Croatian Christmas project underway!

We've been back in Croatia and have been as busy as ever! It's been Christmas time and that is always a busy time for us. The Lord has been good and already we've had some saved! Praise the Lord!

Our biggest thing going now is our Christmas in Croatia project. Scott Holcomb and Kevin Brown raised money for food baskets and we were able to distribute them last week to many down and out families. What a blessing it was to so many, as strangers came to their door with a basket of food. I believe many contacts have been made through this ministry. We would covet your prayers on behalf of these people we've contacted.

We were also able to bring back many gifts for poor children on our container. The container did not arrive until a few days after Christmas, so we got a late start, but better late than never. Our team, The Telebar family, Sam Ward, The Holcomb family and the Brown family worked hard sorting everything and getting it all ready to be distributed. What a joy it has been distributing the many gifts, and scarfs that were in the container. We've brought smiles to many children and through this ministry they have seen the love of Christ.

We want to send a special thanks to all who have participated in sending money and gifts, which makes this all possible. God bless you and I hope you enjoy the few pictures below!

What a day!

What a day! I'm not usually late to anything, but this morning we showed up late to soul-winning. It all started when I couldn't find a tie. It seems we've packed them all to send to Croatia. This started us late but no problem I always leave early, because you never know when your ties have been sent to Croatia. We're making good time until we get ready to get on 30 from 360;  it seems they had the freeway shut down. No problem I know all the short cuts in Arlington. However, Every street I chose was shut down. Thanks Jerry Jones for building that big stadium right in the middle of Arlington. We're now 10 minutes late, but no problem we'll press on. I finally get around all the closed streets, and then look up in my  rear view mirror and see red and blue flashing lights, no I was not speeding. I have no ideal why he is pulling me over, by now I think the devil must be in this thing. Come to find out I had no break lights they went out and the policeman almost hit me. He was kind and let me go, and I replaced the fuse that was blown and we were back in business. Finally made it, late though, and Tori and I were able to go through God's plan of Salvation with two people. They did not get saved, but the seed has been planted. Maybe the Lord was testing us to see if we would still go and witness for Him!

New Testaments have arrived!

After waiting much our Bibles have finally arrived from Tennessee! We unloaded them today and Thursday will put them on a container bound for Croatia. We are so excited about it. There are 10,000 New Testaments with the Psalms! They were printed by Bible and Literature missionary foundation in Shelby, Tennessee. Beams out of Mississippi, put hard back covers on all 10,000 Bibles they look sharp and I can't wait to share them with the Croatian people! We are so thankful to Bible and Literature and to Beams for their great sacrifice!

Prayer Letter!

July & August 2011

Dear Fellow Laborer,

     

        Greetings to you from the state of Michigan! We are a little over half way through with our three month road trip. I think by now we are all road weary, and tired of living out of a suitcase. I guess it will make our arrival home to Croatia that much sweeter. Up here in Michigan it has turned cooler and the climate is much like Croatia. This has left us home sick and we are getting excited about returning home. There was a time we didn’t consider Croatia home, but after eleven years God has done something in us. He has knit our hearts with the people of Croatia; they have become like family to us. Praise the Lord for His work of grace in us!

       The Gypsy Christmas program is going well. Many have responded to it and we are excited about this great work. We were just at Covenant Baptist Church in Sterling Heights, Michigan and they had 50 shoe boxes ready for us. We loaded them in our trailer to take back to Texas and then on to Croatia. We’ve also been in touch with Calvary Baptist Church in Mulshoe, Texas, and they are sending 100 packages for the Gypsy children. Praise the Lord for this and God bless all of you who have helped with this project.

     We would like to give a special thanks to Pensacola Baptist Temple in Pensacola Florida, and also to Grace Baptist Church in Louisburg, North Carolina. Both of these churches gave what was needed to get our container shipped! Yes we do have the money for the container now! I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was to see our God once again answer prayer. I didn’t even have a meeting at Grace Baptist in North Carolina; we just dropped in on a Sunday morning. Brother Bailey gave me a few minutes to report, and while I was up there he asked me if we have any needs. I told him we still needed 1,000 dollars for the container. (We actually needed 1,500 I miss spoke.) Brother Bailey then began to raise money in that service for our container. By the end of the service they gave 1,500 for the container. I miss spoke, but God knew what we needed! It never ceases to amaze me when God shows up and answers prayers. All I can say is, Glory to God!

