The Noble Notes

From Tragedy Rises A dream....

2011-04-13T15:53:00.000-05:00

One week ago today we experienced a terrible tragedy at the Berean Bible Baptist Church in Binalbagan, Negros, Philippines.

The church building that has stood as a lighthouse and a beckon of truth for over 25 years burned to the ground. They believe it was caused by faulty wiring. The fire took down the building in such a quick manner that the Fire Department could not save anything. It has been hard to know that this building that has so many great memories is there no more.

We praise the Lord though that the building is not the church!! Within 2 days the pastor and all of the members had begun salvaging what materials they could and began making plans to go forward for the Lord. We praise the Lord that there were no injuries and that the members have a vision of what GOD is going to raise up out of the ashes of the past.

It is going to cost about $50,000.00 to rebuild the church building and replace all of the pews, sound system, Piano, guitars, tile. carpet and fans that were lost also. As far as we know, the only thing they could salvage was the tin for he roof. PLease pray with us that God will supply the need to rebuild this mighty church back up to be that haven of rest and lighthouse this city needs.

Blessings come in Strange Packages!

2011-04-02T20:30:00.000-05:00

For some people they have a preconceived idea on how they think God is going to bless them. It's easy to see a need and think , okay God can answer this need "this way" or "that". We pray and tell God we have a need and then we tell him how we want him to answer our prayers!! One of our dear pastors in the Philippines was in need of a new motor bike for his ministry. He uses this with a side car to pick up children and adults for church every Sunday. He also uses it to take food out to all of the feeding sites we have established through his church. At this time he is feeding and teaching the Bible at 12 different areas.

Now, we had been praying and asking God to answer this need but, we had also been trying to figure out how WE were going to do it!! We took a couple from Texas with us in January and when we visited Pastor Catamco's church they were overwhelmed at all he was doing. Brother Gregg said he wanted to take a ride in the side car so we sent him out with the Pastor. He came back telling us how bad the bike was and how there was no way it could run much longer. He returned to Texas and shared this need with the men in the church in within a week he had raised enough money to purchase Pastor Arturo Catamco a brand new bike for the ministry! This is a great need for all of the pastors in the Philippines. We have personally seen them put 16 children on a bike and sidecar for church. Talk about a bus ministry!!!!

Pastor Arturo is also in need of property to build a church building on. He has found this piece of land that we have claimed fort he Lord. In the 2 years we have know and supported Brother Catamo He has had to move his church 4 TIMES! All he can do is pay a person a small rent to use their land, or as they are doing right now, having church in a ladies carport. Help us pray for this land that GOD will give it to us to build a church that will stand true to God's Word and His Truth! The people in the Photo are bro. Arturo, his wife, Emily and their 5 children.

Just to share a little humor on one of our trips...
This is Harrell, me, Carol Jones, Gregg Jones and all of our luggage in a jeepney. It was so crowded that Harrell and our Field Rep, Renie Jun, finally hung off of the back. It was close to 35 minutes to where we were staying and they hung on to the back the whole way!!! The roads were bumpy and the drivers were down right crazy! Just imagine hanging onto the back of a race car, plowing down a bumpy race track with a drive who is trying his best to hit every hole in the road and you have our trip in a Jeepney!!! It was an exciting adventure and it was all worth it to see the 600 souls saved on that trip. This is not just children accepting the Lord as their Savior but their parents also. We are so blessed that God has allowed us to be a part of the work on the islands of Cebu and Negros, Philippines.
If you would like to help us we would be so grateful. We not only have to raise the money for rice (close to 2 tons a month) to feed the hungry each month but we also do an Annual Youth Camp and Christmas Gift Giving Program every year. God is so good to let us see so many saved through these ministries he has placed in our care.
Don't forget to pray for us if you can't do anything else!!!

Recap of 2010 for the BNCF and ME

2011-01-21T10:42:00.000-06:00

I was sitting here thinking over how God had blessed us and the Brian Noble Children's Foundation in 2010 and all the exciting things that have happened. As any evangelist/missionary can tell you the months from December to March are always pretty thin for booking meetings. Churches have all of their "holiday" season programs and special services during these times. So we are blessed in being able to spend a little time with our family. Mostly I feel like a hobo going from family member to family member! Some of you are marked as a "I Will Return"!

Anyway, back to 2010... The month of January was spent in the Philippines passing out Christmas bags and shoes to almost 1600 kids. It was a thrill to see the joy on these children's faces as they opened up their bags and saw all of the goodies they got. In all we saw over 800 souls come to Christ through this program.

The first part of February we spent in Saginaw, Texas with the Trinity Baptist Temple where the great and wonderful pastor is Dr. James Godbey, better known as Woody. We were so thankful that we got to participate in the churches 25th Church Anniversary and Pastor Woody and Regina's 40th Wedding Anniversary! What a time we had! It even snowed while we were there! There was almost 2 foot of snow in Fort Worth, Texas in February!!! What a time the kids had with that. We then flew out to Viet Nam to visit with our Pastor friend there. It was a great trip and we had some great adventures. On Sunday morning we got ready to go to church and were meeting the pastor outside of the hotel when up drives him and his son, Wen, on 2 motorbikes! Okay, there's no problem with that except I'm in a straight skirt and my ever present high heels!! Now, I'm not one to just give up so I told Wen to hang on and I hopped up on that bike side-saddle! So down the road we went flying with me trying to not fall off, not drop my purse (which is the size of a small suitcase) or loose one of my high heels! Now who said life is boring? We made it back to the states with no problems and too many stories to tell right now.

In March we did meetings in the states. Our first meeting was with the Sharon Baptist Church of Hampton Virginia where Brother Bill Geouge is the pastor. Then on to the trinity Baptist Church in Chesapeake, VA where Brother Neil Poleski is now pastoring. Then to end up the month of March we were in Randleman, NC at the Grace Baptist Church with Pastor Marvin Patterson and a wonderful Sunday service at the Calvary Baptist Church in Norfolk, VA. with Pastor Richard Smith.

April was at our home church for Easter and Revival at the El Bethel Baptist Church in Avon, IN where "Dad", Rev. Don Noble pastors. We then drove up to Creston, IL to hold a revival for Bro. Al Roose at the New Beginnings Baptist Church and then back to Pittsboro, IN for a Sunday service with the Pittsboro Baptist Church where we had the privilege to meet their new pastor, Bro. Brock Evans. The month of April was ended at the annual "Run For The Rose" Camp Meeting held at the Maryville Baptist Church where Brother Jack Roberts has pastored for over 30 years.

In May we flew back to the Philippines to get things ready for our 2nd Annual Youth Camp. We usually have camp on the second week of May but the Philippines were having their national Elections and we had to move it to the 3rd week. After all the planning, working, moving and prayers our camp began with a bang! We had planned on about 300 youth and we had 348 plus about 30 workers. Each service was a blessing with just the right message and you could feel the Holy Spirit working on these "kids". By thursday morning you could tell something was about to happen. Well, we set up for service that night and in the middle of the song service the electric went out. This happens all the time so no one was worries. A couple of men who worked as maintenance men on the school property brought out 2 large gas lanterns that we set up on the platform. The music was so special and each sermon right on target. Harrell preached last, closing the camp and when he gave the alter call all but about 10 people came to the alter. The call was to surrender your life to full service to Jesus Christ. We had 20 young people who surrendered to go to college and begin training in the work for the Lord. What a thrill it was to see these new soldiers for out Lord!

June found us back in the states holding revivals in Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio and Indiana. The first revival was at the Lighthouse Baptist Church in Independence, LA. They are without a pastor but we had a great time any way! It was the first place we have ever been that Harrell lead the singing, took up his own offering, preached and did the alter call!!!
We then headed up/over to North Carolina to the Samaritan Baptist Church. We love going there. Pastor Danny Smith has been a dear friend to our family for more years than we care to count. He has such an uplifting spirit that you can't help but feel good when around him. Then on to the Chesterton Baptist Church in Chesterton, IN where Bro. Rick Henderson is the pastor. Back to Louisiana for the Camp meeting held at Fundamental Baptist Church where Pastor Rusty Silvertooth keeps the church fired up.

