Diana and Me

This past April was a wonderful time for the Abbott Family and Reach Ministries. We were privileged to hold meetings in three wonderful churches in New Mexico and Idaho. During this time we were afforded the opportunity to see some of the famous sites of the “Wild West.” Truly, it is a honor to serve our Lord and Savior and all though we sacrifice some of the comforts of home, family and friends by being on the road full-time God allows us to see some things th

at we might not get to see otherwise.

We started off in Edgewood, New Mexico, with Pastor Brian Piatt at First Baptist Church. What a joy it was to get to meet this dear brother and spend time with Pastor Piatt and his entire family. Brother

Piatt is doing a great job building a church with a heart for the Lord. We had great services with several coming for salvation as well as many making key decisions in their lives concerning their walk with the Lord. The last night of the meeting God was actively at work in the hearts of the people.  God was honored in all that took pla

ce with many young men weeping on the altar committing themselves to purity, holiness and service to the Lord. Each night following the services we spent time with the Pastor and his family rejoicing over the good things that had happened in the services that night. He was really encouraged by the response of the young men to the preaching.

Saturday morning started at 5am for us. The local weather reports for sou

thern New Mexico was for unusually strong wind conditions and possible sandstorm whiteout. They were expecting the winds to begin to pick-up around 9am. We had a three hour drive to Roswell, NM ahead of us and I wanted to be there before the wind. We were on the road by 6am (what do you nay-sayers think about th

at, lol ). We arrived in Roswell in good time and were getting the trailer set up as the wind begin to pick-up. We have never seen so much sand in our lives. The entire town was a cloud of sand. We started a Sunday – Sunday meeting at Roswell Baptist Church with Pastor Bill Whitehead. Pastor Whitehead is 78 years old and still running wide open. Honestly, this Pastor puts a lot of 25-30 year old pastors to shame with his energy and zeal for souls. Each day we would go calling on stray church members and folks that had visited in recent days. It was refreshing to be with a Pastor that truly has a heart for souls. Everywhere we went he was actively giving out gospel tracts and inviting people to come to church. Each day we

prayed and read our Bibles together and disucussed points of ministry.  Once again, we saw several come to the Lord and many making key decisions in their walk with the Lord.  On highlight of the week was a couple that came on Wednesday night and both husband and wife received the Lord. Their family had been praying a long time for them and it was exciting to see them walk the isle and someone take the Bible and show them how they could inhei

rit eternal life.

We left Roswell on tuesday of the next week after taking a day off and getting some things ready for the long ride to Idaho. We had to stop back by First Baptist Church in Edgewood to pick-up a part I had ordered for the trailer that didn’t arrive while we were there. On our way out to New Mexico I pluged our trailer in at a hotel, to keep the batteries charged up over night, not knowing that the outlet had been wired incorrectly. Yep! You guessed it. I fried everything in the trailer once again. The only thing we haven’t replaced as of yet is the microwave. It is a space saver under the cou

nter, vent a hood, convection type microwave. The GE repair man said it would

co

st $300 to repair and that replacement would probably be cheaper. I’ll keep you posted on that one.

We stated to Mountain Home, Id to be at Bible Baptist Church with Pa

stor John Jones. What a great week we had with the Pastor and his family. It was so good to see Pastor Jones. Several years ago we served together at Southside Baptist Church in Rock Hill, SC as he was seeking the Lords will for his life. God has given them a great church and they are working hard to get things restarted after a rough several years under the former Pastor. Once we were done with Pastor Jones we headed back to the great state of Mississippi. This was only an 1827 mile drive away. We drove 714 miles one day, 700 miles the next and the final 400+ the third day. We were so happy to be parked in one place for a couple of days.

This past Tuesday we left MS for Pensacola, FL. It is hard to believe but Ethan is graduating high school. We came down for a couple of days to see Zach before he spends his summer working for ABEKA Book. Once Ethan graduates we will head to the camp for the annual Preaching Camp Meeting and then we will start setting up for “MEDIEVAL KNIGHTS.”   Look forward to seeing each of you this summer.

