Jesse's Last few days in England

- We praise the Lord for His abundant mercy and grace towards us all! What a wonderful God, Who being infinite chooses to use finite beings, Who being perfect has chosen to redeem those who were imperfect. Let us all thank Him for Calvary!

- I will be flying back to Tennessee at 9:00 am Friday morning. It has been such a wonderful trip: Ramsey, England; Northern Ireland; Germany; France; Birmingham, England. The Lord has really proved Himself strong while we have traveled with the New Testament Church Pioneers. We thank Him for teaching us valuable lessons for our future ministries as well as giving us many new friendships that we can keep for eternity!

- Don't forget, this Pioneer trip is not over! Levi will be continuing on here in Birmingham until July 30th! Please continue to pray for him and follow his updates on the blog.

- We thank the Lord for all that he has allowed us to do these last few days. We have been involved in children's clubs, church services, street Evangelism, manual labour and so much more!

- We ask you to pray for a few more people who we have been able to give the Gospel to this last week. I met these three young men while in the Birmingham city center. I was able to give them all the Gospel, please pray that the Lord would convict them of their sin and show them their need of Christ! Their names are (from right to left) John, Matthew and Charlie. We have also given the Gospel to many people while out doing door-to-door visitation this last Saturday, please also pray for Robert, Lonnie and Jane as they have also been given the Gospel!

- Praise the Lord for all that He has done in these last few days and we look forward to seeing what He will do before this trip is through!

Great Blessings and Prayer Requests - England

- We have been thankful for all that the Lord has done since we have been in England. We have had the opportunity to do physical work at the chapel building as well as work in the many children's and teens programs, lead singing and go visiting. We had 42 young people at our last "Swords Club" (Bible club for young people aged 5-12).

- Today while we were out making some follow up visits near the church, we began speaking with a couple teen age girls. We began to give them the Gospel and before we were done another girl and two boys came and joined the group. We spent about an hour with them, giving the Gospel and answering questions. Near the end, the first two girls left, but the other three stuck around. Levi spoke with a young man named Jonathan (17 years old) and Jesse spoke with Lauren (15) and Chris (16). We could see signs of true Holy Spirit conviction on the faces of Jonathan and Chris as we spoke about the seriousness of sin and the severity of the deserved penalty. These young people do desire to have their sins forgiven and to have peace with God but they are still somewhat hesitant. Please pray that the Lord will continue to reveal Himself to them, convict them of their sin and bring them to a place of full repentance from sin and faith in Christ. Four of the Five young people were named Lizzy, Lauren, Chris and Jonathan.

- The Lord is doing great things through the faithful work of the Zenkers and the other Christian workers here. Families have been saved from their sins and lives have been changed. Please pray that the Lord will provide the finances for the purchase of a new building for the Crown College British Division as well as a Christian Heritage Center here in England.

From Germany to England

- We praise God for all that He has done in our hearts since our last update. We have gained many new friends here at Rhine River Baptist Church, too many to list really. These two young men are named Alex and Alem. They both faithfully attend the services of the church and are growing in the Lord. We thank the Lord for their encouragement and hope that we were a help and encouragement to them as well in the times that we spent together in fun and games as well as in conversation over the Word of God.

- Pastor Tom Lancaster and Bro. Mark Lancaster and their families as well as the many people of Rhine River Baptist Church (and a couple neighboring churches) opened their homes and their hearts to us while we were in Germany. We thank God for the encouragement they have been to us while laboring together and we hope that we have also encouraged many of them. We would like to thank you all for your loving kindness towards us.

John 15:13 - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
- We have had the opportunity this last week to visit the beaches of Normandy (D-Day) with Pastor and Mrs. Tom Lancaster as well as a number of believers from other churches. We saw many places and heard many stories of heroism as we were reminded of the thousands who gave their lives throughout WWII purchasing our physical freedom.