In July we took a crew of 9 men from the Trinity Baptist Temple Church in Saginaw, Texas to Honduras to work on putting up a church building in one of the areas we have a feeding center in. It was a wonderful trip and these guys worked so hard. All of these men worked out in the hot, harsh sun mixing cement and laying block. The hardest thing they did was move plies of dirt with broken down wheelbarrows and poor excuses for shovels!!! But they did it with such joy. I was blessed with being able to spend my birthday with my grand children also.

August was in Marion, Indiana at the Lydia Baptist Church where Pastor Bruce Koontz is doing a great job there. It was the churches 25th anniversary service with great preaching, singing and food! We then drove back to Texas where I was blessed to speak at the first annual Ladies Retreat at trinity Baptist Temple. At the end of the month we drove back to our house in Indiana to see if it was still standing.

September we were at the Liberty Baptist Church in Greensboro, IN where Brother James Wood is the pastor. We never thought that this would be the very last time we would see Brother Woods this side of Heaven. Brother Woods went home to be with the Lord in October after dying on the operating table. It was a sad time for his family and friends but a time of rejoicing for him as he is finally HOME!!

October was spent in Indiana, Ohio in revivals and then on to the Philippines with our daughter Leslee. This was her first mission trip and she was a great help to me. This trip was a finalization trip on getting everything together for the Christmas Project for this year. We purchased over 2000 pairs of shoes plus a toy, candy, apple and a few little things for each child. We came back with a heart excited about what GOD is going to do though this program.

November was a thin month for us. We had a 4 day revival with the Jones Run Baptist Church in Lumberport, WV and then drove to Fairland Indiana to hold revival with Pastor Tracy Gross and the Calvary Baptist Church. we flew to La Ceiba, Honduras to have the first of the BNCF Christmas Projects. It was a joyous trip but we were faced with some sad decisions also. We found that the area where we had started building a church was so dangerous that our national pastor was too afraid to go there. Since July there had been over 10 murders. This area turned out to be in the middle of a drug cartel that was a stop off place between South America and Mexico!!!! God is still able to save and what area would need the Gospel more than this? We have put this project on hold for right now, waiting for God's direction. After all of this excitement we went to Lynchburg to spend Thanksgiving with Leslee. We then drove to Gainesville, Florida to celebrate our grandson, Jacob's, 6th birthday. What a joy for us also when we found out that he had accepted the Lord as his Savior.

So December was spent with family and then back to the Philippines to give out over 1200 gifts for the first part of the Christmas Gift Giving Program of 2010. We went to Binalbegan, Negros at the Berean Bible Baptist Church where Pastor Janel Nemeo is leading the cause of Christ. God blessed us with over 300 adults saved in the Saturday services with 143 first time visitors on Sunday morning and another 78 saved that morning!! Thus concludes another year of service with the BNCF, the national workers, my husband, family and friends for our Lord and Savior.

Holiday Heart Burn!!!

2011-01-20T10:05:00.000-06:00

Well, We made it through all of the holiday activities from Thanksgiving and Christmas to the beginning of another New Year. It's been a strange time for me because in the past I was to one doing the cooking and making sure everything was all set for the "festivities" and this year I made 1 Pecan pie for Thanksgiving and our yummy Sweet Potato cassarole for Christmas!!! I guess this is a sign of the "changing of the guard" that happens in families from generation to generation! My daughter-by-love, Lena, did a great job on the Christmas dinner and my daughter Leslee was the one who whipped up a delish Thanksgiving dinner for 3! No way am I able to cook for only 3 people!! No matter how hard I try it always ends up being enough to feed an army!!! Part of me really enjoyed that "not having to cook cause "we'll" do it Mom", yet another part sees it as my time to let the young uns take over.

That brings me to the title of this blog of, "Holiday Heart Burn". My heart burns with regrets that I'm not cooking like I used to do and with great joy that my "girls" can and have stepped up to the plate (no pun intended!) as some really great cooks in their own rights.

All my memories of the holidays are centered around a table laden with food surrounded by family and friends. Memories of my mom cooking all day long and then people coming in the house with arms loaded down with more home cooked delights. It was never a "Norman Rockwell" holiday cause there were just too many accidents and mess ups for that! Just a great big family holiday that focused on Jesus Christ and family.

I will always love the holidays and all the fun, food, friends and family that go along with it. So weather I am sitting on the couch or in the floor playing with my grand kids while the other cooks work in a hot kitchen or I am asked to whip up a single dish the family loves my heart burns with the love and gratitude that comes during all the Holiday seasons.

I pray that you will focus on the things that make your life most precious to you in 2011 and forget about the things you can't do anything about. Enjoy and Embrace all God sends your way today.

The Celebration of the BNCF and our beginnings.

2010-11-29T21:06:00.000-06:00

In 1976 our beautiful son, Brian Wayne Noble, was brought into this world; a gift of God that was given to us for nine short years. After countless doctors and hospitals our precious son was diagnosed with epilepsy. At the time there was very little known about epilepsy and with little in the way of treatment or a cure, our son passed away on January 28, 1986.

Fast-forward 12 years to a small orphanage outside of the city of Oradea, Romania. There we met the calling that God would give us for our future. In the eyes of a small orphan boy named Csabi we saw our son. And there we found the gift of ministry on the mission field and we never looked back.

The Brian Noble Children’s Foundation exists to minister to the fatherless and the widows. We do this on five continents from Eastern Europe to South East Asia. Our organization trusts in God to give us the direction that we need, but we also trust in the instruction that He has given us to ask, seek and knock.

We are asking that you help us on this day, in remembrance of our son’s birthday, by making a donation to the Brian Noble Children’s Foundation. Any amount will help, and a donation of $25 will help buy the Christmas gifts for our children this year. We accept check or money orders made out to BNCF, or you can make a safe and secure transfer of funds to PayPal with any major debit or credit card.

Please help us today as we look back on the memories of our son and as we look ahead to the future God has given us.

Thank you and God Bless!

My Life Of, "Boy, I Meant To Do Better At That"!

2010-09-17T23:32:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you actually accomplished all those lists you make, the good intentions of finally throwing out that potato salad from the 4th of July Picnic or taking on that job of getting your life"organized? I look at the last entry of this blog and keep trying to justify my not posting all that has happened and just can't find any. So with all my little lists crumpled up and thrown into the trash and setting that job of organizing in the back of my "To Do" folder, I have determined to just get done what I can. Oh, and yes, I did finally throw that potato salad out. I didn't know potatoes could turn that color!!

The month of June was spent in revivals, camp meetings and Mission conferences here in the states. We traveled many a mile with the hand of God wrapped around us. God keeps on amazing us in how HE supplies our needs. God even gives us special blessings we don't even ask for! We had a friend call us up and ask us how many miles we had on our 2000 Excursion. Well, we thought it was a strange question but told him that at that time it had a little over 300,000 miles on it. He then told us he wanted to buy us a newer Excursion. You could have blown us down with a feather!!! After some searching and "surfing" our friend found a 2003 Excursion for us up in Wisconsin!

We drove from North Carolina after we closed a revival and drove straight through to the dealership in Wisconsin, did the paperwork, wrote a check and drove both trucks down to northern Indian to start another revival. This wouldn't be a big thing except the GPS took us right down Chicago during the worst time of day and I WAS DRIVING THE NEW TRUCK!!!!! Praise the Lord we got to the church without one problem just my frazzled nerves and lack of sleep. God is so good in his care for us. I don't know why he supplied this truck for us, but I've learned through my many years as a Christian that God doesn't make mistakes and there is always a purpose for what HE does. Sometimes he makes us wait before he reveals the whys and sometimes he just tells us "Cause I said so"!!!!

The Church building in Honduras.

