Updates

Happy New Year to everyone!  We trust you all had a wonderful holiday season with family and friends.  We enjoyed our two trips at the end of the year – our international trip to Moldova to spend Thanksgiving with Alanna’s sister and brother-in-law, and then our stateside trip to Oklahoma to spend with Alanna’s parents and other siblings for Christmas.  We praise the Lord for safety and strength with the many miles traveled, and for the great memories made with family.

The beginning of 2019 will keep us around home and ministering at our church.  Our Pastor has bone cancer and is going through treatments, and so I will be filling the pulpit several times, especially after he has his bone marrow transplant sometime in February.  We are grateful the Lord worked it out that we can be here and be a help as needed.

Would you please pray that the Lord would continue to fill our schedule for later in the year?  We are thankful for the doors that have already opened, but we are eagerly looking to God to bring in more opportunities.  Please check out our itinerary and be praying for the meetings we have!

May we all look to Christ in 2019 and be busy about His service!

The Lord certainly blessed in our last two meetings in October.  We enjoyed being with and ministering to the precious folks of the First Baptist Church in Rochelle, IL.  It was so good to see and catch up with those we already knew, and then it was good to make some new friends!  I sensed the Spirit’s liberty in each service, and from the hands raised and the comments made I know God was working in many hearts.  The last night three hands were raised for salvation; while no one made a decision that night, I trust that the Lord will give an increase in each heart very soon!

A special blessing of the meeting for me was going with the Pastor to visit three different individuals who have cancer, and two are very close to going home.  To see these saints’ peace and trust in the Lord was very encouraging and was something I needed to help keep life in perspective.  I will remember those visits for a long time!

After our meeting in Rochelle, we then headed southeast to the little town of Sanford, VA, where we spent the week with my best friend and his family at the Hall’s Chapel Church.  Pastor Tarr has been there for just over a year now, and while it is a smaller work I can tell it is definitely headed in the right direction.  The church people were very sweet and we had good services each night, with the people again making comments of how God was working in their lives.

Another blessing of the trip was taking our kids to the ocean for the first time!  You can of course imagine how much they enjoyed that (us big kids too!).  We were all powerfully reminded of what an awesome and majestic God we serve!

Although our meetings are done for the year, we will still keep busy moving around; we fly out to the European country of Moldova on November 18.  We will be there for a few weeks visiting Alanna’s sister and brother-in-law who are missionaries.  Once we get back in early December, we will have a few weeks home before heading to Oklahoma to be with Alanna’s parents for Christmas.  Thank you for your prayers for our ministry; we trust you will have a wonderful holiday season increasing Christ to all those around you.  I will catch back up with you in the new year and let you know what God has in store for us in 2019!

God gave us a wonderful meeting at Ottumwa Baptist Temple in Ottumwa, IA, this past week!  We thoroughly enjoyed our time meeting and ministering to these sweet folks.  We started the week with an Old-fashioned Sunday!  Many people got into it by dressing up, there were horse rides for the kids, a sawing contest for the men, and, my personal favorite, a pie-baking contest!  It was a special way to start off the week; you know, revival does have an old-fashioned flavor to it!

The response throughout the week was tremendous; it was obvious that God was working in hearts as there were folks at the altar every service.  My prayer is that God would continue His reviving work in lives, and that there would be much fruit that would be produced as a result of what God did.

We begin a meeting on October 14 at First Baptist Church in Rochelle, IL, and then it’s off to Virginia for another meeting at the end of the month.  We are continuing to adjust with having a little baby around now; he is doing well and we are beginning to get more sleep at night!  Would you pray with us for safety and strength in the coming weeks, and that God would continue to be glorified through our lives?  Thank you and God bless!

 

Introducing Elijah Paul Geiseman; born July 31, 11:25pm.  7 lb.6oz., 20 inches long.  Both he and Alanna are doing great; thanks for all the prayers!

