Thursday, January 28, 2010
Mission Baptist Church
1:21 PM | 
Posted by
The Feere Family
This past Sunday, we had the PRIVILEGE to be in Mission Baptist Church, Brownsville, Ontario. What a blessing this group of people were to our family! They were so friendly! The pastor and his family are wonderful people, and we had such a great time getting to know them. Alan taught Sunday School, and then preached both services. Then, after the morning service, the church held a potluck lunch. I thought this was a great idea, as there was more time for us to be able to get to know more families in the church. One of the families included a fella that Alan went to school with. Wow!! After hearing some of the things that this young man had done in his earlier years, and seeing him now, it was evident that the Lord definitely changed this man!! What a great testimony he has (and such a beautiful family, too!) I must say, it was really hard to leave. We all made special friends, but Bethany in particular met some girls that now hold a special place in her heart.:)
Between services, we went to Pastor Rempel's house and had some fellowship with them. There, their sweet daughter taught Emily how to weave using STRAWS. I had never seen that before, but she picked it up quickly, and now she is making a blanket for a newborn baby. It was really neat!
During that afternoon, Alan had phoned Uncle Pastor and Aunt Marlene and told them about this terrific church that we were in and how it was ONLY 15 minutes from them. Well, they were so sweet, and they came out to be with us (but it was NOT only 15 minutes from them; sorry, guys). After the evening service, we joined them at Wendy's, and had a great time, even though our children felt like they HAD to show off for them. I am pretty sure they got into their vehicle, thanking the Lord for the peace and quiet:).
Well, I better get back to teaching the children. Thanks for reading!
Have a great day!
Psalm 113:1,2
Love,
Ida
Bethel Baptist Mission's Conference
Hi, there, friends! I hope all is well with you and your family!
Last week we drove back and forth to Simcoe to see what their Mission's Conference was like. We had a wonderful time!! It started on Wednesday night, but that particular night, we decided to put the children to bed on time, so the children and I stayed in Hamilton and went to Faith Baptist, while Alan drove to Simcoe to be at Bethel. He just wanted to put up our display, as many people from Bethel had not seen it. So he felt bad when all the other missionaries had their families there, and he did not. He did not expect to be a part of the conference because Bethel is already supporting us. But Pastor Bohman treated us as if we were a part of it. So he invited us to come back on Thursday and meet them at Al's Shoe Warehouse, and then to supper at the church. He bought all the missionaries a new pair of shoes! That's around 27 pair of shoes!! What a blessing!! We had a great time, and supper was delicious to boot!! Dr. Sisk was the keynote speaker, and he did a wonderful job. Friday night was the parade of nations in which all the Bethel Baptist School kids dressed up representing a different country, and sang in front of the church. They performed beautifully!! Again, the preaching was phenomenal. On Saturday, the church ladies provided a potluck banquet. The food was great, as was the preaching. I really enjoyed being at the conference and meeting other missionary families. I learned a lot from these families:)
Please pray for Alan's cousins: Brian and his wife, Jo, Dewayne, and Darlene along with their nieces and nephews. Their dad/grandfather passed away this past week, with the memorial service held this last Wed. Uncle Jack will be greatly missed by his loved ones.
If you will, also please pray for little Esther Elliott. She is 6 years old battling cancer. She is down to about 20 pounds, and doesn't have the strength in her legs to walk much, but she does enjoy playing with her siblings as much as she can. Her parents said that she doesn't really realize that she is suffering. What a blessing this family is!
The last prayer request is for the Togolese people. We need the Holy Spirit to be working in their hearts already. My heart YEARNS to be there.
Thanks so much for your outpouring of love, prayers and support! We love you guys!
Psalm 113:1,2
Have a wonderiffic day!
Love ya,
Ida
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Settling Back Into a Routine
Hello, Friends,
Just wanted to stop by and tell you thank you so much for your prayers and love. So many have be kind and generous to our family, and we are thankful and feel extremely BLESSED!!
Last night, we were to have a double date with Pastor and Faith Eagles, but Austin got sick to his stomach, so we stayed here at the church, and the Eagles came and over for some good fellowship and a late supper. We had such a wonderful time. We were greatly encouraged to hear of how wonderfully things here at Faith Baptist are progressing! We thank the Lord for a very faithful group of people.
We will be staying in Southern Ontario until next month, so there is no need to pack up during the week. So because of that, we are able to get into a routine of sorts and work really hard at getting our homeschooling done. It seems to be taking a long time, but progress is being made, and for that, I am thankful!