Psalm 37:25  I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

What a wonderful start to our week at Fairland Baptist Church with two coming forward for salvation and one for assurance. Things got up and running at 9:30am Sunday morning beginning with Sunday school. We had a good crowd to start the morning and God gave great liberty during the teaching/preaching time. We had a full house for the 10:30am worship service and God moved in during the invitation. The Pastor was excited to see all the folks down the isle to do business at the altar. We had a great crowd back for the evening service. Once again, God gave great liberty during the preaching time and the church responded well at the invitation. We are looking forward to seeing what God is going to do here over the next several days. Beginning Thursday night, I will be preaching at Indiana Baptist College for their college days. I am excited to have a part in the ministry of IBC and look forward to being a part of their college days and encouraging high school seniors and juniors to consider this college as a real option for future.

We had a short pull on Saturday from Mount Vernon, IN to Fairland, IN which was only about 250 miles. It was so nice to have a short Saturday. Especially, knowing that in the coming weeks we are going to have some very long travel days. We leave here this Saturday headed to Chicago for a week and then from there we go to New Mexico for several weeks before ending in ID. Yep! We are going west. This will be the first time we have pulled the trailer out west that far and we truly covet your prayers. It seems as though all I have done over the last two weeks is pay repair bills on the truck and trailer. I replaced a series of tires two weeks ago and while having that done I learned that my axle seal was leaking and needed to be replaced. They told me the oil in the axle needed to be replaced as well so there went another $371.00. I blew another tire on the way to Mount Vernon after replacing three tires on the trailer before I left. Now today we were returning from eating lunch with the Pastor and one of his church members and I noticed the truck seemed like it was running sluggish from the very start. By the time we got home the engine was chugging like it wanted to quit. The check engine light came on and I thought, “Great! now what?”  I turned it off and restarted the engine hoping that would solve the problem. I thought it did until it idled for about 60 seconds then it would skip and go to chugging all over again. This is exactly what happened in August of last year when I got home to MS. The truck had been running great then, all of a sudden, it just went bonkers. When I took it to the shop it was the ISP Sensor that regulates the internal pressure of the engine. Early diagnosis, maybe it is the sensor or it could be a piston ring that is leaking down causing the engine to send a code that the sensor is out. End result was $1000.00 out of pocket to get the truck repaired.  The devil is obviously not happy with people getting saved and we are under heavy attack on our equipment right now. Please pray that God will oversee all  of this and give me the wisdom as well as the finances to get all of this taken care of over the next several days.

What a joy it has been this week to be at Calvary Baptist Churc, in Mount Vernon, IN. This is our first visit to this part of IN and what a wonderful week it has been. Pastor Kevin Petty has been here for four years now and is doing a wonderful job of sheperding this local church for the Lords glory. We have been made to feel so welcome and God has visited with us in each of the services. The time has literally flown by and it seems as though we started the meeting yesterday.  The church family has responded to our family so well with all the meals, kind gestures and gracious gifts to our family. We cannot begin to say thank you enough for what they have done for all of us this week. Yesterday, one of the men of the church stopped by the trailer to see the children.  God had put it upon his heart to do something specific for them. What a blessing that was to both Diana and me. Our children sing every night and Ethan will play his violin and teach the children in the children’s meeting each night and they never ask for anything. It is so nice when someone takes the time to say, “Thank you” with a kind gesture of a small gift or letting them know what it feels like to get a monatary hand shake. This isn’t the first time someone has done something for them, but it isn’t the norm either, and it was a blessing to this preachers heart.

If you ever find yourself  in Southwest IN looking for a place to go to church I would highly recommend Calvary Baptist Church, Mount Vernon, IN.

Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,

Psalm 77:1 – I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.

