ESL Class

Thought I would show you a picture of our class from last quarter with their Certificates of Completion! The classes started back up in the last month and it is exciting. Not only are we starting a church for those who speak Spanish, we are teaching them English. A special thanks goes to our teachers... (from the right) Betty Cash, Sarah Loveland (babysitter last quarter), Teresa Gaitan and Victoria Pena.

God is honoring our efforts and we have now baptized our first person who speaks Spanish only. He and his family are a great part of our church now and being taught the Word in our Sunday morning and Friday night Spanish Bible Studies. His son sang a solo in the Children's Choir this past Sunday night. We can envision this ESL class growing into a training center with many classes to meet this great need!

Children and Youth Events

Our children and youth are very important to our church family. We took a Sunday night to celebrate the accomplishments of our Sunday School classes and teachers. Promotion Sunday 2009 was a service led by the children. Praise singing, choir, offering, and special prayer were all done by the children.

The children who were advancing to the next class were promoted during the service.

Joseph Ouellette, our children's minister, was the speaker for the service and he spoke on the subject, "Who's your Granny?" A very moving message... although the title would never seem that way!

All of our teachers and their families were honored with a dinner and time of fellowship following the service.

Sharon Bivens and my wife were surprised by a visit from Danny and Tommie Kay Stephens, their youth leaders from YEARS ago! :)

"Preparing for the King" was an all-day event held on a Saturday for the young ladies to encourage them to dedicate their lives to the service of God and let their life show His glory. Kaspri Photography took pictures of the girls after they had dressed up for a banquet escorted by their Dad's or family member. My wife was their trial run for lighting and such — after a lot pictures were snapped, she put on a crown...

It struck her funny! As you can see below, she is a beautiful example of His glory (and I am a little partial!)

The End of August...

First day of school...

Cameron is a senior this year and Chad is a freshman. This is the first year since Chad was in the third grade that they are in the same school. It is amazing how time flies and the little children grow up. I wouldn't want them to stay little forever, but slowing it down wouldn't hurt! Oh, well, we are enjoying every stage and year that the boys go through. They are great guys and we are proud to call them our own. Perfect? No. But neither are we!

Chad's 15th birthday was August 30th and we had a party this year. The whole youth group was invited and the house was full! We had a great time...

Digital drums from Grandpa and Grandma... a gift to everyone in our house as well!!!! Silence is golden.

Alayna and Ashlyn, Andrew and Mandy's girls, had a great time tickling the boys! They are so sweet.

Back-to-School 2009

Here's a video that my son, Cameron, put together for our Back-to-School service this year! It is time for us to "Stand Out" for the Kingdom of God!

Our children and youth committed Sunday night to be what God has called us to be. We are looking forward to what God has in store for the 2009-2010 school year!

Homecoming makes the paper today...

Just wanted to let you see the newspaper article about our 1960's-70's Homecoming. It is great coverage and we are thankful to Sarah Johnson for getting it published. We are continuing to receive notes from those who attended letting us know how much they enjoyed themselves. We are so happy that it was such a blessing to everyone as it was to us also! You can click on these images and they will open in another window at a larger size enabling you to read the article. The first page is pictures about it and the story is on the second page...

"He A-wose"

This is the cutest thing I've seen in a long time, so I wanted to share it with you all.
(Thanks to Janet Anglin for sending it to me.)

Have a great day!

How Much More?

During the homecoming on Saturday, Bro. Danny Johnson sang the song "How Much More" by Rusty Goodman. I've always loved this song but had forgotten about it. I purchased it on iTunes today and have listened to it over and over. There's a special message here. I'm so thankful for the love of God.

"If He knows when a robin falls from its nest... if He grieves when He sees it die... I wonder how much more does He love you and I...
If He cares for the lilies in an open field... if He acknowledges a tree when the winds make it kneel... how much more does He love me and you...

How much more than a fragrant rose that He gives life in the Spring...
Or does He love me less than a bird in a nest that never sows yet he soars on the wing...
If He can speak a simple word and calm an angry wind...
Peace, be still, He can calm a rolling sea...
Then He can speak peace, be still to the storm that's within...
That's how much that He really loves me!"

I've posted the video here for someone to hear. He has your life in His hands, and He loves us more than we could ever comprehend.

More Homecoming pics...

Sorry that it has to be in a slideshow. There are just too many pictures to upload individually. There are MANY more on Facebook, if you would like to join us there...

The play button above will take you to another webpage for these pictures.

Enjoy! We sure did.

A few pictures to begin with...

I will have to post more about this because there is so much to tell.  But, first, here are three pictures to get started!  My wife snapped some pictures with her phone, but there are THOUSANDS of other pictures out there and we will be posting more.  

I never dreamed that the Homecoming would be as large and as fun as it was!  We ended up with 256 registered on Saturday at the Convention Center.  We spend 6 hours there and it was not near long enough.

Registration

Greeting everyone on the hallway into the convention center!

Gathering for the meal

There will be more to come about Saturday and Sunday.  Just wanted to put something up about what a huge success the weekend was.  Thanks to everyone for putting the time aside and joining with us.  You made it what it was!

