Day three brought in 25 children including 2 more first time visitors.  We really could not ask for a more cooperative and attentive group of children!  They are all excited about team points and bringing 5 more children.  We decided if we reach an attendance total of 30 children that Katie could give Pastor Ben a pie in the face!! We'll keep you posted.  Thanks so much for your prayers for this week.

HBC was again a great success. Praise the Lord. We had 21 children (plus Mac) with three new children. One of those was a first time visitor. One child who came yesterday was unable to attend today. God blessed the weather and the rain came down right at the end of our game time.

This afternoon Garrett and I went into Edinburgh. God gave us some wonderful divine appointments.

The first was with 4 workers from a department store who were having a break at a park. As we witnessed to them and I spoke with them about some people I know whom God has delivered from drugs. The girl said, "I've got chill bumps on my arm." Both Garrett and I noticed how what was said seemed to resonate with her. Please pray that they will take the truth to heart and investigate the truth we shared with them.

I also witnessed to a Canadian for about 15 minutes. He believes in aliens but not in God. That sounds way out there. But, I have often found that people who don't believe in God often believe strongly that there is life somewhere else. He is 29 and I hope that some of what we shared will sink into his heart.

The most amazing opportunity was as we were getting ready to cross a road on the Royal Mile. Garrett turned and handed two men our literature. One almost cursed him (we found out) but took the literature and as the cross walk turned a conversation started that lasted for an hour. We stood where we were going to cross the road and I witnessed to J. as Garret witnessed to S. We had asked the Lord to lead us to hurting people. They were both facing a tough time but were both unbelievers. There are too many (God only could do that moments in our conversation.) These are men who use expletives frequently in each sentence. But, they were very kind and listened well. Garret was speaking to a fireman who just lost a buddy in a fire. He personally had his arm broken in the same fire. He was so moved by the conversation with Garret that he gave Garret a ring that was given to him by a person he rescued from a fire. Garrett had told him that if he let God save his soul from eternal fire, he could save others from eternal fire as well.

Here is the amazing bit. That man is from a community about 45 minutes away. I said I had a friend who was a minister there. He said, "That's amazing. I know him. He pointed up and said the Big Man is looking after me." He couldn't get over the fact that I know a minister in his community and told me that he walks by the place where their church meets almost every day. He said he would visit that church. God proved Himself to us and to them. Please pray that both of these men will get saved.

The man I was speaking to is from Germany. His mother is a strong believer in Jesus Christ but he has been seeking for 10 years. Both of them promised to read the Gospels of John that we gave them. Please pray that they would. Thanks for your prayers.

The Lord gave us a great start to our HBC. Although it was raining when we arrived the weather was good during the event. Afterwards, it rained when we were leaving. The program went well. Attendance was good. We had 19 children plus Mac. Three of those were first time visitors. It was a really good start to our week!

Garrett and I walked this morning and had some prayer time. The Lord gave us a divine appointment while we were out and about. We had another really good witnessing opportunity this afternoon as we did flyers. The Lord also gave several great opportunities to invite people to our Holiday Bible Club.

God's good. We've seen His hand in our day. Thanks for praying.

The Lord gave us a good morning. We were pleased to have a man visit both SS and church this morning. He enjoyed his time with us and said that he would be back. Please pray that we can be a blessing to him.

I preached this morning on, "Overwhelmed or Overcoming" from Psalm 31. The kids all surprised Alec with a huge birthday card with all sorts of sweet attached to it. He turns 75 tomorrow!

After church I headed to the airport to collect Garrett. He made it without difficulty praise the Lord. He came out into the terminal about 10 minutes after we arrived. Please pray for our ministry of HBC this week. We'll be decorating the hall tonight and beginning with prayer tomorrow morning at 9:30. The HBC will begin at 10:30 and run to 12:30. Thanks for your prayers.

Thanks for praying for us as we get ready for our Holiday Bible Club. We have put out some more flyers today. This time our whole family went out. It's amazing how much quicker it goes with everyone. 

Katie and the kids are still working on decorations and Katie is preparing the power point for her daily Bible lessons with the kids. Katie has done most of the work in preparation for this. She also did an extra ladies meeting this week. God blessed that opportunity as well. There were 5 ladies and 4 girls present for that.

I had an amazing divine appointment yesterday. Amazing in that I was asked some very sincere questions by someone who wants to get together in the near future to ask more questions. Please pray for God to give me wisdom and that His truth will be made plain. Thanks for your prayers.

Kay Lee and Benson helped me put out some Holiday Bible Club flyers this afternoon. We were able to get a good bit done before the rain chased us back inside. Please pray that the parents will encourage their kids to attend.

The baptismal service went well yesterday. Two of our children, Parker (8 this month) and Logan (9) were baptized. I baptized two of the Hikin children as well. Thankfully traffic from the Scottish Open wasn't a problem. We drove past the 18th green on our way back and enjoyed seeing the crowds.

We enjoyed good services this morning. We didn't have high attendance. But, God blessed our meeting. I preached this morning on, "Seeking God's Presence" from Exodus 33. Now, we are getting ready to head to North Berwick for the baptismal service. Thank you for your prayers.

This morning we enjoyed a men's prayer breakfast with a sister church in Livingston. We get together about every other month at a carvery. It's a good Scottish breakfast and the price is great. When we got back Benson and I did door to door. God gave us two great chats. An elderly church of Scotland woman spoke with us first. She has attended the church of Scotland in her community for 40 + years and said about salvation, "Well, I guess we won't know until we get there." It's amazing that the C of S has strayed so far from a clear Gospel. We are more like John Knox in doctrine than the majority of the Church of Scotland.

The best conversation was with a young man who is 16. We talked with him for ten to fifteen minutes. We gave both a copy of John and Romans which has verses about salvation underlined. It also has the Roman's Road explained in the back. Please pray that God will bless the seed that was sown this morning.

We are gearing up for HBC. Katie has been preparing the power point for her lessons. She and the kids have been preparing decorations. They are doing a lot of art work. She has also been organizing and preparing the crafts. A young man, Garrett, is arriving from the States next Sunday to help us with the week. He'll be here for ten days. Please pray for all the work involved.

Tomorrow, we have a baptismal service with 4 children being baptized. Two of our children are being baptized. We'll go to sister church in North Berwick for the baptism in the afternoon. Hopefully traffic will be ok. The Scottish Open (golf tournament) is in Gullane which is quite near where we are going.

Thanks for your prayers and for keeping up with our ministry.

This morning I did flyers through a caravan park. I would guess I put out close to 200 flyers. I had one divine appointment with a young lady who lives away from here. She was very anti-religion but then admitted that she is jealous of people of faith. She has visited churches with friends who are born again. Please pray that God will bring her to faith. I gave her a John and Romans and encouraged her to ask God to help her find Him. I spoke with her for over 20 minutes and it was a great conversation. 

Thanks for praying for our evangelism. Yesterday I asked a man in his 50's, "How many people do you know who attend church regularly (or every week?) He said, "None."  At our Gala Day tent we were speaking with a boy who is about 10. He said, "My dad doesn't let me go to church. I don't know why but he doesn't. But, I read a chapter in my Bible every night." The end part of that statement was encouraging. But, the beginning was sad. God alone can awaken men's hearts. Please pray for His Spirit to open the eyes of people in our community.

Today we celebrate the fifth anniversary of Free Baptist Church in Loanhead, Scotland. God has been very good. He gave us good attendance and a good day. It was a fun morning as we rehearsed what God did in putting a church here. I preached this morning from the passage that was being preached when God called me to preach, Ezekiel 22:30, a message entitled, "Where Are God's Men?" Thanks for praying for our day.