The walls came tumbling down!

What a great idea! These missionaries, who were down in El Salvador, are making a little "Jericho" for the children to march around seven times, blow their trumpets, and then see the walls fall down! They took paper bags and made "bricks" out of them. This will make a great impression upon their minds that will last them a lifetime!

More Great Quotes

Here are some more of the quotes we hear in class. Some of them may be an old saying or a cliché, but I have attributed them to the person whom I heard say them, (or I read). Hope you enjoy them!

What on earth are you doing for heaven’s sake?! - Johnny Ramsey

Husbands and wives should never yell at each other unless there is a fire. - Tim Ayers

He that is convinced against his will is of the same mind still. - Carl Garner

If you don’t do much teaching in your sermon, you ain’t doing much preaching! - Roy Deaver

A scholar is a person who has been educated beyond his intelligence. - Al Macias

Before and After

Today is the official "Open House" for the Dripping Springs church of Christ. There should be a whole lot of people there from all around the area. Many of the Christian's in the Lord's church from this area have relatives and many friends in different congregations in and around Austin. I know they are all excited for a chance to come see the new building and fellowship with their brethren.
Tomorrow there will be a "pot luck" dinner on the grounds to "commemorate" the building, if you will. We are praying this will be an opportunity to introduce the church to our neighbors in the area, as well.
It's hard to believe the building looked like this (picture below) just a few weeks ago! But, thanks to the help of many of the members of the congregation, the work was completed within a very short time. The general contractor, who's company built the facility, is also a member at Dripping Springs. The old church building was purchased by the city to be used as city offices. They were anxious for us to get out and the time was running out on the agreement. Thanks be to the Lord that all was completed in time!

For God's Glory

That's what the new building at Dripping Springs is going to be used for!
After several months of construction at an almost "frantic" pace, the new facility is complete. It is truly a beautiful place! It has a very comfortable and inviting feel too it, which I think is very important.
I had the opportunity to design the sound system for the auditorium and I am happy to report that everything worked out great! I will be posting more photos later.

Future Preacher

Sorry I haven't "blogged" lately, but I've been "bogged" down with homework! I appreciate that you keep checking in though!
The young man in the photo is Joseph Sheeran. It was taken at the Midtown church of Christ, in Victoria, TX where he and his parents attend. We were there on a door knocking campaign and conducting Bible studies. Joseph was so impressed with the SWSBS students being dressed for worship all the time that he told his mom he wanted to start wearing his tie to church. We told him that he was now qualified to sit with the students, but only if he takes notes! We think he would be a fine candidate for SWSBS someday!

More Quotes

When someone said, “I don’t believe in God because there are too many wicked people in the world,” Billy Bland replied, “Well, I guess I don’t believe in soap because there are just too many dirty people in the world.”

Drink one drink and you’re one drink drunk. - Carl Garner

It is possible to lie while singing hymns to God. - Burt Jones

One transgression unrepented of will keep us out of heaven and send us to hell. - Don Walker

A greedy preacher is about as useful as a square circle. - Tim Ayers

Little Blessings

God has blessed us in so many ways! We are always very thankful for what He has done for us. One of the little blessings that we have received while being here is Andrea being closer to her niece and nephew, Chelsi and Dillon. They live just north of Austin with their mother. Instead of seeing them only once or twice a year, now she gets to see them almost every month. This picture was taken last year during the holidays when her brother, Andrew, was home from Iraq and brought his children to Florida.
They sure have a lot of fun together! She takes them shopping and swimming, they play games and watch movies together, and they usually call Andrew on the internet over seas together to say, "Hello!"

Goooaaal!

Soccer is by far the most popular sport in South America. Much like football is in the United States, except not everyone has a TV to be able watch the games. So when there is an important match, like Paraguay playing Argentina or something, then the fans will gather around any TV they can find. On the night this picture was taken we saw several big groups gathered outside convenient stores, bars, and other places that had a TV (mostly little ones)! This place was just a little convenience store along the sidewalk.

