Greater Portland Baptist Church

Kevin and Stacy Byers: May 2007

Onward Christian Soldiers!

We are "marching as to war with the Cross of Jesus going on before." Thank you all for praying, and supporting us in many ways. We are encouraged and pressing on as we gain support for the ministry where God called us.

During the months of April and May, the Lord increased our support to 55%. We had four churches communicate their desire to begin supporting us starting next month. I am excited about the progress we are seeing. Pastor and Mrs. Curriden are anxiously awaiting our arrival as they would like to return to the States for a much needed furlough.

Faith Baptist Church in Hanover, PA invited me to preach at their annual mission�s conference this year. On my way to one of the services, I saw a young man about 14 years old walking down the street. The still small voice of God prodded me to talk with the youth. I invited him to come inside the church building and after sharing a few verses, Emmet accepted Jesus!

Pastor Nazaruk and I made a follow up visit two days later. The address on the contact card looked familiar to the pastor and we discovered why when we visited the home. We talked with Emmet's mother and discovered the family had visited the church several months earlier. The interesting thing is, she remembered me from their visit. As it turns out, I was preaching that morning when the family visited and they had not returned to the church since. (I apologized to the pastor for that!) When I talked with Emmet on the street that day, it was only the second time I had ever visited Hanover, PA. It is awesome to see how the Lord works. I am thankful I took the time to stop that day.

Our family enjoyed some great times during the past two months. Stacy and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary with a vow renewal ceremony at Lighthouse Baptist Church. Dr. Jim Doster performed the ceremony and Stacy's father, Ron and her sister, Tiffany attended. Stacy's home church family attended and worked hard to make the event special. Our good friends Brett and Melissa Garner drove up from Virginia while Ree Parkhill and Wendy Doster worked overtime preparing decorations and a delicious meal. The Ladies from Lighthouse Baptist threw a special party for Stacy a few days before our anniversary. It was a wonderful surprise and she never saw it coming.

Caleb began some wobbly walking this month and we have counted up to 10 steps so far. Josiah made the A,B, Honor Roll at Solid Rock Christian School and Gabriel won the Tender Heart Award while graduating from kindergarten. My parents bought tickets for the family to visit Six Flags Great Adventure here in New Jersey. Our family enjoyed a great day of rides, roller coasters, and refreshment.

Please pray specifically for our schedule through January of 2008. It is my desire and goal to complete our deputation by that date. It is imperative that we visit churches that are willing and able to support us if we are to accomplish this work. Would you please pray and consider recommending our family to a pastor who may be interested in our ministry? Since our average support is $71 per month, we will need approximately 5 new supporting churches each month to reach our goal. In the Book of Haggai God said; "The silver is mine and the gold is mine", while in Jeremiah the Bible says, "call unto me and I will answer thee." We are looking to the Lord for great and mighty things this year. Thank you again for your help and love for our family.

Kevin, Stacy, Josiah, Gabriel, Bella, and Caleb