In July we were honored to take a crew of 9 men from the Trinity Baptist Temple Church in Saginaw, Texas with us to Honduras to build a church and a Community Pavilion (picnic shelter). It was hot, dirty, weary work for all of us. Well, not so much for me... I mean I did work, but not like these guys! It seemed like they moved a mountain of dirt one shovel (and I use that term very loosley) and some of the poorest wheel barrows we have ever seen. But the willingness of this crew to do any type of job, the intensity of work and humbleness of wanting to help the neighborhood children was so moving. I watched as on of the men took off his shoes and gave them to a man who had no shoes. On the last day of the trip these wonderful men gave away their work shoes, gloves, work clothes to the neighborhood men who had pitched in help us work on the church. One of our bricklayers even left ALL of his tools with a 78 year old man who has been laying bricks almost all his life.

Christian and Jesse with one of the girls.

The Mountain school where we feed about 80 kids.

We still need about $3000.00 to finish out the roof, windows and doors and the wood for the pulpit and pews. We took one day to take the men out to the feeding center up in the mountains and we had a blast with the kids. While there we watched these men huddled together talking. When we asked what was going on they said they were trying to figure out a way to build playground equipment out of what might be available in Honduras. They are already drawing up plans for a return trip to help us help make the lives of these children just a little better. We cannot thank these men for the sacrifice they gave in coming with us to work like they did, but I know GOD CAN and WILL reward them. One of the men had brought a huge bag of little bead bracelets that his little daughters had hand made for all the children. They had even gotten the Children's Church involved in doing something for someone else. Most of these children came to school without food, with out pencils or paper. They sat at tables with chairs with no backs and some were even missing a leg and a piece of wood holding it up. The teachers are working with the barest of supplies and they are only paid a pittance as a salary.

Our focus isn't on these children having a place to play, or a place to go to school, or to have paper and pencils, but to hear the Gospel message that Jesus Christ loves them and gave his life for them so they can have eternal life through HIM.

The best part of this summer has been that we had a little time to go see our wonderful grand children. I am always so excited about seeing them whenever I get a chance. I got to spend my birthday with them this year and we had a blast. The kids each bought me a present using their very own money they had received by doing chores and even wrapped them all by their selves! From Jacob I got a Red Fire Fighters helmet, Lydia bought me a great big package os sidewalk chalk and Lily Jean bought me a baby doll! We had cake with more candles I cared to count and the candles were surrounded by toy fire engines!!! Thanks Brad!! I was so moved by the thought my precious grand children put into getting me a present. Okay, so they took them for themselves as soon as I unwrapped them but I didn't care one bit!!!
I think Grandparents enjoy their grandkids because we can revert back to our own childhood without everyone wanting to rush us off to the Nursing Home!! We "swam" in the kiddy pool, drew pictures of ourselves on the sidewalk, ate ice cream and popsicles, played ball and just had a great time of being a kid. Sometimes we get so busy with making a living that we forget to live! I found out how much fun playing hide and seek was again! That excitement of hiding and then running after each other, falling into a heap of love and laughter brought back that little girl who had gotten lost inside of me. I even discovered that I can still do a cartwheel and walk the next day without too much pain!
I love being a grandmother and all the wonderful things that come with it. I keep praying that I can be the kind of Nanny that will not only be fun but that will be able to be a witness of God's love, grace and salvation.
Well, I really didn't mean to recap the whole summer so I'll leave the rest of the excitement for the next blog which I plan on doing in a few days. Really, I really do mean it this time! So I will leave you with the ramblings that have fallen out of my head and hope that you enjoy them and come back to hear about all the other wonderful things I did on my summer vacation!!!!!

Youth Camp 2010 in the Philippines

2010-05-23T02:12:00.000-05:00

What an amazing time we had at our second Annual Youth Camp in Cebu, Philippines. Last year we had 256 kids attend our first camp and this year we were blessed with 304 campers! There were 80 more campers registered to come but backed out at the last moment.

   God has been so good to allow us the opportunity to host this camp at no charge. So many young people in the Philippines would love to go to camp but cannot because of the cost. For camp in the Philippines it cost about $7 to $10 to attend camp, then there is the cost of a bus, jeepney,or ferry to get to camp and that is about $3 to $5. Camp over there is very different from camp in the US. Each church brings their own food and each groups prepares for their church group only. Therefore you have a total cost of about $20.00 to attend camp. This sounds really cheap unless you take in consideration the fact that most families make less than $100 a month.
   Through the generous love gifts given by a bunch of dear Christian people we have been able to host this camp. For just $20.00 you can host a teen for camp and see God work in and through them. It was a thrill to see the Holy Spirit move in every single service. The alter was filled after every sermon and the Spirit was so sweet all week long. Summer camp isa time of wonderful memories for us all. I met my sweetheart at a Youth Camp in Weatherford, Texas when I was 15 years old. My best friendships were established at camp and our son surrendered to preach at a Youth Camp in Indiana as a teen. So I am very excited to be a part of the Youth Camps in the Philippines.
   It was a hot, humid week but no one seemed to care! The lighting was terrible (Harrell had to read his Bible by a flashlight), the sound equipment was poor (one of the microphones wire kept falling off as the preachers were holding it and one of the speakers blew out). Our "sound man" kept a soldering gun on hand at all times!!! The toilets kept breaking and there were only 4 working toilets between 304 campers! The showers were either garden hoses, a pail of water or a spigot, but each and everyone of the campers were thrilled to be there and every single person there was extremely clean. We in the US take so much for granted, but if we had to go back to the basics of life I really believe it would also draw us to a closer relation with Jesus Christ.

The Lord blessed every preacher with just the right message and we saw a moving in all the kids hearts by Wednesday morning. After one mornings session of preaching, the kids were hollering to the preachers, "Don't Stop!" I can't say I understood all of the words these preachers said, but I sure understood what the Spirit had to say!!!

Our Camp Director, Renie Jun, set up a talent contest and called it "Baptist Got Talent". It was a great success and the kids really got into the spirit of it. He also set up an "Amazing Race" contest for the campers. Our funnest and most looked forward to game is the Pole Climb. We place a prize of about $20.00 on the top of a 30 foot bamboo pole and then have each group take turns at trying to climb to the top for it. Oh, did I mention that the pole was greased also!! It was so much fun watching these young guys trying their best to get to the top. It got really exciting when the preachers decided they wanted to take a turn! They didn't make it to the top but you have to applaud them for even trying!! It took about 3 tries before one group finally got a spry, little fellow pushed to the top and
he literally leaped to the top of the pole!

It was so great to see these young men learning to work together and helping each other. Even though we had all kinds of games and competitions the main focus all week was on the Word of the Lord.

By the last night of camp the kids were asking to extend the camp a little longer, they didn't want it to end. Harrell preached the closing message about David facing Goliath and the 5 stones he chose. The thought was that there were 5 stones chosen but only 1 was used. Even though the stones were not used they were ready and willing to do the job. The whole service was focused on being surrendering to be used by God. It was amazing to see just about every single person there come to the alter. Only a handful of kids stayed in their seats. Then the invitation was given to those who would stand up and say they were going to surrender to go to Bible College and 20 young people stood and gave their hearts and lives to God's service.

Can you believe that to go to the Bible Baptist College in Cebu City, Philippines for 3 years costs about $1200. That's for books, room and board, food... everything!!! In some colleges here in the states you would spend almost that much just for the books!

After seeing this need we have stepped out by faith to offer a Brian Noble Scholarship that will be presented to one young man and one young lady each year. If God provides more money we will offer it to more young people. So pray that God will allow us to raise the money for this and for future scholarships to send these worthy young servants to the Bible Baptist College in the coming years. Pray with us that GOD will bless in the lives of those who surrendered to Him that they will stay strong in their decisions to serve the Lord.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

2010-04-17T14:03:00.005-05:00

I hope everyone out there is enjoying the spring time flower and beauty as much as I am! I have revealed in the smallest things, like a sprout of a Hosta plant pushing its head up out of the dirt to seeing in unwrap its leaves out to catch the gentle kiss of the rain. I love Daffodils and each year my sweet husband brings me a handful to welcome spring. This year he found some growing along side fence behind a church we were at and brought them to me in an old Dixie cup! They were the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

With spring time always comes that instinct of women to begin "spring cleaning"! We had 3 days off and I asked Harrell if we could go back to our house and do a little cleaning! Well, I knew if I had told him all I wanted to accomplish he never would have agreed cause he knows I would make him work too! We hadn't been back to our house since sometime in October and only for a couple of nights then. In 2009 we spent a total of 84 days in our house! This is about four times what we usually do! The only reason we were there that long was because of Harrell having back surgery in July.

