The British Virgin Islands

As the map shows the British Virgin Islands adjoin the US Virgin Islands. The BVI are a territory of Gt. Britain with about 22,000 inhabitants. Although there are over 50 islands of various sizes less than 20 of them are permanently inhabited. The majority of the population is on Tortola (about 17,000). The church on Tortola has an attendance of around 30 on Sunday morning, less on Sunday, Mon. and Wed. nights. One family lives on Virgin Gorda and comes by ferry on Sunday ($15 a person roundtrip) and another lives on Jost Van Dyke, the island just above and to the left of Tortola in his Boston whaler. Most of the people are from other islands; the church is made up mostly of people from St. Kitts and St. Vincent. They speak English, although with a different accent and inflection. The islands live off of tourism, mostly boaters, as the islands are perfect for day sailing or just anchoring at a different island each day. This of course has an effect on people's willingness to hear the Gospel--in a society where pleasure is king it is easy to go along with the world. Yet the church has stood for some years even in this society.

Tol

Examine yourselves whether you are in the faith

As I mentioned earlier our title was the theme for the Gospel meeting in Tortola (the photo is the outside of their building). This theme leant itself to 5 lessons very easily (Mon.-Fri.) The first night I preached about the possibility of falling away and thus our need to examine ourselves from time to time to make sure we are still in the faith. I also set forth 4 ways we can stray away from the faith, each of which Nick or I preached on in greater detail the following nights.

Our series expounded upon: 1)The world becomes more attractive than the things of God, 2) If we reject Christ and His Word, 3) If we allow false doctrine to lead us away, and 4) If we forget the importance of the church--after all, Jesus died to purchase it.

I thought the series really worked out well and plan to use it again--you don't have to use the same 4 things I did, but we all need to be reminded that we can indeed fall away and be lost.

Tol

Tortola, BVI

Dana and I were in Tortola, BVI the middle of August for a week. The brethren chose as the theme for this Gospel meeting "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith", with the aim to encourage and motivate those brethren who were weak or had fallen away.

Attendance grew throughout the week--Mon. night we had 16, then 23, 26, 25, and 21 on Friday night. This photo was taken on Friday night and I asked everyone to move over to the same side. Nick Alejo is the young man in the lower right corner--he flew from around Chicago and met us there. Nick preached Sunday morning and Wed. night of this series. I know the brethren were encouraged and several weaker brethren attended at least one night. We also had 3 studies with Shirley, who visited 3 nights. Her daughter and fiance also visited another night.

Please pray for the church in Tortola--as you can see they are small and do not presently have a full time preacher, which hinders the work. Shirley had been studied with once but although the brethren meant to follow up sooner, that had been 3 months earlier.

Tol

A second chance

A song I know tells of a young girl who falls in love with an alcoholic, moves away from home, has 3 children, whom she is left with when he dies at an early age. She is left alone, far from family, working at some mundane job to eke out a living. She complains, "a young girl doesn't get a better chance".

We have all been young and should remember how smart we thought we were, but in looking back later realized we were not so smart. How many young people make foolish choices and ruin their lives? All to often, if they had really thought about things they would have made better choices, but now the deed is done and the consequences follow. They begin to use, then later to abuse alcohol or drugs. Before long they're on a one way street headed the wrong way and while they may wonder "how did I ever get here", the damage is already done. Or perhaps, like the girl in the song, they marry without knowing the person and rather than being heaven on earth it becomes a living hell. Maybe there is a child born out of wedlock. In all these cases, the dreams and hopes that this young person had will not come to fruition. Oh why did they make such foolish decisions, spoiling all their hopes and dreams?

"Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction will drive it far from him." (Prov. 22:15) As parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles, even mentors we have a chance to guide young people away from their foolish notions. "But they won't listen" is the refrain from many, but at least at times they WILL. Rather than face possible rejection we sit by saying nothing of their wrong choices. Let us instead take the chance--say something. The dreams you say may also be your own.

Tol

Dorado, PR

Dana and I worshipped with the church in Dorado, PR today. Nick Alejo, a younger brother from Elgin, IL taught the Bible class and I preached. There were 28 present, which was good since 6 were out sick and 1 was off island. It is so encouraging to see the church in Dorado continue to grow. They have had their ups and downs, most recently when a liberal element chose to leave, rather than continue to agitate for "their" way. Even though they are not so large, they continue to study and stand for the truth, baptizing 2-3 every year.

