We had a great weekend this past week at the SC Baptist Creative Ministries Conference. What a joy it was to see people who are so gifted in their areas of minstry. People like Greg Cagle, Jeremy Lucas, Charles and Rebecca Reese, Dr. John Welton, Tyra Lockey....so many that were such a blessing. I will have to admit that I am not a big advocate of clowns and sometimes puppets, but I try to be tolerant of their desire for ministry. As usual, we continue to wait and see how God chooses to provide a full-time church for us....but as we've been doing, we will wait for him.

I am very thankful and grateful that Tom made it back home safe and sound. It was wonderful to see him again. I actually had to wait 2 days after he arrived home to see him because I was out of town with my dad having surgery. My dad did great by the way, but I was glad to get home to Tom without question. We're still maintaining our course on our journey. Tom met with a committee from the church where we'd been on the weeks surrounding Easter. It seemed to be a good meeting, but we've yet to hear anything. We're praying that God will open a door for us in some capacity of ministry. Tom was actually offered a position with the rental car company full-time, but it would have been Sunday evenings through Thursday evenings. We still didn't feel we could comprismise to that extint yet, but the owner was kind enough to still offer something that was an upgrade from where he's been. We know that God knows the desire of our hearts and we trust that he will answer us when he is ready.

Dear Friends and Family--

Just a quick note to tell you that Tom called me late
last nite..about 8:30ish their time.  THey were about
to board a plan to Calcutta.  He says overall the trip
is going well, However they are experiencing some
terrible battles with the food.  Apparantly the two
that had been named in a previous note who were
dealing with digestive problems were only the
beginning.  Tom said that the last couple of days he
has felt deathly ill with an India Infestation of
backfire to the food!  He said that many, himself
included could just get near the food that carried
certain smells and just hurl on the spot!!  I am sure
he feels like he's ready for FEAR FACTOR!  None the
less, outside of that, things are going well.  I think
he is amazed at the congestion of traffic and people
throughout. 

Well, that's all I have for now...Main
thing...continue to pray for their health and
strength.  I know they value your prayers.

More as it comes...
Diane


  

Hey Friends and Family--I'm attaching a letter from
the Director of Tom's group.  Thought you would find
it of interest..++++++++++++++++
Hey guys:

I appolgize for not giving any updates on our trip.
Our schedule has been so tight and the Internet Cafe
doesn't open until 11:00 am our time. We have been
getting back to our rooms as early as 10:30-11:00 pm
and one night 2:00 am.

Things have gone well. The workshop with the Bangalore
School of Music went well and was well received. The
trip to Valore was long but some beautiful scenery.
The concert at the Medical School was well attended
and went well considering the piano had not been tuned
since the British Occupation and had missing felts and
notes that did not speak at all. It was good to have
Skip with us. He was able to make some unorthodox
alterations to make it work. It is amazing how may
things you can do with toilet paper. It was good to
get away from the big city to see the small towns we
went through. The traffic is awesome, awful, and on
the wrong side of the road. Several have found that
pedestrians do not have the right of way and actually
there is no right of way, it is a left of way.

We began our first of three benefit concerts last
night. The crowd was small but we were well recieved.
Dan Williams and Mark Powers had to leave the stage
several times to take care of business. Pray for them
that they can get their digestive tracks back in order
and pray that the rest of us will be spared. The food
is, lets see, HOT. Everything is SPICY. Now us cajuns
are not having any trouble but the uninitiated have
been having a difficult time.

The temperature is hot but the bus and our rooms are
air conditioned.

Again, keep us in your prayers for health, strength
and opportunities to witness.

