Email Update 12-11-12

Hello Everyone,

I haven't updated in awhile and thought I would send a quick note out. Being that it's the end of the semester and the holiday season, life has been even busier. From a personal standpoint, we were blessed to be able to have Amy's parents visit us for Thanksgiving. They actually came in the weekend before Thanksgiving, not knowing how Amy's work schedule would be since she works in the college Bookstore. It was great to be able to see them and we had a great time.

After they left, it was Thanksgiving week which is a busy week on campus. There are so many holiday activities and work to be done. We had some friends over on Thanksgiving and had a big "Family Dinner" together since we couldn't be with our actual families. Everyone pitched in and it was a great meal.

Once the holidays were over, reality set it in again. The semester was drawing to a close and project deadlines were right around the corner. It was a busy couple of days. I did manage to squeeze some phone calls into the mix, but I'll talk about that in a bit. Right now, we are in the middle of Final Exams. Amy has already had one, we both have our Hebrew exam tomorrow, and my last exam is on Thursday. We would certainly appreciate your prayers during this time. Undergraduates students are permitted to leave this Friday, while Graduates need to hang around for work on Monday and Tuesday as the Academy still has school.

By 5:00 PM on Tuesday the 18th, we should be on our way home to Pennsylvania. It's a 16 hour drive, and we are praying that it will be uneventful. You never can tell at this time of year, especially traveling through West Virginia.

On the ministry side of things, once we get home we'll be presenting in three churches. We're looking forward to being with them, especially since many friends and family attend these churches. I mentioned earlier that I squeezed a bit of phone calling in during our busy past couple of weeks. One of those days was extra profitable as I was able to book 4 more meetings. It may not sound like much, but with classes and work, that's fantastic for us. Now more than ever, I look forward to finally graduating being able to begin our full-time deputation ministry. We're often so limited in what we can do, but we praise the Lord for the opportunities that we do get.

Speaking of opportunities, our sending church has been gearing up for the holiday season with a heavy schedule of special events. This past Sunday was our adult Christmas program. I privileged to have a part in the program as I played one of the servant's to king Herod. I had a blast and the program was a great success thanks to God and His blessings. This coming Friday and Saturday, we'll be putting on a live nativity on our church property. Amy and I will participate as cast members. CD's of the Christmas story will be handed out to each car that comes on to the property. We won't have any lines as the CD's will explain what's going on in the scenes.

Will you pray with us that God will use this nativity to bring someone to a saving knowledge of Christ? This is our burden and our heart's desire. This is our church's focus and purpose for having a nativity. We want to do everything we can to share the gospel with the people of our community.

We appreciate each and everyone of you. Your prayers and support mean the world to us. Thank you so much.

In Christ Alone,
Traver and Amy Freeman

PS. Because of our busy schedules, I am not planning on sending out a December prayer letter, instead the next prayer letter will be a Dec.-Jan. prayer letter. We will resume monthly letters in February.

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Busy at Work

A couple weeks ago we were involved in two major events at our sending church, Pine Forest Estates Baptist Church.

I would have posted this sooner, but I just haven't had the time. It's project time at seminary. Amy's parents are coming for a visit at the end of next week and we've got to get our projects done ahead of time because most of them come due the week or two afterwards.

Two weeks ago we had a ladies luncheon as an evangelistic outreach. Our church has taken this year and tried to focus more of our efforts on evangelistic outreach (inreach actually). We desire to bring unsaved friends, family, and coworkers to saving knowledge of Christ.

We can all talk to them about Christ at work, but let's be transparent. Sometimes that's hard because they don't want to hear about it or it causes a strain in the relationship because they get upset at us. Outreach meals and events give us the opportunity to bring those friends to a free meal and to hear the gospel presented in a dynamic message.

We helped setup for the luncheon, but our main responsibility was watching the children so that ladies could hear a clear presentation of the gospel without distraction. We work with the children on a usual basis, so when the call went out for someone to watch the children, we volunteered. Myself and our Sunday School superintendent watched the older kids while Amy and some college girls took care of the nursery. No photos from this, sorry.

The following week was a church work day. I love church work days. It's a time where I can get out, do something beneficial for the church, and get my hands dirty all at the same time. To a guy, there's nothing like putting the gloves on and getting some manual labor done. It's a workout, helps the church, and gives you that strong sense of accomplishment when the work is done.

Amy worked inside organizing the youth/children's closet (A MUCH needed
 task, trust me). We also had a breakfast on the grounds that morning. We always love every opportunity that we get to fellowship with our church family. We love our church and privileged to be a part of Pine Forest Estates Baptist Church and the work that God is doing there.