So we got back to the house and I began a mad rush at cleaning! The more I cleaned , the more I saw what needed doing, and the more I did, the more the Lord began to speak to my heart! I sat on my big fluffy chair one afternoon and thought about how my heart needed a good spring cleaning also! We as women are so busy "doing" good things for our families, friends, work or church that we end up with all this clutter and junk crowding up in our hearts. So I took time out of my busy schedule to clean and did a thorough clean up job on my old heart.

I want to brag on my dear husband, cause he vacuumed every carpet and then cleaned them till they look like new! Although there were several times I went looking for him and found him "deep in work" on the truck as he listened to Rush Limbaugh. He only hid from me a few times to get out of work. As I think back on it, he was too willing to run to the store and took an awful long time coming home....hmmmm!

Enjoy spring, but take a moment to look deep inside your heart and do a little dusting, polishing or down right srubbing for a Clean Spring Heart!!

A New Year, A New Vision....

2010-02-23T23:57:00.005-06:00

How wonderful it is to serve our Lord, Jesus Christ! I stand in amazement at how God supplies the needs of the BNCF each and every day.

At this moment Harrell and I are in Vietnam experiencing so many new things. I rode a motorcycle, side saddle, to church! For some this is just a way of life, but for me this was something very new. I found out that I can ride side saddle, in a skirt with my stilettos on!!

God has allowed us to meet and visit with many of the widows our foundation cares for. we got to go to their homes and see where and how they live. I have been praying for them and loving them for a year now with just a picture to know who they are. NOW, I love them for their faithfulness to Jesus, their perseverance in living in the most humble of existences. The stories they shared broke and yet blessed my heart. These women will surely have a special place next to God when they arrive in Heaven.

After visiting with these widows god has given Harrell and me a grand dream to one day build a home for the elderly here. What a ministry this would be to reach them for Christ and to live their Autumn years out surrounded by love and comfort. I know that God is able to supply the needs for this and we look to him to answer our prayers We would just ask you to join in with us to pray that GOD will bring this dream, this vision to pass.

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me"

Until we see you again or at the next time I write may God bless you all with love, peace, joy and grace through HIM.

GOD BLESSES AGAIN IN PHILIPPINES...

2009-06-09T13:48:00.010-05:00

YOUTH CAMP IN CEBU, PHILIPPINES

Well, Youth Camp has come and gone and we have so very much to praise the Lord for. From the moment we got to the Philippines we saw the Lord’s hand working in every step. Some times when we start a project we are faced with helpers that don’t understand what we want or are not able to follow through on instruction. I praise the Lord that HE placed a group of young men and ladies who had everything set up and planned out so that we didn’t have to worry about a thing. That was a blessing in so many different levels since after we got there Harrell came down with a stomach virus! He was violently ill for 5 days!!! I worried over him, but God was so good in helping him and getting us back to the states in one piece!

The first day of camp the “Director”, Renny Junior, who is working with Pastor Jun Ambo at the Bible Baptist Temple Church in Argao, Cebu, had their church group all set up as Leaders/Delegates. We had 256 souls register for our very first camp and we were so thrilled when everyone began showing up!

The first church group came with their pastor and his family on a motor scooter with a sidecar. I counted as 10 people climbed off, out and over

the motorbike! The last one off was the pastor’s wife holding their 2-year-old daughter! She was so excited about bringing their ”kids” to camp she didn’t care that they had travels for almost an hour like that!!!! Then came the van from the local Juvenile Rehab Center where Pastor Ambo has been working with the “detainees”. It was wonderful to see 10 young men who have gotten saved through his outreach coming to their very first Christian Bible Camp.

All day long kids began showing up and were thrilled at where they would sleep! Now that is a simple sentence until you see where and on what they would spend the whole week on!!! We rented 250, 2-inch plastic covered floor mats for everyone to sleep on. No sheets, no covers only a few had pillows! We had split all of the kids into 4 groups with a set of leader-councilors over them. The girls stayed in one of the larger classroom, the boys in another across the playing field. The pastors had their own room and their wives and babies stayed in another. Each one of these groups had 1 toilet between 50 kids! Okay, knock that vision of an American toilet out of your head!!! This was a 2-foot tall porcelain “bowl” (sort of like a child’s toilet) no seat, no lid and no tank for flushing! To flush, you simply dipped water from a big garbage can with a pail and poured in!! There were no shower stalls either… to shower you either washed off in the sink, didn’t wash at all or took turns pouring water over each other in the “Comfort Room”. The boys had the convenience of a water hose and just used that to “shower” under! I know, I know, I can just hear some of you saying that there is no way that you would go to camp under those conditions!!!! These kids and young people were so thrilled with these conditions and the fact that food would be supplied 3 times a day plus a snack and they didn’t have to pay anything was beyond their belief.

We had services every morning and at night time with a “devotion time” after lunch where the young preacher boys got the opportunity to preach to their “groups”. Every service saw the alter filled with boys and girls giving their lives to the Lord, surrendering to His service and giving up the garbage of this old world.

Every afternoon there was competitions in volleyball, soccer, badminton and darts. Plus during services we had competitions in preaching, Bible verse memorization, singing, playing instruments, skits and drama. What are so funny were the pastors (which we had 27 come) wanted to participate in all of these so they started their own group!! They even won the Dart competition!! At the end of the week we had prizes of Christian t-shirts, CD’s, shoes and sandals and snacks for all the winners. I want to thank Signature Sound for donating a bunch of their “Get Away Jordan” T-shirts and for the Bethel Baptist Church in Lapel, Indiana for donating almost 90 pairs of ladies shoes and sandals. The female winners thought they had died and gone to Heaven! Girls are the same no matter where they are located at when it comes to SHOES!!

So many churches and Christian friends who gave out of a heart of love and generosity to see souls saved made this Youth Camp possible. We may not know the full effect of all that happened until we get to Heaven. Thank you so much for giving, sacrificing and changing the life of a young person in the Philippines.

The First Youth Camp in Argao, Philippines

2009-03-19T15:37:00.009-05:00

WE NEED YOUR PRAYER

AND HELP!!!

Calling all prayer warriors!

I need your prayers and your help.

We are planning on having the first youth camp in the Philippines this May. We are expecting 200+ children to attend. The picture to the left is of the local school property that we are going to rent. When Pastor Ambo and his wife, Anafe, went looking for a place we could hold this meeting, they stopped by this school yard to see if it would be big enough. When the Principle found out what we wanted to rent it for she became very excited. She told our pastor that she also is a Christian and wants to come and be a worker for the Youth Camp. We can have a 4 day camp, supplying all their food,water and beds for $20 a child!

You would spend $20.00 on a nice meal, or on a couple of hamburgers, or on a gallon of milk and a few things to snack on.

When we break it down to the cost of something that will be gone in a moment to the soul of a young person, there is no comparison.

NO WHERE IN THE STATES CAN YOU

SEND A CHILD TO YOUTH CAMP FOR THAT.

We are so excited about the opportunity to present the Gospel to these kids. Most of them have never been to church before or have never heard a clear Gospel message on salvation! It is so sad that getting the gospel to these boys and girls all comes down to money. We have the wonderful opportunity to give them a chance to spend 4 days being saturated with God's Word. If you have ever been to Youth Camp, you know the impact it has on you as a teen.

It was at a youth camp that Harrell and I met and fell in love. It was at a camp where our our son Brad surrendered to preach. It was at a camp (Jubilee) where our oldest son, Brian was saved! So many young people surrendered their lives to serve the Lord or learned how to walk closer to the Lord while attending a Youth Camp. Now, we want to present that opportunity to the youth of Argao, Philippines. The fields are white unto harvest and it's our job to bring them in. We just can't do it on our own. We need people like you to help us.