Jim Gill

Hi Friends and Family:
I talked for about 8 minutes with Tom this morning.
That was the first time I'd talked to him since
Tuesday nite.   He said they have been pretty well
sleep deprived and that has been the most difficult.
He says the temperatures are incredibly HOT and that
the food has not been too bad...although it too has
been rather HOT.  Where would he be without TUMS!
They've only found one internet cafe and they closed
at 11:00 PM.  He and another guy headed over in
pouring rain the other nite only to find them closed
five minutes early.  Yesterday they went on a trip
about 5 hours away - one way!  By the time they
finished it was 2am when they got back to the hotel
and close to 3am before actually getting in bed.  The
beds are hard and short--so our LONG MEN are probably
hating that!  He also said that there is a nice little
Americana Coffee shop with americanized sandwiches
etc. that has been a lifesaver to some.  Yesterdays
concert was at a Christian hospital and they people
were very responsive.  They'd never seen Handbells, so
that has been a big hit.  Sooo Christine, it may be
time for an India Tour!!  Tom was able to talk with a
Medical Dr. whose husband had done his Master's work
at UNC = Chapel Hill during the same time we were in
that area for Seminary.  Needless to say, that was a
great conversation maker.

Tom says that no one has gotten sick, so continue to
pray for their health as lack of sleep could hit them
healthwise.  Thanks for your prayers for him and all
the others.  Sorry this is so scatter brained, but I
tried to remember everything to share.  I will write
again as I hear more.

Blessings to all!
Diane B


  

Tom is in India now with the Singing Churchmen and I must admit that I am beginning to get a little saddened and missing him. There is only so much that you can do when you are completely home alone. I have no one here no except the dogs and cat. The empty nest is difficult when the rooster isn't even at home. I am praying for the guys that God will bless them in an extrordinary way. I am also praying that God will protect me while I am here and that I will be kept safe.

I suppose that my slackness in blogging is coming back to haunt me as I opened my mailbox at home to find a LIFEWAY package. In the package were the preview books of LET'S WORSHIP which contained TWO of my writings. AMAZING to me for sure. I expect that if I anticipate to receive any future copies with my name in headlines that I should become more committed to my blogging. Let me write a little of what has been going on so that if anyone happens to read this you'll know where God is in our life. At the present time, God has once again shown himself faithful to us to provide a temporary place to serve. We were asked to 'fill-in' at a local Baptist church for Palm Sunday and Easter. The church is a very old congregation, but they are precious, sweet believers. The pastor and his wife are young and like ourselve, try and succeed at defying their ages both in looks and mentality. The pastor is a great writer himself and I plan to turn Matt Tullos and Jim Tippins on to his writings. He actuality broke the 'preacher mold' on Palm Sunday evening by doing a monologue that he had written THAT afternoon. It was incredible--to the point that afterward I questioned him as to who had written it, thinking it would be someone like Matt or another known monologue writer. To my surprise, he shared that he had put it together that afternoon. I was overwhelmed! His wife is our Sunday School teacher and she is very outgoing and personable. She teaches 6th grade Science by career and is really good at relating Biblical truths. Easter Sunday was eventful. We had a 7AM Sunrise service in the worship center. The pastor spoke for about 10 minutes and led right into Tom's presentation of "Arise My Love" with dowel rods. The response to that prooved my thinking of our ministry. That is that even though much of what we know and love seems old hat and routine to us, there are STILL those who have not yet seen God presented in these creative ways. God knows the desires of our hearts is to share HIM in a new and creative fashion, and this past week was evidence that it is still a possibility. We don't know what our future holds (DUH!-of course) but we are open to staying there as Interim until God opens other doors. God also knows the passion we have for Youth and working with them, so the fact that there are NO youth at this church appears to be an issue, but we are praying for God to make a place for us to be able to share as He has called us. We had a wonderful experience last month to share that passion for youth at another local church. We have a friend who is minister of music and she had seen our previous youth group do a musical drama interp to "Watch the Lamb". She contracted Tom to come and hold a workshop with her youth and teach them this drama for presentation on Palm Sunday. The loved it! and from the tape that we received afterward of them, they performed it beautifully. What a priviledge for us to share this and to see the excitement in their eyes as they learned a new means of sharing the Gospel! They told us that as the pastor stood at the end, he could do nothing but cry and close in prayer! What a testimony!
The next big event happens on Monday as Tom and 26 others leave SC to head to India on a Music Missions Trip. The South Carolina Singing Churchmen will head there for 12 days to share God through song and testimony. As you read this, would you commit to pray for them in the ministry, safety and successfullness?
Blessings to all of you who may read this that I consider my writing friends and critics. Please share a response back to me if you don't mind so that I know that these words are hitting the circuit out there in blogger land!