July 2013

Our Faith Baptist Church is greatly blessed these days with so many new visitors and people being saved regularly. Discipleship classes, Spiritual Growth classes, Old Testament Survey classes-many believers are participating in these opportunities and growing. I believe about 25 peple received certificates Sunday for having completed the Spiritual Growth Course. Add to that a strong preaching and teaching pulpit ministry, so we go to church every time wondering what will happen today!

Our pastor recently instituted what I call the “Hester Limousine Ministry” to get us to church and back so that Kathleen doesn’t have to drive (25 minutes each way). We have 3 different drivers each Sunday which gives us a great opportunity to share in their lives and pray with them. We had a lovely time recently with a young man driving us as I told him how his great grandfather came to the Lord in our Lebanon ministry and related events that happened about fifty years ago! We have always asked the Lord to let us be an encouragement until He takes us out and that prayer is being answered!

The doctor told Kathleen that she is not to drive alone so we are adjusting to that new standard. Her Alzheimer’s is imposing other restrictions and our life styles are, sometimes grudgingly, synchronizing with those changes. The old liberties die hard and we are asking the Lord to mercifully help us accept them thankfully and to cope.

Lancaster Baptist Church in California held a large Spiritual Leadership Conference in June and invited me to come since they were honoring some gray hairs at the conference and I had perhaps more of them than many. Plus I have been preaching and serving the Lord for 62 years. Kathleen insisted that I go when the invitation came several months ago. So I did and had a wonderful, encouraging time! Thank God Kathleen did well at our daughter’s home during my seven-day absence. The tribute can be viewed on: http://vimeo.com/68462882

With our 57^th wedding anniversary in July we are overwhelmed when we think of God’s faithfulness and goodness to us all these years. We try to focus on counting our blessings which helps to take the sting out of some of the changes that are difficult to accept. As we grow older it is beautiful to see how God ties things together.

After the tribute at the conference, a lady sitting directly in front of Pastor Bill Zaydan and me asked to speak to me. She said, “When I was a little girl you came and spoke about Lebanon at our church in Ohio. I determined at that time that I would make you my missionary and pray always for you. I grew up praying for you but eventually lost track of you and didn’t even know if you were still alive. I have never ceased to pray for you and tonight I know that you are alive and that God has answered my prayers.” That was a real blessing to me. You never know who God has out there (besides those of you whom we do know about) working for your good and supporting in prayer. Truly we serve a great God!