It's 9:33 pm (EST) and we are in a little earlier tonight - on purpose - as we have early mornings the next three days with our Mission Work which has expanded to 2 churches - Timothy Baptist and St. John Missionary Baptist, both in Roxbury, MA.



Today was another busy and outstanding day for all of us. We began by organizing an outdoor party on the parking lot of St. John Missionary Baptist Church. We used the "Block Party Trailer" provided by the Greater Boston Baptist Association - one of our excellent partners in this mission. We set up two bounces houses for the VBS children, played games, had a cookout, and also performed about 45 minutes of music for the crowd. This was "registration day," so Pastor Larry Green of Timothy Baptist wanted us to spend the day playing with the kids, getting to know their names, background, and personalities before beginning our formal teaching times tomorrow. Timothy Baptist will operate this VBS for 3 full weeks, so there is a lot of time ahead for these kids. We had almost 50 enrolled today from ages 3 to 14! We expect that number to grow each day. We ended the day playing with the children at a local park.



Around 4:30 pm, we headed by city bus and subway to the Quincy Market for an outdoor concert in this busy dining and shopping area. A large crowd gathered as began with with Patriotic songs, then moved into our worship songs. They were all enthusiastically received! I wish I could express all of the emotion and the real sense of risk you sometimes feel in singing, "Lift high the name of Jesus!" in an open air, public setting like that in today's culture - but it also feels so right to declare that He is Lord. It is exciting watching the students confidence build day by day in this expression. Our motto scripture - 2 Corinthians 3:12 says - "Therefore, because we have such a hope, we are very bold". More and more, we are seeing that come alive and ring true as a group, and as individuals -our boldness and our faith is growing as a result of this experience.



We have had the typical minor set-backs, technical issues, and mistakes that plague us as humans . . . yet - we have seen God answer so many prayers. We have been blessed by God with beautiful weather, a smooth and efficient tour, excellent concert attendance . . . the list is growing. Tomorrow - we set out for VBS from 8-5, as well as work projects - painting, construction, street evangelism, as well as another concert tomorrow night. There's a song in our heart at the end of this day . . .



I will yet praise Him, my great Redeemer.

I will yet stand up and give Him glory with my life.

He takes my darkness and He turns it into light,

I will yet praise Him, my Lord, my God.