I hope that this report finds you healthy and happy. I also hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know that we certainly did. Let me fill you in on our November ramblings.

Prayer Requests

Brother J.C. Choate is still not doing well lately. Please pray for him and Betty and the World Evangelism Ministry.

Also, my Uncle Randy Swain, who had some severe heart problems last month, is still not doing as well as he would like. Please continue to pray for him and his wife Terri.

Another thing that I would like for you to pray for is a new congregation that has started in Vilonia, Arkansas. Vilonia was the largest city in Arkansas without a church of Christ within its city limits. Now there is one! I’m excited about the prospects of how this can help the church grow and for people to come to know Christ! Please pray for this effort and for evangelism in Vilonia!

Your Prayers for Support

It seems strange to ask people to pray for money. The loss of $300 a month in our living support over the past six months has greatly affected what we are able to do. Please pray that we can find the funds to cover this loss and pray that the remainder of our support stays intact. Also, pray that we can find the remainder of Barbara’s living. Right now she has a little over $800 per month coming in. I could also use your help in getting our newsletters into the proper hands and helping to arrange a visit to your congregation soon! Please talk us up if you can!

Wenasoga Meeting

In the October newsletter I started by saying that I had just returned from Wenasoga, Mississippi where I held a gospel meeting for them for the fourth straight year! The Wenasoga congregation is a group of great people! The meeting started on November 4thth. Michal and Jamie were in Wenasoga for Sunday but had to return to Winona for Jamie’s school. I was fortunate to stay with G.W. and Sherra Childs. G.W. serves as the preacher and one of the elders there. During this week I had the opportunity to do some things that I love. I got to revisit the Corinth Civil War exhibits and to visit the Shiloh Battlefield just across the border into Tennessee. On Wednesday I was invited by Steven and Sherri Perkins to metal detect on a piece of land belonging to their family. This land was part of the defensive entrenchment line around the city of Corinth. I was able to find some Spencer bullet casings, a piece of a sword, lots of farm nails and poison ivy. I had a great time though! and went through Wednesday the 7

Barbara

We’re still working on Barbara’s house. We are so close to being ready to paint that I can taste it! If only we could stay home long enough to get it done! Barbara has been working in her house caulking cracks around trim and baseboards. She is also still out hitting the trail, like I am, seeking her living support. On Nov. 2nd through 5th, she visited friends in Bastrop, Louisiana for Lexie Harper’s 80th birthday. She helped her friend Janice Harper throw the party! While there she met with the Swartz church of Christ. The next weekend, Nov. 11th, Barbara, Jamie and Michal visited the Greenville, Mississippi church of Christ. I was out of town. Our good friends Danny and Mary Holman have just moved there to serve that congregation. The last part of the month Barbara was with us visiting the churches in Michigan and Ohio. At the current time she has $818 dollars of the $1,500 that she needs for her living support. Please pray for her and help her if you can.

The Books Are Here!

Opportunities’ first book is finally in hand! In fact, 38 boxes of books were delivered to our offices today. The commentary on the Gospel of John is a book that is the first of its kind in the churches of Christ, a New Testament commentary directly from the ancient Greek into the Spanish language. In our fevered excitement to make sure that there were as little grammatical errors, we failed to add Enrique Martorells’ photo to the book… sorry Enrique… we’ll get it right in the next volume. We have already sold almost a hundred.Some of you have taken the Adoption Program to heart and have purchased copies for ministers in Central or South America. The next volume in the series is Enrique’s commentary on Revelation.

Adoption Program

(I had this section in our last two newsletters but I want to encourage everyone to participate.) I know that many of you will not be able to read a Spanish commentary on the Gospel of John but would still like to help this ministry re-coop the expense of publishing this work. We are asking individuals, families, youth groups, kids and adult classes at churches, ladies’ and men’s groups, retiree’s classes and entire congregations (did I leave anyone out?) to consider adopting a preacher in Central and South America.Many of these men cannot afford to add a book like this to their library and this new ministry certainly cannot afford to give them away as we would like to. We could use your help in sponsoring or adopting a faithful preacher by providing this volume for him. The book (250+ pages) will sale for $8.95 plus $3.75 for shipping. Tools like commentaries will help him become a better preacher and in return help the church grow. If you do not know an Hispanic preacher, here or abroad, let us help you. We have many, many contacts already who could benefit from your kindness. Let us know that you want to adopt!

Texas

I rushed home from Winona and had one day before I was on the road again. This time I was hitting spots in East Texas. I had personal business in Marshall, TX on Saturday so I left home on Friday. Saturday night I drove southward and was able to worship with the church in Conroe, TX in the morning. That evening I was able to speak at the Deer Park congregation in Deer Park, TX just east of Houston. I had a special reason for being there.This congregation had supported my friend Reggie in Sri Lanka for many, many years.The last time I spoke to Reggie he asked that if I ever found myself in the Houston area if I would go to Deer Park and personally express on his behalf how much their love and support meant to him. I was glad to fulfill that promise to my friend. Reggie died earlier this year. Over the next two days I was able to stay and visit with my sister Tracy in Victoria, Texas. I was also able to visit with my Uncle Randy whom we almost lost to his heart problems. Wednesday I returned home for a few days before hitting the road again.

Michigan

I returned home in a terrible rainstorm the night of the 14th and on the 16th we were on our way to Michigan to have Thanksgiving with Michal’s parents and to visit more churches. Barbara went with us. Our van’s cruise control is not working and we have started to have a problem with the dash controls for the heater. I was not prepared to travel that distance with those problems. The four of us crammed our persons and our luggage into my little blue Blazer and took off. The trip was a good one in spite of so much togetherness. We had a good visit and Thanksgiving with Michal’s parents, Janet and Harry Cybulski. We also visited the Dexter, Michigan congregation on the morning of the 18th and that evening we visited the Ottisville, Michigan congregation. I was fortunate to speak at both places. On Wednesday night we visited the Bristol Road congregation in Flint where Michal grew up and where we were married. On Friday Jamie got to go to Owasso, Michigan and see the steam engine that was used as the basis for the Polar Express. On Saturday we said our goodbyes and crammed ourselves back in the little car and headed for Cleveland.

Ohio

We had made arrangements to visit the Broadview Street congregation in Parma, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Michal’s cousin Roger Pace is the preacher there. Roger had been a navy chaplain for over twenty years and Jamie asked him a thousand questions about Navy ships. I was able to preach and talk about our work there too. After a slightly late lunch we headed for home with one short stop in Columbus, Ohio so that Barbara could visit her brother Mike. The very heavy holiday traffic, some traffic jams that caused slow-downs and complete stops on the interstate, plus some really nasty, rainy weather really slowed us down. We did not want the cost of hotel rooms and Jamie needed to be in school the next day, so I drove all night getting to Winona at about 6:30 am as the sun was coming up. What a way to end a trip! The remainder of the month looks kind of boring, off the road and working in the office!

Please keep us in your prayers!

On Behalf of Gospel Opportunities

J. Robert Swain

If you ever have questions regarding our work, travel or finances, I will be happy to answer those questions. I try to plan a trip to our supporting congregations at least once a year and to visit whenever I am asked to. We want you to feel confident that this work is active, productive and sound. Thank you so much for you help and for your prayers!

J.R.S.