I have been with Rev. James Twiner in about every church he has pastored for the past 20 years.  He has been a great friend.  He is doing a great job in Richland and the church is responding to his leadership.  They are excited about the future and even looking to build a new sanctuary.  The people have a heart for missions and evangelism.  They decided to make this event “community friendly”, by holding the services in the Richland Convention center.  It was a great venue and we had great participation.

The children had a great time in BibleQuest.  Some of the kids were new to the church and were very excited about what they were learning.  It’s so exciting to see their exuberance as they hear and memorize these great truths from Scripture for the first time!

Here is Felicia woking with the children in BibleQuest. Having 14 grandkids really helps when it comes to relating to kids! She does a great job. She's been traveling with me full time for 9 years.

The boys and girls wee so proud as they showed what they had learned in four short days. They were a delight to work with and the volunteers from the church were fantastic!

This is Rev. James Twiner with the kids who have just been awarded the BibleQuest gold medals. Don't they look great! I pray that God will continue to put a great hunger for His Word in their hearts.

Pray for the folks at Richland, MS, that God will work among them as they dream His dreams for their future.  I believe they are standing on the brink of some of their greatest days in ministry.  They are living out the “great commandment” to love the Lord and their neighbors.  You can’t go wrong when that is your desire.

Felicia and I are excited about the upcoming trip to Ghana and Nigeria. We have our passports and visas in order and will get our shots soon. We are going to be partnering with Christian World Missions.

Lee Ann Williamson will be leading our trip. Here she is with some of the children in Ghana.

Departure will be February 11 and our return is on February 27. During those days, we will be involved with the Methodist Church in Ghana and Nigeria and will aid in planting 10 churches in each country. Felicia and I will be working with children each day sharing BibleQuest with them. We will be using games, songs and stories to communicate the Gospel with them. We will also be helping to train children’s workers with new tools for discipling children.

Here are some of the children we will be ministering to.

In addition to working with the boys and girls during the day, I will also be preaching each evening.  It will be a great time and we are praying for a harvest of new believers.

Please be in prayer for us as we prepare to go.  Pray specifically for open hearts to the Good News of the Gospel.  Pray for safety for the team who will be there.  Pray for adequate funding for the trip.

We are trusting God to use us to change someone’s forever.

If you would like to donate to help us go, you can do that here, or you can send your donation to:

Wesley Putnam Ministries, 1320 Brown Trail, Bedford, TX   76022.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Wesley and Felicia

I press on toward the goal...

I love the beginning of a new year. “Beginning” and “new” are two words that go together well. It’s the annual “reset” button of life. It says, There’s not much you can do about the past, but look ahead. There is a future filled with possibilities. It’s what the apostle Paul was talking about when he said, “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Wow! Is that awesome, or what! There are some things I am glad to leave behind. There have been painful, empty, fruitless days that are best forgotten. Those failures and places of brokenness can rob us of so much joy if they become our focus. They can create paralysis of the soul. We are immobilized. Can’t move forward while looking back.

But, there is a prize. God is calling us to more. More of Him. More of His Spirit. Closer than we’ve ever been before. I want 2012 to be that kind of year for us. When we get to December 31 this year, I want us to do it with this prize in our hands. I want us to be more in love with God, more filled with His Spirit, more connected with family and friends. I believe when this is our focus, our past can no longer hold us captive. We are leaning forward into a glorious future.

I guess now would be a good time to start.

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

- Corrie Ten Boom

I rode in on the wind (or against it) to Lovington, NM, back again after 20 years.

This dust devil was thousands of feet high, but only 1/4 mile wide. On both sides blue sky could be seen. It was very surreal. This was between Hobbs and Lovington, NM.

When I was last there, my son, Philip was helping me with ministry to children as a 16 year-old.  Now He is 36 and the father of 5.  Time does fly.

I enjoyed working with Rev. Vergil Ichertz.  He is deeply committed to the faith and has an intense love for the people in his congregation.  I was blessed to be in ministry along side him.

I greatly enjoyed the fellowship with the folks in Lovington.  I don’t know when I have ever eaten better.  There was a member on staff who could be a professional chef.  She rolled out  many great meals with noon luncheons and dinners at night.  Wow!

Worship was a blessing.  There was a hunger for the Word and great appreciation for the stories.

There was a real connection with the congregation as the stories were shared.

Gideon shares the great truth that God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

Rev. Ichertz was very excited about the fruit as he prepares to baptize several new members as a result of our time together.  I love harvest time.

BibleQuest was fun.  The boys and girls loved singing the BQ songs and hearing the stories.

Here is a 3 year old girl who memorized Scripture for BibleQuest. She even won one of the gold medals!

Here are the gold medal winners from Lovington. Thanks to all who helped in working with the boys and girls. It was a great week!

In addition to working with the BQ children, I had nearly 110 boys and girls in the after-school program on Wednesday.  This church has a real desire to see boys and girls in the community come to faith in Christ and they invest a great many hours and dollars into this outreach.

Notice the diversity in races that are a part of the ministry of Lovington UMC as they reach out to the elementary children in their community.

