Update from Pastor Virgil. 9/4/23

Moving Christians from the pew to the harvest.” Matthew 9:36-38

September 4, 2023

Happy Labor Day!

Welcome to September! I trust your August was safe and fruitful. Because of your prayers and support, we were able to get a good bit accomplished. I really thought I would take it easy in August, but God had other ideas.

One of the highlights for me was my second trip with Pastor John Smith to the Water Walkers 520 men’s retreat at Forest Home, CA. There were about 100 guys in attendance. The festivities began on Friday afternoon and were scheduled to continue through noon on Sunday. It was power packed from the beginning. Saturday was punctuated by a baptismal service in the little lake where somewhere around 35 men professed their faith and made this act of commitment to Jesus. Check out the video.

Saturday night was powerful, indeed. The Spirit of God had us speaking on the issue of addiction. As you know, that’s something close to my heart. After the last session, we prayed with dozens of men with addictions to pornography, drugs, and/or alcohol. One of the results was that Water Walkers has now begun a recovery group here in Tucson. I believe this is going to result in countless changed lives and families. It’s a privilege, indeed, to have a part in what God is doing to address the addictions that still torment so many Christians.

We finished praying for people around 10:30. That’s when we got the announcement that Hurricane Hilary was bearing down on our location. It was a mandatory evacuation. Everyone packed and got out in about an hour. Thank God, we all made it home intact. Another adventure for Jesus. It’s clear that God knew exactly what the climax of this meeting was to be: minds opened, addictions broken, disciples made, lasting relationships formed. He accomplished His purposes.

Tithe Class: We finished up the “The Tithe” class last week. I thought it went well. Time will tell, but I know the content is needed. You know that I believe strongly that we need to know why we believe what we believe. When the storms of life come, your foundation will determine whether you get blown away. In our current world, there are lots of voices questioning the validity of the tithe. If you believe because somebody else told you, then you can be dissuaded when someone else tells you otherwise. You need to know for yourself from the Word.

The videos should be available on YouTube very soon. Take time to watch and grow. To read some of the material in print form, go to www.pastorvirgil.com. In the search box on the left of the page, type in “Tithing,” and hit enter. There’s a lot of stuff there.

Help Wanted: I could still use some help in remodeling the website. If you have talents and time, let me know. We want to refresh the look, and at the same time add a dedicated feed for Spanish materials. Our Spanish material in print and on video is increasing. This needs to have its own page.

I also have some books that have been updated and need to be formatted for publication via Amazon to make them available on Kindle and much more easily accessed.

Foundations of Faith

IEMFe in Hermosillo: I will be in Hermosillo this week teaching the first half of the “Powerful Prayer” class. I believe it will be life-changing for the churches there. Classes will be Thursday and Friday evenings. Pastor Randy Winkles and Rev. Joshua Taylor will be accompanying me. We will meet with our pastor’s group for a breakfast on Saturday, then split up to minister in three different churches on Sunday. Our goal is to come home Sunday evening. Please pray for our effectiveness, provision, and safe passage. It really helps when you pray.

Pray especially for our technology to work so we can stream our pastors meeting. The Zoom meetings we hold monthly continue to be well-attended. This month we will be in Hermosillo in person. I would like to be able to stream the message and discussion so our attendees in Mexico City, California and New York can be part of the group.

New York is back on the schedule. Updated Itinerary:

Thank you for your prayers and support. Judy and I are constantly amazed that at this juncture in life we still get to participate in God’s program. One of the things that amazes us is how many folks support our efforts. You are wonderful. Our commitment is to keep finding ways to touch lives with the Gospel until God says “Quit,” or we hear the trumpet. Your prayers and financial support make it possible.

Financial support can be sent to Faith Christian Fellowship of Tucson at the address below or given online at www.fcftucson.org. Make checks payable to FCFT and designate missions or pastorvirgil and it will get where it needs to go.

Please follow us at www.pastorvirgil.com. There’s new stuff every week. You don’t want to miss it. Share it with your friends. You can help by looking at the Pastorvirgil.com Facebook page and hitting “Follow.” Whenever you see a post, share it. This will help us reach more people. We also maintain a Facebook page in Spanish @IEMFeonline.

We are yours in His service,

Virgil and Judy Stokes

3141 W. Ironwood Hill Dr.

Tucson AZ, 85745

520-792-3238

Leave a comment