May we each continue to study and speak to others about God's Word.

Tol

The Beauty of the Baths

Contrary to our usual custom, Dana and I took a half day today and played tourists. We went to “The Baths” in Virgin Gorda, an area of huge boulders that are strewn haphazardly over a beach area there.

I had seen photos of The Baths before, but was unprepared for the majesty of the rocks. Even the photos cannot do justice to them. There are several “caves” where the rocks rest on each other and people seem so small. These rocks have been in these positions for who knows how long (no doubt some would tell us at least millions of years) and seem impervious to everything—the weather, the efforts of mankind, even earth tremors (there was a small one on Mon. morning on Tortola).

Yet as strong as these rocks seem to be, there is a Being even stronger and greater—God. He is still in control of all things, including the wonders of nature, which He has created for us to enjoy.

Tol

Saving by Many or by Few

In 1 Sam. 14, Saul and his army are encamped opposite the Philistines. Among all the army of Israel only Saul and his son Jonathan have swords. Finally in verse 6 we are told that Jonathan decides to go up against the enemy with only his armor bearer, “For nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few." His great faith in the Lord led a victory as the Lord allowed them to kill 20 Philistines in a small area, which, along with the earthquake, confused the Philistines so that they killed one another.

Where we worshipped yesterday morning there were 12 people present. Last night in Tortola we were 16. When a church is this small it is easy to get discouraged, after all, “nobody cares about God or truth anymore”. But let us remember what Jonathan said, the Lord can save by many or by few. If the Lord is for us, who can be against us? With the Lord’s help we will be able to accomplish His work and the church will grow.

Remember when Elijah told the Lord, “I alone am left; and they seek to take my life." (1 Kings 19:14) What was the Lord’s reply? “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him." (v. 18) Brother, Sister, you are not as alone as you think. First, God is on your side and second, you have many brothers and sisters throughout the world who not only believe like you, but go through the same struggles that you do.

Don’t let the numbers get you done. The Lord promises that “My grace is sufficient for you”—He will give you the strength to accomplish His will.

Tol

Help needed in Puerto Rico

Dana and I worshipped with one of the two English speaking churches in Puerto Rico yesterday. Counting us and a young man who was home for the summer, there were 12 of us, which means beginning in Sept. there will be a maximum of 10 people (1 member was away). It was quite a mixed group—3 West Indians, 5 from the States, and one Puerto Rican extended family of 4. The Spanish speaking church they share the building with did not meet yesterday—the man who does much of the preaching was working, so neither he nor his daughter attended, nor did 2 of the others who are elderly--74 and 92 years old. The 5th one works late on Sat. night and it is hard for him to get up.

Puerto Rico has 4 million people and close to 1 million live within 30 minutes of this church building. Why are these churches so small? Much of the reason is that there is no one there to work with them—to encourage them, to study with those who have fallen away. There is only one full time preacher in Puerto Rico, working with the church in Dorado. There is a great need for more workers—men (and their families) who are willing to preach in Spanish and take advantage of the opportunities that are there. It will not be cheap—Puerto Rico costs at least 30 % more to live in. But with the Lord’s help, it can be done.

Tol

Safety in Numbers

If you’ve ever seen a herd of zebras, buffalo, etc. react to a predator attack; you know there really is safety in numbers. The same is true of schools of fish and flocks of birds. Not only do they look out for one another, at least to a limited extent, but it is harder for the predator to focus on one individual among the many.

God, knowing the same is true of people, put into place the local church. Not only are we edified by the teaching we receive there, but the very fact that there are others of like precious faith strengthens us as well.

Do you take full advantage of benefits the local church offers, or is it only something you “use” when you need it, showing up only when you need help? Or do you attend every Sunday, but only at the morning worship service? Perhaps you are one of those who even attends Sunday morning Bible study, but then you’ve put in your 2 hours for the Lord for the week? Let me see if I understand this—Salvation costs Jesus His life but all He requires from you is 2 hours a week?


Tol

"Is there no security in this world?"

The United States and Europe, to a lesser extent, are having to deal with the uncertainty that much of the world has always lived with. Although Columbia, Tenn. is still safe enough that some people don’t lock their doors and the police force seriously enforces the speed limit (they don’t have much else to do) our lives are becoming more uncertain.

