How about a little funny?

Pastor P

Bangladesh

I thought I had better post some news about my recent trip to Bollovpur, Bangladesh. This was my second trip in two years preaching and teaching at Divisional Council. Overall it was a great trip. I was with some of the same pastors and in the same general region, southwest Bangladesh, but closer to the border of India. It was about an 8 hour drive from the capital of Dhaka including a ferry boat ride across the Ganges River.

Great things are taking place in this geographically dwarfed country with so many people (150 million- half that of the United Sates in an area the size of the state of Arkansas. A new church is started once every 3 weeks. There are now more than 400 churches. Attendance was approximately 1,000 each night and about 100 came forward for salvation on the second night that I preached. The people of Bangladesh are very hard working and the pastors are no exception. The leadership is also very humble and understand the concept of servanthood. It is evident that God is working in this nation and it looks as though the kingdom of God will continue to expand rapidly. Please keep Bangladesh in your prayers.

Pastor P

Ms. Lucie is Back from Winter Break

Hi Everyone,

I made it back from our trip to San Juan, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas aboard the Royal Caribbean Mariner. It was a fun time. I was an exciting time. There were 30 of us from this church. But we were overshadowed by another group boasting 145 members. There's an idea for our Joy Group!!

Anyway, I just wanted to check in and let you all see our beautiful smiling faces, from one of our formal nights. Though most of us were smiling on the outside, we all knew we would be coming home soon and it was hard to leave this life behind. We will carry our memories for a long time. I looking forward to the scrapbook parties that ladies and girls will be having in the coming weeks to document our trip!

For today, it is back to a busy slate of events and activities back here. I'm ready for action!

Ms. Lucie

Super Bowl and Super Church

Congrats to all the Giants Fans. I am a Cowboys fan, but I had to root for the Giants, because I couldn't stand for another New England team to win a championship. Pastor is hard enough to live with when the Red Sox win, plus it is amazing the number of "Patriots and Red Sox fans" we suddenly have in the youth group these days. Dare I use the term front-runners.

Anyway, at the end of the Super Bowl they asked Eli Manning the now infamous question, "Where are you going?" and his reply "Disneyland or Disneyworld" I forget which it is.

This week I had a chance to do a little traveling as well. I didn't win the Super Bowl, but because of all the hard work and support of the teens and folks of Praise Assembly, I was invited to Branson, MO. Why did I go there? To receive an award from the National Youth Dept. of the Assemblies of God for Speed the Light.

In 2007 Praise Assembly raised over $53,000 for Speed the Light. That put us in the #9 spot in the nation. It was indeed an honor to represent all of you there.

Kristi and I had a whirlwind of a trip and Sarah is well on her way to being a world traveler. If everyone had kids that traveled as well as she did, they wouldn't hesitate to take more trips. We stayed at the Chateau on the Lake and had a chance to eat at Lamberts -Home of Throwed Rolls.

There are some exciting things happening around the world for the Kingdom and I am glad that we are on the front lines as a church and youth ministry.

However, this is no time to rest on out laurels. There are still missionaries and lost people who need our help.

With that in mind we are kicking off our Top it Off Campaign. We are asking everyone to give and offering equal to the cost of one tank of gas for each vehicle the drive. (It can be marked STL-Top it Off and dropped in any offering.) As an added bonus, each dollar given between now and March 31st will have and additional $1.50 added on, thanks to the generosity of Praise Assembly and a grant provided to Penn-Del Youth ministries.

Let's jump on board and make a difference more lasting than any Super Bowl victory.

PB