We have the children, we have the workers, we have the WORD.....

What we need are people to sponsor a child to go to camp! Please read this and then send it on to as many people as you can. Take part in making a difference in a child's future. "What profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul....."

If you'd like to help us, help them.....

you can contact us at: noblehj@aol.com

or at: 219-670-0247

or at:

BNCF

P. O. Box 136160

Fort Worth, Texas 76136

If you are writing a check please make it out to BNCF

and on the memo write "Youth Camp/Philippines" on it.

My Precious Grand Children

2009-03-05T20:28:00.008-06:00

Well, I tried to wait but just couldn't! I have some really great pictures of our grand children and I want to share them with you. It's amazing how much you can love those babies! I mean, I love my son and my daughter more than words can express, but when I hold any one of my 3 grand children, my heart just melts. Especially when little Lily Jean, who I call my Lily Bud, wraps her chubby little arms around me and pats me on the arms, I feel like I have just been blessed with the most precious gift I could ever receive! Lily is a curious little girl who has a streak of the adventurer in her. She started walking at 9 months. I don't mean holding on to stuff, I'm talking about arms out to the side like wings and plowing through anything that got in her way! I guess because she has 2 older siblings she just figured if she was going to get to be with them she was going to have to stay up!

What a joy she is to me and her Pappy. She loves her Pappy! When she sees him she gets all stiff, clenches her fists and kind of growls at him! Needless to say Harrell just loves that. He is such a great grand dad to the kids. I love seeing him playing and interacting with them.

Lily turned 1 year old on February 22 and we were able to be there for her party. She had a blast eating her cake which she really got into! She even had it under her toes, but that didn't stop her!

I wish I could recapture that feeling of excitement, that newness that she experiences with each new day! Her face shows it all!!

Lily is so excitable and she really shows exactly how she feels all the time!!

Jacob was so happy with his Spiderman umbrella. He drug it around with him and even ate with it at the table. I can't wait for him to actually get to use it in the rain!

He got all kids of other toys and had a blast playing with everything. It was almost like having a birthday party for him and Lydia also!

Lydia Mae, our little princess,was so thrilled with her princess umbrella that she took it to bed with her that night! That and her yellow high heels! I can't believe how much they have grown and how well their parents are doing in raising them.

If I sound a little braggadocios it's because I have reason to be. God has blessed me with 3 of the most precious jewels in my crown of old age! All I can say is thank you Jesus for this gift you have bestowed upon me!

Pictures from the Philippines...

2009-03-02T11:33:00.005-06:00

rice paddy's on Negros, Philippines

The ladies in the church cook the rice to be served at the feeding sites. Sometimes they have chicken to add to it......

and sometimes just the feet!!!

bought this stove and supplies to feed kids

the children were timid but hungry

A group of yours and my fellow christians in Negros, Philippines.

Pray with us that God will bless us with souls saved through these works and I'll be sending out more through out the weeks to come.

Open Field's White Unto Harvest...

2009-03-02T10:54:00.005-06:00

Striving to reaching the young and the old for Jesus Christ.....

The terraced rice paddy fields of the Philippines

When you touch a child's life you touch their future....

How thrilling it was to visit the islands of Cebu and Negros in the Philippines and serve the Lord in preaching and helping the needy. We had such a great time visiting 4 national pastors that we have begun to support and setting up 9 Feeding Sites. We also had the privilege of preaching at the Berean Baptist Church and participating in their Christian School Awards Sunday. It was a joy to see these children ranging in age from 6 up 16 years old singing about our Lord and quoting scripture. I praise the Lord for the dedication the church members have for the school. It is all run by the church and there are no paid teachers.

Harrell and I were blown away at the beauty of the Philippines and at the same time heartbroken at the poverty we found.

With the 9 feeding sites set up now, we can supply 2700 meals a week plus the opportunity to share the gospel to the children and parents each time. The national pastors are using this "tool" to reach the lost and bring them into the church so they can grow in the Lord.

I am going to do another post of just pictures and let you share in what the Lord is doing with the BNCF. We now have 5 ministries on 4 continents. The praise goes to the Lord first and to all of the people who support the Foundation and us.

Christmas Around the World...

2009-01-09T11:53:00.006-06:00

Well, I am sad and glad at the same time.... Sad Christmas is over, but oh so glad it's over! I know, I'm a bit confusing aren't I! We had fantastic Christmas for the children in Romania. We were blessed with the help of 5 great friends this year. Brenda Bowden, Michelle Finney, Debbie Yokeley and Amber White all came from the Samaritan baptist Church in Winston-Salem, NC where Brother Danny Smith pastors. This was Brenda and Michelle's second trip over with us. They are so helpful to me. All I have to do now is give them a list of what's needed and send them off in the stores! We also had Brother Micheal Houston from the Fundamental Baptist Church in Livingston, LA where Brother Rusty Silvertooth pastors. This was his 2nd trip also. He, Brenda and Chelle all sponsor one of our children. So it is a joy for the children to see them once again.

I am always amazed at what good children they are right before Christmas!! I guess you could say that kids are the same all the world over. We had fewer parties this year since we no longer have the feeding center in Romania and we combined the teens with one of the other homes. The teens didn't like it too much until I guaranteed them that it wouldn't diminish the amount of food they would get!! They were real happy about that.

We also had a wonderful time passing out Christmas baskets and groceries to our widows. It broke my heart to see Granny Margaret bed ridden when we stopped by to see her. I was so happy to find her daughter there to care for her. She is our first "granny" we took on to care for. She is a dedicated and precious saint of the Lord. She is 90 years old now and just wor

n out. I know her time here is growing short but her reward is going to be realized soon.

I told her that as soon as we are both in Heaven we were going to sit down and have a good long talk!

We are going to Honduras and to Asia soon to share Christmas and New Years with them. It doesn't matter to them one bit that we bring gifts after Christmas or not. If you don't receive a gift on Christmas Day then what does it matter the date if the celebration is the same!!

To often we are encumbered with the festivities and wrapping and food that surround Christmas that we forget that without the birth of our Lord we wouldn't have salvation. So we should be grateful for more than the birth of a baby and celebrate HIS "birthday" every day.

Please pray for us as we endeavor to do our best for the Lord in whatever country we are in. Our goal and heart's desire is to see souls saved and God's saints revived for His soon coming. We have faced some hard trials this year but through it all we have seen the hand of God and He has opened so many more doors for us to serve him in. Until next time, God bless and lead you in HIS paths for your life.

God Blesses in Asia

2008-11-21T12:47:00.005-06:00

As Harrell reflected back on his trip to Viet Nam and to the islands of Philippines, he began sharing all that God had done for him and how the field was wide open in the Philippines. His stories about Viet Nam are both exciting and yet sad. The country is a Communist government so they have no religious freedom to meet whenever they want to worship the Lord. Yet God lead us to a wonderful pastor who has put up with persecution and interference from the government and continues to go forward for God! How exciting to know we still have saints out there that are willing to endure whatever Satan throws at them to serve.

Harrell also had the opportunity to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels and see where a lot of the Vietnamese soldiers lived. Check it out on YouTube and see where my big 6' 5'' sweetheart went. It's not so amazing until you realize he is very claustrophobic! It made him physically ill but he said he had to experience it for himself. He met many little widow women who are in desperate need of help and God laid on his heart to help 10 widows through our Widow's Ministry. He is also setting up a Feeding Center there. He found that there very few orphans because the people are very family oriented and if the parents die the children are always taken in by some family member. We are excited about the new works God is allowing us to work with over there.

