Current News ~ Current News ~ Current News
3/01/10 – Monday – It was a rough weekend for our family. On Saturday we drove about 6 hours to Tallahassee, Florida for our Sunday meeting. On the way there Sam was not feeling good. After dinner He was even sicker. He thought he might have a little food poisoning. After a night of little sleep and much time in the bathroom we had to cancel our meeting for Sunday morning and made the trip back to St. Petersburg. Emily was also sick and threw up a couple times after we got home. Please keep us in your prayers. This is the second week in a row that we have had to cancel meetings because of sickness!
2/27/10 – Saturday – We leave today for Tallahassee, Florida for a Sunday meeting. This past week we lost a scheduled meeting because a pastor had to cancel it. We are thankful that we were able to schedule four more meetings for this year.
2/20/10 – Saturday – Please pray for Jen to feel better. She has the flu or something. We were supposed to drive to Alabama today for a meeting tomorrow. We had to cancel it. The pastor said he will want to reschedule with us for later in the year.
2/15/10 – Monday – I spoke with Marty a couple of days ago. He said that they are averaging about 35-37 people each Sunday. Praise the Lord! Please pray that the new people will continue to come, people will be saved and grow in the knowledge of the Lord.
2/13/10 – Saturday – Emily is feeling much better. Eli is still cutting some teeth. Neither of the kids is sleeping very well. Emily is having a hard time being away from her familiar house, bedroom, toys, etc. Sam is still working on his last two classes for college – only four more weeks to go! We currently have 41 total meetings lined up for 2010. Our support is a little up in the air right now. BMM readjusted a couple supporters. We have an individual that is sending a pledge form in. We are somewhere around 70-73% as of now.
2/06/10 – Saturday – This week we took Emily to the doctor. Turns out she had an ear infection. Eli choose this week to cut some new teeth so he didn’t sleep well either.
1/28/10 – Thursday – We received word from a church today that just voted at their annual business meeting to support us for $100 a month! We are most excited to hear about this. We had another church a couple weeks ago that was able to increase their monthly gift some and a couple that supports us increased their monthly support as well. With all of this we have gone from about 70% to 73.37% in the past couple weeks. Please continue to pray that we will be at full support soon so we can join Marty & Val in the Bronx and start reaching the people there for Christ.
1/27/10 – Wednesday – This past Sunday morning (with our new opening) we attend Starkey Road Baptist Church here in St. Petersburg. We here a great message from the Pastor on the beatitudes. We rarely get to hear an actual message because we are the ones usually doing all the talking. The teacher in the Sunday School class Sam attended had him give a brief overview of our ministry. The Sunday night service in Bradenton, Florida went very well. They support the Genung family, one of the Bronx church builders.
1/22/10 – Friday – The Pastor that we had a meeting with for this Sunday morning (2 days from now) called today to inform us that he decided not to have us this Sunday. He gave a reason but you don’t want to hear it. We drove 26 hours from NY to arrive early for this meeting and have spent $200 extra in rent. While this is a discouragement we will try to see the hand of God in it. This gives us yet another unfilled opening. We plan to attend a local Baptist Church for the morning service and then proceed to our evening location. Please pray that we will have no more meetings cancelled while we are in Florida.
1/20/10 – Wednesday – Greetings from Georgia. Tomorrow we will arrive in St. Petersburg, Florida were we will be stationed for the next seven weeks of deputation meetings. It was a long day of driving (14 hours) and the kids pretty much had had it with being in the van when we arrived at the hotel. We still have another 5 hour drive tomorrow. Please continue to pray for safety and that these meetings will go well and raise some financial support.
1/06/10 – Wednesday – A new year is here! We have been hit with well over 14 inches of snow these past few days. We are reading ourselves for the seven seek trip to Florida. We received word from a NY pastor today that their church is going to support us. We are now at 70.54%. Please continue to pray for our safety in our travels. Last Sunday we drove over to Buffalo in pretty severe weather but the Lord saw us safely through. We had the chance to go and update one of our supporting churches that we were at about a year ago.
12/24/09 – Thursday – Last are now back in NY. We arrived home last night. We had our mail held while we were gone. It was fun to open all of our Christmas cards at one time. There is not much snow in NY, just enough to have a white Christmas. This Sunday we are in Belmont, NY for the whole day.
12/13/09 – Sunday – We are in Michigan. We had a “Ministry Open House” at our sending church in Ludington, Michigan on December 5th. It did not go nearly as well as we were praying it would. But, we leave the results in the Lord’s hands. We have had the chance to visit some family. We gave an update at our sending church last Sunday. Today we visited another supporting church in Hesperia, Michigan – Hesperia Baptist Church. It had been a little over two years since we were been there last. Please keep them in your prayers as they are looking for a pastor.
12/02/09 – Wednesday – It has been a very busy couple of weeks. We are preparing to head back to Michigan this Friday morning. We are going to have a “Ministry Open House” at our home church. We have invited past co-workers, family and friends that know we are missionaries but they have never had the chance to see our presentation before. Please pray that many will be able to make it. Our next prayer letter should be coming out in a couple weeks. Sam is finishing a couple more classes. He is currently taking Church History and Theological Issues.
11/17/09 – Tuesday – This past Sunday we had the chance to be at Breesport Baptist Church in Breesport, NY to share the Bronx ministry for the first time. Sunday evening we made our way over to a supporting church at First Baptist of Maine, NY. We were able to give an update on the happenings of the Bronx and what we have been doing. It was a great evening of getting re-acquainted with our friends there at First Baptist.
11/10/09 – Tuesday – So far for 2010 we have 27 meetings scheduled. The first half of the year is getting close to being fully booked. We still have many openings from June until the end of the year.