It was a delight to be back in Lovington and find the desire to move into a hopeful future.  Pray with me for the continued move of His Spirit among these wonderful Christian people.

Darren Skinner is pastor at FUMC Hobbs.  He is doing a great job of leading this wonderful congregation.  I was last in Hobbs over 20 years ago.  They are a church with a history of evangelical faith and a heart for missions.  What a great week we had together!

We had a great time sharing together in worship.

The stories were well received. Gideon reminded us that God sees not what we are, but what we can become with His help. He uses ordianry people to do extroidinary things.

I had such fun working with the boys and girls!!

We had a great turnout of children for BibleQuest. It was great fun.

The children did a great job working for their gold medals. There were a lot of great verses memorised by these boys and girls. I was so proud of them and the congregation enjoyed watching them show what they had learned.

Hobbs has had some ups and downs over that past few years, but I sensed a spirit of real optimism among them this week.  I will be watching to see the good things God has in store for them in the future.  Their desire to reach out in their community and beyond is already bearing spiritual fruit.  It was an honor to  share Christ with them and worship our Lord together.

Irena Sendler Died: May 12, 2008 (aged 98) Warsaw, Poland

During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an ulterior motive. Irena smuggled Jewish infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried. She also carried a burlap sack in the back of her truck, for larger kids.  Irena kept a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.

During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants.

Ultimately, she was caught, however, and the Nazi’s broke both of her legs and arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she had smuggled out, in a glass jar that she buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived and tried to reunite the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

In 2007 Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected. Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming.  Later another politician, Barack Hussein Obama, won for his work as a community organizer for ACORN.

In MEMORIAM – 65 YEARS LATER

I’m doing my small part by sharing this message. I hope you’ll consider doing the same.  It is now more than 65 years since the Second World War in Europe ended.  This post is in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated.  Now, more than ever, with Iran , and others, claiming the HOLOCAUST to be ‘a myth’. It’s imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again.

Felicia and I had a wonderful time in St. John’s UMC in Stamford.  My last time there was over 20 years ago.  Rev. John Erwin has done a remarkable job of ministry here.  In a community that has been in dramatic decline for decades, this church has grown and offered significant ministry.  God is using these wonderful people to change lives.

We had great crowds and enthusiastic worship in each service. This beautiful sanctuary was once the chapel of McMurry College when it was located in Stamford.

We had a wonderful experience in worship each night.

I had the priviledge of speaking in the school system. Great receptive audience!

We saw lots of people seeking a closer walk with God. The prayer response was wonderful.

We had a great time with the boys and girls in BibleQuest. They loved it!

The program went great. The congregations are always amazed at what the children learn in just a few days.

Check out this Wednesday night crowd. They loved watching the boys and girls.

Here are the proud BibleQuest medal winners.

Pray for the continued ministry of this community of faith.  There are many needs in Stamford, but God is able!  It was a privilege for Felicia and me to be a part of this church for these days of renewal.

Rev. Gary Boles is a great friend.  I’ve worked with him in churches he has pastored and at Ceta Canyon Elementary One-Way Camp.  He is a dreamer and loves to dream big.  The sanctuary in Littlefield was really not conducive for contemporary worship.  The church got busy and built a wonderful space that has been drawing in new people from the community.  They have a great band that doesn’t entertain, but actually worships!  It was fun to see them work.

Felicia and I enjoyed worshipping with this wonderful community of faith.

The stories were a big hit! Many of the boys and girls I have worked with across the years are now adults in churches like this one. It was fun to see them serving Christ.

Felicia does such a great job with the boys and girls in BibleQuest.

They love the song, "Down, Down Deep".

One of the incredible things about this week was the number of children who came to the communion rail to pray. They covered it up! I was amazed.

The kids did a great job in the closing program.

We defeat the devil with the Sword of the Spirit. "IT IS WRITTEN!"

Here are our BibleQuest medal winners. They were very excited to win!

This one got a medal and a high five from the pastor!

Many thanks to all who worked so hard to make this week a grand success!  I thank God for churches like FUMC Littlefield, TX, and their continued love for Christ that shines in their worship and service.

It has been a few years since I was last in Indianola and I was delighted to be invited back.  I have never worked with Rev. Stephen Sparks before, but quickly came to know that our hearts were in the same place.  Before the week was over, I felt we had known each other for years.  Indianola is a church with a great heritage of faithfulness and a great future of faith.

Indianola has built a wonderful space for contemporary worship. They packed 'em in each night.

These folk loved to worship!

I had a blast with the boys and girls in BibleQuest.

These were my BibleQuest medal winners. They did such a great job!

In addition to Rev. Sparks, I also met their Senior Associate, Rev. Bailey.  He is such an inspiration.  He is in his 90′s and is at the church each morning by 7:00 in the prayer room.  He has a bounce in his step an a twinkle in his eye and still preaches.  I told him, I want to be like him when I grow up.

I love these wonderful Christians in Indianola and thank God for their witness for His Kingdom.