Alan and I have been getting concerned at what we have been allowing the children to eat. When we are on the road, we have cut back to 2 meals, but sometimes we stop at fast food restaurants for time's sake. Well, because we felt that we had been making poor choices, we decided to eat better, even at fast food places. So on Monday night when we were returning from Ohio, we stopped for supper at Wendy's, and we told the children that they HAD to get a grilled chicken wrap and a side other than french fries with anything except pop to drink. Well, Bethany says, "I want chicken nuggets and french fries!" (She must NOT have heard Alan's previous statements:). So Alan repeated his words, and she must have misunderstood, because she said, "WHAT??!!! No chicken nuggets or fries????? What kind of a CRAZY Wendy's IS this???!!" We couldn't help but laugh at her. Then he goes on to make the order, and she asked if the grilled chicken wrap at least TASTED like nuggets. We just told her she would have to see. Well, she had us in stitches the WHOLE dinner time. Apparently, it DID NOT taste like nuggets, and she let us know as much in a very funny manner. But she did enjoy her yogurt. We are planning a trip to visit the western part of Canada and the U.S. in July, and I can only imagine what kind of laughs that will bring from our little comedienne:o)
Well, I will sign off for now! Have a wonderful day!
Psalm 113:1,2
Love ya,
Ida
Monday, January 18, 2010
One More Thing About Calvary Baptist
I will preface this post by telling you of Brendin's and my many years of arguing about a particular baseball player. His name is John McDonald, (Johnny Mac) and he is a short stop for the Blue Jays. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this guy because just about EVERY TIME he plays, he makes some sort of amazing play that makes the Highlights. To me, that is a great record. Brendin says, the guy can't hit. My thinking is: that is what the other guys such as Wells, (I forget who else is on the team) are paid to do. They should be able to make great plays at the plate. But McDonald is an OUTSTANDING fielder!! So, because his hitting abilities are apparently not that great, the manager rarely puts him in the lineup, which (we are thinking in the flesh here) makes my blood boil!!!:) Brendin just laughs at me!!
Anyway, back to Calvary Baptist. The Assistant pastor there is married to a lady who is John McDonald's wife's BEST FRIEND!!! Isn't that neat?! This family has actually had dinner with the McDonalds!! So I asked the assistant pastor if he would give the McDonalds our prayer card, and tell them that I am one of his greatest fans. And he said he WOULD, and he would get him to autograph something for me. My family couldn't believe I did that!! I don't know if it will ever happen, but it did cause quite a bit of excitement in my life for a little bit. Brendin said, "Mom, if he does send an autograph of some sort, it's mine, O.k.?" I am thinking, we'll see about that!!:) I am usually not into celebrities or autographs or anything, but this is Johnny Mac we're talking about!!
Well, I better go check on the young uns!
Have a great day!
Psalm 113:1,2
Love,
Ida
I am sorry to be bombarding you with posts all on the same day, but right now, we are in a Holiday Inn Express, the rest of the family is upstairs still sleeping, and I have a little quiet to myself to be able to think. So I am trying to get as much writing and reading done as possible. You mothers understand what I am talking about, don't you;0)
Last week we had a great time with our friend Bro. Jim Arnold in Rochester, N.Y. We had originally planned to visit with him for two days and one night, and then go back to Hamilton, repack for our next meetings, and leave from Hamilton. However, the more we thought about it, the more we liked the idea of staying in Rochester until Saturday, and leaving for Toledo on Saturday. We did that, and it worked out fine. It showed us that we can live on a lot less clothes if we had to. I was able to do laundry while we were at the mission house, however we had not brought enough clothes to be able to go without doing laundry for three days in a row!! So, I had the privilege of doing laundry by hand in the motel room. Not a problem. I can do this!! I was just kind of wishing I had my washboard that Gary Viau so wisely gave me. (But I would NEVER tell him that I actually NEEDED it!! It would just go to his head.) Everything worked out ok.
So we arrived in Toledo on Saturday night to have supper with Pastor Rick Rust and his sweet wife, Tammy, of Liberty Baptist Church. They put us up in the Hampton Inn and Suites, and we had a great time with them. We were in their church on Sunday morning, and I am confident that we met several people that will pray for us. They were so nice, and asked so many questions. It was obvious that they were interested in Togo.
