A week ago we attended the annual youth conference for the fellowship of Independent Baptist churches. There were about 120 young people there, and it was a great time. We were supposed to leave at 5:30 AM to make the three hour drive in order to arrive at the hosting church first (because there is a trophy awarded to the first youth group to arrive...whatever motivates!). The lack of sleep paid off as the Buff Bay circuit arrived about thirty minutes before the other churches! Trophy #1.The morning began with a worship service and a brief talk by a faithful brother named O'Neil (also one of the summer camp speakers). Two girls responded to the call of Christ in their lives, one of which I had the pleasure of speaking with after the service. Pray for Shanica that Jesus will indeed be Savior, Friend, and LORD of her life. The afternoon included a heated battle between the churches in the annual Bible Quiz. Buff Bay won handily in the Philippians' quiz as the participants had been preparing for weeks. Trophy #2. After a time of fellowship, we packed up the bus with BOTH trophies and came home! CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE CONFERENCE!
Each year at the conference, the young people honor a pastor or someone who has influenced the youth of the "fellowship churches." This year they honored Pastor Bloise, an 84-year old pastor in Kingston (Grace Reformed Church) who has been active with the youth for over 40 years. After all the festivities, Kirsten and I were talking with Pastor Bloise and discovered that he was an alum of Kirsten's alma mater, Philadelphia Biblical University! Pastor Bloise, just this past Friday (4 days after the conference), lost his wife to cancer. Please be in prayer for Pastor Bloise as he and the church mourn their loss.
Last Thursday morning Kirsten decided to give the choir a break that evening by canceling their weekly rehearsal. The choir sings only twice a month, so with a 5-Sunday month there is a bit more breathing room. The choir members were begging for a week off, and last week was a great time to grant their wish. My Thursday class was also canceled due to the weather, which gave us both a night off! However, in the afternoon Kirsten received a phone call that a friend from the Skibo church had gone into labor. We waited a of couple hours (you know, for the baby actually to come out) and then, because we were free that night, headed up to the hospital in our fancy new car to see Yvonne and the baby. When we arrived, however, there was no baby! Yvonne was still waiting for her bundle of joy to make her move! Yvonne asked us to stay because no one else was there with her. Her contractions were less than 3 minutes apart when we arrived. We prayed with her as I kept monitoring the time (I figured I should keep track of the contractions because that is what they did in ER!), while trying to comfort as best we could. About 40 minutes later Yvonne got up to use the restroom, walked into the delivery room with the nurse, and within 15 minutes came out with a BABY GIRL! INCREDIBLE!
We forgot to bring our camera with us, so sorry, no pictures of the baby, but here is the blanket that Kirsten made for little Xyiesha Mykhala Cox!Join us in praying for Yvonne and Xyiesha, especially that they come to know Jesus!
Consider the news...delivered!
Hi guys! I stumbled across the slip of paper where you gave me the address for your blog. Glad I found it. I've been wondering how you've been doing. Since we met in January, I've been pretty tied up with the earthquake relief effort in Haiti - not so much front-line as support work. Have you met Doug Kracht? He took over for me in the Jamaica/World Team connection.
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