By God’s grace, we were able to accomplish another “Tour of Duty” from JULY 20–AUGUST 20, 2007
We drove 6,000 + plus miles to do ministry in 14 church services in MN, IL, CT,OH, & IL again.

AN EVER-GROWING CHURCH IN NO. ST. PAUL, MN
One of the joys of our ministry is to watch a healthy church grow steadily over the years. Twin City Bible Church in St. Paul, MN, is one of those churches. Pastor Lloyd Johnson and his vivacious wife, Ronna, a born again Jew, are humble servants of God. Neither were raised in Christian homes, but God’s grace saved them and they serve Him with grateful hearts. Over time (17-18 years) their small auditorium filled to capacity. It was an art to set up our sound equipment there. Now they’re meeting in a high school gymnasium until they can obtain a more permanent building. What a joy to see many young families, children & teens, college/career adults, senior adults, several nationalities, all coming together to hear sound, expositional preaching. There’s no fluff in this pastor’s preaching, yet the church continues to grow! To God be the glory! That church is a bright light shining in No. St. Paul! We are honored to minister at this church!

A BABY CHURCH IS BORN!
On a Wednesday night, August 1, we ministered through music and teaching for the Green Garden Baptist Church of Green Garden, IL, a baby church that began in April 2007 and is meeting in various places until they have their own building. It is an outreach ministry of the Sauk Trail Baptist Church of Richton Park, IL. Pastor Jason Workman and his wife April are enthusiastic about what the Lord is doing. Several families from Sauk Trail have committed to help Jason & April. These families come to work to provide classes for the regular attenders and many visitors that come each week. A few years ago Sauk Trail purchased property in Green Garden in hopes of starting a church. Now God is giving them the desires of their heart. The area is booming with new housing developments. How wonderful that a church is already positioned to minister to this new community! By next year they hope to build a building of their own on their property.

NEW CHRISTIANS ARE SO REFRESHING!
In New Harford, CT, we provided a ministry of music for the Harvest Baptist Church’s annual Sunday–Tuesday Bible Conference. Pastor Martin Shott and his wife Sondra are blessed with several young couples who have come to the Lord in recent years under their ministry. One of these couples invited us, the conference speaker and his wife, and the pastor and his wife for Sunday dinner. What a great time we had around Rich and Karen’s dining room table!How REFRESHING it was to hear their testimonies of God’s saving grace! They came to every service and said they were sad to see the meetings come to an end, as did others in the church. So were we! We loved the Harvest Baptist Church family!

Isn’t it interesting how young Christians radiate joy and love? They love Jesus, they love to read the Bible, they love to go to church, they love each other, and they’re bewildered when others don’t share their enthusiasm!

A CHURCH IN THE CORNFIELDS OF ILLINOIS
Yes, the Checkrow Community Church near Avon, IL, is surrounded by acres of corn as far as the eye can see. Pastor Alan and Judy Somers have been serving this local church for 7 years. They are still amazed that they run two Sunday morning services to accommodate everybody. This congregation is not just “church goers.” They are very involved in missions, music ministry, youth and children’s programs–i.e. the teens do puppets on their mission trips. There are outreaches to the community that draw adults, such as car shows, gun shows & shooting competitions, farm games–potato shoots?! This church is the “happenin’ place” in the area! Best of all, Jesus and His Word are proclaimed clearly and without apology.

OUR GOAL on our “Tours of Duty”: BRAIN WASHING
George often tells our audiences that we’re on a mission: That mission is to brain wash them–But that it’s okay because we want their brains to be washed with the pure water of God’s Word!

One way we do that is by teaching Scripture songs. If we had a dollar for every time that someone has told us that they have had one of our Scripture songs stuck in their minds, or that these songs stand out to them when they read the verses in their Bibles, we’d be rich! The important thing is the power behind the Scriptures set to music.

Here’s an example of how “brain washing” works!

A lady shared a short testimony with me one Sunday morning of how the Scripture song on our “Show Me The Way” CD, II Timothy 1:7–“God hath not given us the spirit of fear…” ministered to her spirit. She had fallen and was not able to get up. As she laid on the floor, she worried that she had broken ribs, punctured a lung, etc. Fear was paralyzing her mind. Then II Timothy 1:7 started flowing through her mind. She started to sing it. As she sang she relaxed. As she relaxed, the fear vanished and she was able to get up. Her ribs and lungs were fine. She was amazed at how the Holy Spirit helped her gain a significant victory in her life. To that testimony we say, “Yes! Mission accomplished! To God be the glory!”

According to I John, the world, the flesh, and the devil are real enemies of the Christian. But according to Ephesians 6 we can be victorious over them. God’s Word and rejoicing are two key weapons we have to defeat our enemies. This is one reason why we emphasize Scripture set to music. It sticks in our brains for ready use!

WE VALUE YOUR PRAYERS…

Please pray that we would live a life worthy of the calling that we have received. That we would be completely humble and gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love, and making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:1-3

In a nutshell, our goal is to glorify Jesus Christ with our lives and ministry, to edify and encourage born again Christians to live what they believe, and to share the Gospel with those who are still living in darkness.