The Mission Foundation
P. O. Box 46358
Baton Rouge, LA 70895
April 16, 2009
Dear friends,
Becky and I want to say “THANK YOU” once again to each of you who have provided the financial means for us to carry out our ministry. We know that we have said this many times through the years, but we feel compelled to keep on telling you how much we appreciate every gift.
Men’s Retreat – Holy Trinity Anglican Church (Jackson, MS): What a joy it was to serve with my son Jake at Holy Trinity’s men’s retreat on the last weekend of March. At the invitation of Dr. Tim Smith, pastor of Holy Trinity, I was the guest speaker and Jake led in music. Also, participating in the retreat was a group of African-American brothers from Healing Relationships Church (Holiness Pentecostal) and their pastor Rev. Robert Myers. There was almost exactly the same number of men from each church. We sang and prayed and studied God’s Word on the screened porch of a fishing camp that looked out on a beautiful little lake in some secluded woods in East Mississippi. The scene and the tone of the retreat reminded me of the men’s retreat which we held at James Lake near Ruston back in 1976 with Pastor Donald Tabb as our speaker. Some of you were at that retreat thirty-three years ago, and like me you may be remembering our final moments as we gazed on the glassy lake in prolonged, serene pondering. I give thanks to the Lord Who drew us near to Him then and Who continues to do the same today.
Jim Wood Preaching at Providence Bible Church in Denver: This will be Jim’s FIRST sermon. He will be preaching at his home church, which is a multi-cultural church in the heart of Denver. Bec and I have worshipped at Providence and were amazed at the wonderful cross section of the Denver inner city society that was there. We also had the opportunity to spend some time in Pastor Jason Janz’s home on a Sunday evening for our grandson Josiah’s dedication, which was attended by a roomful of loving people from Providence. I hope you will consider going to the Providence website to see their video presentations at http://www.providencedenver.org/videos.html Those videos present the vision of the church in a clear and moving way. Would you please pray for Jim between now and Sunday? And please be in prayer for him on Sunday morning. Thanks. I wish I could be there with him!
The Dominican Republic Medical Mission, May 25-30: Our son Jake, who is a physician, has organized a medical mission to the D. R. This is a missions outreach of Crossroads Church in Ruston. However, there are a number of people from here in Baton Rouge who will also be participating. Jake served on a short-term mission in the Dominican a few years ago, and he and I have looked forward to the day when he would return and I would be able to serve with him. I am very thankful that the opportunity has now come. We are not sure whether Bec will be able to join us, but she hopes to. I am sorry for the short notice, but if any of you are interested in going, please call Jake as soon as possible at 318-254-3664.
Louisiana Legislative Session: On April 27th, the House and Senate will convene, and final adjournment will be no later than June 25th. I have been ministering at the Capitol since 1993, and this is my tenth year to lead the weekly Bible Study / Prayer Breakfast. Please pray for our governor and for our legislators.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – International Evangelical Church: Pastor Girma wrote me a few weeks ago to share the following: “I just came to the office from the Men's prayer breakfast you started. It is going well. This morning we had 20 men getting together to study the word of God and pray together. We agreed to go through Purpose Driven Life as of next week.” Please pray for this group of men.
As I close this letter, I must mention that we are in need of additional monthly supporters. If you are not presently on our monthly support team, would you please consider participating? Even the very smallest amount on a monthly basis would be a great blessing to us. As always, we are enclosing a self-addressed envelope for your convenience, although some people choose to use various forms of online “bill pay.” Also, would you please consider including us among those for whom you regularly pray? Thanks.
In the Savior,
Rod and Bec