The month of June kept us very busy with three straight weeks of ministry opportunities.  I am still trying to physically recover after all the long days and nights!  I’m certainly not complaining, as it is such a privilege to serve the Lord and His grace is always sufficient when we are weak.  The first week we were busy at our home church with VBS.  We had a good number of kids and saw at least one profession of faith.  There were many other kids who had no church background and it was a blessing to sow the seed of God’s truth in their hearts!

We then left home and headed to Kansas to preach at Challenge Christian Camp.  This week was a special treat for us in many ways.  Alanna grew up attending this camp and it was a blessing to her to see many of the Pastors she has gotten to know so well.  It was a treat for me because I got to do a lot of what I love to do – preach!  I spoke four times a day to different age groups, and the Lord was certainly working in hearts.  There were three kids that I know of who trusted Christ as Savior, and many other surrender type decisions were made.  What a joy to hear many of the campers give testimony the last night of what God had done in their lives!

The week was a blessing for Haileigh as she got to be a camper, and it was a blessing for Dom because he trusted Jesus as His Savior!  He wanted to talk to me one night after the service, and it was evident that he was ready to be saved.  We thank God for our children and their personal decisions to trust Christ!

We then quickly headed back to Illinois because I had to be at the First Baptist Church in Pecatonica, IL, to be a part of their VBS and teen week.  God again blessed with a good attendance and good liberty in preaching to the teens.  It was a blessing spending some time with my former youth leaders and thinking back on the work God has done in my life; now being able to influence the next generation is such a humbling thing.  All glory to God!

Apart from a few pulpit supply’s, the next few months will be relatively quiet as far as traveling goes, but not quiet at our house!  Yes, that’s because my wife is due at the end of this month with our third child (and first baby!)  We look forward to sharing in the next post about our new arrival!  God bless you all and keep pressing forward!

Praise the Lord for His working that we have seen in the last several weeks!  April was both a busy and an exciting month!  I was preaching somewhere four out of the five Sunday’s.  I filled the pulpit at two different churches the first and last Sunday of the month, and we had two revival meetings in between.  We were privileged to be with the Calvary Baptist Church in Urbana, IL, for a half-week, and the Lord gave us wonderful services.  On Sunday morning we had a college student from the Congo named Joseph who walked the aisle and told the Pastor he wanted to accept Christ as His Savior!  Though he didn’t understand much English, he knew and communicated that he wanted to trust Jesus and he did.  We learned he was a former Muslim who converted to some type of Protestant faith, but now he is born again!  We heard many positive comments of the Lord’s working in other peoples lives as well for which we give all glory to God.

We then traveled to Lewistown, IL, and had a meeting with the First Baptist Church and Pastor Eric Sawyer.  We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know this group of believers, and I believe God was working in hearts there too.

On another note, I heard from a Pastor we were with in March that one of the men we shared the gospel with finally trusted Christ alone as His personal Savior!  I know we are to just be faithful in sowing the seed, but it is such a blessing to see when God gives the increase in lives!

We are home for the month of May, and then off to a camp in Kansas in June.  God bless each of you as you serve Him faithfully!

Rom.8:37 – “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us”

The Lord blessed us with two wonderful meetings back-to-back at the end of March.  First, we were with Pastor James McGowin and the Westmoreland Independent Baptist Church in Colonial Beach, VA.  It was a blessing to minister to these precious believers and we saw God work in hearts each service.  Unfortunately, we had to cancel the last service due to a snow storm, but we trust God’s purpose in everything.  An added blessing for our family was to visit George Washington’s birthplace!  We love to be able to see neat places as we travel across the country.

We then headed to the small town of Casey, IL, and had a meeting at the Grace Bible Church with Pastor David Snow.  Though this is a small work, the people were very gracious and hospitable, and, more importantly, they were very receptive to the Word of God.  We had one man respond for salvation after the Sunday morning service, and although I don’t believe his understanding is where it needs to be, I believe he is genuinely seeking and I trust he will soon come to know Christ!  The Pastor and I had another good talk with a man who has been prayed for for many years; he did not accept Christ but I pray that God would give the increase very soon!  What a blessing to be used of God to point others to Him!