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Freeman Email Update 11-7-12

Hello Everyone,

I just finished up our latest prayer letter and wanted to send that to you all. I also thought it was an appropriate time to give you an update on what's been going on. With everything that's happened, I think we need a reminder of why we are here and what God wants from us.

With all the news media and social media, it's easy to take our eyes off of Jesus Christ and off of the prize. As many hearts are heavy, may we remember that Jesus said "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Peter took His eyes off of the Lord and focused on all the circumstances of life around him, and he began to sink into the roaring water (Matthew 14:22-33), but when he focused his eyes back on the Lord, immediately Christ reached down and saved him. Direct your eyes to God and remember why we are here.

We're here to serve Him, we're here to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and it won't do us any good to be downhearted. Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again, I say, Rejoice. Jesus Christ is the solid rock and on Him alone I stand! Are you standing on the Rock? May we allow this event to not drag us down, but lift us up and fuel a fire in our hearts to do all that we can for God. Ephesians tells us that the days are evil and that we must redeem the time. Let's use every opportunity we have to serve the Lord with all of our hearts and stand in that evil day, having done all to stand. Standing with the full armor of God and His Word as our sword. Fight. Press toward the mark, toward the prize of the high calling of God. If you do that, you'll never go wrong.

Attached you'll find our latest prayer letter. I won't say much else than that. We've been rather vocal on our blog this month. If you would like to read any additional updates, please go to www.shalltheyhear.com

In Christ Alone,
Traver Freeman

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November Prayer Letter

Click on the file to view it in its original size.

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The First Meeting

This past weekend marked our first official meeting of our pre-field ministries. We were privileged to be a part of a missions conference in a local Pensacola church just 15 minutes away from where we attend seminary.

To the right and below you will see pictures of our display. We were excited to finally be able to put all of our equipment to use. We acquired some of our table artifacts on our most recent Australia trip. The picture of the aboriginal artwork emu was a gift from the Maldoff's before we left.

The conference began Friday evening with an introduction to the missionaries and a presentation of gift package for each. Brother Carl Vonnoh, BIMI's CLAIM director, was the main speaker who preached at each service. Besides us, there was a missionary family to Nepal and a family that is doing construction work for churches in the States to help cut the costs of building and allow those churches to use that money more effectively for Christ through missions and outreach.

We really appreciated the gift and Amy thought the bag was very cute. In the bag was various food and practical items. In my opinion, the greatest gift was a set of audio cables and connectors. I meant to purchase a pack of those at BIMI, but I'm glad I did not. The Lord was able to provide them for us through this church. The cables allow me to route my volume from my laptop straight through any church's sound system using a microphone jack. Amy has taken a liking to the red pillow as her favorite gift. It has affectionately found a home on our couch and she uses it quite frequently.

Saturday began our presentations. There were two services scheduled for Saturday. The first service was at 5 PM, we had dinner on the grounds as intermission, and another service at 7 PM. The missionary builders gave their presentation at 5 PM and Amy and I gave ours at 7 PM. It was the first time our video had been played during a meeting and it was an exciting moment (for me anyway). Amy can't figure out why I was so happy to play it. She says I better enjoy it because after 2 years of watching it at every church I'll be sick of it (so she says! I don't think so).

I hope and pray that our burden for Australia was given to the hearts and minds of the people. If you have not seen our video, you can check it out here.

Sunday, we taught the children in Sunday School and the missionaries to Nepal presented during the morning service. That, too, was followed by a lunch on the grounds and their evening service actually during the afternoon at 1:30 PM. At the conclusion of the conference they had a prayer of dedication and protection for the missionaries as Bro. Vonnoh concluded with a message on how to effectively pray for missionaries.

We had a great time and met some new friends. We left around 3:30 PM and headed home to prepare for Mid-terms which we are currently studying for as I type. We have a big Hebrew Mid-term tomorrow and praying for God's strength as we've had little time to study this weekend.

Our next scheduled meeting is in December. We'll be doing some drop-in visits and focusing our ministry on Pine Forest Estates Baptist Church, our sending church, heading into the holiday season. We'll keep posting our email updates and prayer letters to the website here, but probably won't post another update like this until December.

We appreciate your prayers and would encourage you or your church to consider partnering with us to take the gospel to Australia.

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Freeman Email Update 10-07-12

Greetings All,

I wanted to write a quick email to share our latest prayer letter with you as well as tell you about some exciting things going on in our lives.

Since the school semester started, we have been able to visit five churches. Of those five churches, three have shown interest in scheduling us for meetings. We are excited about these opportunities and pray that the Lord will continue to work in helping us serve Him.

