And after a long silence...
It is extremely hard to believe that we are in the fifth month of 2009. Where has the time gone? The Lord has been faithful, as always, and we thank Him for His love and care for us.
Dad & Mom Marshall have had a new door of service opened to them at Camp Dawson, a National Guard Camp. They have seen five souls saved and many opportunities for witnessing. They had several good services on Saturday evenings with about 25 soldiers and personnel in attendance.
Mom Marshall has been holding teen girls' activities at the house since the beginning of the year. It has given her a chance to be able to get involved in the girls' lives and they have begun to respond to her wisdom and humor, opening their hearts up to her about their needs and desires.
The Sisters have been busy, as usual, but with different schedules than normal. They began the year off working at various places of employment, but soon found that there wasn't enough time to devote to their real job--that of ministering in song and being available for special meetings, along with all of the office work that goes into a ministry of this nature. Their summer schedule looks to be picking up, with more meetings to come in the fall. Please keep them in prayer as they seek to serve the Lord wherever He leads them.
To catch you up on some of our happenings this year, we share the following:
Friday-Sunday, January 9-11: The three of us--Joanna, Jessica, and Monica, that is--made our way to Rockford, Illinois, for "Camp in January". We enjoyed our time with friends and young people from Berean Baptist Church. The church and its members have become almost family to us, as we have spent much time there over the years. The CD, "One More Mile", recorded in 2007, is a tribute to the many special memories that have been made at Camp Berean.
On this same Sunday, Dad & Mom were back at home holding services at Camp Dawson. This was their first Sunday evening to hold services at the Camp, and though attendance was not high, they were able to minister and see the Lord bless.
Sunday, February 1: The whole family traveled down together to Clay, West Virginia, to the Fairview Baptist Temple this weekend. Pastor Bret Wiley & his family were very gracious. We enjoyed the home-cooked meal his wife prepared for us and the time spent with his sweet family. We did not have our P.A. system and were missing a guitar strap (ahem...), but the church let us use their system and a chair substituted for the guitar strap.
We found the people of Fairview to be receptive to our ministry. Dad gave a charge during the Sunday School hour and The Sisters sang quite a bit throughout the day. Our return home after Sunday evening services was safe and uneventful.
Sunday, March 1: Once again we were with Fairview Baptist Temple in Clay, WV. Pastor Bret Wiley asked us to come on short notice, as the original singing group he had booked had a death in the family and were unable to attend. The three of us agreed to come for Sunday, as the rest of the week we had other jobs and such things going on. Pastor Jerry Mullendore from Beacon International Baptist Mission was speaking and we had a good time of fellowship with him and his wife. The Lord used the music as we sang and gave testimony to the Lord's work in our lives.
Sunday, April 5: It's been a few years since we've been with Pastor Dave Greegor and the Dalton Baptist Ch. in Dalton, Ohio. It appears that the Lord has been working and blessing this church--we sang in a completely renovated church building. They had not yet begun work on the building the last time we were here, so it was great to see the progress and how the Lord has been using them in the Dalton area. The meeting was going to last until Wednesday, but due to our work schedule, we were only able to be with them for services on Sunday. The Greegor family took us to a nice restaurant on Saturday when we arrived. We sure like that Amish cooking! Most Amish businesses were closed already, so we didn't get to do much wandering around, but the scenery was beautiful.
The services went very well the following day. A missionary from the church here was home on furlough and spoke for both morning and evening services. We left Monday afternoon after spending some time sightseeing with Mrs. Greegor. The weather looked ominous on the way home, but despite constant snow and sleet, we didn't have much trouble.
Thursday, April 16: We were asked to provide some music for Preston Memorial Hospital's Volunteer Banquet this evening. Dad came with us to help with the P.A. and join us for a few songs. We sang a few crazy songs, as well...which most of the crowd simply didn't seem to understand, but that's ok! We're used to people looking at us as if we had two heads. We always try to get the Gospel in with our songs at events like this, and this time was no different.
Friday, April 17: Pastor Jim Moore had contacted us about coming to his church in Hagerstown, Maryland, this week to provide special music. We were only able to come the last evening, but we had a great time this last night of Harvest Baptist Church's Revival meeting with Dr. Sam Davison. The preaching was excellent, as it always is when we hear Dr. Davison. It was good to see him again and catch up on the news at Heartland. He assured us that our nephew, Peter Montoro, is doing well in his sophmore year. Whew...what a relief.
Our cousin, Janna Marshall, came with us tonight and we had a blast. The next day we hit the Prime Outlets in Hagerstown and basically had an unofficial "Girls Day Out". We returned home refreshed--both spiritually and physically.
Sunday PM, April 19: We had the opportunity to once again be at the Pruntytown Correctional Center near Grafton this evening. The schedule was such that Dad could not come with us to the service, but we managed to survive tonight. We sang and gave testimonies for about 45 minutes. There was probably around 100-150 men in attendance. It's always a blessing to sing to the folks here, as they are quite attentive and willing to listen to anything you say. Many of them expressed their gratitude that we had come to minister.
Sunday AM, April 26: We had planned to schedule with Victory Independent Baptist in Keyser, West Virginia, at some point this spring, but due to various reasons, it didn't happen until this particular morning. Bro. Randall Larry's wife, Diane, called us on Thursday or Friday, asking if we could come the following Sunday. We had something else planned for the evening service, so we were only able to come in the morning, but we had a wonderful time with the Larry family and the members of Victory IBC. We sang quite a bit and enjoyed the preaching. There was a delicious meal after the service, for which we were quite thankful before our return home. Pastor Larry is always gracious to allow us to come and we appreciate him and his ministry there in Keyser.
Sunday PM, April 26: Once again, we sang at the Mountaineer Challenge Academy tonight. Dad showed a drama our family used to do many years ago, entitled "Dr. Law and Dr. Grace", based on a message by Bro. Lester Roloff. It brought back many memories of times of yore where the family used the drama in churches all over the States. There were several that raised hands at the invitation, acknowledging that they had prayed to receive Christ as their Savior. What a fitting way to end the day!
And so, though our schedule has been slow the past four months, things are picking up. We thank the Lord for His continued guidance and blessing in our lives. Please pray for us as we endeavor to serve Him in these last days.