       The Bible project continues forward. Brother Lemmon out of Tennessee has the New Testament and the Psalms and has begun printing them, all 10,000 copies. I’m planning on picking them up towards the end of October and then get them to Texas and place them on the container. Please pray with us that all will go smoothly as there will be much paper work to get done to get the Bibles into Croatia.

Brother Rich continues to translate while I’m in the States. Please pray for him as he translates that God will give him wisdom and grace. Also please pray for his health. He hurt his back moving a refrigerator, and is waiting for an MRI. He was told that he might have to have surgery.

       I’m still getting good reports from the field. They are passing out many tracts and have had visitors in both churches. Brother Scott Holcomb has got a burden for the many surrounding villages around the cities where our churches are. He is led people from the church to put John and Romans and gospel tracts in each mail box of these villages! I know they have already covered several thousand homes. Praise the Lord for their faithfulness!

        As I close, I want to thank you all for your love and support of our family! We are truly grateful to be a part of your missions program! Thank you for giving to the Lord!

Please remember to pray for:

1.      The container, much paper work to be done, and possibly might have to pay 1,500 for taxes!

2.      Safety as we travel!

3.      Power as I preach!

4.      Souls to be saved!

5.      The money needed for a car in Croatia!

Because He Lives,

Johnny Leslie

Goober says, Hey!

Well I've searched high and low looking for an old fashion barber shop, you know the kind where men would gather and talk while a man gave old fashion hair cuts. In Croatia this is still quite normal but here in the US of A it's been pretty hard to find. Many a time I thought I found what I was looking for only to find women on the inside cutting hair. Now don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against women and as a matter of fact I'm married to one and I kinda like her.

I guess I just like the old fashion ways, where men were men and they didn't go to get their hair styled but cut, and if it was messed up a little they didn't care that much about it because they weren't trying to be purty!

Well ladies and gentlemen, after searching for what seemed like forever I finally found what I was looking for in Mayberry, North Carolina, (ok it's not really called Mayberry it's Mount Airy, North Carolina) but it is the home town of Andy Griffith. Though it's not called Mayberry, it was the town that Mayberry was modeled after. And wouldn't you know it on Main Street there's a place called Floyd's Barber Shop! When I saw that sign I just knew I needed to get myself in there and get me there one of those haircuts. Boy was I surprised when I entered in because the real Floyd, whom the TV character was made after, was in there cutting hair. He was 85 years old and was Andy Griffith's childhood friend. I knew that I was going to get me a hair cut by a famous man. I went in and sat down in the chair and got me an old fashion haircut by an old fashion barber.

If you are ever looking for one of those old fashion barber shops let me recommend Floyd's to you. I would suggest you hurry up, after all he is 85!

' knew I'd fine 'em there

Goober says, Hey!

Life long Friends!

Our family has been in NC now for a week or so. We are getting ready to head towards OH. We were blessed to stay with Bro. Shane Brantley and family. We met the Brantley's about 6 years ago in Croatia. Their family visited us in Croatia, because Brother Shane was seeking the Lord's will for his life. He wanted to be open to anything the Lord wanted him to do. God didn't lead his family to Croatia, but he did give us new friends in the Brantley's. We thank God for their friendship, and opening their home to our family!


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Location:North Carolina!

The Simplicity of Salvation!

I'm amazed how many preachers that have complicated salvation. They ridicule those who believe that salvation is simple and easy. Now, I'm not advocating that anyone who prays a prayer is saved, and to be honest with you I don't know anyone who does believe that.

It saddens me to see these Pharisees ridicule those who believe that salvation is simple! I've heard them judge their motives, by saying they only want to see more numbers. Like they can see into the heart of a man and know why he believes what he believes. It could be that those who preach a simple salvation, simply believe the Bible; they don't want to see folks die and go to hell so they tell more people about Jesus, and because of this they see more saved!

