The last Sunday in Feb. gave us a record attendance for the month with 30 in attendance on Sunday morning and 24 Sunday night.  There were several people present for the first time which was very exciting for us.  The Lord is truly blessing.  There were 20 kids in my class ranging from the ages of 3-12!!  I am praying that the Lord will send someone SOON to help!!  We have a couple women coming in May and June.....but sure could use some help before then!!  

Also.....please continue to help us pray about a van.  I made 4 trips in my car on Sunday morning and Sunday night!!  2 trips on Sunday morning and Sunday night were to the same house!!    2 1/2 hours BEFORE church started on Sunday morning the kids were calling to make sure I was going to pick them up for church!!  What a blessing.  There is also one 70 yr old lady that comes every Sunday morning, drives her own car in the snow and ice,  and is on CRUTCHES!!!!  She comes in praising the Lord and will always sing a special for us!!!!

We have been busy giving away the clothing.  I believe that God has used this to allow us to become acquainted with many more people.  We don't know whether or not they will ever come to a church service, but they do know we are here and why and that they are all welcome to come to church.

It's late and I am tired.  We have 2 long days ahead of us as there is a sign up a the Post Office saying Tomorrow and Wed. are the days to come for clothing.  We are looking forward to meeting many more Cannon Ball neighbors!!!

Sis. Sheri

We have been very busy this week going through the boxes and giving things away.  The first of next week we plan on allowing everyone to come and get all the clothing they want and hopefully most of it will be given away by the end of next week.  All the food items are gone except for the small bags of pretzels and a few of the mini candy bars.  They will be gone within the next couple days.  We have worked hard getting everything ready and are tired.

I witnessed something happen today that absolutely broke my heart.  One of Jeanette's daughters called and ask if I would take her to Bismarck to pick up a little girl that she was going to get custody of.  Doyle and I talked it over...and decided it would be Ok.  So...I took her to Bismarck and watched as a Mother gave away her 18 month old little girl and walked away without even looking back!!  I have heard of things like this happening and even seen things like this in the news or on TV shows....but have never witnessed it in real life....until now!! 

While I was gone to Bismarck one of the ladies that works at the Post Office (not Tweeter, the one I have mentioned before) along with her husband came by to get some socks.  Doyle said they had a very long talk and seemed very receptive.  They said they would come to church so pray that they will.

Keeping warm in cold, windy Cannon Ball,    Sis. Sheri

This was a busy weekend.  On Saturday the truck from Cleveland, TN arrived with over 200 boxes of supplies.  Clingan Ridge Baptist Church (in Cleveland, TN) sent right at 180 boxes of clothing, Doyles niece (Catherine Stacey) and her church (In the Cleveland, TN area) sent several boxes of clothing, Doyle's sisters sent a few things for the kids here along with some things for us and our home church in Dalton, GA sent some non-perishable groceries for us.  We are so Thankful for everything and know the people here will be also.  It will take us several days to organize all the boxes (most of them were labeled very well) and then begin to distribute them out to the local people.   Along with the clothing there were also some food items donated to give out.  Dennis Parker, the truck driver, his wife and another couple that came with them, graciously helped us unload the truck along with 3 of the older kids from the village.  There was also a couple pieces of carpet on the truck that we'll be able to use in the Parsonage...PRAISE THE LORD!!!.  Thank You to EVERYONE that so graciously donated....we really appreciate everything!!!!!!

In our morning service we had 13 and then 12 in the evening service.  Praise the Lord, Clarice is out of jail and was back for both services today!!  On Saturday night 4 of the girls wanted to spend the night with me....after much consideration....we did allow them to come,  but Doyle spent the night over at the church in his office.  We thought that would be the best thing since it was all girls.  They made Valentines, made beaded bracelets, played games, ate popcorn,and enjoyed playing with Bella.  Everything went really well and they seemed to enjoy themselves.  There was one small incident where they tried to secretly take some things...but when I discovered they had taken the items, they seemed to be ashamed they had done it.  It still is surprising to me how things like stealing doesn't seem to be wrong to them. 

I was sitting on the couch and one of the girls (she is almost 12) came and sat down beside me while the others were in the bedroom playing a game.  This girl was playing a game on my laptop and was begging me to "give" her the laptop.  She told me that the only thing she got for Christmas was a headband.  I don't think that was true and at that point she was just trying to make me feel sorry for her.  But then she got really serious and looked at me and said, "My family doesn't care about me anyway!!".   Which I do not doubt the truth of that statement because I never know where she or her brothers are going to be on Sunday's to pick them up.  Their mother is a drunk and doesn't live at home, their father is in and out of jail, so sometimes they are at home with their dad, sometimes they are at their grandparents, and then sometimes no one knows where they are!!   How sad!!    She is craving for someone to love her......I just pray that she will give us that chance and not turn to drugs or alcohol. 

So....the Lord gave us a good weekend and with each day that passes our burden for these people grows deeper and our love grows stronger.  In HIS time, we are going to see some of them come to Know Him as their personal Savior!!           Sis. Sheri

We had 12 in attendance this morning and then 9 in the evening service. We have been teaching them some new songs and I wonder how much they are remembering but while the younger ones were coloring a picture of Daniel in the Lions Den I noticed they were singing the song we had been teaching them!!  Doyle taught the older ones today and spoke to them about sin, the reason we sin (how we are born with a sinful nature), and the penalty for sin.  They seemed surprised to hear him say that alcohol and drugs were a sin because it is such a common thing in their homes and no one tells them it is a sin and is wrong.  Pray that the Lord will speak to them about salvation. 

I talked to the Lady at the Community Center in Solen and we are waiting on her to call us back.  She had to talk to the other mothers to see what would be the best time for them.  So we're waiting patiently for the Lord to work all that out. 

Looks like a new storm system is headed our way today through Wed.  This one has the potential of bringing 8-12 inches of new snow along with the winds of 40 mph.  They are saying the snow will be a heavy wet snow as opposed to the light fluffy snow we've had thus far.  But we'll see.....the weather is so unpredictable!! 

Thanks for all your faithful prayers,          Sis. Sheri

Our Attendance was down a little bit this morning to 6 but then back up to 12 this evening.  After the service last night we had the kids over for Sloppy Joes and a time of fellowship.  We really enjoyed it and had a good time.  It gave us time to get to know them a little bit better and have some fun with them.  Please pray for their parents.  It is really heartbreaking to hear them tell about their Mom or Dad's being in jail.  One group of kids said their Dad had went back to jail yesterday afternoon and would be there for 20 weeks!! 

 Please help us pray about an opportunity that may be opening for us to work with kids at the Solen Community City.  Will let you know more about that as it develops. 

 Praising the Lord in Cannon Ball,    Sis. Sheri