Harrell and Brother Woody Godbey, pastor of the Trinity Baptist Temple in Fort Worth, Texas, then flew over to Ceba, Philippines. Brother Godbey had already had contact with this church and was helping a pastor there. Brother Ambro has a wonderful church there and is doing so much for the Lord. Harrell met a lot of young preacher boys that are on fire for God and just waiting for the opportunity to serve the Lord. Three of them are sleeping in a loft area in the church on rice mats for their beds and are so happy for the chance to be trained by Pastor Ambro to serve the Lord. They went out and feed about 125 children. Through this Harrell is helping the church set up a Feeding Center there to feed these children and to share the Gospel with them. They were blessed with over 50 souls saved on the day the went out and fed the children.
Through this trip Harrell feels God would have us take on 10 widows, at least 3 pastors and establish 2 Feeding Centers. Pray with us that God will supply the needed finances for these new ministries and that we will see souls saved and lives changed.

Harrell's trips to Viet Nam and Philippines

2008-10-28T13:07:00.003-05:00

It has been 1 week since Harrell and Brother Woody Godbey of the Trinity Baptist Temple Church in Fort Worth, Texas began their journey to the Far East! Harrell has reported in each day and made me the happiest woman around! He has shared with me all the places he has gone and the experiences he has had ans I will try to relay them to you.

The guys arrived in Ho Chi Mihn City (formally Saigon) at 11:45 pm and were met by a national pastor we had made contact with through e-mail. They got settled into a motel and tried to get a few hours of rest. Then the adventure began. Harrell relayed that the city is a beautiful mix of the old and new. It reminded him of a mix of Romania and Honduras. The old worn buildings and a feel of the ancient yet dripping sweat from the oppressing heat! I am so proud of him, too! He actually went shopping all by himself! He was able to find and pick up some hand painted silk fans for some friends in Virginia.

As far as the food goes...if you know anything about Brother Harrell you know that he is a basic meat and potato kind of guy. So his experience with the food has been an adventure for sure. He has been eating Spring Rolls and Fried Rice mainly. (Those are the only things he said he recognized what they were!) He and Brother Woody did find a little cafe downtown that served Hamburgers and onion rings. He said to was the best food he had ever eaten, he didn't care how much it cost him!!!

brother Woody served in the military during the war there so it was an opportunity for him to revisit a lot of the area he had been in back in the 70's. Harrell said the visited the Cu Che tunnels and he even when into them. Now for those of you who don't know it, he has Claustrophobia. He said by the time they made it out of the tunnels he was physically ill!!!
They also had the chance to go to one of the underground church services. It was a Teen and College age service and the guys really enjoyed it. It was hard for Harrell to stay awake though because he was so tired and the room was so small and warm.

They checked out of their hotel and rode a bus for 4 hours up to the village where this pastor lives and serves. It was here that God moved and opened the hearts of both men. Harrell told me of one day how they drove in a car they had rented until they couldn't go any farther and then began trekking through the jungle. he said he kept expecting to run into George of the Jungle it was so over grown. Then they came out into a clearing and there stood a small shack made of bamboo pole. You could see straight through the walls. Inside they found a small widow woman living here all alone. She lives on a hand full of rice a day and has no one to care for her. Harrell said the pastor took them to 10 such women living in remote sections of this jungle area.

With God's help we will take on these dear women and try to help them in their last days. Our main goal will be to lead them to salvation if they do not already know Jesus as their Lord. At the Sunday morning service God blessed them with seeing an 80 year old woman accepting Christ as her Savior. So there is much to do for our Lord no matter where we find our selves at.

The guys left Viet Nam this morning and flew over to Cebu, Philippines and I will report back to you as I hear form my precious husband. He is already excited about God expanding our ministries and what God has planned for our future. Please pray for them as they minister that God will go before them and prepare the hearts of the people. Pray also that God will give both men health and rest as they work for him. When you get extremely tire your immune defences are let down and you are susceptible to sickness. So please help me hold them up before the Lord that they will come back healthy and okay.

Check back here in a couple of days and I will have some more adventures ready for you. Once Harrell gets back I can then down load some pictures and tell you even more.
God bless,
Jeannie

I'M BACK.........

2008-09-28T15:38:00.008-05:00

Well, as you can tell I have been in hiding....not really! The summer has flown by with us hanging on the tail of the winds. Our summer was one of uncertainty but full of trust in the Lord. We began July with not one meeting booked because Harrell had been called up for Jury Duty in Fort Worth, Texas. I am so excited to tell you God supplied all of our needs and even a few of my wants! Harrell was excused from serving and God took care of all our bills.

I had the opportunity to see my 3 sisters and 2 brothers on a spur of the moment family reunion in Sulpher, Oklahoma. We ended up with over 50 people there! I was blessed to see 2 of my aunts, several cousins and my favorite uncle of all, Uncle SL. Many of these family members I haven't seen in close to 40 years. It was a great time of reconnecting and renewing family ties. Don't take family for granted. It felt so good to be with my sisters and to know we love one another no matter what.

We were in Romania in August to get the kids ready for school this year. The little ones were so excited to get back to playing and learning. The older kids weren't as excited! We want to thank the Lisbon Baptist Temple of Lisbon, Ohio for sending their Vacation Bible School offering for us to use on the school supplies. You thought buying for 2-8 kids was a hassle, try doing it for 28 children from Kindergarten up to High School! Boy, was Brother Harrell worn out when we finished! We would go into a store and ask for a specific item and just buy all they had! Most stores only carry a few things on their shelves! Boy could I have used a good old Wal-Marts!!! Well, the kids are all doing good in school and God has kept everyone healthy.

There was a scare back in March when two of our little girls were diagnosed with heart problems. Timea was found to have a very small hole in her heart. The doctors are just watching her right now to see if it will heal itself. Dana is a very skinny little girl whose chest cavity is just too small for her heart and lungs. They have her doing some exercises to expand her chest bones. So please pray for my little girls that God will touch them. Both girls are 7 years old and we have had them since they were 8 months old.

We also had one of our little 5 year old boys, Alex, set to be adopted this fall. All of the paper work was done and the potential parents came out to the home to see him for the first time...when they saw he was 5 years old they turned him down! They thought they were getting a baby! It broke my heart but I was also very glad that we still have him under our loving care.

The Gypsy churches are doing good also. We are close to having the church in Bertin completed. Here in the U.S. it would have been completed in less than 3 months, in Romania in has been close to a year!!! The people are ready for it to be finished and opened for services! So are we!

I thank God that HE has placed such a wonderful man over the Feeding Center in La Ceiba, Honduras. Aldo is so conscientious towards doing right and being accountable to us and the Lord that we don't have to worry too much about that work. We are still trying to get a national pastor to start a church there and work with these people. We would love to be able to move the whole neighborhood to a new location. The area is being built up with new homes all around them. The locals solution to this barrio is to build a wall on either side of the street and close them in. All this does is close off what fresh air they can get and puts the children in danger from the workers on these new houses!

We have a great need for your prayers in October. Harrell will be flying to Viet Nam and then over to Cebu, Philippines for 2 weeks to see about starting some ministries over there. We have met a Vietnamese pastor through mutual friends and on the internet. We are so excited to see where God is going to take us. We promised the Lord we'd go anywhere HE leads, so pray with us that Harrell will know without a doubt what God would have him do while in these new countries. Our hearts desire is that God would allow us to have a working ministry for HIM on every continent on the Earth.

Well, I promise not to be so long in publishing a blog next time! Sometimes I get overwhelmed with all I need to do and kind of go into a shut down mode!!!! So til next time keep those prayers coming our way and remember that without your prayers to shield us from Satan's fiery darts we are wide open to attacks. I really am a coward too, so don't stop praying for me, I mean us, them...well God knows!!

Happy Father's Day...

2008-06-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

Today is Father’s Day and I want to encourage you to call or go see your daddy if you can. It’s so true that you don’t miss what you have until you don’t have it anymore…
I never knew my father very well but God blessed me with the absolute greatest father-in-law around! I think God looked around and said, ‘Okay, The Girls gonna need someone like him to help her out.” and gave me his sweet son, AKA; the Big Guy, so I could have a daddy.