- The Lord used this to remind us of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave His own life once and for all, purchasing our eternal freedom! What love (!!) that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Germany - BIMI Field Conf. for Military Missions

- The Lord has been so gracious to us while we have been here in Germany. He has brought us to a church full of hospitable, encouraging people! We trust that the Lord will allow us to be an encouragement and a blessing to them as well.
- This last week we had the privilege of attending the BIMI Field Conference for Military Missions at Liberty Baptist Church in Schweinfurt, Germany (for history of the city enter this in your address bar - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweinfurt ). The Lord really opened our eyes to the difficulties and blessings of military missions. There are so many American military bases worldwide and unless a missionary plants an English speaking church in the area, there is seldom a true Gospel light for those soldiers.
- The pastors of these churches have no cake walk. It is common for a church to lose up to 75% of its members in just a nine month period due to whole companies of soldiers being moved! These missionary families truly learn to do their work for the Lord and not for numbers.
- The Lord used many messages at this conference to speak to us about being sensitive to the Lord's leading and being conscious of His presence. Pastor Tom Lancaster preached a message from Exodus 31-34 about the presence of God. Israel tried to enter the promised land without the presence of God and spent 40 years dying in the wilderness; yet we so easily get trapped doing the work of the ministry without God! May the Lord continue to remind us of our own need of Him.
- We were able to spend quite a bit of time with the missionary families, especially their teenagers. We spent time with the teenagers working on special music, fellow shipping over meals or after the evening services and even playing at a German Amusement park. Two of the teenagers, named Will and Tony, became dear friends to us. We thank the Lord for working in their hearts as well as ours this week through the great Biblical preaching. To God be the Glory!

Germany - 05/12

- Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow! The Lord has brought us safely to Germany and for that we are very grateful. We are working with Pastor Tom Lancaster and his son Bro. Mark Lancaster at Rhine River Baptist Church. This church is originally a missionary church to the U.S. Military stationed here in Mannheim but it is really a very good mixture of German peoples, other international peoples and U.S. Military.
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- We have been staying in a guest room inside the church building. The accomodations are very nice and we have been treated like family from the moment we arrived! These last three days we have been helping to build an apartment on the side of the church building for the pastor and his wife. This apartment will be not only economical for the Lancasters but also very convenient for the work of the ministry.
- We have both already had the opportunity to preach at this last Wednesday evening service and we will both be preaching again in the next couple days with the singles group and the Sunday School. Please pray that the Lord will continue to use us to be a help and encouragement to the people here and pray that we would see the Lord work in hearts as the Gospel goes forth to all people.

Travel to Germany

Our day started very early in Northern Ireland. We were up and going at 5:00 am. We had a flight from Belfast to London then a train to the international train station in London. We then traveled by the Eurostar (at a max speed of 198 mi/hr!) under the English Channel to Paris. When we arrived at the Paris train station we were surrounded by the masses. Feeling like children we could not read anything or understand anyone. We began to ask questions to various foreign people to hopefully find our way to a different Paris train station. There was a lot of sign language involved in this process. Our train bound for Mannheim, Germany was scheduled to leave in 2 hours. After stairs, subway, and a lot of people we found our way to our train. We had a wonderful train ride to Mannheim and we did not arrive until 10:15 pm. We thank the Lord for bringing us all that way with such safety.
During our trip the Lord allowed us to give the gospel to some families. Some we receptive and some definitely were not. We experienced a little bit of mocking and ridicule but Christ was preached and we were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

Northern Ireland

"The heavens declare the glory of God..." Ps 19:1 - God's creation truly is amazing. As we toured Northern Ireland with Clifford Black and David Stewart we saw many sites that are normally only viewed on postcards (although postcards could really never capture what our five God given senses can!). We saw rolling hills, mountains, valleys, forests, water falls, the ocean... We also saw much of mans creativity in old houses, castles, bridges, boats... We breathed in the fresh ocean air, heard the sounds of waves crashing into the rocks along the beech and were reminded that God has created it all. What a wonderful God we serve.
-The Lord allowed us to participate in two open air meetings by preaching, testifying, handing out tracts and giving the Gospel in person! It was such an opportunity to spread the Gospel in this way. We also were able to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ through door-to-door visitation. We greatly enjoyed these opportunities and pray that the Lord's Word and Spirit will convict the hearts of those that heard the Gospel.