How easy is Salvation? 

Well brother, it's as easy as walking through a door! Jesus said in John 10:9 "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."

It's as easy as taking a drink of water! Jesus said in John 4:10 "Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water."  John 4:13-14  "Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

It's as easy as eating bread! Jesus said in John 6:35 "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."

It's as easy as believing! Jesus said in John 3:15-16 "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

John 3:18 "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Salvation is so easy that little children can get a hold of it! Salvation is so easy that people that live in the jungle can get a hold of it! Salvation is so easy that Gypsies in Croatia can get a hold of it!

Jesus said in John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

Let's stop trying to complicate God's simple plan of salvation and let's get out more and lift up Jesus!

Traveling On!

We've made it to Jackson, AL. We are staying in a mission house provided by a dear couple in the church. We are so thankful for people of God who make it a whole lot easier on missionaries. We are enjoying our time here out in the country. We are surrounded by beautiful scenery and I've been able to get a lot of work done!



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Location:Jackson,AL

BEAMS

I had the privileged this week to meet Dr. Freret, president of BEAMS. We had a great time at this ministry and my family got to help pack Bibles going to Africa! It was wonderful seeing this ministry and what they are doing for the Lord!

I was able to explain to Dr. Freret about our Croatian Bible project, and he's agreed to help us get it printed when we are finished! Praise God!

Dr. Freret also wants to help us get 3,000 of the New Testaments that are coming to Croatia, bound with a nice hard cover. We're excited about it because we know that BEAMS always does quality work.

We are looking forward to having a long time cooperation with BEAMS as we get the Word of God out to the Croatian people!

Going to try it again!

We are still travelling and visiting churches! The Lord has been good to us, and we've been staying busy. One of the great blessings of being a missionary is getting to travel and meet so many of God's people. There are many churches and Christians out there that are still staying by the stuff and sticking to the old paths!

I want to try and be more faithful with this blog and let many of you know what is going on with our ministry!


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A Widow and her mites!

As we travel the country reporting to churches we've had so many blessings. I've met people who pray for me regularly that I didn't even know were praying for me! 

This week we've been in Council Bluffs Iowa at the Eastern Hills Baptist Church for their missions conference. The church has been supporting me for about 11 years now and this has been the first time that I've been able to return and show them what God has been doing in Croatia. Several years ago the church started sending $10 a month to our Croatian Bible project. I assumed the church read one of our letters and took the project on for support.

When I arrived the Pastor introduced me to Miss Straw, a widow in the church. He told me she read the letter and saw the need and wanted to get involved with getting the Croatian people the Word of God. He also said Miss Straw supports missions heavily. I immediately thought about the widow in Mark 12 who gave her two mites.

I was humbled and encouraged, because a little lady like this has decided to use her money in getting the Gospel around the world. I just wonder how many ladies like Miss Straw are out there in Churches all over this country, and they are doing more for the Lord than anyone knows. I'm sure as the Lord is passing out rewards many of us will be standing behind a host of widow ladies who gave what they had for the cause of Christ!

I was blessed and my life has been enriched because of Miss Straw! It is truly a good thing to be a servant of the Lord.

King James Bible conference!

Wow, I can't believe that I haven't posted since October. I really want to be more faithful about it. God has done so much in our lives and there is so much to tell you about.

Well anyway enough of that. We are in the states for our furlough. Our oldest son will be staying behind this time and we'll begin a new phase in our lives.

Cody will be traveling with us awhile, and then he will be getting ready for Bible college.

Our family will be here about 11 months and then we will be back in Croatia. The work there is in very good hands with our missionary team!

This is the first furlough we've been able to take and be at peace about the work in Croatia.

We've got a full schedule ahead of us and I'm excited about the opportunities God has given me. This week we started a Bible conference on the KJB! I started preaching Sunday morning and it will close up Wednesday evening. I'm thrilled to get to be apart of this conference. The Bible is dear to my heart and the issue of which Bible is my passion!

I hope to be more faithful about posting and let you know what God is doing in our lives!