What an incredible month we have had in our ministry. Where do I begin and to what do I give the most of my time? I can do nothing more at this time than praise my Lord for His wonderful work in our lives. We have seen God priming the pump in our ministry over the last several weeks and longing to see God bring revival to the churches and individuals in these churches. We had outstanding services in Orlando, Tampa, and Seffner, FL this past month. Each service yielded great rewards  for our Lords glory. This past week we were blessed to have been invited back to Victory Baptist Church in Beaufort, SC (better known at Parris Island, SC).

Pastor Chuck Rice has been the Pastor for 22 years and is doing a wonderful job grounding the people and helping them to become faithful servants of our Lord. Many men that are attached to the Marine Corps have found this church to be exactly what their families needed while stationed on Parris Island. The church is made up of several retired and active duty marines as well as many of the local town folk. It is an exciting place to preach. Especially when you have a love and appreciation for our country’s military as our family does. From the very first service I knew God was getting ready to do some great things. The Pastor had been sending me emails to keep me informed as to the churches preparation for the meeting. He had been preaching on revival and he had led them to begin having old fashioned “Cottage Prayer Meetings” in their homes. The testimonies of what God was doing prior to the meeting beginning was proof God was going to show up. It was so exciting to hear about the churches preparation for the meeting. More so than just the average meet and pray on the Sunday of the meeting or just seeing to it that we know who is working the nursery and is the list full for feeding the Evangelist and his family. Please don’t misunderstand all of that is important and those things had been covered. However, by the time Sunday came, the church was ready for the meeting. We had great crowds every night. People were inviting visitors and on Tuesday night the flood gate broke open and four went out for salvation. Three made definite decisions to call upon the Lord for salvation while one still has questions. Maybe you are cynical and think, “well it isn’t hard to get children to make a decision.” There is only one problem with that thought. These were not children but instead were adults, grown folks, active duty Marines and teenagers. Friday night was and electric night with a great crowd back for the services and God gave great liberty preaching on the family.

Well like anything in life all good things must come to an end. We left Beaufort Saturday morning headed to Rock Hill, SC. We parked our trailer at Southside Baptist Church where I used to be the assistant pastor and youth pastor for several years. I was scheduled to preach on Sunday at Truth Baptist Church, across town, for the first time. In route to SBC, about 20 miles away on I-77 , we blew a tire on the back of the trailer. It totally came all to pieces and made a mess out of the back of the trailer. I hope to post a picture on here soon of our new damage to the trailer. We have become so proficient at changing tires that we were only on the side of the road for about 30 minutes. I was so disgusted by the damage to the trailer I almost lost my joy. I priced a new tire this morning and the same tires that I have been paying $130 each for are now up to $171. I need to replace a couple others while I am at it but for now the one is going to be sufficient.

Yesterday, Sunday, was a red letter day. We had such a great time at Truth Baptist Church with Pastor Chris Ellis and the rest of the church family. They were such wonderful host and the spirit in the service was outstanding. This is Pastor Ellis first pastorate and he is doing a great job. He is a few years older than I am and has a heart to win souls. He got happy while we were singing last night and just “Took a Lap” right in the middle of the song. It was great. The church got to shouting and having a good time and we wound up singing about three more songs before I preached. Although, we did not see anyone saved the folks responded well and the Pastor was encouraged by the good number of folks back for the evening service.

Please continue to pray for our family. With the rising cost of fuel it is affecting every other part of life. This is not new news to anyone reading this. As the fuel prices rise church members have less fluid finances which affects their ability to give. We have never and will never tell a church that we must have a certain amount to come. Please remember to pray for us that the Lord will continue to supply for us as we serve Him wherever he leads us. This past week when we left Tampa, FL diesel was $4.09 per gallon. I can pump 42 gallons into my tank when it is almost empty. It cost me $172 to fill my truck before I left Tampa. How does that translate in a 600 mile trip. I can go about 330-340 miles and then stop and fill again. So that means I fill when I leave, in route and shortly after I get there. What is the total? $516.00 (just in fuel) This is to go 600 miles.

