Carol was able to participate in the Christmas Choir at our church this past Christmas.  Alia was also able to be in part of it with the Missionettes from church.  They all did such an awesome job.  Now that our children are getting older, we have more time for this type of fun thing. Click a picture to see a larger view.

-John

A year ago, Carol and I had the pleasure of going to Moldova with a Missions Trip from Neighborhood Assembly of God, in Helena, MT.  While in Moldova, we worked on the foundation of a church in a town called Bubuieci.  This church has been meeting in a house because they had no building of their own.  While we were there, with us, there was no room in the church, so they brought all of the pews outside onto the driveway where we had a great service.  You can see more about that HERE, HERE, and HERE.  I chronicled our trip to Moldova, and it can be seen HERE.

We received the following update on the Bubuieci church and wanted to share it with you.  It is so good to see the church building coming along.  God is so good!

- John

Building The Church in Bubuieci The church in Bubuieci, Moldova is over 10 years old but has never had their own building to meet in. At the present time they meet in an overcrowded house. This past year a $40,000 piece of property was miraculously donated by a lady in the village. We are now working hard to build the church for this growing congregation. In September, New Life Church from Princeton, Minnesota sent a team of 11 to help with the work in Bubuieci. In one week the team made a huge impact as the floor and the walls are being completed. Bubuieci Church in May 2009… Church family at the construction site in May, 2009. Pastor Sasha and Troy discussing plans for the next phase of construction. Bubuieci Church in September 2009….. Many hands make light work              Ann Jungers building the wall Water break for BJ and Keith                 Pastor Sasha hard at work Working on the floor for the future sanctuary Heather                                       Eugene Hard working ladies from Princeton                    Visiting the elderly Andrei and son                   Charles and Pastor Sasha Thank you to leaders Jon and Ann Jungers and the whole Princeton team. And to their church in America for sending and supporting them. We are workers together in God! In October we have another team coming from Montana to continue work on the Bubuieci church. We are hoping to get the church far enough along so that they can begin meeting in their new facility before winter. As well, will be organizing a Convoy of Hope outreach during this time. Any gifts toward the work in Bubuieci will go a long way and be greatly appreciated. We feel privileged to be partnering together with you as we build the church in Moldova. Your faithful prayers and support keep us going. God bless you! Troy, Heidi Jo and Heather Darrin The Moldova Mission For online contributions, please click on the secure site: Assemblies of God World Missions Contributions/Darrin To mail your support: If you would like to mail a contribution to the Darrin’s Moldova Mission, send support to:  Assemblies of God World Missions, Account #2260974, 1445 N. Boonville Avenue, Springfield, MO, 65802-1894. Our field address: Troy & Heidi Jo Darrin                                 WANT TO SEE MORE? Str. Primaverii 4                                          Become Heidi’s friend on facebook at Chisinau, Moldova 2064                              HeidiJo Ness Darrin at www.facebook.com www.themoldovamission.org troy.darrin@agmd.org heidi.darrin@agmd.org

We enjoyed a fun time together on Sunday evening on August 30th as Neighborhood Assembly of God Church celebrated our summer picnic.  We totally stuffed ourselves on hamburgers, hot dogs, polish dogs, and more goodies than one is allowed to imagine.  We had super fellowship with those we love, and there were lots of games, blowups, and activities for kids of all ages.  There was even a creek to wade in to cool off.  All of this happened at the Kleffner Ranch, which has one of the largest (if not the largest) old barns in the United States.  Click on the picture to see a slide show of our fun evening.

Click the photo to see more from our fun picnic.

John

We took the opportunity that Field Day gave, as a chance to test out our “new” 1977 camper.  I belong to the Capital City Amateur Radio Club, and we attended a national event called Field Day.  This year, Field Day ocured on June 27 and 28.  We gathered up our supplies and headed out to Devils Elbow, a campground on Houser Lake, which is on the Missouri River.  Even though this was an Amateur Radio event, we used our time to get out in the camper.  We had a great time, and this was a good time to work out the “bugs”.  We discovered a couple of things we lost or forgot, but overall, we had everything we needed.  We were only able to stay over one night, from Friday to Saturday, as we had a busy church schedule on Sunday.  Here are some pictures of our fun weekend.

Also, visit my Ham Radio site at: http://radio.mcdougallshome.net/

John

Isn’t it neat when you go to church and God REALLY shows up? Today was one of those days.  I feel sad for those churches that have such a small view of God that they don’t expect Him to show up there.  He is so good, and He is healing lives, inside and out.

After church, we were invited to some friends house for brunch.  We had all of the eggs, bacon, and french toast that we could possibly put inside us.  Oh so very good.

