More Blessed

Without a doubt, one of the most precious moments of my 2006 survey trip to Cambodia was seeing Candace, Deborah, Emma, and Faith Benefield as I opened up that suitcase. That suitcase was solely dedicated to bringing long-anticipated goodies from the States- Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, children's books (Candace and Deborah are avid readers- I'm sure by now Emma has become one as well!), various types of chocolate, and a plethora of other things.

One of the coolest items in the suitcase was some Patch the Pirate tapes that Shelley Hamilton personally gave to me a few days before I flew to Cambodia. Ron and Shelley Hamilton attended my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary at the campus of Bob Jones University. I was to depart just four days after that event, and my grandfather was telling everyone to pray for me. When Shelley Hamilton heard of the trip, she offered to take me over to the Majesty Music store and let me pick out some gifts to take to the missionary kids.

I will never forget the look on Candace's face when I said, "Candace, Sissy Seagull (Shelley Hamilton) personally gave me these tapes and wanted me to deliver them to you." Her face lit the entire room with joy.

I have so many fond memories of my first trip to Cambodia; but none that equal the joy I experienced in my heart that evening we opened up that suitcase. Truly, it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Where We're At & Where We're Goin'

Just a quick update on where we are and what we are doing. So far, we have been in the following churches:
North Hollywood Baptist Church- North Hollywood, CA
Central Baptist Church- Houston, TX
Victory Baptist Church-Loganville, GA
Zion Hill Baptist Church-Greenville, SC
Bethel Baptist Church-Hampton, VA
Harvest Baptist Temple- Jonesboro, GA
Vision Baptist Church-Alpharetta, GA
Fannin Road Baptist Church-Montgomery, AL
New Life Baptist Church- Conyers, GA
Western Hills Baptist Church- Kennesaw, GA
Crooked Creek Baptist Church- Athens, GA

Praise the Lord for giving us the following meetings that we will be in starting next week and going through mid-December.

Whitfield Baptist Church- Dalton, GA
Victory Baptist Church- Charleston, SC
First Baptist Church- Long Beach, CA
Lancaster Baptist Church- Lancaster, CA
Sequoia Baptist Church- Visalia, CA
Gospel Light Baptist Church- Selma, CA
First Baptist Church- Castaic, CA
McKee Road Baptist Church- Bakersfield, CA
Bible Baptist Church- Victorville, CA
Bible Baptist Church- Gardena, CA
Lighthouse Baptist Church- Santa Maria
Los Angeles Baptist Church- Los Angeles, CA
Berean Bible Baptist Church- Duarte, CA
New Testament Baptist Church- Armona, CA
Liberty Baptist Church- Norwalk, CA

Linda and the kids are doing wonderful. Ellie is definitely the most challenging part of our deputation right now, but it's not really her fault. How would you like to be a year and a half old and have to be dragged from church to church and state to state, and not have your own room to play in or a consistent schedule? With that being said, she is actually doing great. Just pray that we will be patient with her. As for Judson- well, he just goes with the flow.