For Souls,

Evangelist Bill Abbott

4368 Goodman Road West

Horn Lake, MS 38637

803-517-5960 (Mobile)

www.evangelistbillabbott.org

Philipians 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Truly, we had a wonderful year in 2011 and God blessed beyond all measure for our family and ministry. However, God’s blessing are not without the Devils temptations and testings. There have been several times this past year when I truly understood Peters words when he wrote, “our adversary the Devil walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” The devourer has sought to weeken us with trials and tribulations at every turn. I can say without reservation that at different times I found it hard to pray, read and study my Bible, focus on the ministry at hand and to stay diligent in the work. The distractions and discouragments were great. Yet in all of this God showed Himself real in the life of Bill Abbott. He allowed me to experience things this year that I never experienced in my adult life. We accomplished things that we had never accomplished before as a family and as a husband and wife. What a great and mighty God we serve.

We look forward to the opportunities of 2012. It appears that this may be a year of transition for us. With Zach having left the nest for college in August of 2010 we now face the transition of Ethan from home to college. Our sons are growing up and becoming the young men we had prayed and hoped them to be. They are seeking the Lords will in their lives and learning how to trust him as they test the waters of life while developing their own set of core convictions. What a joy it is to watch the Lord develop them into His servants.

Because I was not as diligent about our schedule for 2012 as I should have been we are looking at several periods of time this year with long stints between meetings. We have been anticipating some possible changes or moves in our ministry that haven’t come to fruition and for this reason we are now in the process of re-evauluating and reconsidering what the next phase will be. We covet your prayers for the days ahead. I decided a long time ago that I was going to be a faithful servant to my Lord wherever He wanted me to serve. My goal is to now determine how he wants me to best do that. We look forwards to the meetings we will have this year and we long to see souls saved and lives changed as a result of the preaching of God’s Holy word. Therefore, we do not look back but we only look forward to the prize that awaits us in Christ.

Well not so fast big boy. I thought that yesterday was the day of bringing our travel home back to MS from TX where it has been for the last 11 weeks. I picked the trailer up and man did it look great. We checked and doubled checked to make sure that everything was in working order and got it all squared away and moved everything in travel ready status inside the trailer and headed out for our home church in MS. Diana had asked me to stop and pick up some things at a particular store while in Dallas. As much as I did not want to stop, I did, and boy am I glad I did. I did my shopping and came back to where the trailer was parked. The old truck driver in me said, “Take a moment and walk around the trailer and just give it a visual inspection before you set out on a 500 mile trip.” Wow! was that the right thing to do. As I passed along the drivers side of the trailer, right where the original crack in the wall had appeared, there was a brand new crack. No way! Yes way! I immediately picked up the phone and called the shop. They asked me to bring it back by and I got to spend another night in Dallas.

They have been working on the trailer all day today. I received a call from the head man at the shop and he said the trailer will not be ready until next week. Well isn’t that just dandy. Now I get to drive back to MS without my home to continue to sponge of family and live out of a suitcase.
We have been under a constant attack by the Devil this year financially. I realized this about two weeks ago. God placed it on my heart at the end of 2010 to get our family completely out of debt. We don’t carry a lot of debt, and never have, but our truck and trailer were in the neighborhood of about $22,000.00 to get both payed off. We were cutting corners in every area trying to get to the place that we could, for the first time in our lives, make double payments on the truck and trailer. We started January with the best schedule we have had the entire time we have been in evangelism. We made our first double payment on the truck in January. We made a double payment on the truck in February and then the engine died in Diana’s van. We spent $3500.00 getting that repaired. We tightened our belt and made double payments on the truck each month. Then with a gracious gift from an unexpected source we were able to make the final payment on the truck in August. Now the trailer. We still owed $13,000.00. It is now time to double up. We came home after a busy Spring and Summer for a week to relax in our home churches parking lot (That is home for us) and get ready for a busy fall and winter. While home for a week our water heater died and my truck, that had been running great, both died. Between the two, we dropped $1600.00. Crazy huh? We got it all repaired and headed back out on the “Sawdust Trail” for revival meetings. When I decided to put the trailer in the shop the last week of September I thought it would only be a couple of weeks getting repaired. Boy was I wrong about that. It has taken 11 weeks to get to where I am today. The insurance company (GMAC) refused to cover the entire cost of repairs say, “They are doing work at the shop that doesn’t need to be done to resolve this issue, therefore we are not going to pay the entire cost of the claim.” Interpretation: Mr Abbott you must provide an additional $2440.00 beyond your deductible to get your trailer out of the shop. Now here is why I just wrote all this and if you are still reading up to this point, God Bless you! When you add all this up the total comes out to right around $7500.00 in maintenance/repairs cost over the year of 2011. Do you know how much I currently owe on the trailer; just over $8000.00.