We are also thrilled to be able to continue working with the children's ministry of our sending church. I have the opportunity to teach the memory verse and share our missionary moment. Since missions is a huge burden on my heart, I desire to share that burden with the children of our church. As my pastor always says, the children of our churches are not the church of tomorrow, they are the church of today. I pray that my burden for missions will become their burden. They love both Amy and I and we miss being away from them when we're traveling.

We have a busy month ahead of us with our sending church. There's a multitude of activities going on and I believe I mentioned them in the prayer letter, so you can read about it there.

Last time I updated I shared a blessing that the Lord gave us with providing ministry equipment. Since then, someone had heard about how I had lost a lot of weight and only had one suit that really fit me (and that was after having it tailored down from it's original size). That person donated a sum of money for me to purchase a new suit. When we went to purchase the suit, the store had a buy one get one deal going on. We ended up purchasing two suits for cheaper than the price of one because one of the suits was on clearance. Praise the Lord! Our God truly is amazing and wonderful.

School has also been progressing well. Mid-Term exams are less than two weeks away. The next time I send an email will be after those are over, so we would certainly appreciate your prayers.

As always, we thank you for our prayers and support. If we can help you in anyway, please let us know. We are here to serve.

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How Shall They Hear?

Our official missions video is here for your viewing pleasure.

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October Prayer Letter

We mailed out our October prayer letter today. Click on the picture below to view it full size.

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Freeman Email Update 9-16-12

Hello Everyone,

The past couple of weeks have been exciting for Amy and I. The school semester has officially started and we are well underway with our studies now. We have also officially begun visiting churches in the area to see where we can be of help.

Last Sunday we were able to visit two churches. One of our teachers was preaching a pottery series at a particular church and so we visited that church and were able to hear him speak. We actually ran into a lot of people who knew or recognized and it was a great time. After the service, we were able to meet the pastor and he invited us to present our ministry to his church in the future, we haven't arranged a particular date as of yet.

That night, we visited a church which participates with our church in various youth events as well as in the upcoming Men's Retreat at the end of the month. It also was a great time meeting new folks. The bound between brother's and sister's in Christ, even when they've never met before, is truly a a wonderful thing. Praise God for unity in Christ.

Tuesday was Church Ministries emphasis day at the college and that meant all of the pastors that get interns were coming to the college to meet new students who are interested in interning in a local church. During that time, Amy and I were able to meet several pastors and were invited to visit two churches with the very real possibility of presenting in the future.

Wednesday night also marked the restart of the Children's program at our church. One of the highlights of our ministry is being able to serve Christ in the Children's and Youth ministries. Throughout the year, we'll have the opportunity to present the weekly Missionary Moment and to teach the Bible lesson from time to time.

But the greatest blessing of all happened this evening. We visited a local church this evening that was about an hour away because BIMI's President and General Director, Dr. David Snyder, was preaching there. While we were there we ran into an old friend of mine from college who now attends the church and heads up the children's ministries. We spent a good 20 minutes talking with him, and then a lady walked up to us and out of the blue asked us if we needed a DVD player and projector for deputation. I told her we had one, but it was a cheap one and the projection unit was already starting to go out, plus it was back home in Pennsylvania.

She said that she used to be on deputation, but then God redirected her ministry and she no longer needed it. She had been praying and asking God who she could give it to because it was sitting around getting no use. Then she saw us talking to Dr. Snyder and figured we must have been missionaries. It was a great blessing because I hadn't even really thought about projection equipment and it is certainly good to have for smaller churches that don't have any equipment on hand. God has really been blessing us and we give Him all the glory.

We were truly blessed by the preaching tonight from Dr. Snyder and I asked God if He would provide another contact this week in His way. Will you pray with us toward that end? We have given our deputation ministry to the Lord and are completely trusting Him. We still have our eyes on getting to the field by the end of 2013 and know that it is possible through God's power. We certainly appreciate your prayers and support. May the Lord bless you.

In Christ,
Traver and Amy Freeman

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September Prayer Letter

Here is our prayer letter for the month of September. Click on it to view it full size.

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Freeman Email Update 08-22-12

The following has been sent out via our email update letters. If you would like to be added to our email list, please send me an email at australia.freeman@gmail.com


Hello everybody!

