Isemingerfamily@juno.com

Phone:  814-777-4231

Dear Praying Friends,

Greetings from the sunny south.  Trust all is well with you and yours and that those of you up north are beginning to thaw out a bit.

There is much to report on, and much going on that we need you to pray with us about, so I hope you will take a few minutes to read this letter through.

Change in plans

For those of you who visit our web site from time to time, or who get our e mail updates, this is not new news, but we have had a change in plans that will affect a large part of this year. 

In early February, we were heading out of Florida to Alabama and we stopped in Georgia to get a few things from our storage unit that is there.  While we were there I sat down with a man from Ayers Road Baptist Church in Macon, one of our supporting churches that was (is)  having some serious problems.  The church was down to just a few people, services were not being held regularly, the pastor was having some serious health problems, the church building was in dire need of  some tlc.  In every area (Physical, Spiritual & Financial) Ayers Road was in trouble.  We offered to help and he took it before the church.  With in 2 weeks we were back in GA, parked at Ayers Road, and have been here ever since.

Shortly after we arrived, we outlined a plan to turn the church around which met with no opposition so we jumped in and started doing what we said we would.  Right after that, the pastor resigned and several of the folks that clearly were not interested in changing anything decided to move on.

At this point, there is one new family coming regularly, some of the old members have popped back in and we are having visitors on a semi-regular basis.

We have done much organizing and heavy cleaning as well as some painting and redecorating.  There is still a lot of that sort of thing to be done, but the church looks and feels  much more inviting than it did a month ago.

We restored all regular services and now have 3 Sunday School classes instead of 1. 

Things are progressing but there is much to be done.  Please pray specifically for wisdom, strength and workers.

We have told the church folks several times, and now tell you that:

We will not stay one day longer than we need to, nor will we leave one day before we should.

We are committed to help this church get back on it’s feet, fulfill its purpose and get under sound leadership.  When that happens we will move on to the next task God has for us.

In the Bible Belt?

Often times people, especially those of us from the north refer to the south as the “Bible belt”  with that attitude comes the question, “Why not let that church close, isn’t there a church on every corner?”  Let me quickly address that.  According to the last census Macon had a population of over 300,000.  The current phone book lists 7 independent Baptist churches.  Of those 7 I know for a fact that 1 holds to a mid-trib rapture, which is rank heresy and one is very contemporary in its music.  All of these others are located on the south side of town for whatever reason, with Ayers Road being situated on the North West corner of town.  So are there a lot of churches in Macon? Without question.  Is there a need for another doctrinally sound, soul winning, Bible preaching Ind. Baptist Church in Macon?  Again, without question

Field Address

Since we are “on the field”  and look to be here for a while, you may wish to send your correspondence here rather than through our PA address which we get here about twice a month.  If you want to do that here is the address:

Iseminger Family

4651 Ayers Road

Macon, GA 31210

Financial Update

Thank God for our supporters, taking on a project like this would not be possible without the folks that support us monthly.

Even with them it is a work of faith since we do not have all of the support we need to operate, but we have a big God and we are certain that since He so clearly brought us here, He will sustain us while we are here as well.

Since our last letter, two things have happened support wise, our home church has doubled our monthly support, to make up the support we lost when we left Shepherd’s Staff.  And we have been added to the Missionary family of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Claysburg, PA.  This is special to us because that is the church Carmen grew up in, where I was baptized and also where I preached for the first time in 1993.

Please pray that God will continue to send the support we need and meet our needs as we seek to serve him.

Family News

The kids are all doing well. Since our last letter.  David II turned 12, we celebrated with a Chinese Buffet, Suit Shopping and Dairy Queen, all by his choice. 

All of the kids have really pitched in and helped out with all that needs to be done around here.

Carmen is teaching the primary Sunday school class here at the church for the time being.  We are hoping to train teachers get them situated as soon as we can.

Lena has been a big help with the work as well as watching the other kids from time to time and cooking a meal when she needs to which is a great help to us.

Emilee is good as well, still no more broken bones to report on thanks be to God.  She will be 10 before you know it, which is hard to believe.

 Our Itinerary

Obviously with the work that is going on in Georgia, our schedule of other meetings has been seriously limited.  God has really worked some things out to this end.  At this point I have only canceled or rescheduled a few meetings.  Several things that we had planned have been canceled or rescheduled by the churches for various reasons which as cleared the way for us to plug away here in Macon.  As far as our schedule of short term meetings for the remainder of this year. I hope to have it up on the website soon and it should be in our next prayer letter.

If we are scheduled in your church in 2005 and I have not contacted you about changing anything., then know that we are still planning on coming.  I hope to soon touch base with everyone we are scheduled with this year to firm up the plans.

As far as those of you on the schedule for 2006 we are not anticipating needing to change any of those dates

Carmen’s Mexico Trip

This trip is on hold for the present time.  We have about half the money we need to make the trip.  We are still praying about the other half.  I guess when we get close to having all the money we will think about a date and go as soon as we can.

Our Van

While our van is still listed for sale we have put it back on the road while we are here in GA.  It will do far better on fuel than the truck and is far more comfortable to ride in than the old truck.  We had wondered why God would not allow it to be sold over the last year, I guess now we know. Everyone is sure enjoying having it back.

We also should say a big thank you to Ted & Monica Lamb in Bonaire, GA for allowing us to park it in there driveway all of this time.

Prayer Requests

“...The effectual

fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

James 5:16

As always we have many things that you can pray about as you pray for us.   Some of the more important ones can be found below:

God’s Power, Wisdom and Grace

Our family’s health and

wellbeing

God’s wisdom & Provision for an updated truck when needed

Carmen’s health        (especially the  trip to Mexico for her to see the Dr.)

The faithfulness of our Supporters as we begin spending time in church helps

Our next scheduled prayer letter is June.  We will look forward to bringing you an updated report of all that God has done.

We covet your prayers for our family, our safety on the road and our ministry.

Because of Calvary,

The Iseminger Family

David & Carmen

Lena , David II & Emilee

Romans 10:13-15