Truthfully, when I first met my husband’s father I thought they were all really weird! I mean, they told each other they loved each other and even hugged!!!! I’d never seen this and it was a real eye opener to me. Then I watched Big Daddy as he lived a Christian life before me, showing me what a real father was like. He became a reflection of what God is to me as HIS child. Then when The Big Guy and I began our family I was so proud that he was just like his daddy. It’s like they say, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

I do believe that for some people the way we view our earthly father has a lot to do on how we view our Heavenly Father. Some people can only see God as a vengeful, hateful and controlling God that’s out to get them, which makes them small, bitter, fearful and lonely Christian. While others see a God who loves and cherishes them and wants to see them grow into strong, useful, helpful Christians. I’ve seen both sides and I prefer to see God as a Father who loves me and yet corrects me when I do bad so I can become a better person and Christian to lead others to HIM.

So go call your daddy and tell him you love him. If you can see him, even better, hug his neck and thank him for being your father and teaching you all you know.

That's "our" dad without the hat. Love ya, Big Daddy.

Revival at the Samaritan Baptist Church

2008-06-14T21:53:00.002-05:00

We had such a great time with Brother Danny Smith and the Samaritan Baptist Church last week. Brother Smith has been the pastor there since 1981 and the church will celebrate its 50th anniversary this October. We love going there and so far they haven’t gotten too tired of us! We started holding revivals for Samaritan Baptist Church around 1989 and have been going there almost every year since then. Brother Danny has been going through a battle with his health lately and we all are praying that God will work a miracle in him. He is the most upbeat pastor I know of. If you’re ever feeling down or just need a lift, all you have to do is talk to Preacher Smith and you will go away feeling better.

We had 2 sweet ladies from this church go with us to Romania on our 2007 Christmas trip. They have become my “Buddies”, my “Shopping Compadres”, and my prayer partners. Brenda and Michelle proved to be two of the best “shoppers and wrappers” I have had the pleasure of spending money with!! They are planning on going back this year and bringing 4 other ladies from the church also!! Whoopee, look out stores in Romania! I’m bringing an army this time!! The best mental picture I can give you of the time there is The Big Guy totin’ shopping bags and trying to keep a gaggle of women out of trouble!! Now you know how to pray for the Christmas Trip!!!

This church also has a large number of people who sponsor our children from the orphanage. So you can see the tight connection we have been blessed with at the Samaritan Baptist Church in Winston Salem, North Carolina. If your ever driving through there you need to stop in and the members will make you feel so at home you’ll almost kick your shoes off and stay a while! Thank you Brother Danny and all of the dear members who make us feel so loved but so unworthy of it also!

Shopping American Style...

2008-06-11T09:08:00.003-05:00

I went shopping on Monday with two dear friends who have been over to Romania with us and I had such a wonderful time. We bought all kinds of clothes for our kids at the orphanage. It was so much fun picking out little dresses for "my girls" and overalls for the boys. I even found some outfits for my grand babies! The kids in Romania will enjoy the clothes but they'll enjoy the water balloons, freezer pops and Kool-Aid even more. These are things that you never see over there and they just love water balloons!

I'm always overwhelmed at just how much we as Americans have at our disposal. From grocery stores to clothing departments to fast food and even book stores, we have to only look to the left or right of us and there is everything we need! I always wonder what the reaction of my teen aged girls in Romania would be if they were brought to one of our Malls? I'm sure they would think it was real close to being in Heaven!

I heard a story of a man from a very small island off of the Philippines who walked into a Super Wal-Mart and just started crying...when asked why he cried he replied that it was more food than his whole island would see in all of their life times together! It shouldn't make us feel bad or guilty that we have so much, but I do think that we should take time to thank God that he has blessed us so greatly. Believe me when I say that there is no place I love more than America. It may not be perfect and we may have some problems but it's MY country and I am very proud to be an American.

Back to work again...

2008-06-06T19:58:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm back to blogging after a wonderful week with our 3 grand children in Florida. The Big Guy and I spent all of our time playing, holding, loving and spoiling our three precious jewels. JB is a lively, entertaining little boy who in my eyes in a genius. Dia, our drama queen, is so much fun to be around cause you never know what she is going to do. Then there's our Flowersy Girl who at 3 months is the light of her Pappy's life. I'm only going to post 3 pictures, I promise, and

then we'll move on..(okay 4)

Well, was I right in saying these babies are too, too sweet! God has blessed us so richly.

Now on to what's happening in the life and trials of the Noble's; We have been back in the states for a week and are looking forward to beginning revival services in Winston-Salem, NC at the Samaritan Baptist Church where Brother Danny Smith is the pastor. We have been going to this church for over 20 years now and hope the Lord will continue to use us. We always have a great time with the church members, most of them we've known for so many years. It's like a home coming for us to be there. We've seen children grow into adults and now have families of thier own. We've seen the "home going" of husbands and of wives and how God has lifted up those left behind. I'm so glad God has let us be a part of this church family for so many years.

I'll send out news on the revival later so stay in touch.

Newest Church Established...

2008-05-28T08:36:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderful time in Romania and God blessed us greatly. We formally established the Ineu De Cris Baptist Church at our children's homes. This will be for serveral reasons, mainly this wioll provide a church for our children to go to. When we go into the village we take over the small churches there. This will also solve our transportation problems of getting everyone to a church, now they just walk to it! This will also give us an opportunity to be a lighthouse to our village. We already have a few people who come to our services we hold at the homes. The cost to build a church on our property will be approximately $15,000-$18,000. So please pray with us that God will supply this need.

I had meant to write while I was there but I couldn't find a spare minute do it. When I had the time the Internet was down. It rained every single day we were there. Our children are counting down the days until school is out and they can have a little time off. I have found kids are the same no matter where they live!!! We have one of our older girls, Timea, graduating on June the 6th. She will be our 4th child to graduate from high school. It's so sad and yet exciting at the same time to see these children grow up and going out on their own. We only have five of our "original" children we started out with almost 10 years ago. God has blessed us so much.

On a sadder note; two of our older girls, who had recently moved out, faced a real trajety in their lives while we were there. Dorina and Ana Maria's mother whom they had just resently made contact with again died of cancer. We went to the funeral and it was so very sad to see the faces of the people there. Most have no hope beyond what today brings and the only way they knew how to deal with this death was to be stone drunk. It greived my heart for the girls sake and made me so glad that we were able to have them in our home for almost

How much does a meal cost in an airport?

2008-05-17T12:52:00.006-05:00

We left for Romania on the 15th from Greensboro, NC after a great week of meetings at Grace Baptist Church. We ended the revival celebrating National Buttermilk biscuit day! Now who would have ever thought that there would be a day for biscuits? I'm not opposed to a day of celebration over any type of food, but you have to wonder who gets the job of sitting around and deciding what "things" get a day of celebration? Makes you wonder don't it?

It was our first time to travel through Greensboro and I can't say it was any different than the last 50 airports we've been through. A chance to be run through the Security gate like a herd of cattle, take off your shoes, now your belt, okay empty your pockets cause you must be hiding a bomb somewhere in there. No Ma'am you cannot have your shoes back yet! Is this your lip gloss? Now it's mine! Can you please open your carry on.... Oh,that's a purse? It looks big enough to carry a bomb in. Do you have any liquids? No you cannot have 3 bags for liquids, Ma'am. Are you sure all of these drugs are yours? Yes Ma'am you can carry all of the things you had to empty, take off or remove now and can you move it quickly?

Once you get redressed, repacked and rerouted you then realize your hungry. now, airports offer many different types of food to choose from. The Big Guy decided he wanted pizza, so we went in search of pizza. We found some and after ordering a personal pizza each (which would be about the size of 3-4 slices of regular pizza) we get the bill. It cost us $12.00 for those two tiny little pizzas. Big Guy was still hungry so I gave him my pizza and said I'd go get a sandwich. It cost 0ver $8.00! Well, at that point I figured the best place to invest money would be in airport food! Somebody is making a killing on it!

We made it to Budapest an hour late because of delays and then drove the 3 1/2 hours to the children's homes. We are looking forward to some exciting times here. On a sad note 2 of our girls, Dorina and Ana Maria, mother died from cancer today. They had just moved back home a few months ago to be with her. She had dropped down to 55 pounds and had suffered so much that her death was a relief to her and her family. She had claimed to know the Lord and that is all we can go by. Her funeral will be on Monday and we will be there to give support to the girls.

