|
NEWS AND INFORMATION FROM THE ISEMINGER FAMILY SERVING AMERICA'S SMALL AND STRUGGLING CHURCHES SENT BY: Lincoln Ave. Baptist Church, Ionia Michigan, Darren M. Tharp, Pastor SERVING THROUGH: Shepherd's Staff World Baptist Mission, Chillicothe OH, Dr. Jerry Chaney, President
|
||||||
|
|
|
|||||
| January 2004 |
Phone: 574-596-7574 |
|||||
|
Dear Praying Friends & Supporters, Well Here we are in 2004. It is hard to believe that the y2k scare was 4 years ago and the terrorist attack of September 11 was over 2 years ago.
We hope that all of you enjoyed your Christmas and New Years and that you are Praying, Planning and Preparing for a productive 2004 as we are. To that end we have a number of things to report on and to ask you to pray about.
2003 in Review
As I prepared to file away my 2003 Calendar (in case the IRS should question my huge mileage deduction) I was looking at all that God Allowed us to do & you, through your prayers and support, helped us to do. I was truly amazed and wanted to share some of that with you. In 2003 we were:
¨ In 57 different churches, 30 of which were new churches for us ¨ In 6 different churches on more than one occasion ¨ In meetings in 21 different states ¨ Able to see two churches without pastors call pastors ¨ Able to see many great things and important decisions take place in the meetings ¨ Able to increase our support base from 10 to 15 folks and more than double the monthly dollar amount ¨ Able to raise over $4,000 in down payment for a trailer ¨ Able to secure financing and order our new trailer
Words can not express how good God is to us and how grateful we are for your participation in our ministry.
Plans for 2004
Seeing how we have such a big God we are looking for bigger and better things for 2004. I am striving to do what Isaiah 54:2 talks about “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;” Some of what we are looking at for this coming year are as follows:
¨ Our schedule already contains 38 churches (Including over 20 revivals and special meetings and 16 new churches already) and there are still holes that will be filled in ¨ We are scheduled to be in possession of our new 5th wheel trailer the week of January 12 ¨ We are trusting God for a truck to pull our trailer with so that we will be able to have our home with us wherever we go. (after 8 years of living out of suitcases, you have no idea what a great thing this will be) ¨ We are asking God to continue to increase our support base so that we can do more to help the churches that can’t help us
I firmly believe with God’s help, hard work, and serious, diligent prayer, all of this can come to pass. I hope you will take time regularly and pray with us about these things.
Family News
Many of you know of this already but our big family news is that while we were in MI in November, Emilee fell and broke the two main bones in her arm. We wound up in the emergency room (Her 3rd trip this year, 2nd in MI) and had to head back to GA to see her doctor. She is healing slowly, she was in a cast from her hand to her armpit until December 22 and is now in a short cast until hopefully Mid January.
Carmen’s elixir finally came from Dr. Rogers in Mexico and she has been doing better as she has gotten back on it.
While we were in Harlingen, TX in November, we were able to go into Mexico for several hours which was fun and a great experience for the kids. We got a few souvenirs and were reminded what a great blessing it is to be an American.
We spent Thanksgiving with about 40 of Carmen’s family in MS and had a good time, we were in GA for Christmas and enjoyed a break from travel and some good family time.
|
News from the Road
In November and December we were in 10 Churches, 1 College Chapel and 1 fellowship meeting in 6 different states.
The services were good and the travel was safe, thank you for your prayers regarding these things.
It was good to be at Needmore ind. Baptist Church in Charlotte, MI with their new pastor for a 3 day meeting. The services were good and we got some door knocking done during the day. This church is about 40 minutes away from our home church in Ionia, so during the meeting Pastor Tharp came over to sing one night and John Canfield who is our choir director and also has a good prison ministry came and sang one night as well. We are looking forward to returning for a 4 day meeting next year.
When we had to return back to GA due to Emilee’s arm Pastor Floyd McKeel asked me to preach for him that Sunday at Grace Baptist in Warner Robins. We had a good day and they gave us a very generous love offering which helped us get to south Texas, praise the Lord. This church supports us monthly, has us in regularly, and has raised over $1300 toward our truck and trailer. We thank God for them and for the other churches that go out of their way to be a help to us.
Financial Update
We are still hovering at just under 50% of our monthly support Goal. There are several churches that are or soon will be considering supporting us monthly. Please pray for God’s will to be done in these churches. As I have already mentioned the trailer is on the way and we are praying about God’s provision for a truck and covet your prayers for this as well. December is always a trying time for us. We always have a light schedule due to the holidays and this year was no exception. Our income from love offerings was about 25% of our average, yet once again, God provided and met our needs. Thank you so much to everyone who sent along a little extra in December, We could not have survived with out your generous, thoughtful and timely gifts.
In 2004 we will start our 9th year in this ministry. There are 3 churches and two families that have been faithful supporters since just about day one. We wanted to say thank you to: Union County Baptist, Clark NJ Bethel Baptist, Linton IN Spruce Street Baptist, Lexington, NC Dively Family, Claysburg, PA Buckley Family Mount Airey, MD
For all of their years of faithful financial and prayer support.
Our Itinerary
Here is our schedule for the first quarter of 2004. There are a few open dates that we need to fill in. Check our web site for the most current schedule information. If you are coming to see us, please call or email to confirm the information. Please pray for safe travel and for God’s Power in the meetings. To see our current schedule please click here.
|
Prayer Requests “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. “ Jeremiah 33:3 As you pray for us and with us, we covet your prayers for the following specific things:
God’s Power in the Meetings Safety as we travel Our 2004 Schedule God’s wisdom & Provision for a truck Healing for Emilee’s arm Carmen’s health The Entire Tharp Family Our monthly Suport Faith Baptist Hanover, PA And other churches without pastors
Our next scheduled prayer letter is March. We will look forward to updating you then. There will be pictures on our web site of our trailer by the end of January and of our truck when we get it. They will be on the truck and trailer fund page. Thanks again for your participation in our ministry, we thank God for you daily.
Because of Calvary, The Iseminger Family David & Carmen Lena , Dylan & Emilee Romans 10:13-15
|
||||