Is it just me, or is this scary?

Halloween is obviously known for some scary ghouls and goblins and we certainly had our share last night. This little neighborhood we live in looks like something from an old fashion all-American-town. So, it is pretty safe for the kids to roam about and collect candy. There were a bunch of 'em and it was a lot of fun!
Some things that actually are scary to me, however, are some of the things that I've seen when visiting Central or South America. For example, this guy working on a power pole with a gazillion wires hanging off it, (hope he doesn't mind getting bug eyes!)
Or, what about this kid riding on the spare tire BETWEEN the cab and the bed of the dump truck! OSHA would just keel over and pass out if they saw all the different safety violations going on! I'm not sure how many people actually get hurt, and I doubt it would even be reported, but it sure gives you an appreciation for some of the laws or codes we have in this country.

- God Bless
TROY

Quotable Quotes

I have heard some really great quotes lately by different preachers:

"You can't get more aller than all" - Robert Taylor

"I wonder if devil worshippers always hear, 'You people in the church of Satan think you're the only ones going to hell!'?" - Kieth Mosher

"I love Goodwill! It's the only place where you can get a 1970's suit for a dollar!" - Chance Blackmer

More later.....................

Final Exams!

This picture depicts about how I feel right now. We have our final exams this week and my poor head is spinning! Not just from all the studies that I have been doing, but also from the fact that my first quarter is already over! I can't believe how fast everything is going. Lots of people have told me this would be the fastest two years of my life. If this first quarter is any indication, I do believe they're right! God bless! - Troy

A Feast of the Word

One of the things I have really enjoyed about being in Bible School is the opportunity to attend Gospel meetings and Lectureships. We just returned from the 10th Annual Lubbock Lectureships hosted by the Southside church of Christ. What an incredible feast of God's Word! There were several outstanding speakers and I had the opportunity to meet many of them, as well as, many brethren from all over the country. The subject was "Your Adversary the Devil." It was a thoroughly interesting topic to study and the speakers did an outstanding job in their preparation and delivery of their lessons. Next month we have the opportunity to attend the Shertz Lectureship for a couple of days.
This picture is of a classroom in the Institute of Theological and Cultural Studies that I visited while in El Salvador. It is interesting to me to know that there are preacher's schools in all parts of the world that are learning the same things that we are here, just in different languages!

Thank you for your thoughtfulness!

We have received a ton of cards, emails, and calls from our brethren in Florida wishing Andrea and me a happy anniversary. We can't begin to tell you how much we appreciate the thoughtfulness! Of course, it did make us miss home even more! God bless you all!

Congratulations Andrea!

Andrea has been offered a job and has accepted a position with The American Lung Association here in Austin, Texas! We are really excited about it because it is an organization that she is familiar with and it will give her an opportunity to get to know the community better. Andrea really loves her kind of work as an event planner and coordinator. I think she is really good at it, myself. We are also very thankful that God has provided this opportunity because it gives us a little more stability while we are attending Bible school. If you get a chance, give her a call and tell her congrats! I know she is really happy about this. - This picture is of her with Ambassador Paul Bremer at one of the events she was involved with. Way to go, Andrea!

When in Rome.....

There are so many cultural differences in Paraguay that are new and interesting that one can easily be overwhelmed by the experience. There's the traffic, the language, the signs, the street vendors, and so many other things that contribute to a sensory overload. One of the things that it is truly unique and interesting to Paraguay is the general preference for drinking yerba mate. It seems that everyone in the country drinks it all day and almost everyday. They all carry around a little cup called a guampa, which holds the yerba, and a cooler of ice water. You can see men (and many women) all over the city just sitting around sipping their mate and relaxing.
I snapped this picture of a local Paraguayan man sitting in a street market enjoying his own. Something about him seems very familiar.......

(For those who don't know: this is Chris Fry - American missionary to Paraguay)