Last Sunday, seven days ago, we received over 20 inches of new snow.  It has been melting quickly, but we have enough left that Ana, Alia, and J.J. could have a fun time sledding on it.   They tried sledding on it last Sunday, but it is almost impossible to sled in 20+ inches of snow.

Here are some pictures of the day.  Click on them to see larger views.

John

Alia just loves horses and wanted for a long time (even at her young age), wanted to learn how to ride them.  The owners of the historic Kleffner  Ranch go to our church, and Stacy and Alia have fallen in love with each other.  Alia has had several opportunities to visit their ranch and has on occasion, ridden one of their horses.

Stacy also wants to learn how to ride a horse, so Alia and her are going to learn how to ride together.  Alia is so excited, she can hardly stand it.

The other day, Alia spent some time drawing a horse with her on it.  She very carefully cut it out and proudly posted it on the refrigerator.  I scanned the picture and here it is.  Click on it for a larger view.  Good job Alia!

John

Alia and Her Horse. Click for a larger view.

Click to see more pictures from our 2009 Montana Mens' Advance

Our church had our statewide Mens’ “Advance” on February 27 and 28 at Central Assembly of God in Great Falls, Montana.  Several years ago, we decided to change the name from “Mens’ Retreat” to “Mens’ Advance” because we are “advancing”, not “retreating”.

This year, we were honored with the presence of Mark Lowry.  Mark is a Christian Comedian, Singer, and Songwriter.  He is well known for his thirteen years association with the Gaither Vocal Band, and has announced to us that he has returned recently to the Gaither’s after a several year solo career.  Mark was accompanied by the very talented pianist Stan Witmire.  That man can make the piano “sing”.

Mark gave us a very entertaining but thought provoking message.  Our sides were splitting and we were gasping for breath from all the laughing that he caused us to do.  What a great time we had at this year’s “Mens’ Advance.”  Click the picture or HERE to see some photos of the Advance.

John

On Saturday evening, March 21, Neighborhood Assembly of God had their 2009 Missions Banquet. Our Keynote Speaker was Missionary Andy Raatz, missionary to Moldova.  Carol and I had the privilege of traveling to Moldova in October 2008 on a short term missions trip with Neighborhood Assembly.  What an awesome time it was.  You can read, and see all about it HERE.

Besides being blessed with a challenging message from Andy, on personal love for those we are serving, we were blessed by the music of Cissy Padget.  She is Helena’s own singer, song writer, and author.  We also heard from Tim Kern, our local missionary to the college campuses of Helena and Chi Alpha.  Jeff Larson gave us an update on past projects that we have begun in Moldova, and Craig Charlton was a superb Master of Ceremonies.

Andy, then spoke at our church services on Sunday.  We had a good time of prayer for him, his family, Moldova, and the Home of Hope.

Click HERE to see a bunch of pictures from this good Missions Banquet.

Click HERE for Neighborhood Assembly of God Church.

Click HERE for Andy’s web site “Harvest Moldova”.

Click HERE for our Moldova Missions Page.

Click HERE to see more information about Cissy Padget.

Click HERE to see Chi Alpha’s web site.

John

I have never seen the movie “The Cross And The Switchblade“.  I received the movie as a Christmas present this past Christmas and viewed the film.  If you have never seen the film, it is about a pastor named David Wilkerson who was obedient to the Lord and went to New York City to minister to the gangs.  To make a very long story short, many gang members came to the Lord and had their lives were revolutionized.  That was fifty years ago.

Fast forward fifty years.  At Neighborhood Assembly of God Church today, a group of wonderful ladies from Teen Challenge in Missoula, MT visited us, gave testimonies, and performed a “human video” for us.  It was a VERY POWERFUL service, and the presence of God was very “thick”.

What did the movie “The Cross And The Switchblade” and today’s service have in common?  That same Pastor David Wilkerson who ministered in the streets of New York City over fifty years ago, is the founder of “Teen Challenge”.  The ladies, who’s lives have been changed by the Lord,  that visited our service today were a direct result of a pastor that was obedient to the Lord in a different part of the country fifty years ago.

What are you doing for eternity?  Do you think that it takes someone great to change the future?  As I read the Bible, I am reminded time and time again, that God uses ordinary everyday people who are obedient to Him.  Let us obey Him together, and we will “CHANGE THE WORLD!”

John

Click the picture to see photos from our Christmas program along with all of our Christmas pics.

Last Sunday, Neighborhood Assembly of God had it’s Christmas Program. All of the children were delightful.  There was a lot of music and worship.  The service ended with the “Praise Team” singing a very humorous but thoughtful song with the aide of hand puppets.  Ha!

Neighborhood Assembly of God Praise Team assisted by Hand Puppets