Please pray for us as we endeavour to please the Lord and to be faithful to His work that he has called us to do at this time. We are so thankful for those of you that have gone out of your way to help us and to house us as we have been inconvenience these last 11 weeks.

God Bless you all!
Bill Abbott

The Following is an email thank you that I recently received. These are the types of things that God uses to keep us in the fight when we let lifes trials get us down.

“I just wanted to send my personal Thank you to you and your whole family for what you all are doing for the Lord. Dennis and I used to sing with our girls at nursing homes and in the services and they sang as a group many times without us. I cherish the moments and memories of serving the Lord with them when we did. Now they are older with their families and passing this on. ALL PRAISE AND GLORY GO TO THE LORD! Last week really was uplifting for me and helped to rekindle some much needed areas in my life. It was so refreshing to see every member of your family being willing to follow God’s calling (We did miss Zack though). Ethan’s playing on the violin was such a blessing to me and the girls singing. Diana is just such an example of a Godly woman from her voice, to her piano talents, to a teacher and mother. The preaching was right there every night Thank you, again. I was glad to be able to purchase some of your music and hope you enjoy the CD I gave you. Maybe you will like it and be able to use some of the songs from it, as well. We are off to church now, I have to teach Sunday School. God Bless, I hope you all have a great day in the Lord. We will pray for your safety.”

Under His Care,

Cindy Musselwhite
Shining Light Baptist Church
Blairsville, GA

Thanks Ms. Cindy for taking the time to be an encouragement to our family. We love Shining Light and always enjoy being with all of you. Thanks for letting the Abbott Family have a part in your lives.

Brother Abbott

Ro 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

The Abbott Family

As with anything we do in this life there will always be challenges. Our latest challenge is our home. For quite some time we have wanted to get a home away from the travel trailer. Yet, this has only been a dream because our ministry is so young and the financial stability in a volitile market for lenders is death to a young evangelist. Now we are faced with the first and only time our trailer has been in the shop with repairs beyond my ability, and the possiblity of the trailer being a total loss. Seems as though the Devil is fighting us tooth and nail these days and we are trying with all perseverence to keep our spiritual chin up.

My heart is encouraged by the words of the Apostle Paul, “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.” My hope is not in this world nor its worldly goods but my hope is in my redeemer. My hope is not in trailers or trucks, houses or cars, boats or four wheelers but my hope is in the Lord. None of these things are bad but sometimes we get so side tracked and we lose focus on the important things in this life. I often preach on praise and hope. Yet, when I am faced with tough circumstances how do I respond? Do I really, “rejoice in hope,” or do I complain as the hopless?

I must admit I don’t handle tribulation well. I like to have a plan and to watch it unfold without fail. I try to be patient and understanding and I try to role with the punches. However, sometimes it is hard to see how the Lord is going to work through these circumstance but I have history on my side and His word on my side that promises He will never leave me nor forsake me.