Amy and I recently got home from our two week vacation to visit family. It was a much needed rest after a full summer of ministry that immediately followed a full semester of learning! Now that we are all rested up, we are gearing up for another semester plus the new and exciting time of our deputation ministry. I am actually in a class right now. The class began on Monday, we had our Mid-Term today, and the final exam is on Friday. My class lasts from 8-2:30 each day with a few scattered breaks to stretch our legs and eat lunch. I would certainly appreciate your prayers as I finish up this class.

Looking ahead, we are extremely excited to get started visiting churches in the Pensacola, FL area very soon. While we are still in Seminary, we will be limited to churches in a 3 hour radius, but that still gives us plenty of opportunities to minister and be a blessing to churches. We actually believe that this will give us a greater area of ministry in these churches. While most missionaries are only able to visit a church once to present their ministry, we will be able to make multiple visits to various churches to really get to know the people.

It also gives us the opportunity to continue to minister with the kid's program at our sending church, Pine Forest Estates Baptist Church. They have really missed us the past few weeks while we've been gone and we have really missed them!

The Lord has also blessed with allowing us to make new contacts with people and churches we otherwise wouldn't have met without his great work and provision in bringing us together. We hope that you will continue to pray with us that God will continue to work as He has to help us get to the field in a timely manner. We miss Australia already and cannot wait until that day we board a plane with a one way ticket.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support,
Traver and Amy Freeman

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August 2012 Prayer Letter

I will start posting our prayer letters online. You can select the tab "Prayer Letters" above to see current and past letters. There will only be one right now.

Click the image to enlarge it so you can read it easier. I'm not sure how to post downloadable PDFs so a JPG image will have to do for right now.

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The Land Down Under

Sorry I haven't posted already. We've been in Australia for two days now. I plan to being daily posts about what we do as soon as we get back from camp. This whole week we will be at Teen Camp and I don't believe I will have internet access. I might, but I'm not sure. If I do, you will see a whole lot more posts about daily happenings, if I do not, you won't hear from us until Friday.

As far as our trip goes, we had the best trip you could ask for. Absolutely no problems. All of our bags arrived and all of our flights were early. We did not have to rush to make any connection. I thank you for your prayers on that matter. God is good and we know He helped make our trip as stress free as possible.

When we arrived, Steven Maldoff wasn't even there to pick us up yet because "the Mildura flight never arrives early!" he said. But wouldn't you know, there is always a first time for everything, we left and arrived five minutes earlier than scheduled. Luckily, he arrived before we collected all of our bags so we weren't waiting long.

It was great to see the Maldoffs, Steven and Christy haven't changed a bit, but all three of their girls grew at least a foot (I may be exaggerating. But their oldest daughter is now taller than Amy and she's 10 years younger!)

We had Australian sausages and chips (French Fries, but so much better than fries it is hard to explain, you just have to have some) for tea, which is their more common term for dinner. I remembered how much I missed Australian food. I hate American sausages. I can't stand them. Yet, there is something about the Aussie sausages that I love. It was a great first meal.

The next morning in church we had a great time seeing old friends and meeting A LOT of new ones. As a matter of fact, most of the people we knew were out of town on holiday and won't be back until next week! It felt like going to a brand new church. Since we have been here, the church has more than doubled in size and the ministry is going exceptionally well.

This morning we leave for Teen Camp. It's about 5-6 hours away from Mildura, so we'll be on the road for the most part of the morning and afternoon. Camp is always a great time for teens to pull themselves away from the influences of the world and focus on Jesus Christ. This week, will you pray with us for teens to make decisions either for salvation or dedication to Christ?

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Thousands of Miles

When last we left you, we were at BIMI, Baptist International Missions Inc. in Chattanooga, TN. We've been so busy, I haven't even had time to write about that experience first!

I will summarize it all by saying our first day there was like trial by fire. They ran us through the gauntlet. We started the day with a doctrines quiz. Following the quiz we had a class or two on different policies and procedures. That afternoon was our screening exam. We all waited patiently in a room for hours until it was our turn to go into a little room with two directors and a pastor. We were asked all sorts of questions, but 15 minutes later we were done and approved from them.

Then came the real test...or so we thought. That night, dinner, we went before the board of directors. It was about 24 pastors from all over the country. They made it sound like this was the most difficult part of the entire night. At the very least, it was certainly the most intimidating. However, Amy and I were only asked where specifically in Australia we are going and what degrees we were currently pursuing. That was it. After that, we were fully accepted as BIMI missionaries. The rest of the week was classes 8-5, learning how to be a missionary and how to keep track of our finances mostly.

We traveled back home to Pennsylvania for a week, stopping by the New River Gorge in West Virginia on the way back. We made an interesting contact while there, a pastor noted how Amy and I dressed and left a note on our car windshield. Lo and behold, it was a pastor I was planning on calling later that week anyway. Is it great how God works?