After service, the Rust family took us out to a mexican restaurant. I had not been to a good one in YEARS! It was great! The waiter was efficient, and he had everyone's order just right. When he came out with our orders, his left arm was LOADED with about 6 plates and he had someone's plate in his right hand. It truly was something to behold. Bethany is our entertainer, and she had the Rust kids laughing pretty much the whole time. Our kids were quite enthralled with her antics as well!! Then, when she's gotten everybody laughing, she will just look around very seriously, and ask, "What's so funny??" I don't know about that child!!
We then had to get on the road, because the next service began at 5 p.m., and it was a 2-hour drive. So we started off right after we ate, at about 2 p.m. About 1/2 the drive was highway driving, but the rest was really nice country side. It was relaxing, and the kids were all VERY quiet!!
So about 4 p.m., we pulled into the driveway at Calvary Baptist church in Ashland, Oh. The kids had to get out and get a picture of the church sign. Well, they did that, and then they jumped back in the van. See, their driveway is about 1/4 of a mile long or so, and Alan didn't want them walking to the church building, so he had them get back into the van. Well, about 3/4 of the way to the building, there was a sign that said, "Missionary Al Feere", and it gave the date and time of the service. Well, the kids saw that and went crazy!! They asked to get out and get a picture of that sign, too, and at the same time were yelling out, "We're famous!!!" We just laughed at them, and Alan very kindly told them that it was not THEIR names on the sign!! It was quite a sight! And I am sure that if anyone were watching, they would have certainly thought that this family was just NUTS!!
Pastor Harry Strachan, Jr. and his wife Andrea, and their daughter Alexis were a real blessing to be with. First of all, their church family is just an amazing group of people! They were so friendly, and asked MANY questions. Alan was able to give a short testimony, preach, and show our presentation. He did a great job!! After the church service, the Strachan family took us to Jakes Restaurant. The food was really good, (I have REALLY got to get back on the exercise bike!)and we really enjoyed our visit with them. They then put us up in a Holiday Inn Express. We will head home sometime today.
Thanks for praying!!
Psalm 113:1,2
Have a wonderful day,
Love,
Ida
January 3, Golden Harvest
I am so sorry!! I forgot to tell that we went to Golden Harvest Baptist Church in Stevensville, On., on January 3. Alan had the opportunity to fill in the pulpit for Pastor Smith while he was away for Christmas.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time with these sweet people. We left the children with Alan's mom in Simcoe. It was kind of weird not having them around, but I quickly got over that!!! We arrived there just a few minutes late as the weather driving over there was pretty bad. It then continued to snow the WHOLE day! A couple drove us to Niagara Falls for lunch at Swiss Chalet. The plan was to go to the pastor's house after lunch. They had left a key for us to go in and make ourselves comfortable. However, by the time we got back from lunch, it was 3 p.m., and we didn't feel like driving on those slippery roads if we didn't have to. So Alan and I chose to stay at the church. There, we found a room that had a couple of couches. So we made ourselves at home. IT WAS NICE!! Thanks, Golden Harvest, we had a great time, we can hardly wait to be in your Missions Conference in October!!
Have a great day!!
Psalm 113:1,2
Love,
Ida
Thursday, January 14, 2010
First Weekend as Full-time Travelers
(Hi, everyone! This post actually took 5 days before I could actually finish writing and posting it. Sorry!!)
Hi, there, friends! Thanks so much for praying for us. Right now, we are in Rochester, N.Y. visiting our good friend and fellow missionary, Bro. Jim Arnold. IGM (Independent Gospel Missions) has generously allowed us to stay in their missions house. It is quite comfortable, and we are enjoying our stay here. And as always, we enjoy visiting with Bro. Arnold. He can REALLY get the kids excited!!
Last Sunday began our first weekend on our full-time travels. It was really exciting! We traveled down to Twinsburg, Ohio Saturday evening, and spent the night in the Comfort Suites there. The receptionist was VERY friendly, and we had a restful night. I forgot to get pictures of everyone dressed up in the motel room. I was kind of disappointed about that. My plan was to get a pic done, so that at the end of our traveling time, we could compare and see how the kids will have grown. We were a bit rushed, so I will have to get one this weekend. Anyway, about the churches:
Our Sunday morning service was at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Big Prairie, Ohio. There, we met a group of people that was obviously on fire for the Lord! They a-mened during the preaching, prayed at the altar, and the spirit was sweet. After service, we joined Pastor Martin and his family for lunch in the basement of their church building. Mrs. Martin provided such a great-tasting meal. It brought back so many memories of our last year at Faith Baptist, as that is what we did most Sundays. This pastor's family was such a blessing, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them. Being at this church also reminded us of our college church in Springfield, Missiouri, Hillside Baptist Church. We had a great time, and the people really made us feel welcome.