You can help...

My cousin James' wife, Janet Holley, sent an email to get the word out about the upcoming parole hearing for the murderer of her sister, Sandy Dial.  I thought I would pass it along to all of you and ask you to take a moment to do the right thing.  We sang at Sandy's funeral and remember the devastating pain this senseless murder caused in Janet's family.  Janet spent countless hours to bring justice for this crime and it would be a shame for it to go to waste and possibly have this type of thing happen again.

Background
In May, 1991, DeEllen Bellah, along with co-conspirator Don Dial (Sandy's ex-brother in law), fraudulently obtained a $100,000 life insurance policy on Sandy Dial's life. On Friday, December 13, 1991 their murder plan was carried out in an effort to collect the insurance proceeds. Sandy Dial, 34 years old, was found dead in the back seat of her car with a single gunshot wound to the head.

In 1998, DeEllen Bellah was sentenced by a Hunt County jury to 50 years in prison for Conspiracy to Commit Capital Murder. Sandy left behind 2 young daughters, a devastated family and host of friends. It is clear that Bellah presents a continuing danger to society. Her crime was obviously premeditated; she had plenty of time (6 months) to plan this murder. Please help us keep DeEllen Bellah, the mastermind of the murder scheme, in prison where she belongs.

Bellah is currently up for Parole review. Please write ask that she be made to serve her entire sentence. In addition, to lessen the emotional trauma the parole review process has on the victim's family, please ask for the maximum set-off for any future parole reviews. 

Send letters, emails, or faxes protesting the parole of De Ellen Bellah. You can get all the information about sending in a protest of parole at:  www.paroleprotest.org/ 

Home Missions Service

We enjoyed a great service last night in Ranger, Texas. Karla and I went with Sharon Bivens and got to drive her wonderful new car. Our chorale sang and did an awesome job. The Ranger church did some great praise singing and another wonderful special. Bro. Carl McLaughlin was the speaker and two were filled with the Spirit for the first time! The evening was topped off with a time of fellowship and brisket with Carl McLaughlin, Greg Hardin and Lindsey and the Whitmire's. It's always great to get with friends.

(Missy, I included your arm and the back of your head - just for you.)

This is just a short update for those who are complaining about posts being sparse!

More Homecoming Details

Invitations have gone out to those whose addresses we had. If you know of someone who attended the First UPC of Wichita Falls in the 1960's and 1970's, please forward this information to them and email our secretary their address. We will make sure they receive an invitation in the mail. Her email is: prvenegas@aol.com. We are excited about all those who are attending and want to see as many as possible come be a part of the celebration! You can click on the invitation images below to get more details.

New Sunday School Bus

We are so excited with what the Lord has blessed us with!  A month or so ago, I asked the church to be in prayer about a bus for our new Sunday School route in Sunnyside.  Within a week, we ran across a fleet that was being sold in Garland, Texas.  It required a bid process, so the church board got together and decided what our bid would be and it was submitted.  It is definitely a blessing from the Lord.  It looks new!  The seating is immaculate.  It was used as a special needs bus, so it has not had the normal wear and tear the a school bus has.  The maintenance man at the school system really wanted our church to have the best and even prayed for us the night before the bids were opened!  Today, as they picked up the bus, there were extra parts that they will not be needing already loaded on the bus for us to have when they are needed.  They have replaced the batteries, there is a new tire, and more!  It is air conditioned, has a wheelchair lift and has only 80,000 miles on the Freightliner engine.

Sunnyside is an area that Monroe Bivens has had a burden for and it was where our community was held.  Following that event, they have been going through the neighborhood picking up children for Sunday School and inviting more.   This gives them the ability to really work this route.  Bro. Bivens went along as they picked up the bus today.  When he saw it, he said as he began to cry, "God really does care about us, doesn't He?  He saw that we mean business about winning our community and look what He has provided!"  It is so true.  

"Walk up and down the streets.... I have given you this city," the Lord said.  Now we have a way to pick more of them up and bring them where they can find LIFE!  Pray that we continue to follow Him.

July 4, 2009

We had a great time being crazy and enjoying our family at Life Tabernacle on Independence Day!  Our church family was invited to come to the church at their leisure from 2 to 7 and enjoy hanging out together.  We played board/card games, grilled all kinds of meat on the church grill, played Wii on a big screen, played football and basketball outside, and watched the 1989 version of Watch the Lamb Easter drama!  In this slideshow is a sampling of people who attended throughout the afternoon...

After cleaning it all up, our family headed to the MPEC center for the Wichita Falls fireworks show.  It decided to pour down rain in the middle of it, but it made for a fun and exciting time!  We left drenched, but laughing and enjoying our time together.  A new experience....fireworks in the rain....and they still worked!  In fact, God added some of his own lightning into the background.  It was great.

We headed home and made strawberry ice cream and enjoyed it with Trevon Norman and Cosme Ojeda....and somewhere around midnight, after offering our ice cream on Facebook, we handed some out the door to Dan and Tammy Bryant, who live just a few blocks down the road!  