- Testimony from Levi: Nothern Ireland was a blessing from the Lord from the start. Riding around with Clifford Black on the first day talking of spiritual things really brought me to a point of conviction. We spoke in the car of all the revivals in the land of the United Kingdom and prayer's power in each one of those revivals sent by God. The Lord had taught me so much a year ago when I attended Crown College British Division. One of the biggest changes that occured in my life at that time was fervent prayer life. Being back in the UK I was reminded of this change and relized that it was nearly non-existant. I pray that this reminder will stick as I walk the Lord with fervency. I desire more than ever to see God send revival to us for the sake of Jesus Christ. I thank the Lord for the wonderful fellowship that we had with our friends in Northern Ireland.
-Testimony from Jesse: It is amazing how the Lord can bring people across your path...or even bring you thousands of miles to cross their paths that He might bring you closer to Himself! While touring Northern Ireland the Lord used Clifford Black to remind me of powerful truths which I had once held dear but had long been laid aside and forgotten. He spoke of the 1859 revival that swept through much of what is today Northern Ireland. Over 100,000 people were converted to Christ because of just a few men who were wholly given to God. I was reminded of "Walking with God" rather then just "Working for God." I was reminded by a local body of believers to seek God fervently in prayer, not just for selfish things but for the salvation of souls and for God Himself. May what the Lord has done in my life this last week not only continue but be reproduced in others to the Glory of His Name.

Our Week in Ramsey

- The Lord truly blessed us while at Salem Baptist Church in Ramsey. We were given the opportunity to preach, testify, do some door-to-door work as well as spend much time with the people of the church encouraging and being encouraged. The church is currently without a pastor which is very difficult for them but the Lord is faithful. Help us pray that the Lord will send a loving "undershepherd" to that church.

- While we were out door knocking on Wednesday June 3, the Lord allowed us to see a young man named Luke Butler make a profession of faith in Christ! Please help us pray that the Lord will give him a close Christian friend that can disciple him and see him grow in Christ.

- Many members from the church provided meals for us for which we are very grateful. We stayed with Peter and Vanessa Whitwell who are faithful members of the church. While there, Peter was so kind as to take us to see Cambridge University as well as some historic sites regarding Oliver Cromwell. England is such a place of history. Just think, many of the buildings in England are over twice the age of the countries of Canada and the U.S.A. combined!

- May we pray that the great Christian heritage of England that once spilled over to our continent will be remembered again by the English and reestablished for God's glory!

The Tower of London

- The London Tower at one time was used as a place of imprisonment, torture and execution for those whom the British monarch deemed worthy. In February of 1554 Lady Jane Grey, known also as the "Nine Day Queen of England," gave her life for her Saviour in this grim tower. Jane had been given the command by the recently ascended Queen Mary to reject her Protestant faith lest she face the consequence of death. This courageous seventeen year old girl stood by her faith and forfeited her physical life.

- I John 2:17 says, "...he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." This story of martyrdom has touched the hearts of thousands since that day. While we were in London on May 27th, the Lord used the testimony of Lady Jane Grey to spark a conversation, furthering the Gospel of Christ.

- We had just passed by the second display of King Henry VIII in the London Tower when we became very curious as to where her display might be. We ducked out of our line and returned to the entrance of the tower where we politely asked two English ladies, who worked as greeters, about Lady Jane Grey.

- Their response was quite amusing for it politely revealed a minor disdain for her story. After telling us her story briefly and pointing out a few places of interest regarding her death they quickly asked the question "Why do you want to know?" After speaking to them of the wonderful Christian Heritage Center located on the Crown College campus in Tennessee, we proceeded to speak of the Lord.

- Both of these ladies attended a Catholic church which explained their initial response to our question. As the conversation progressed the Lord allowed us to spend an hour sharing the Gospel of Christ with these ladies. As the Word was given we saw the work of Holy Spirit conviction upon the two. We saw them begin to understand the great severity of sin, the great love and justice of God as well as the only Way of Salvation.

- We did not see these ladies make a profession of faith in Christ as their only Saviour, but we saw the Lord receive glory, once again, because of one young girl who surrendered her life to her Saviour.

- It was not until the next day, when speaking with each other, that we realized what God had done. The Lord gave us the opportunity to give the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ inside the Tower of London! A place once dark with the sinful work of persecution was illuminated with the freedom of the Gospel of God!

- Please pray for Maurine and Maria, that the Lord will work in their hearts through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word. May the Lord save souls for His glory!

"To God be the Glory, Great things He hath done!"

Ramsey, England

We thank the Lord for our safe travels. We had no problems traveling. We are very excited this week to be working with the people of Salem Baptist Church in Ramsey, England. This coming week we plan to go out into the community and give people the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please pray for us a we try to be an encouragement to the Christians here is Ramsey.

Training Camp

The Lord has greatly blessed Training Camp!!  We have been involved in physical training, various practical worshops, neighborhood Bible clubs, and pioneer preaching meetings.  The Lord is answering our prayers in preparing us for this summer as we travel to Europe. Please pray for us.