We will stay in Illinois this month of April but we will keep busy going around.  We have two revival meetings and two pulpit supply’s.  We covet your prayers as we continue to increase Christ in this increasingly dark world.

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ” –          2 Cor.2:14

 

We had a very enjoyable Christmas and New Years here at our home church. The Lord allowed me to preach at a Spanish church in the area for their teen Christmas party which was a real blessing.  January was pretty quiet as far as traveling to other churches – I was able to do one pulpit supply the last Sunday of the month.  I also did a mini Sunday school series at our home church concerning the greater works that we desperately need to see!

We have just got back home after being gone back-to-back weeks.  We were with Pastor Dan Stertz and the Bible Baptist Church of Hudson, WI, for a week of meetings and what a blessed time it was!  We had a wonderful time of  ministering to and getting to know those precious folks.  God gave us good services each night and we pray that the seed of His Word would continue to grow in hearts!

We left Wisconsin, had a quick 2 days home in Rockford, and then left again for my grandmothers funeral in North Carolina.  It was an honor to be able to sing with my siblings and then also preach the service along with my cousin.  Grandma and Grandpa had a huge influence on me towards going into ministry and I will forever be grateful!

We have a few weeks now at home before back-to-back revival meetings at the end of March .  Thank you for your prayers and support of our ministry.  God bless and keep on the firing line!

John 9:4 – “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work”

The Lord certainly blessed us with a very profitable October and November!  In October we ministered in music and preaching all day Sunday at churches in Oak Lawn, IL, and Milledgeville, IL, as well as preaching at our home church.  God gave us good services with many hearts being touched by the Word.

I preached a revival meeting a few years ago, but in the first week of November we had our first official one since we launched out full-time!  We were at the Perryopolis Baptist Church in Perryopolis, PA, and what a tremendous week God gave us!  It was wonderful to see decisions made in every single service and many spiritual victories that God wrought.  We had a testimony time the last night and my heart was thrilled to hear how the Lord was working in the lives of His people.  The church family was so sweet and took great care of us – we couldn’t have asked for a better first meeting!

We were at three other churches the rest of November for pulpit supply, and again, it was a blessing to meet more of God’s people and minster to them.  Alanna also had the privilege the other night to speak for a church at a Ladies Tea, which was a good opportunity and experience for her.

As of now our schedule has quieted down and we look forward to being here at our home church for the Christmas season and partaking in all the special activities.  Our expectation is from the Lord to continue to fill our schedule for next year as He sees fit.  Thank you for your prayers and may you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We started September preaching a back to school two day retreat for a Christian school in Pekin, IL.  The Lord blessed with good liberty and good decisions made.   I always enjoy preaching to teenagers as I am not that far removed from being one!  I pray God would continue working in the lives of the kids in Pekin, and that He would raise up another generation of servant’s for Him!

The rest of September kept us busy as I had a place to preach each of the four Sunday’s.  I filled the pulpit twice for a church in Harrison, IL, and then also preached two Sunday’s at my home church in Rockford as my Pastor was out of town for different things.  I am grateful to the Lord for these opportunities and we had wonderful services each week.

This past Saturday we ministered in music and preaching at a church banquet in Milledgeville, IL.  What a blessing to be with Pastor Farmer and his sweet folks.  God gave us a wonderful evening and I trust the Lord used His Word in the hearts of the people.

We even fit in a small vacation to Branson, MO, in the middle of September which we all enjoyed!  I will be preaching 3 out of 5 Sunday’s in October at 3 different churches, and then we have a half-week revival meeting in Pennsylvania the beginning of November.  God is continuing to open doors and we praise Him and look forward to these next few months of ministry!  Would you please pray with us that Christ would be increased everywhere we go?  Thank you and God bless!