Back in PA, we spent a few days of work mixed with R&R. Every morning I called pastors and set up a few meetings while the rest of the day we spent relaxing. We needed it. Just a few days later, we were off again, and this time back to Pensacola. In total, we traveled about 3,800 miles on our first "vacation" of the summer. We traveled through places like Paris, Lima, Sydney (Sidney), London, and few other places (all conveniently located in Ohio and Tennessee).

Amy and I had (have) a two week class, in Pensacola, on the book of James. We are both in class together so it makes for nice studying times together. We are enjoying the class, though Amy isn't too excited about the 10 page paper. We have four more days left of class and then we immediately leave for our third and final trip to Australia before returning full-time.

Thursday is our final exam and last day of class. Class officially ends at 1 PM, though we may get out earlier being the last day. Our flight leaves Pensacola at 3:45 PM. We wasted no time and want to maximum our time in Australia. We can't wait, and eagerly await that departure date.

Just a few days away!

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Family, Fun, and More Traveling

The adventure continues. If you thought we were going to get to settle down and relax a little bit, you were wrong. We got home Saturday night, the 26th and left the 30th. Before we left Pennsylvania, we headed to 7 Springs for a little fun with my mom. 7 Springs is a ski resort, but in the summer they've got an alpine slide. My mom found some tickets from years ago that were still good and so we were going to have a great time riding the slide a couple times.


Notice I said were. It was an okay day until we got on the ski lift to get to the top of the mountain. We're stuck on the lift and it begins pouring! As soon as the lift reached the top we jumped off and ran into a shed for cover. Sadly, when the track is wet, they can't run it because of hydroplaning (not good when you're in a concrete tube going super fast down the mountain, trust me). They took us down in a shuttle and we never did get to ride it, oh well.

Yes, I photoshopped this one. I couldn't stop and get out here.

Wednesday, we were off to Sandusky, Ohio. Thursday we spent all day at Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital of the world, with my mom and my aunt. It, too, was scheduled to rain most of the afternoon and it didn't look good, but a lot of praying was answered with a perfect day by the time the park opened.


Perfect in that there was no rain and the sun poked out a bit, not so perfect in that it was 58 degrees. Especially when you consider that the coasters ran at 60+ mph, the wind made it substantially colder. But it was still a great day.


Friday, we headed to Hebron, Kentucky for Answers in Genesis's Creation Museum. You can read my other blog post at Media Missions to learn more about some of the amazing design in the museum. The museum was great. We spent two days there, and this was sort of our Anniversary trip. Our anniversary in Monday, June 4th, but we'll be taking a doctrines test, going through screening, and being presented before the BIMI board of trustees. They tell us it's the most stressful and pressured day of the week. Whoopee! Happy Anniversary!

The museum is definitely a must visit for any church group. We met up with a pastor friend of mine who had brought 28 people from his church. Now that's a big group! They've got information about dinosaurs, Creation, the fall of man, Noah's Flood, the Ark, and much more. It's a must see! Did I say that already?

Anyway, we're at BIMI, Baptist International Missions Inc., gearing up for an intense week of training. We'll see you when it's over!

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Traversing the East Coast

Amy and I began our journeys in Pensacola Christian College on Friday, May 25th. We both got out of work early and left Pensacola roughly around 2 PM. We had a 4-5 hour drive ahead of us. Our goal was reaching Newnan, Georgia (just south of Atlanta) to visit my sister.

We arrived around 7:30 PM (after an hour time change). It was really great to be able to get off of work almost three hours earlier than originally planned. This allowed us to spend an extra three hours with my sister. We spent the night in Georgia and got on our way around 8:30 AM. Now, we had a 12-hour drive ahead of us.

We had two choices. Take I-75 and go through Tennessee and West Virginia with beautiful mountain landscapes or take I-85 and go through the Carolinas and have a flat, boring drive. The Carolinas would get us in 30 minutes faster, but the other route would be more to look at. Either way, Amy had never been through ANY of those states. We opted for the more beautiful route, even though it took us a little longer.

Amy laughed at my claim of mountains. Being from Utah, she is used to mountains at almost 6,000 feet elevation. You know, the type that have snow on their caps almost all year round. The Appalachians could hardly stand up to that test, but there were a few she was willing to classify as mountains.

We arrived at my home in Pennsylvania a little after 9 PM. We were happy to arrive, and got settled in. The next couple of days featured visiting old friends and family that I haven't seen in almost 2 years. After being home for a bit, our exciting adventures are about to begin. We've got three fun and exciting places to visit before beginning BIMI Candidate School on Sunday. I'll update you on those after it's over.