This all made for a very memorable July 4th celebration.  Sunday we had awesome services, with one being baptized and many being refilled with the Spirit.  Sunday night ended with a Spiritual freedom celebration!

Sunnyside Community Day Recap

I have finally taken a moment and uploaded some pictures from our Sunnyside Community Day several weeks ago.  We had well over 200 guests with us!  We started our bus route in that area and had 11 on the first week.  The Lord opened the door for us to buy a bus for this route - a van will be too small.  We should have it within a week and then begin to fill it up!  It is 30+ passengers, air-conditioned and has a wheelchair lift.  We are believing the Lord to work miracles in this neighborhood.  Be in prayer with us.  We also have started ESL classes for our Spanish speaking friends and have a full class each Tuesday and Thursday.  Sis. Betty Cash is their teacher and Sis. Teresa Gaitan is the facilitator.  We are following where the Lord leads.  Look into the eyes of these people and see what the Lord sees...  

South Texas Revival Conference

Last Thursday Gene & I headed to San Antonio for the South Texas Revival Conference. We had developed some lifetime friends while pastoring in Pflugerville, so took this opportunity to go see them.

Thursday night we went to Mi Tierra with Melvin & Lisa Reddy and Jarrid Younkin. The Reddy's were fellow daughter-work pastors in Cedar Park. They have just purchased land and are looking to build a church building in the future. Jarrid & Kendra Younkin helped us for about a year in Pflugerville as they were beginning a daughter-work in Round Rock. They are now at Christian Life College in Stockton, CA. Jarrid was at the conference promoting the school - we sure missed Kendra and the kids!

Friday afternoon we ate lunch with Rodney & Stacey Shaw. They are some of my favorite people. They are just "real" people - we have quite a lot in common - and I love spending time with them. (I didn't get any pictures from that lunch - too busy catching up!)

Friday night, we were able to see some dear friends from the Pflugerville church - Terry & Donna Stephens and their daughters, Lindsey & Kayleen. This family was a great help to us at New Life Church.Of course, I am always happy to see my friend Connie Bernard. She is a precious lady and I'm thankful to call her friend.These two girls were some of Cameron and Chad's good friends. I was very happy to see Erika and Lindsey.We had a great time - and I'm glad my travelling days are over for now. I'm ready to enjoy some time at home for a while!!

Father's

Happy Father's Day to the most wonderful men in my life!

First: My husband.
You are the greatest father to our young men. They will benefit so much from having you as a Dad - your fun-loving ways, silly faces, laughter, discipline, steadfastness, balance - all of these will lead them down the right path of life.My Daddy.
He was a great man, and I miss him terribly. I'm thankful God allowed me 37 years with him.My Father-in-Law.
Wow!! God blessed me with the best in-laws when I married Gene Holley, Jr. I'm so glad we have you as the "patriarch" of our family.My two brothers-in-law.
Wendell and Nathan have been strongholds in my life. I thank God for them.I love all of you more than words can say!!
Happy Father's Day!

Campmeeting, Etc.

Texas Campmeeting was awesome!! Great preaching. Great music. Great MC's (especially Friday night - heehee). It was all good.

Our trio was asked to sing at the TBC Song Fest on Monday night. Terry Wilbanks, Jason Matthews and Jonathan Elms were our band for the night. We had a great time.

Bro. Davis and Bro. Kinsey both preached anointed messages. And our friend, Greg Hardin, preached a message I'll never forget on Friday morning - "He Didn't Know it Couldn't be Done."

Of course, one of the highlights is the opportunity to be with family and friends.

Cameron and Chad were at South Texas Youth Camp during Texas Campmeeting. Their camp ended on Thursday night, so they drove to Lufkin to be in service Friday night and to spend time with friends. We are so thankful God is using their talents. Cameron played the bass at South Texas Camp. This week they are in Lufkin for the Junior High Youth Camp. Cameron is playing bass, and Chad is playing auxiliary percussion. Next week they will both be attending Texas Senior High Camp.
We are blessed!

Tomorrow Gene & I are planning to travel to San Antonio for the South Texas Revival Conference. We are looking forward to seeing several of our friends there.

It is H-O-T in Texas!! I'm so thankful God blessed us with a house that has a pool. I have been in it everyday this week. I know you figure out how to handle the heat without one, but I don't know how I did it before. LOL!
God is still doing miraculous things in Wichita Falls. Tonight it was so exciting to look across the crowd and see many new converts sitting in the pews. Our music was missing the usual punch with most of our musicians at youth camp this week, but there was a sweet presence of God as we began to sing. Gene had everyone come up around the front to begin service. He led with no praise group accompanying, and I played the keyboard with no other instruments. It was neat to hear the congregation as they lifted their voices in worship and song. There were 15 or so "babes" in the service tonight - they are setting down patterns that will strengthen them in their walk with God. They are so excited to learn more and more, and I'm excited to watch them grow. Some of the stories we are hearing are complete miracles - it's just awesome!!!