My heart is bent to prayer. I must pray and trust the Lord that he knows where we are and what we are doing, and let Him have his way. Friend I don’t know what you are facing at this moment, in your life, that  may seem so big and so terrible but the Lord does. Claim this verse from the book of Romans and give it all to God in prayer.

02 A Brighter Day

One of the things that God has taught me over the last several years is that you can be sure if you want to know His will He will find a way to show it to you. For the last several weeks we have been confronted with some future decisions to make for our ministry. In the midst of praying over these things God gave me this in my devotional time this week from Oswald Chambers, “His Utmost For My Highest.” Hope this helps you like it helped me.
“Nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord.” {#2Sa 23:16}

What has been like water from the well of Bethlehem to you recently—love, friendship, spiritual blessing? Then at the peril of your soul, you take it to satisfy yourself. If you do, you cannot pour it out before the Lord. You can never sanctify to God that with which you long to satisfy yourself. If you satisfy yourself with a blessing from God, it will corrupt you; you must sacrifice it, pour it out, do with it what common sense says is an absurd waste.
How am I to pour out unto the Lord natural love or spiritual blessing? In one way only—in the determination of my mind. There are certain acts of other people which one could never accept if one did not know God, because it is not within human power to repay them. But immediately I say—This is too great and worthy for me, it is not meant for a human being at all, I must pour it out unto the Lord, then these things pour out in rivers of living water all around. Until I do pour these things out before the Lord, they endanger those I love as well as myself because they will turn to lust. We can be lustful in things which are not sordid and vile. Love has to get to its transfiguration point of being poured out unto the Lord.
If you have become bitter and sour, it is because when God gave you a blessing you clutched it for yourself; whereas if you had poured it out unto the Lord, you would have been the sweetest person out of heaven. If you are always taking blessings to yourself and never learn to pour out anything unto the Lord, other people do not get their horizon enlarged through you.
(This was take from the morning edition of My Utmost For His Highest, September 3)

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

Ps 104:19 He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.

The sun has begun to set on Camp Hosanna and what an incredible summer it has been. We had record breaking weeks all summer long. We had over 900 campers and recorded 151 salvation decisions. Truly, God has been gracious to us over these last several years to see a steady increase of campers from summer to summer. Already, we are hearing reports of groups that are making plans to be back next summer. We had more churches this summer, than any previous, make CH their camp of choice. To all of you that have prayed and given to help keep our camp a tuition free ministry we are eternally indebted to all of you. We look forward to seeing all of you next year for “MEDIEVAL KNIGHTS.
This was the first year that we did not have to leave as soon as camp ended. I preached last Sunday in Royston, GA for Pastor Andy Huff at Grace Baptist Church. We had great services and with a great response during the invitation. We will be leaving Hiawasse, GA today and will be headed to Bristol, TN for our first revival since we came to camp at the end of May. This will be our 6th revival at Sinking Springs Baptist Church in Bristol, TN. We have grown to love the folks and look forward to great week of fellowship with the entire church. Once we are done in Bristol we sill head to Madison, AL for an all day Sunday at Madison Baptist Church with Pastor Mike Allyson. This will be our first time in Pastor Allyson’s church and we are excited about the opportunity. We have not been home to MS since the second week of February. Once we are done in Madison we will head home for a couple of days before we shoot back east to Martinsville, VA. Lord willing, once we are done in VA we will head back to MS and get Zach ready for college. He has decided to transfer from Heartland Baptist Bible College to Pensacola Christian College. We will have a few days at home before we head south to drop him at school and then we will be in meetings in south MS, and LA before we make our annual trip out west to TX.

Please pray for our family as we move into the second phase of this year. Ethan is starting his Senior year and we are excited to see our boys growing into young men and the decisions they are making. Neither of them are perfect but both have shown the desire to do God’s will in their lives and for that we are grateful at parents. We will be crisscrossing the country over the next several months and we covet your continued prayers for our family. We look forward to seeing all of you in the months ahead. May God bless you all.

For Souls,
Bill Abbott,
Evangelist