Tune in next time for the latest adventures of the Jolly Gnome.

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The Adventures of the Jolly Gnome

Our summer is about to begin, and, boy, is it PACKED. Amy and I will constantly be traveling from now until August. Tomorrow, Friday the 25th, begins our summer vacation. Work is over, school is over, and it's time for a little R & R...yea right.

Our journey begins here, in Pensacola. Because of the variety of places, and countries, we'll be visiting, we bought a Travelocity Gnome to help document our travels. He'll be featured in all of our articles from now until the end of summer. We leave Pensacola tomorrow after work and head towards Pennsylvania (my home), but before we arrive we'll be taking a detour in Georgia to visit my sister.

I wouldn't want to spoil the excitement of where were going just yet, but suffice it to say that we'll be spending significant time in 5 states in 1 week's time. We'll keep you posted as we go. Our posting will become far more frequent now. Life will no longer be the boring same old, same old of every day life. The adventure is about to begin!

Please pray for our travels. We'll be covering at least 2,000 miles over the next week and half, with another 1,000+ in the weeks following. Pray for safety and speed (not breaking the law speed, but no traffic jams or accidents that delay our drive). For many of you reading this, we'll be seeing you in the next couple of days! We can't wait to see all of you who are home.

Also, the first half of Team Australia 2012, Daniel Kim, has arrived in Mildura, Australia. He left Monday and arrived Tuesday night (our time, Wednesday afternoon their time). I spoke with him last night and he arrived safely with no problems at all. Check it out his blog if you are interested in following his progress over the 5 weeks before we arrive.

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It's Over: What's Next?

A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook that he's been to 3 continents, 11 countries, 48 states, graduated from college, acquired a master's degree, started an online business, and is leading a missions trip and he's only 23. He asked: What's next?

That question is similar to what I'm thinking. Now Amy and I haven't graduated from my Master's program just yet, nor have we been to as many states and countries as he has been to, but we've accomplished a lot. We've finished another semester. Finals are done. Thank you all for praying. They went well. Our projects are complete and turned in. Another year is over, and the question that has been asked is: "What's Next?"

Recently, in an email, I told you that we have been invited to attend Candidate School with Baptist International Missions Inc. I wanted to share with you a little bit more about that. The reason that we have chosen BIMI as our mission board is because their doctrines and standards align with our own and because missionaries Steven and Christy Maldoff, whom we plan to assist, are also sent by BIMI. As part of their deputation process (which is a fancy term for raising support), we are required to attend Candidate School twice on two separate occasions. The first time we attend will be week one, and the second time will be week two which takes place a year later. I haven't been to one yet to tell you what it's all about, but from what I understand it's a training program intended to prepare you for the mission field as well as for deputation.

We will be attending our first week this summer. The very first day of the Candidate School is an interview with their board of pastors. They'll have opportunity to question us and then make a decision on whether or not to accept us as missionaries. Upon acceptance, we'll be able to stay the rest of the week and participate in the training program. Candidate School is June 3rd through June 8th.

Before that, though, Amy and I will be returning home to Pennsylvania to visit with my family and friends. A few days into our vacation, we'll head out to Candidate School, and at the conclusion of that we'll return home to PA again for about a week. On June 16th, Amy and I will be returning to Pensacola for a summer class that lasts two weeks. The final day of that session, Amy and I will be boarding a plane for LA, and ultimately, Australia two hours after class is dismissed.

We've got a busy summer ahead of us, and we ask that you continue to remember us in your prayers.

Don't forget, if you haven't check it out yet, I started a blog designed to help pastors and churches improve their media and design. It's called Media Missions.

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The Laborers Are Few

Missions Conference at Pine Forest Estates Baptist Church was a blast this past week. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to participate and we had a great time. This was my first official missions conference I was able to attend since the PCC ones don't really count. It was also the first missions conference I have ever participated in. After this experience, Amy and I look forward to being in many more and cannot wait for deputation to begin.

As I already wrote, we kicked off the missions conference Wednesday night with a video from BIMI called "Open Their Eyes Dear Lord," but the conference started weeks before as we started making preparations in Missions Committee meetings. We organized several dinners, arranged for decorations, and planned on special events throughout the week.

