October Newsletter - Lufkin

See you at the pole. High school football. College football. Professional football. Tropical Storm Imelda. Bring your Bible to school day. What a busy back to school month!

EMPLOYMENT REPORT:

• New jobs-7
• Still working-7
• The Fieldhouse-5

Praise the Lord!

Our population exploded in the women’s dorm when Crystal’s other three children moved in. Then one month old Paul moved in with his parents.
September saw us settling into the school year routine. The Wednesday morning Bible Study that I attend started back up. For eight weeks we will study “Defined-Who God says You Are”. It is from the Kendrick Brothers, Stephen and Alex.

Christi attends the Bible Study Fellowship which meets Thursday nights. They are studying Acts and the letters of the apostles. There is so much to read, learn and share in God’s word. Wow!

Most of the residents are working. Praise the Lord! Several of our folks moved out this past month. We are not always sure that person is ready to move out, but the choice is theirs. God knows and He will convict or grow these people where they are.

Louis and Clark stayed a few days. Sacagawea was not her name but Clark soon left with his fair maiden, Jana. Louis had a short hospital stay for his heart condition. He is back and doing much better. Crystal and Christine and Kirsten names filled the women’s dorm. Plus we had a Christopher on the men’s side. Add two Browns and two Pauls.

More fun with names. The Price was Moore than 5 Nichols for the Young Carpenter who wanted to paint the door Allred. He sadly Lay on the Cliff while he was trying to Guess the beautiful Harmony from below. Whew! That was a mouthful of a month full of names.

Two men who are attending The Fieldhouse moved out this past month. They are still attending class and going to work. Good job, guys! Larry and Andy are still here. They are working and attending The Fieldhouse sessions, also. They all have different life plans and goals. We pray that all these men will have the same Savior and God. There is no doubt about them hearing the truth of the gospel at GODTEL and at the Bible study at The Fieldhouse each class night.

Tropical Storm Imelda did not stop our guest cooks who came with delicious meals in hand. We enjoyed soup, soft tacos, chicken enchiladas, Subway sandwiches, (ham or turkey) pork chops and a beef macaroni casserole.

As much as we enjoy the guest cooks and their specialty menus, we also enjoy the many meals that Dolores prepares and serves  the rest of the month.

Martin, his mom and I had the opportunity to go to Spring to see our daughter and her two girls. It was a good weather day and the traffic was most cooperative. We just hung-out. “The Sound of Music” was our background scenery and music while we played games and put puzzles together. And with any family gathering there was food. We ate a delicious chicken meal. Emily helped her mom with the “hors d’oeuvres”. After Martin’s mom took a brief nap it was time to head home. What a lovely day we had. Thank you, Lord, for our precious daughter and her family.

The year was 1997. The place was GODTEL Ministries in Lufkin, Texas. The new building was opened for business. We had a dedication of the building and had prayers spoken over the ministry of sharing the gospel.

The building houses the kitchen, cafeteria/auditorium, laundry room and ten rooms for the men’s dorm. Martin, assisted by our daughter, designed and constructed (welded) 20 sets of bunk beds. The beds endured years of use and abuse.

Then came the bed bugs. We have been fighting them for years. We started with spraying the rooms. It worked for a while. Then we started using a powder mix to extricate the bugs. Thanks to a grant GODTEL purchased heating equipment. We have used it several times. The men’s dorm went a year without bed bugs. With a grant GODTEL then purchased mattresses that keep the bugs away. Then we realized that the bugs were nesting in the corners and dark places of the bed frames. Even though they were metal the bugs found spots to make their homes.

One morning, after Martin ran out of options, he dismantled the beds and threw them outside. The men are sleeping on the mattresses and soon new beds will move in. Martin and the guys are welding beds with no open corners or any other place to hide. We will be overcomers in this situation.

Wow! When we are God’s children we can be overcomers in all situations. And we know that God will not give up on us as He works the bugs out of our lives. Hopefully, we won’t be as stubborn as the bed bugs. God is good and He will never forsake us. He will not forsake me. Wow!

Even though Texas does not have four distinct seasons we do have our harvest times. We have our time of thanksgiving.

I praise God that we don’t have to wait for a season to thank you, our supporters, for your faithfulness to God by way of GODTEL Ministries.

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.”  Psalm 100:4
 
Because we serve a Living God,
Martin and Mary Baker