The Shumaker Family's Blog

We have a young lady named Salie in our church.  She has been faithful for a long time.  A few weeks ago she realized that she was lost even though she was religious.  She put her total faith in Jesus as her Savior.  She has been a big help to us since starting this new work.  She is at everything we do.

She started getting sick a few weeks ago.  My wife went to check on her, after we got back from Ghana and said that she looks like an old women.  She is probably about 27.  We suspected this but it is now confirmed that she has AIDS.  She is really bad.  I guess that we have to all realize that even though God forgives us of our sins, we have scars that will never go away.

I have been very proud of our church members.  They have showed the love of Christ to her.  Her mom won’t feed her, help her or even talk to her.  I know you are thinking, surely that isn’t the case but it is.  Actually one of the women of the church went to check on Salie and her mother wouldn’t even greet her.  That is outright disrespectful in this culture.  She would rather her daughter die.  My wife said that the women of the church have been to visit, heat water to help her bath, and even give money to help her eat.  That is what a church is all about.  Makes me proud to be their pastor.

We had wonderful services yesterday.  Bro. Joe Gueh really preached well.  We took on our second missionary.  Praise the Lord!  I am excited about that.  We had two young men trust Jesus as their Savior.  Bro. Joe preached on, “Are you doing your best for the Lord?”  So I want to ask you and I need to ask myself if I am doing my abosolute best for the Lord.

God Blessed tonight.  Many times I play tennis on Monday and Friday night.  I love the exercise and I love tennis but we have become to busy at church and I had no other night to make visits.  So God convicted me the other week to stop playing on Monday nights, so that I could visit.  Well it payed off.  Tonight, I went to talk with two men that have been visiting our church.  The second visit we made, we were talking with a young man that has been faithful to an Assembly of God Church for years.  I was talking with him about salvation and realized that he doesn’t have  a clue.  I told him that our church can’t do anything for his sins and that I didn’t have the power to forgive his sins but I knew the One that could.  After talking with him for about 20 min, he told us he needed to be saved.  Praise the Lord he trusted Jesus, not the church or me but the Lord.

I meant for this to go out on Sat.  Oh well, here it is.

We made it back home tonight. We had a great trip. I was able to preach at Calvary Baptist Church in Techimon, Ghana. Missionary Steve Volonte has done a tremendous job over the year he and his family has served there. I have learned lots from him. I don’t ever want to get to old or prideful to learn.

Right before I left for Ghana, we had an anonymous gift to help with the building. So I got everything ready and they poured half of the second floor. The Lord has been good to us. We will use half of the building until we have the money to do the other side. I have attached a picture of the work. That is Bro. Joe Gueh with me. He is a missionary going back to his home country of Liberia. He will preach for us tommorrow and we will support him with our faith promise. I think he must be from the pygmy tribe or maybe I am from the Goliath tribe. Not really sure but looking at the picture, I had to laugh.