Thursday featured a video from the Troy Lewis family regarding their mission to Belize, they shared their testimony of how God had called them to the mission field in the middle of their life as a family. They had stable jobs, a home, and their kids are reaching their teenage years. When God called them, they left it all and have not looked back. It took an amazing step of faith to leave everything you know. It reminds me of Abraham whom God called and said, "Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:" (Gen. 12:1). Just as Abraham followed God by faith (Heb. 11:8), so the Lewis's will do the same. Following the Lewis's presentation, BIMI Caribbean Director Gary Sprunger gave a challenge from the Word of God.

Friday was time for Amy and I to share our presentation. We had already shown our video to the church about a month before when we asked them to pray and support us for our short term summer missions trip. This time, we showed slides and talked through them to give the church folk a better understanding of exactly what we will be doing this summer. We also had a special treat planned when we brought in Missionary Steven Maldoff live from Australia through Skype video technology. At the conclusion of my presentation, I gave a brief challenge to everyone, asking them to all be willing to go to the mission field. Not everyone is called to a foreign field, but certainly everyone ought be willing to go wherever God may lead them.

Following my presentation, Gary Sprunger spoke on Faith Promise giving. If more churches operated on faith promise, their missions budget and missionary numbers could increase. Through this system, members of the church place their faith in God to supply their needs and they promise to give a certain amount each month to missions that they hadn't been giving before. We were given two days to pray about what God would have us pledge to give before making a decision on Sunday during the morning service.

Saturday began with a church work day in preparation for our Homecoming service next Sunday, however, that didn't stop the missionaries from getting involved. Both the Lewis's and the Liedtke's were there helping us work hand in hand to accomplish the tasks we had planned. We pulled a fence out of the ground, filled in the holes, and raked up most of the leaves on about 2 acres of the property. There were enough leaves for about 4-5 truck beds full. Saturday evening was our International Dinner and Missionary Panel. There were over 100 in attendance and the food was amazing. Amy prepared an authentic Australian Meat Pie thanks to Andrew and Sarah Budimir who gave us the recipe! Everyone loved it, and I'm thinking we might start making that more often.

Sunday was the final day of our Conference and it was a very busy day. It began with me teaching Sunday School to our Life Action Class (I have to watch myself, but they are the grandparents). Amy and I shared little bit more about the Australia culture with them, and then I gave a lesson on Faith. We looked at Mark 11 and Matthew 14 as we examined why we should have faith and how to exercise that faith. I challenged them that the only way to please God is through faith (Heb. 11:6) and that by showing faith they could experience the almighty power of God in their lives (Mk. 11:23, Matt 14:29). I concluded with another challenge to be willing to go to the mission field if it was God's call on their lives. I used missionary John Allen to Papua New Guinea as an example of someone their age who was willing and accepted God's call to missions only a few years ago.

During the morning service we had a Children's International Parade where all the children dressed up into clothes from around the world. Afterwards, Gary Sprunger spoke again and we took up our Faith Promise offering where we turned in cards pledging, between ourselves and God, to give a certain amount a month toward missions. Following the morning service, we (the missionaries) had lunch at the church. We had also had dinner provided for us by the Sunday School classes on Wednesday through Friday.

Sunday Night was the final service. Our children's Sunday School gave their Faith Promise which was a penny offering we had taken all month. They raised over $100 for the missionaries. The Mark Liedtke family then showed their missions video and Mark preached afterwards. He used his talents as an artist during his message by giving a chalk talk. At the end of the night, Pastor presented each of the missionaries with gifts from the church for being there this week. After the service, we all packed up, said our goodbyes, and everyone headed home or to wherever they were going next.

We will miss Missions Conference. It was great getting to know the Lewis's and Liedtke's better and we will miss them. Hopefully, Lord willing, we will see the Lewis's again in June at Candidate School (we are eagerly awaiting a letter let us know if we are invited to Candidate School). Our lives have been busy these past few days, and now we can take some time to slow down a bit. But not for long! Finals are just around the corner (a little over 1 week away). Continue to pray for us as we finish out the semester.

I finished the last post with this verse, and I wanted to list it again. It's the title of this post, and it is so true. It's not an option, it's a command, and if more people prayed and obeyed it, we would have a lot more missionaries like the Lewis's and the Liedtke's. Luke 10:2 "Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest."

Traver Freeman

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How Shall They Know?

Today began Missions Conference at Pine Forest Estates Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL. Amy and I are privileged to be members of PFEBC as well as to be featured missionaries participating in the Missions Conference. The conference runs Wednesday through Sunday with a lot of events planned each day. Amy and I will participate personally in 3 of those days.

Wednesday kicked off the conference with a Missions video called "Open Their Eyes Lord" by BIMI about missionaries Joe and Tanna Collins to the Tibetans of Nepal.
Thursday will feature a presentation from missionary Troy Lewis to Belize as well as a message from Keynote Speaker Gary Sprunger, Director of the Caribbean for BIMI and member of PFEBC. He will continue to speak each night of the conference.

