N EWS FROM R ANDY & R ONDA O CTOBER , 2007

M ISSION S ERVICE C ORPS , N ORTH A MERICAN M ISSION B OARD

O UR P ILGRIMAGE TO I SRAEL

the Sea of Galilee, which

G REETINGS IN THE NAME OF J ESUS :
included worship and a
O CTOBER HAS BEEN A BUSY MONTH FILLED WITH
message. What a beauti-
TH
TRAVEL AND AWE ! I T STARTED ON THE 4 WITH A
ful place where Jesus
VISIT TO THE S OUTH C AROLINA B APTIST S TATE walked on the water and
C ONVENTION IN C OLUMBIA . W E MET C LIFF calmed the sea during a
S ATTERWHITE , D ISASTER R ELIEF D IRECTOR , AND storm. Here He com-
P ERSONAL E VANGELISM D IRECTOR , J ACK P AR- manded the disciples to
TRIDGE TO DISCUSS EVANGELISM STRATEGIES FOR The country of Israel is ap- cast their net on the right
TRAINING VOLUNTEERS . W E WERE ENCOURAGED side of the boat and they
proximately the size of New
BY THEIR FOCUS AND COMMITMENT IN TRAINING caught so many fish that
Jersey. It is said to be the
VOLUNTEERS TO SHARE THE G OSPEL . their boat began to sink.
religious center and epicen-
WE THEN DROVE TO A TLANTA FOR 4 DAYS OF
Jesus prepared breakfast
ter of the world. This is
TRAINING , SHARING , AND A COMMISSIONING SER-
on this sea shore for His
where Jesus was born, died
VICE WITH 125 N ORTH A MERICAN M ISSION disciples after His resur-
on a cross and was resur-
B OARD MISSIONARIES . I T WAS UPLIFTING TO rection. We visited the site
rected. The time we spent in
SPEND TIME WITH OTHERS SERVING ON THE MIS- overlooking the Sea of
Israel not only opened up the
SION FIELD WHO ARE BEING FACED WITH SIMILAR Galilee where the famous
history books, but the Bible
CHALLENGES . G OD IS USING N ORTH A MERICAN “Sermon on the Mount”
came alive. Here are a few
M ISSIONARIES TO MINISTER TO PEOPLE ON THEIR was given and the 5,000
highlights of our trip.
OWN TURF . W E MET MISSIONARIES WHO WERE were fed. We traveled by
SERVING AT TRUCK STOP CHAPELS , IN THE OIL The first historic place we boat from Tiberias to
FIELDS OF W YOMING , IN PREGNANCY CENTERS , IN visited was Joppa, a beauti- Capernaum where Jesus
LOW - INCOME PROJECTS AND NEW CHURCH S TARTS . ful seaport city by the Medi- made His ministry head-
I T WAS EXCITING TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO terranean Sea and our place quarters and many mira-
SHARE OUR MINISTRY VISION IN EQUIPING VOLUN- of adoption. This is where cles were performed in-
TEERS TO SHARE THEIR FAITH AS THEY SERVE . Simon the tanner lived and cluding where Jesus paid
where Peter had the vision to the tribute money from the
T HE FINALE OF OUR 4- DAY EVENT WAS THE COMMIS-
take salvation to the Gentiles mouth of a fish.
SIONING SERVICE ON M ONDAY NIGHT AT E AGLES
L ANDING F IRST B APTIST C HURCH ABOUT 30 MILES in Acts 10. Joppa was also
SOUTH OF A TLANTA . I T WAS AN HONOR TO BE COM- the chief seaport used to
MISSIONED WITH THE NEW P RESIDENT OF NAMB, float the cedars of Lebanon
D R . G EOFF H AMMOND , WHO COMES FROM A MIS- to Jerusalem for building the
SIONARY FAMILY AND HAS SERVED AS A MISSIONARY . Temple during Solomon's
D R . H AMMOND STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF reign.
PRAYER AND EVANGELISM AS BEING KEY ELEMENTS
IN THE LIFE OF A MISSIONARY . H IS EXPERIENCE AND We visited Caesarea by the
KNOWLEDGE IS INVALUABLE AND WE LOOK FORWARD Sea, a large palace and man
TO SERVING UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP AT NAMB. made harbor built by Herod
the Great in 25 B.C. A Ro- We visited Nazareth, lo-
man theater, hippodrome cated midway between the
and aqueducts are still pre- Sea of Galilee and the
sent to validate this ancient Mediterranean Sea. This
city. was where the angel ap-
Tiberias is located on the peared to Mary and an-
west shore of the Sea of nounced the Messiah’s
Galilee and 10 miles south of birth and where Jesus
Capernaum. We took an spent his early years.
Israeli and American Flags early morning boat ride on
R ANDY & R ONDA ’ S N EWSLETTER
The famous Jezreel Valley is where
the Battle of Armageddon will be
fought (Rev. 16:13-16). Megiddo is
located on the south edge of the
Jezreel Valley, the world’s most fa-
mous battlefield. The mound of Me-
giddo has been extensively exca-
vated and covers 13 acres, reveal-
ing 20 cities built on the ruins.
The Jordan River was cool and
clear, although it was not as large
as we had envisioned. We had
lunch at the En-Gedi Oasis where
the cliffs rise to 2000 ft above the
Dead Sea. There are many caves
here and this is the place where
David fled from Saul. Masada was
an elaborate three-tiered palace
built on a mountain plateau in the
days of Herod the Great and towers
more than 1400 feet above the
Dead Sea. The fortress had spec-
tacular views; a sauna, pools and a
food supply to last for 2 years.
The Dead Sea was our next stop. It
is the lowest spot on earth, 1,306
feet below sea level. It was beautiful
In closing , we want to thank everyone for your prayers , support and
cards during our recent health issues. We wish everyone a Happy Thanks-
giving and may every moment with family and friends be blessed with
love and much laughter! WE LOVE YOU!
P AGE 2
with deep shades of blue and em- that is remarkably like the area of
erald green dotted with randomly Skull Hill or the place called Gol-
scattered salt glaciers. The mineral gotha. We had communion in the
content is about 32%, which com- Garden commemorating and cele-
pares to 3.5% in the Mediterra- brating the death, burial and resur-
nean. And yes, you can sit in the rection of our Lord and Savior.
Dead Sea and read the newspa-
per; it was quite refreshing!
We visited the Qumran Caves
where the Dead Sea Scrolls were
found in 1947. Traveling to Jerusa-
lem, we visited the Mount of Olives
and looked across the Kidron Val-
ley to view Old Jerusalem. From
here we could see the famous
“Golden Gate” or “Eastern Gate”
and the giant wall that surrounds
the old city. This city has seven We feel very blessed to have been
gates; the Golden Gate is the only gifted with this opportunity to travel
one not open. This famous gate to Israel and will treasure it for years
will be opened when our Lord and to come. At times we felt we were
Savior returns to Jerusalem at His standing on Holy ground, realizing
Second Coming (Ezekiel 44:1-3). that we had crossed the path of Je-
sus during this journey. We will
The Garden of Gethsemane has
pray for the peace of Jerusalem as
some of the world’s oldest olive
instructed by the Lord and wait with
trees and was a very emotional
great anticipation for His return!
place. This is where Jesus, in great
agony, prayed as His sweat be-
came like great drops of blood be-
“The Eastern Gate”
fore the great multitude came to
take Him away.
The finale was the Garden Tomb
and on the door a verse from the
bible “ He is not here, for He has
risen”. The tomb was thought to be
owned by Joseph of Arimathea and
is located at the foot of a rock knoll
Randy & Ronda