Youth – Strength – Greyheaded

“I will go in the strength
of the Lord God.” 

Psalms 71:16

“I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine  only. ¹⁷ O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. ¹⁸ Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.”

Our Prayers and Hopes for Each and Every Day

We are celebrating sixty years of ministry since my ordination in 1954 while planting Temple Baptist Church in El Dorado, Kansas. 

God has given us a rich and full life of service, first in in El Dorado, then in Tripoli, Lebanon for 17 years and finally in Australia for 38 years. We gave most of our youth to Lebanon and for everything that was accomplished we have “declared Thy wondrous works.” All the credit was His. It is such a blessing to see it continuing today.

Now we are old and cry out, “O Lord forsake us not!” We desperately need His strength and grace “until I have shewed Thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.” I shared with Kathleen that our infirmities in old age are a divine opportunity to show the younger generation that Christ is ever sufficient regardless of our stage of life. We try to declare and show His righteousness (right-doing). He makes no mistakes in the portion He gives us to bear.

An Evening of Godly Music

We asked prayer in our last newsletter containing the testimony of Pastor Graham West who has a brain tumor. He has declined rapidly the past two months. His ability to speak is now gone and other functions are being affected. He can still smile.

Please pray for his wife Cathie. His son has been called to pastor the church and needs prayer. He is a sincere young man who has little experience in Christian leadership.

We cannot understand why the Lord is taking this capable pastor but His wisdom is unsearchable and always right. “I will make mention of Thy righteous-ness, even of Thine only.” We should never question His gracious and right doings!

Bible History Online

A dear brother in El Dorado began the work of putting our Bible History materials online. Another brother joined in to help him and I learned how to do it as well. They finished their part on the New Testament course and I have about finished the Old Testament. A young lady from our church here has also recently pitched in to help me. I will soon give a report on this project and its potential.

Lebanon News

The time is near for a close Lebanese friend to take up the pastorship of the church just outside of Tripoli, Lebanon. Please pray some final obstacles might be removed and  for this important move that God’s richest blessings will be upon this pastor’s new ministry there. 

Lebanon Beyt Mindere Camp

Extensive renovations are under way high in the Lebanese mountains at the Good Shepherd Conference Center. Pray that the work will continue to go smoothly and finish soon in time for the summer season of camps. Several other churches beside Pastor Traboulsi’s Lebanon Baptist Church will be conducting camps in Beyt Mindere.