Friday will be our day to present our work. Lord willing, if all goes well, we plan to bring Australia missionary Steven Maldoff to the service with us via Skype. He'll give a live brief overview of the work in Australia as we look forward to working alongside the Maldoff's full-time in the future. We will also be sharing photos from our previous two missions trips, giving a "Day in the Life of a Missions Trip" to let you know what we've done and what we're hoping to do this summer.

Saturday will be a church work day, followed by our International Dinner and Missionary Panel. The International Dinner will feature dishes from many different countries, including some homemade meals from Australia that Amy plans to make. The Missionary Panel will conclude the evening, giving those in attendance the chance to ask questions that they haven't gotten answered yet in the services.

Sunday will conclude Missions Conference with missionaries attending different Sunday School classrooms, giving a challenge from the Word of God. In the morning service, the International Children's Parade will take place as the children dress up in national attire. Sunday Morning, Gary Sprunger will speak on Faith Promise Giving. Sunday Night will conclude our Missions Conference with a presentation and message from missionary Mark Liedtke, also to Belize.

Will you pray that God will help us as we prepare our presentation and hope that the electronics function properly for the Skype to work? Will you pray with me that God uses this Missions Conference to grip the hearts of the people for Missions? Maybe God would call someone, young or old, to the mission field. "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest." Luke 10:2

Traver Freeman

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Goal Accomplished

Matthew 19:26 "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." I would like to announce that our support for this summer has been completely raised (almost). We are within $100 of our goal of $7,000. I would like to tell everyone who had a part in our support through finances and prayers a very hearty thank you. Three times now Amy and I have been witness to the wonderful faithfulness of our Lord in bringing in the support we've needed to make this trip. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and nothing is too difficult for Him. You have all had a part in God's work of raising support and you will all continue to have a part in God's work as we share the gospel to children and teens and see people commit themselves to greater service to God. It will all be possible because of you. Thank you.

I would like to use this opportunity to personally tell anyone who is considering going on a missions trip, but thinks the cost is too high that nothing is too difficult for God. A few years ago on a Monday night is 2008, I sat in Mission Prayer Band as the flyer went around for summer missions trips, not intending in the least on going on one. The prices were listed for about 10 different countries. I looked for the most expensive one, and then laughed and said "I feel sorry for anyone who has to raise $4,000 to go to Australia." Two weeks later God said (in a roundabout manner of speaking), "You're going to Australia and now you have to raise that money, but do not worry, I will provide for you." Now we're going to be full-time missionaries in Australia. Since then, as I said earlier, Amy and I have raised money for 3 trips to Australia. If you have never been on a missions trip before, I highly suggest that you consider it. It will change your life. It changed mine.

Any additional support that we receive from here on out will go towards two things. 1. Any needs of the Maldoff's and Murray River Baptist Church and 2. Our next trip to Australia in 2014, Lord willing.

Mark 11:22-24 "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."

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Initiations

Hello all!

I started this blog to be able to inform you all about what's going on with Amy and I concerning our Australia plans. This first post begins a series of "Initiations," hence the title. It is a brand new blog, with the very first post about some very exciting beginning things.

First of all, I would like to tell you that Amy and I have made application to Baptist International Missions Inc., BIMI. They are a God-honoring mission board that we align with in Doctrinal Beliefs and are happy to be hopefully working with them in the future. Steven and Christy Maldoff are missionaries with BIMI and since it is our goal to assist them in their ministry, it works out great that we will both be using the same mission board. We have completed all the paperwork and mailed it in a month or so ago. The last thing we needed to do was get our Medical Exams taken care of and that was completely finalized today, so we just need to mail it off and wait to hear back on whether or not we are invited to Candidate School. If we are invited, we will have an interview the day before it begins, and they will determine if they want to take us their missionaries.

Secondly, I'd like to update you about our Summer Missions Trip plans. Our plane tickets are all purchased and the dates are set in stone. We will be leaving Thursday, June 28th and returning Monday, July 23rd. We greatly look forward to making the trip and it is less than 3 months away! Please continue to pray that we would get the rest of the support that we need for our trip. Money will go towards supplies, food, housing, gas, and ministry needs for missionaries Steven and Christy Maldoff and their three daughters.

Hopefully, I will be able to figure out this blog a bit more and make it more attractive and get rid of some of the generic picture type things, but until then, I hope you will enjoy the posts and the updates.

Traver Freeman

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