Probably Proctor and Absolutely Abilene

June 24-29, 2010

Another all-night drive. This time to Proctor, Texas. We settled in our room at the Best Western in Comanche and then, when it was time, we found Proctor Baptist Church in ...Proctor! Perhaps there was more to the town than we could see, but what we actually saw was a post office, the church, of course, several houses, cats, chickens and goats and a drive-through liquor store. I'd never seen a drive “through” so I had to get a picture.

We liked Pastor Robert Whitefield and his son, Bobby, immediately and later I thought that if we were going to serve in one spot for 3 days, alongside Pastor Robert was a great place to be. This is a genuine Christian with an obvious call of God on his life and a burden to reach the lost. I sensed a sincerity in this man but the biggest thing that impressed me was how his teenage children responded to him. His children plainly respected him but didn't fear him. They were not typical teenagers with careless attitudes but could easily become a part of meaningful adult conversation, including conversation with their parents. I was impressed with this and decided this is what spoke the loudest of Pastor Robert Whitefield's walk with the Lord.

We were not the only guests at Proctor Baptist Church. A gentleman by the name of Dallas Houston preached for the 3 services, while Bobby and the kids sang about 30 minutes at the beginning of each service, Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday morning. The sanctuary was full each time and each time we had food and fellowship following the service. It just goes to show, people always show up when there's food involved.

Brother Dallas had quite a testimony. He is well-known regionally as he has been a radio DJ for many years and is THE voice of the local football teams as he announces the games on Friday nights on the radio. He also used to serve as pastor in Proctor and now leads a congregation in Center City, Texas.

By the end of the third service, 3 young boys had given their lives to the Lord. Pastor Robert said they already had 8 waiting to be baptized as soon as possible and now he thought he might need help baptizing 11. They didn't have a baptistry so they were lining the saints up and getting ready to put a date on the calendar to meet at the river.

After a big catered lunch on Sunday, we took our time leaving, spending just a few more minutes with the Whitefield family and a few others that had become so special to us. Mrs. Joy Green (a.k.a. “Ganny”) finally said, “Well, I don't have any reason to be staying here but only to wait to leave until you folks leave.” She fussed over all of the kids and kissed Grace several times. As I hugged her goodbye I told her that if I didn't see her on this earth again, I'd be looking forward to seeing her in heaven. What a sweetie she was!

We did finally get on the road and headed to Abilene where we ministered at Berry Lane Baptist Church. Clay Jacobs was our contact. Bobby had contacted the pastor, who then asked his best friend, Clay if he'd ever heard of Bobby Bowen. Clay had good things to say about Bobby so Pastor Billy Bardin took his friend's word and scheduled Bobby to come sing. Clay met us at the church, let us in and helped us get loaded in. We had a great time meeting Clay's wife, Rachel, Pastor Billy, his wife, Robbie, and a woman that introduced herself as someone who grew up near Sturgis, Michigan and was delivered in the same hospital I was delivered in. Small world. Hope and Faith were supposed to "point" at "side 1" and lead in some clapping, but Faith can't help herself; the girl LOVES to dance. I just wish she weren't so shy. (ha!) The next photo is Bobby with brother Clay Jacobs.

Bobby with Pastor Billy Bardin


A tailgate party after church

It seemed like a long ride to Texarkana the following day. We arrived at Bob and Tena's around 7:00 and spent the night. We spent the next day with them because they had a Young At Heart fellowship at their church they didn't want to miss. Finally, on Wednesday morning, Bobby got behind the wheel of his parents car and I drove the van. Tena was with me and the girls while Bob and Landis rode with Bobby and we all went to Nashville.

We complain occasionally that Bob and Tena don't make enough of an effort to come visit us. We can't say too much about it because we come to see them so often. But Bobby had a great idea to drive his folks to our house so they could visit with us there. We took them to see the rodeo at our church on Thursday night, since they're big fans of the sport, and we could drive them back to Texarkana the following Saturday as we were to sing near Dallas on Sunday morning.

The construction of our sanctuary was completed in the fall of 2000 and Pastor Davis planned then to replace the carpet in 10 years. So for this 4th of July at Cornerstone he wanted to have an indoor rodeo! Bring in the dirt! Let the poop drop! No worries, they're ripping that stuff up and replacing it the week after the Fourth! The rodeo was a success over the course of the five services with over 200 people giving their hearts to the Lord including several of the bullriders!

My friend, Chele, her daughter, Mali and friends

Does this look like a church sanctuary?



Landis and Hope got to participate in the calf chase.

Another great lazer and pyro show!



My sister, Mary, told us about Thomas' Drugstore in Cross Plains where you could get old fashioned malts and ice cream sodas, so we made a drive up there on Friday.

Having Bob and Tena come to Tennessee with us was a plan that went very well. They enjoyed the bullriding very much, in spite of the fact that it wasn't PBR, which is what they're used to watching on television. I believe we had the best visit with his folks that we've ever had.