September 2022 Prayer Letter

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September 2022 Prayer Letter

Dear Family & Friends,

In our last prayer letter one of our prayer requests was that we would see souls saved.  God has been faithful, and we have been blessed to see many come to Christ during this 3rd quarter of 2022. We started out July finishing out youth camp with our home church. Youth Camp is one of the main emphases for Arbanna Baptist Church each year. Most of the faithful congregation are involved in laboring to minister to the young people during that week. There were well over 500 in attendance and many more people came for each of the evening services under the tabernacle. One night, our pastor, Bro. Chandler preached and there was a great number of people calling out to God for salvation and others seeking assurance. There were over 20 people saved during that week. That following Sunday, July 3rd, we sang and preached at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church in Holts Summit, MO. It’s always a blessing to go to new churches that are mission minded and of like faith. The next week, July 10-15 we sang during the revival services at Lebanon Baptist Temple in Lebanon, OH. We had a good meeting and it was a blessing to see everyone at LBT again this year. During that week all of the kids started getting ill and that Saturday when we got up to leave out Misty was very sick. We had to cancel our Sunday appointment with Faith Baptist Church in Bruce, MS and get her home to the doctor. What started out as a virus turned in to pneumonia and a blood clot in her leg. We were able to go down and sing at Oak Bowery Baptist Church in Conway, AR that Wednesday, but we had to leave her at home resting. By the end of the week God had taken care of the blood clot, but we still had to cancel going to Parkwood Baptist Church in Greenville, SC while Misty was recovering from the pneumonia. By the following Wednesday, July 27th, she felt like she would be able to travel, so we headed out to sing at River City Baptist Church in Decatur, AL. Misty was still fighting the effects from pneumonia, and I am thankful for her willingness to press on as we ministered in many churches. July 28th and 29th we were in a youth meeting at Faith Baptist Church in Cordova, AL. Saturday, July 30th, we sang at Lantrip Baptist Church in Banner, MS, and the Sunday July 31st, we sang for the evening service at Talking Rock Baptist Church in Branson, MO.

August 1-3 we were blessed to be in youth camp with Pleasant Valley Baptist Church from Calico Rock, AR and several other churches. They held their camp near Heber Springs, AR and it was a blessing to be close to home. Misty was still recovering from pneumonia but was doing much better and God really helped her physically during those few days. It was also a blessing to get to spend time with the all the Riley’s and the Scott Matthews Family. There was one young man saved during the camp and we praise the LORD for that! August 5th-6th we attended a youth rally at White Oak Independent Church in Warrior, AL. Sunday, August 7th, we sang and preached at Victory Baptist Church in Lawrenceburg, TN. We were blessed to be able to spend a few days back at home in Arkansas that week and attend our home church on Wednesday night. Sunday, August 14th, we sang and preached at Four Points Baptist Church in TN for the morning service and at Faith Baptist Church in Spring City, TN for the evening service. It was a real blessing to be able to attend Faith Baptist for the first time. I and the oldest four of our children are going through their Bible College and Bro. Giddens and the other instructors have been a great help to us in our Bible education. That Wednesday we were grateful for another opportunity to be back at our home church. Thursday, August 18th, we sang at the Northeast Arkansas Bluegrass Festival in Harrison, AR. This festival gave us a chance to give the Gospel and sing about our saviour before a large audience. We are thankful God gives us opportunities like that to minister. Friday August 18th-20th, we were with our friends at Calvary Baptist Church in Fayetville, TN. It was a blessing to see the Clardy’s and to see and hear our Pastor, Bro Chandler, preaching at the meeting. We also had the privilege of meeting the guys that make up the gospel group Sound Doctrine. They were kind to us and I enjoyed seeing them pick and fellowship with my boys. We are very thankful to the Heeg family for allowing us to stay in their home while we were in Fayetteville. Sunday morning we sang at Way of the Cross Baptist Church in Dunlap, TN. That evening, August 21st, through Friday, August 26th, we attended the annual Jubilee at White Graves Baptist Church in Ranger, GA. We finished out our August meetings the following Sunday, singing and preaching at Believer’s Baptist Church in Elberton, GA that morning and singing at Lakeview Baptist Church in Greenwood, SC that evening. We made a stop for the evening at the Bank’s home in Greenville, SC. I thank God for his saints and their willingness to be a blessing to us as we travel. The next morning, August 29th, we made our way to Indianapolis, IN for the work week leading up to the annual tent revival there.

The Indianapolis tent revival is a meeting like no other. Bro Chris Hewett, Bro. Kevin Kemp, and Bro Samuel Fried bring the tent, and eight local churches come together to help reach Indianapolis with the Gospel. There were many opportunities to minister during our time in Indy. We were able to help with door tagging, tent setup, street preaching, singing, and praying during the tent meeting. During our 3 weeks in Indy, we also sang and preached in Liberty Baptist Church – Indianapolis, IN, Pine Grove Missionary Baptist Church – Delphi, IN, Victory Baptist Church – Greenfield, IN, and held a music workshop at Shadeland Baptist Church – Indianapolis, IN. The Lord also allowed us to present the need for support for our mission trip to Mongolia to the Central Indiana Pastors Fellowship while we were there. Many people came to Christ during the tent meeting. It is a reminder that there are lost souls out there waiting to be reached, looking for peace. Many of them are in places and parts of town that we avoid, but God wants us to reach them and will go with us to do so.

On September 17th we left Indianapolis and headed to the Mt. Carmel camp meeting in Flat Rock, NC. We were only able to be there for the Sunday and Monday services. We enjoyed the services and the hospitality of the Morgan family. The prayer meetings on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night were a particular blessing and will stick out in our memory from now on. There were two young ladies saved during the few days we were there. We left North Carolina early Tuesday morning so we could be on time for the evening service at Bethany Baptist Church in Courtland, MS. That is the church my dad pastors, and it was a blessing to be able to preach and sing in the camp meeting there. We have been to every camp meeting there in the churches 20-year history with exception of last year because we stayed in the Indianapolis tent meeting longer than it was originally scheduled. This made it special this year to catch up with those we missed last year. It was also a blessing to have Miss Lauren Clardy and Miss Macie Rochester come play and sing with our family during the meeting. It really added a lot to the services. September 24th and 25th we sang and preached at Sardis Baptist Church in Iuka, MS. It was our first time there and they had loads of food both days. You can always count on Mississippi people to cook a good meal. We are ending out this quarter in Missions Conference with our friends at White Oak Independent Baptist Church in Warrior, AL. We will be here through Sunday October 2nd.

 

 

Prayer requests –

Souls – We thank God for the souls we’ve seen saved in this last quarter,

help us pray for many more.

Mission trip to Mongolia in July 2023 – we need to raise over $20k for

tickets and related expense.

Travel Safety – we are covering many thousands of miles per month.

Van – Our van just turned 250,000. It has some issues, but God is

miraculously holding it together. Because of current inflation it will take $40-50K to replace it with one with less than 70k miles.

Monthly Support – We currently have one church that supports us

monthly. It is a great help to our ministry.

Radio Gospel Ads – Our gospel ads run on the Rock, Country, and Talk

radio stations in Mountain Home, AR at a cost of $360/month.

 

 

 

 

Pray they are effective in reaching people in that area.

Thank you for your praying for us,

 

The Ellis Family

Jonathan, Misty, Brianna, Caleb, Benjamin, Brinly, and Joshua

Preaching & Singing for his Glory!

1 Chronicles 16:9

www.ellisfamilygospelminstries.com