Dana and I arrived at the airport 3 hours early and were inside the secured air within 10 minutes--of course if we had waited an hour it probably would have taken us 1 ½ hours. But the very fact that you cannot bring any kind of liquid or gel on board an airplane emphasizes the uncertainty of our times. In times past you boarded a plane without much thought of whether you would arrive alive—your only concern was if it would be on time. In contrast, people pray before they set out on a car trip in Dominica. And this insecurity of “what if”—even local festivals like the World Chicken Festival (London, KY) or Mule Days (Columbia, TN) or Bonaroo (Manchester, TN) are at least theoretically possible terrorism targets. Not to mention the weather is more extreme (no, it’s not global warming, just a new cycle) so agricultural output is more uncertain. The workplace is not much better—gone are the days of working for only one company all your working life. “They” say the average worker will change jobs 5-6 times before they retire.

All of this uncertainty in our everyday lives highlights the lack of control that mankind has over our lives. The government is unable to eliminate or even prevent terrorism. For all our scientific knowledge we still cannot control, or even modify the weather. Great advances have been made in medicine but people still die.

But even when everything around us is uncertain, there is still one constant—God. As the Psalmist reminds us, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psa. 27:1) Or as Romans 8:31-32 says, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” As children of the most High God not only can we count on Him to provide for our needs, but when this life is over, whether sooner or later, ample entrance will be provided into that which the ASV translates “life indeed”.

Tol

Setting ourselves up to sin

You probably remember the incident recorded in 2 Sam. 6 when King David first tried to moved the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. Instead of moving the ark as God commanded (4 Levites carrying it by the poles, once it had been covered by the High Priest), David placed the ark on a new cart. In doing so, they set themselves up to sin. As the oxen pulled the cart the sons of Abinadab, Uzzah & Ahio, are walking beside and in front of the ark, respectively. When they came to the threshing floor of Nachon the oxen stumble and the ark seems to be falling. Without thinking, Uzzah puts out his hand to steady the ark and God strikes him dead for his irreverence.

When did the sin begin? Not when Uzzah touched the ark. No, it began when they failed to follow God's orders as to how to move the ark. In doing so, they made it almost impossible not to sin.

Are we any different today? How often do we set ourselves up to sin? We know that certain friends influence us to sin, yet we continue to spend time with them. You know yourself well enough to know that when we're in a situation where everyone else is drinking it is hard for you to resist the temptation to drink, but you still put yourself in that situation. You know that certain brethren can't stop gossiping and you know you will be soon be joining in, yet you still keep their company. When you marry a non-Christian you are putting yourself in a situation that has great potential to lead you away from God.

The Scriptures tell us to avoid evil, to flee the very appearance of evil, etc. We are told to pray that we may be delivered from evil. If we pray this, should we consistently put ourselves into compromising situations?

Tol

Back to the Dominican Republic

Because of opportunities that were presented on our trip in the first part of June Nino and Ruben A. will be arriving in Santo Domingo today and tomorrow, respectively.

Liberalism in the Dominican Republic has until very recently put undue emphasis on the social, while much of the doctrine remains true to the Bible. With the coming of a "church planting team" to Santiago another element has been introduced into the mix. The team, 3-4 couples and a single man, are all from the Baxter Institute, a very liberal preacher school in Honduras. They have rented a meeting place, spent a good bit of money fixing it up (they have a "decoration ministry") and have already had at least one meeting with members from the other churches in the city. A number of brethren in the other churches have become quite concerned--they had been told liberalism would lead to this, but didn't really believe it would ever go this far. They asked us for studies on this subject, which is the purpose of this trip. Please pray that the truth may prevail over error there.

Tol

street preaching

We preached in front of Brother Wilson Brumant's house Tues.-Frid. nights and you can see the brethren gathering. I usually stood near the porch, where the 2 brethren are standing so I could be near the light. We had 5-8 people who came up to listen, plus who knows how many listening at home (you must have speakers to preach on the street).

With a microphone in one hand it is almost impossible to turn to the Scriptures or read anything for that matter, so usually you have to preach from memory. I did have Adam read for me the night we discussed spiritual gifts--that's a lot of reading and I don't know those by memory. It slowed the pace of the preaching way down, but the subject required it. Street preaching demands that you preach in a way that will hold people's interest--they are free to come and go, so if it gets boring, they go. It has to be provocative enough to keep them listening, without being ugly.

There's not much place for street preaching in the States anymore, but it still works in the Eastern Caribbean, although not even there as well as it used to--TV has arrived there too.

Tol