We then drove on to Brunswick, Ohio, where we joined Southwest Baptist Church. There, we met Pastor Greg Davis and his dear family. The people there were so friendly and gracious. We enjoyed our time there, also. Alan was able to present our ministry, show our presentation, and sing a solo. After church, we joined the pastor and his family for some food and fellowship at a local restaurant. We didn't get on the road until 10p.m. It was 3 a.m. before we got home. Pastor Davis offered to put us up for the night, but we needed to get home as Alan had a commitment to take care of early Monday morning.
Our first weekend on the road full-time was fantastic!!
Please pray for safety for us. So far, Alan has done 100% of the driving, so we have been pretty safe thus far;)
Thanks for reading!
Psalm 113:1,2
Love, Ida
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Catching Up
Hi, there, everyone! I am so sorry we haven't blogged in a while. At this moment we are in a hotel room in Twinsburg, Ohio, so we have access to high-speed. I kind of feel like I have been out of touch with the world. Anyway, we pray that everyone had a great Christmas, and New year. We did. The Lord is great!! We had the privilege of being at New Testament Baptist Church in Hamilton on Dec. 27. We were so blessed!! The children were able to catch up with some of their friends (many from Camp Y.E.S.). We spent the afternoon relaxing with a sweet family. The food and fellowship were great. The church got together and SPOILED our children with many gifts and even some spending money. This church was VERY generous!! I know the Lord will bless them for their generosity!! I was really overwhelmed. My prayer is that our children realize that somewhere along the line, someone SACRIFICED something, so that he or she could be a blessing to missionaries. We are so thankful and grateful!!
I had a conversation with someone there at New Testament who must be fairly new to the things that go on with missionaries. So I explained to this person the calling of a missionary, pre-field ministry (formerly known as deputation), etc. So after I explained all that to said person, he asked how we were to get along without having a stable income of sorts. I said, "That is where living by faith comes in."
He replied, "Well, yeah, we are told to live by faith, but come on, to what extent?"
My reply was, "Completely!!"
"But can that be done?" he asked.
"It HAS to be, and it HAS BEEN!" was my answer.
Right at that moment, my stomach did a major flip-flop. We actually HAVE to COMPLETELY live by faith, and reality set in! What a great God we serve! I was told that He gave us over 7,000 promises in His Word! Isn't He so good to us?! Looking back over the past few years, I can see where the Lord has trained us for this time in our lives. There were many times that as I am sure many of you have had to do, we HAD to give things over to the Lord and wait on Him. And He supplied. Our family has "prayed in vehicles, houses, and countless other things", and were always in awe as the Lord took care of need after need. But we had to LEARN to do that, but I am just asking myself, "Was it really constant?". As Christians, aren't we ALWAYS supposed to be living by faith? We say that we are, but are we really? I am kind of thick-headed, and many times, it takes me a lot longer to learn these great truths about our Saviour. But I am so glad He didn't give up on me!! I am so glad that His timetable is perfect, and that He has a desire to use us! I am so glad that we HAVE to live by faith COMPLETELY! Over the Christmas Holiday, there were about 2 weeks that Alan did not have to preach anywhere, so we went to Bethel Baptist in Simcoe. There, the Lord used many people, as well as people of Faith Baptist in Hamilton, to be a blessing to us. As the Lord continued to bless, and many times "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches..." came to my heart. There He goes, keeping His promises again! We are so unworthy of His greatness, yet He still chooses to bless.
Just before I sign off, I want to tell you about a special family that gave something up just to be a blessing to us. Each year, this family draws names and decides on a limit for a dollar amount for each gift. This year, they chose to instead of buying gifts for each other, they would collect the money that they would have spent, and gave it to our family. Isn't that so nice??!! I know this family personally, and I am not surprised that they have done something of this magnitude. I am praying that this family will be blessed beyond measure.
Well, I still want to blog about our first weekend of full-time pre-field ministry, but I have to go make supper. Hopefully I can get back to blogging in a couple of days.
Psalm 113:1,2
Have a great day!
Love,
Ida
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