in the time of ministry we shared at Friendswood.  I was blessed by their vision and the way the staff worked together.  I expect to hear great things about this church in the future.

I last worked with David and Cathy Luckert when they were in Chandler, TX.  I love their heart for ministry and the way they interact with the church and community.  We had a great time in Richmond!  We had good crowds and an enthusiastic reception.

Since we began using storytelling as the ministry format, we have seen our attendance in the revivals increase dramatically. (no pun intended.)

We saw crowds like this even when the thunderstorms  blew in!

Elijah has been a big hit.  It’s amazing how a story that is thousands of years old can be so current.

I enjoy watching the faces of the congregation as they hear the story.

They did enjoy the times of worship.

Our BibleQuest group was small, but made up for it with enthusiasm.  They were a fun bunch of kids to work with.

Here are the hard-working medal winners.  I love this picture!
We were blessed to be a part of this wonderful fellowship.  God was present and hearts were drawn to Him.  Thanks for praying for us.

Felicia and I had a wonderful meeting in Livingston, TX.  We’ve known the pastor, Mike Mayhugh, for many years.  He grew up in the congregation at FUMC, Bedford, where we worshiped for many years.  He is really doing a great job in Livingston.  This church has a very strong prayer ministry, and it was evident from the first service that this meeting had been completely covered in prayer.   God was moving in a powerful way.  We had fantastic participation, averaging the Sunday morning attendance all through the week.  The congregation was incredibly responsive to the stories.  It was an awesome week.  Below are some pictures taken while we were there.

Attendance was strong all week long.

There was a genuine spirit of worship in the services.

Each evening started with a fellowship meal.  The fellowship hall was packed every night and the food was really good.

One fear a lot of pastors have when scheduling a renewal event is that the people will not come out for evening services.  In church after church we are seeing crowds like this to hear the Bible stories.  Here is Daniel telling his story one of those evenings.

Another thing that blesses us is to see the way God works in people’s hearts.  There is a lot of business done at the altar where lives are drawn closer to God.

We had a great time in BibleQuest.  With so many things to do and so many demands on a kid’s time, many chose to be in church each evening to sing, memorize Scripture, and hear stories.   In this church, we even had adults come on their own, without children!

Here are the proud Gold medal winners from Livingston.  They did a great job! The child with two medals memorized the most scriptures in his grade group, and also brought the most friends.

We had a “hot time” in Terrell, TX.  I have worked with pastor David Rucker in about every church he’s pastored!  He and his wife, Cammille, have been great friends of ours.  We were delighted to share these days of renewal with them.  The church is absolutely beautiful.  It is most unique in its architecture and has amazing stained glass windows.  The people were wonderful!

The participation in worship was fun to watch.  They really sang out and gave their all in praise.

We had great attendance throughout the week.

They really enjoyed hearing the story of Jonah!

And Gideon is always a fun story to tell.  I love to see the way God uses these simple stories to touch hearts.

BibleQuest exceeded our expectations.  We had over twice as many elementary kids in BibleQuest as the church has in Sunday School.  We ran out of books and had to have more shipped in!

They did a great job in the closing program.

They worked hard for the “official” Gold medals.

It was a great week.  One of the members emailed me and shared what God had done in her life.

“Though we attend church regularly, I still always felt somewhat disconnected from God.  Dayspring for me was a complete and total renewal of my spirit. A complete RECONNECTION. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. I have gone from being a ‘glass half-empty’ person to a ‘glass over-flowing’ person.”

What a wonderful testimony!  We rejoice when we see God move like this in people’s hearts.  Please pray with us as we continue to walk through the doors He opens for us.

Cimarron, NM, has to be one of the most beautiful spots on the planet.  Rev. Matthew Gary and his wife were great hosts.  One of our great adventures we enjoyed was when the director of Philmont and his wife took us, along with Gary and his wife Pam, on a day trip through Philmont Scout ranch.  We saw incredible beauty and heard the history of the area.
Cimarron United Methodist Church is at the doorway to the Sangre de Christo Mountains of northern New Mexico. On the edge of the New Mexico Highlands and at the base of the mountains, Cimarron River flows through their community. Rich in history as a stop on the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail, and the headquarters of the Maxwell Land Grant, Methodist Circuit Riders were serving Cimarron as early as 1869.
This congregation hosts many visiting church groups visiting ski areas during the winter, and the mountain playgrounds during the summer. They also host many Boy Scout troops that are coming or leaving from nearby Philmont Scout Ranch.

Grand vistas were easy on the eyes.

Buffalo were at “home on the range”.  Incredible animals.  We also saw elk, deer, turkey, horses and burros.  We were happy we did NOT see snakes, bears, and mountain lions.

The mountains were so majestic!

I had the privilege of speaking to K-12 in an assembly while I was there.  They really related to the storytelling.

Jonah was a big hit.  The storytelling is being well received wherever we go.

I thought this boy was going to fall off the pew.  He was really enjoying himself.

Let me tell you about the 4 pictures above.  I was about to begin telling the evening story when I heard the sound of children’s feet coming up the aisle.  I looked up and the entire area in the front of the sanctuary was filled with boys and girls perched in various positions.  Those children sat there motionless and listened intently to the story.  This scene was repeated the next night as well.

The best part is when they find their way to the altar when the story is over.

BibleQuest was a lot of fun.  The boys and girls were very faithful in attending and had great fun.

Here are the BibleQuest medal winners.  All the kids did great!  Rev. Matthew Gary and our BibleQuest coordinator, Pam Gary, are standing behind the kids.
On the last night, one of the children shouted out, “When can they come back?”

Gotta love it!

Thanks to Rev. Matthew Gary and all those who worked on the preparation.  All the hard work paid off.

When I first began ministry in Northwest Texas in the late 70′s, Felicia and I served near Friona in the small town of Lazbuddie.  It was a joy to be back in the area and even see some of the faces of life-long friends in the audience.

Sunday morning we began with a sermon in song.  The church in Friona has a recording ministry, so you can check out the video of the sermon online, if you like.  It is on May 9 and is divided into two parts.     http://sermon.net/frionaumc

We were delighted to be able to work with Dr. Ron Colwell.  He is back in the Northwest Texas conference after serving for a time in Nashville as the International Director of the Upper Room Walk to Emmaus.

We had a great time in Friona.  The people were so responsive to the stories and the times of worship.

The children loved BibleQuest.  They really got into the music and learned so much.

The congregation loved hearing them sing on the closing night of Dayspring.

The medal winners worked hard and you can see they are quite proud of their accomplishments.

It was a joy to be back in our “home” area, to see old friends and to make new ones.  God is so good!