April 2003
On the 17th of March, Teri and I rushed
out of a used bookstore in Burlington, VT to discover the source of the
belligerent honking that we could hear in the streets.
Once outside, we watched a group of cement trucks parade by, decorated
with shamrocks to celebrate ST. PATRICK�S DAY!
As I saw the parade I asked myself�just who was St. Patrick
anyway? And why do people all over the world celebrate his birthday?
Since his birth in 389 A.D., Patrick is one of the few men who is famous
for something he never did!! Turning
Ireland to Catholicism!! Rather
than the Roman Catholic from Ireland who �drove the snakes out of Ireland�
as we commonly hear today, Patrick was actually a Bible-preaching missionary
from Britain who defied the pagan Druids and declared the gospel of Jesus Christ
to thousands in Ireland. He
baptized an estimated 120,000 converts, built 300 churches, and eventually
helped send missionaries out all over Europe.
He was not a Roman Catholic, nor was he their Saint!
Eleven of our nineteen meetings in March were in the New England area.
Through the influence of my former pastor, Moses Yoder, a church-planter
in Vermont, we scheduled three weeks� worth of meetings in and around the
�Green Mountain State.� Our
base for these three weeks was an RV set up behind the Yoder�s house that Todd
and Rebekah Bellavance, members of the Yoder�s church, graciously allowed us
to use as a temporary residence. During
our stay, we knocked on doors, taught in the Patch-the-Pirate Club, sang and
played piano for the services, went sight-seeing, visited the nursing home,
attended a funeral, and witnessed on the street.
The Yoders were very hospitable hosts to us, and we thank the Lord for
the time we spent with them.
We also want to thank the Lord for the abundant blessings
of last month:
1-Three
new supporting churches that increased our support to 45%:
Trinity
Baptist Church
in Atlanta, GA
Bethel
Baptist Church
in Bethel, VT
Berean
Baptist Church
in Cumming, GA
2-One
profession of faith in Hardwick, VT,
3-Bill
Compton of Washington, IL who fixed our car free of charge,
4-Safety
as we traveled 5,200 miles, and
5-The
80 people who signed our prayer journal.
Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray for safety as we
travel, for doors of utterance to be opened, and for the Lord to give us 100% of
our support by April of 2004.
Yours
to Evangelize the World in Our Generation,
Travis and Teri Snode
P.S.
Please make a note of our new mailing address:
209 Bald Cypress Drive, Clover, SC 29710.
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