Thank you so much for praying for us. As I write this letter, I marvel that only a month ago we were in Southern Illinois, and now we’re in Utah! This month we have traveled around 3,000 miles for the beginning of our Westward expansion. We’ve spent so much time on the road that we’ve had ample opportunity to encounter the many dangers road travel can offer, yet we are both safe and sound with a car that just seems to keep on ticking. We had every possible service filled this month, so I will have to hit the highlights in order to keep from going on and on beyond your patience to read.
We had two quick meetings at the beginning of the month. The first was at Faith Baptist Church in Benton, Illinois, and the second was at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Arkansas City, Kansas. This trip from Illinois to Kansas was our first taste of how far apart places are from one another as you head West. After a couple of nights in Oklahoma, we headed to Edgewood, Texas, for New Beginning Baptist Church’s annual missions revival. This meeting was a blessing in preaching and fellowship. Liz and I both enjoyed spending a little time with the Paulichen family, who are not only missionaries to Uruguay but also Canadian citizens. It was so nice to talk to some folks who understand the need in Toronto and Canada abroad. They were able to give us some great insights about Canada and world cultures, which I’m sure will come in handy soon.
Our next meeting was in Cheyenne, Wyoming, which was no short drive, I can assure you. We hopped, skipped, and jumped with our little car in three little trips over the next three days through picture-perfect scenery to get there. Praise the Lord that we also avoided a serious accident along the way: a large vehicle in Colorado suddenly swerved into our lane as we were going about 75 miles per hour, with little time to react. This surely would have totaled our car and probably injured us too. We otherwise safely arrived Saturday morning at Faith Baptist Church in Cheyenne for their prayer breakfast, where I gave a short devotional message to the men, and my wife gave a short devotional to the ladies. Afterwards I got to go out soul winning with one of the men of the church. We had such a great time of fellowship as we spread the Gospel. On Sunday we were very busy. First, I got up early and went to an area truck stop to preach for their Truck Stop Ministry that they run every week. Second, I preached for their morning service, and third, I also preached for their evening service. It was so nice to be put to use in so many ways, and I am thankful to Pastor Miller for giving us these opportunities to be a blessing. We wrapped up Wyoming with a great visit to Calvary Baptist Church in Casper, Wyoming. Next, we closed out the month in Longmont, Colorado, at Hopewell Baptist Church’s missions conference. The Saturday we arrived in town, we were able to go soul winning in Longmont, but we were not alone as we knocked doors—the Jehovah’s Witnesses were out in the same area! We quickly headed them off and knocked some of the doors they were heading to, and as far as we know, they didn’t knock the doors we beat them to. I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to stay and “fight,” so we did. We may have beat them to some doors, but sadly, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and many other cults have already beat us to Toronto in full force! The week went by too fast for us! We had such a great fellowship built up with Pastor Seulean, the church family, and the other missionaries that it was hard to see it go.
So far we haven’t heard any word about new churches taking us on for support; however, there are at least two churches I know of that we visited last month that will soon be voting on us and the other missionaries who visited their conferences. Please be in prayer about this. The support streak may continue, but I’ll have to let you know next month.
Pressing toward the mark,
Brian Hebert