Pray that God will be a witness during this time of sorrow for the girls. We grieve that this has happened but also know that God doesn't make mistakes. I will report more of the happenings as the days go by.

The Amazing Body God Created....

2008-05-12T13:00:00.001-05:00

Can anyone explain to me the use of those (to put it delicately) bodily fluids that flow so freely from our noses? It must be for some purpose other than just giving the Kleenex company a secured markey. It amazes me that God can make the human body so perfectly and then add something like sinuses to it! The Big Guy and I have both been bothered with that sinister seasonal sniffle. It works out great cause we have one day off to be sick and then it's back to "the schedule". If it's not scheduled we can't do it, that means being sick also! I can truthfully say that we are blessed in that we're not sick very often.

Well, we had some bad news from Romania... Our van that was in a wreck in November of 2007 and that we've been trying to get the Insurance Company to pay to get fixed called and said they would not pay! This is really bad for us. We have been borrowing or renting a car since November and it has been a hardship for us. We are waiting on the Lord to show us what to do next. Pray with us that we'll be able to resolve this problem. You cannot minister without a vehicle. Our closest church is 45 minutes to an hour away. We have so much we need to do when there that we can't be without a van. I'm glad God is in control.

Happy Mother's Day to All...

2008-05-11T07:00:00.003-05:00

Today is Mother's day and it is a happy time and sad time for me. I am so blessed to be the mother of two of the greatest kids in the world. Peachy, our daughter, is married to The Car Nut and they are both holding down jobs and going to college. Which I'm told is hard after being out for many years. She has turned into the strongest, most driven woman I know. She holds down a stressful job where she is loved and respected by many. She is involved in her church and loves the Lord. No babies yet but when the time is right they will know. Our son, Preacher Man, has become a delightful man who loves God, his family, his church and me! He and Gracious Lady have graced me with 3 of the most delightful grand babies in this world. I cannot agree more with the millions of others who say it is the greatest joy you can receive.

My mother passed away 21 years ago. She died from Leukemia the day after we buried our oldest son who died from an epileptic seizure. It was one of the deepest valleys I have ever walked through, but I found God's grace was even in that deep valley. So every year I go through this mixed emotion of joy and sadness, but I also know that I will see my momma again in Heaven. I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful Mother's Day celebration.

Good Friends and needed Prayers....

2008-05-10T16:57:00.007-05:00

As we closed out the meeting in Chesterton, Indiana it was with a sad heart. We had been met with the news that a dear friend and brother in Christ is now battling cancer, and another friend was diagnosed with MS. There are many who because of failing health and old age may not be there next time we return.

Life is always precious but when you see your friends in pain or battling sickness it reiterates the verse in James 4:14 "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." We have no promise of tomorrow or even of our next breath. I believe in giving roses to dear ones before they are in the grave: I thank God he allowes us the great honor of calling Brother Don Magnason and Brother Steve Allmon our dear friends. Brother Steve has been the Adult Sunday School teacher and Song Leader for as long as we've been going there. He is a true friend.

Brother Don has shown us what a real Christian brother is indeed. He has a heart for others and is willing to work in whatever way that he can. He and a group of men from the church came and worked at our barn raising we had. He was a wonderful and diligent worker. He and his wife, Marilyn, are very special to us. Our prayers are with these dear families as they face the valley's ahead.

The front of the church at Chesterton

Brother Rick Henderson

Brother Rick's mom and Dad have been married 61 years!

Sister Teddy is a real prayer warrior for the Lord.

More Travels and lessons learned...

2008-05-04T17:30:00.002-05:00

This blogging stuff is all new to me and I keep thinking that this can’t be too hard to do… then I try to add things on to my “sidebar” or stick a picture into a certain place and everything goes berswacky! The really distressing thing is that I have a book right next to me!! Who said it was so easy that anyone can do it? I’m sure it had to be that guy who wrote the book! Well, I hope you can have a little patience with me as I learn and when something doesn’t work just tell yourself that surely she’ll get it right eventually.

I think God looks at us serving Him in the same way. We have HIS Book, the Bible, right beside us with all of the instructions right in front us and we still mess up over and over! I am so glad we serve a Savior who forgives all our mistakes… I know I keep Him busy!

We begin revival services at the Chesterton Baptist Church On Sunday the 4th of May. We have known Brother Henderson and his family for close to 20 years and it has been a joy to see his children grow up, marry and have children of their own and faithfully serving the Lord. That is a mark of faithfulness and love for their parents. We travel on to Randleman, North Carolina for revival with the Grace Baptist Church where Brother Marvin Patterson has pastored for many years. Then we go back to Romania the rest of May and into June.

We have a Baptismal service planned for our 1st Gypsy church in Belfir and hopefully we will be able to get the building program started for the 2nd Gypsy church in Gurbediu. We are close to having the third Gypsy church in Bertin closed in and ready to start on the interior.

Help us pray for the $3000.00 needed to finish this church.

The Church in Bertin, Romania and our Gypsy congregation there.

Another Day for service...

2008-04-30T21:22:00.002-05:00

Well, we have had a great time of services at the "Run For The Rose" campmeeting. There have been so many great preachers and great messages each night. It has been a wonderful time of fellowship although I noticed a strange thing...everyone I know is getting old! I was looking around and all of my friends are gray headed! They are all moving a lot slower and making these odd noises when they get up! Then...I got a glimpes of myself in a window next to them and boy was I shocked to see that old lady looking back at me! It's really surprising when I still feel like I'm 20 years old ( really I'm just a few years over that!!) that when I get up out of the chair my knees make these wierd crunching sound and I find myself grunting! Wow! It's true that getting old is not for the faint of heart!!

It used to be that when we went to all of these meetings we were the "younguns" (Remember, we've been doing this for almost 35 years!) and now we have these 'kids' coming up asking us for advice. Glad to help you, you young whippersnappers!

We'll be going on to the Chesterton Baptist Church in Chesterton, IN where Brother Rick Henderson is the pastor for a week. You never know what we will see but don't worry cause I'll tell you all about it later!

The Beginning of a Journey

2008-04-28T15:43:00.005-05:00

Today continues the journey we began in 1975 as a young married couple dedicated to serving the Lord in whatever capacity He chose for us. I look back over the last 33 years and I can't believe where God has brought us to. From living in a grayhound bus we had converted into a travel trailer and raising 3 kids to adulthood to now being missionaries to Romania! If you had told me all those years ago that one day I'd be serving in a foriegn country I would have told you "No Way! I like Wal-Marts, Krogers and Malls way to much to leave America."
Little did we know how God was preparing us for what HE had in store for us later in life. I guess if we all could see what the future held for us we'd go screaming down the streets looking for a rock to hide under. My precious husband and I were blessed with three perfect children. Brian was born in 1976, Leslee in 1978 and Brad in 1980. We figured we'd have a wonderful life just traveling and singing together. Again God had a different plan. In 1986 our son Brian died in an epileptic seizure after being plagued with seizures all of his life. We really thought he was getting better and on the day the space shuttle Challenger blew up, our son, Brian, died. It was a valley I thought I'd never find my way out of, but I found God was in the midst of my deepest grief. When I felt like I'd never see another sunrise or have another smile in my heart God focused my eyes to see my other 2 children who were grieving also. I realized they were hurting and needed us more than anything else. So God showed me healing and recovery through 2 small faces that were tear stained and needing a mother's comfort.
After all of those years ago we found the same sad, grieving and hurting faces but it was in the faces of little Romanian children who had been abandoned by their mothers. Most of the children we deal with came from the Maternity Hospital. Their mothers go in and give a false name and after they deliver they walk out and leave these babies to whatever life they might have. We don't have any "babies" any more but these that God has blessed us with that range from the ages of 3 to 18 years old are all precious to us.
I hope to tell you more with each entry. Sharing the things that have happened while we traveled on the roads here in America and all of the things that happen in Romania. Enjoy!
Jeannie amd Harrell