Rogers Update 5/3/2019
May 5, 2019
Greetings from Home!
Yes, I am finally home after my Alaskan adventure! So much happened. Where do I begin? Let’s see… I was in Alaska about six weeks. I spoke in three churches, spent time with many close friends, did Bible studies, saw one moose, had 53 meetings with people (including lunches, dinners, and other stuff), got to go to camp for the Men’s Retreat (beautiful country setting), shoot guns!!, and took a three hour small plane flight over the White Mountains. The trip to Alaska was not a boring trip – but I don’t think I have ever had a boring trip to anywhere!
The main reason for going to Alaska was to temporary take over Hamilton Acres Baptist Church in Fairbanks for Pastor Bruce while he and his wife, Lena, traveled to China. Their trip was about four weeks long, and I served as Interim Pastor and speaker while they were away. Pastor Bruce and Lena had a great missions trip filled with amazing events that only God could put together. It was a privilege to serve in their place at Hamilton Acres, allowing them to be away.
I was involved in counseling during this trip to Alaska. I would like to thank all of you who pray for me when I travel. I need wisdom as the Lord leads me to people who seek my help. I always come to care for each one I am counseling with. It is a joy to see God work in a fellow believer’s life. Also thank you for praying for Beabea – nothing major broke down in the home while I was gone. That was a blessing to my dear wife!
While I was in Alaska, I received a phone call from my five year old granddaughter, Morgan. She informed me that she had just gotten saved and was going to Heaven. Does it get any better than that? All those prayers for grandkids are worthwhile!! Got to keep praying! A lot more lies ahead for these precious little ones!
Finally, on my trip home, I had another adventure in God working. As I was preparing to return home, I was a little discouraged that most of my seats on the 3 flights needed to get home were middle seats. I had an image of my nice slim body (laugh, laugh) squeezed between two large people for each of the four hour flights. I asked for different seat assignments, and to my amazement, I was able to be switched to aisle seats on two very full flights. My seat on the last flight home from Seattle to Indianapolis put me next to a couple of young people. They were older teens traveling together. One of them (a young man) had parents sitting in the seats behind us with another lady next to them (I think his grandma). The other teen sitting next to the young man was a young lady who had been dating the young man for about a year. Did you get all that straight? Anyway, they were on their way to someone else’s wedding. (I found all this out later.)
After the plane lifted off the runway, the two teens took out a pocket travel game called “Twist” or something like that. I watched them play for a while. They actually were quite good at it. I gave them a compliment on their playing, and they asked if I would like to try. Obviously, I was not as good as they were, but they continued to coach “the old guy”, and I got better. We spent about an hour playing the game and then began to visit where I learned the above stated facts. I also learned that they were LDS (Mormons). They were very interested in what it was like for me to live in Utah as a pastor of a Baptist church. We had a great conversation that left a very open door to continue building a relationship with them. One of the things I shared in our conversation was that I had worked with many LDS friends in the Pro-life movement while in Utah. I also told them I had wrote a book on the abortion issue title, Terminal Option. They were very interested in that and wanted to receive a copy. They gave me their address. After arriving home, I sent each of them a copy of the book on abortion and the CD where I teach on relationships. Please pray that the Lord will continue to allow me to build on this “new relationship” with these young people. God never makes mistakes. Let’s see what He has in mind.
Thanks for praying, giving, and being our support team!
John
John (and Beabea) Rogers
jtrbem@gmail.com
7265 West 320 SouthRussiaville, IN 46979Home: (765) 889-3264Cell: (765) 753-0056
Commissioning Church: Shepherd Road Baptist Church, P.O. Box 1054, Mulberry, FL 33860
Barnabas Enrichment Ministries
P.O. Box 229
Elkhart, IN 46515-0229
(765) 667-2532
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