11/04/09 – Wednesday – The Bronx Church has its temporary permit! Many people have heard about this and it is great news. However, some have the impression that Marty & Val will be moving the church in there today and start holding services. This is not the case. The permit was issued about 14 days ago. It is only good for a total of 60 days. In order to get into the new church insurance has to be secured. Marty had filed the paper work several months ago but because of the delays the insurance company wants it all filled out again. Once insurance is secured the church can move into the new building. There also has to be a fire inspection. If the church is using the new building and does not pass the fire inspection then they will be kicked out. It is also possible that the final Certificate of Occupancy will be denied. Much pray is still needed. This is far from a done deal. In asking the question of “when?” we were told it may be another 2-6 weeks until able to move into the new church.
10/27/09 – Tuesday – This past weekend we had a three day Mission Conference in New Berlin, NY at First Baptist Church with Pastor Carpenter. It was a very good three days. We were able to fellowship with Steve & Jane Rutledge – BMM Missionaries to the Jews in NYC and the Erways – Missionaries with ABWE to Kenya. Sunday night we were at a small rescue church work in Chenango Forks, NY – Triangle Baptist Church. We had a good time getting to know the pastors and church people there. It was a good weekend overall. We were glad to be back home late Sunday night and be able to sleep in our own beds. This week is extremely busy with much on the to do list. Thank you for your continued prayers.
10/17/09 – Saturday – Due to illness in our family (we all have had it this week) we are not able to go to Maryland for our scheduled meeting.
10/16/09 – Friday – Our family was hit with the flu or something this week. We are mostly over it now. We leave tomorrow morning for a Sunday AM service in Maryland. After the service we’ll drive back to NY. Pray for safety and no more sickness.
10/10/09 – Saturday - Sam has spent several days the last two weeks calling churches to try to schedule meetings for next year. There have been many churches that told us they were not having missionaries in because they had no money available. Several churches told us that they cut the money they were giving their missionaries. One church told us that the pastor and staff took a pay cut. We have had several churches tell us that they are willing to have us come but they can’t support anyone. We are holding off on taking these meetings for now. With all the calling these past two weeks we have had only three new added meetings. It looks like we will be all over the map next year. This past couple weeks Sam has called the following states: Florida, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Kansas & Pennsylvania. Out of the hundreds of calls made only one church actually said they had money and were going to support a couple missionaries.
10/06/09 – Tuesday – The new church building in the Bronx is still waiting for the final “OK” from NYC. It appears as if there will be a couple more months of waiting and paperwork for Marty in the Bronx. We are scheduling meetings for 2010. It appears as if we will be spread over a greater distance and more states this coming year (if we are still on deputation). It has been nice to be located in one spot for a while as we were in Michigan and more recently in New York. We are getting a hold of many churches that would have us come but are saying on the phone that they cannot support any new missionaries. We are starting to call new states for meetings. Please be in prayer with us on this.
9/29/09 – Tuesday – We are back home from the Bronx trip of this past week. It was good to be back there again. Darrell and Kevin from the Baptist Bulletin came to do an interview with us and the Silverbergs on the Bronx church plant. Look for the article in an upcoming issue. Emily got to ride the subway for the first time. She also saw some other interesting things for the first time. Thankfully she is not old enough to know what some things really are. As you know, not all things are really what they appear to be (and neither are some people)! More to come in our next prayer letter.
9/17/09 – Thursday - Greeting to our faithful prayer partners. We are currently in the middle of “launch Seminar” in Cleveland, OH. It has been a week full of learning, preparing for the field and getting to know the other missionaries that are here as well. Our days have gone as such: get up around 6am, leave for the BMM headquarters around 7am, have breakfast along the way. Classes start at 8am. Our last class finishes at 5pm then we all have dinner together. Tomorrow wraps up the week then we drive back to Michigan to pick Emily up and turn around and drive back to Cleveland to stay over Friday night before driving to New Jersey on Saturday.
9/11/09 – Friday – We are almost done packing. Tomorrow we head to Michigan to drop Emily off with family for the week. Then we go to Cleveland, OH for a week of training called “Launch Seminar”. Please pray for safety in travels (we plan to go about 2,000 miles the next 2 weeks). Pray for good rest and health.
9/10/09 – Thursday – It has been another busy few weeks. Aug. 22nd we drove for 10 ½ hours to New Hampshire for an all day meeting on Sunday. Monday we drove through a total of six states (17 hours in the van). We stopped in the Bronx for a couple of hours to get some new photos and walked around the neighborhood for about 1 ½ hours. The following week we were in Pennsylvania. I (Sam) went to the meeting alone because Jen & Emily were not feeling well. This past weekend we were in Pennsylvania again. We drove almost 5,000 miles last month. We are getting ready for a long trip the next couple weeks. We’ll tell more about that soon.
8/19/09 – Wednesday – We are starting to call churches to schedule meetings for next year. Please pray that we will know where to go for meetings (what states) and that we will be able to line meetings up and have a full schedule.
8/15/09 – Saturday - We are rejoicing in the Lord – We have had 1 church and 2 individuals take us on for support. We are now at 64% which means we will be going to “Launch Seminar” this September in Cleveland, OH. We drove about 9 ½ hours to get to West Virginia today. We are in Clendenin, WV for the Sunday morning service at Calvary Independent Baptist Church. Our evening church had to cancel so we will be driving home Sunday, another 9 ½ hours!
8/12/09 – Wednesday – We arrived back in Williamson, NY last night around 9:30pm after an 11 hour drive from Michigan. Our five weeks in Michigan went by fast. Today we unloaded the mini-van and put most everything away. We also were able to get some office work done. We will be heading to West Virginia this weekend. We had another unexpected cancellation today with our Sunday night church for this weekend but we will still drive to West Virginia for the Sunday morning service.
8/04/09 – Tuesday – We are winding down on our Michigan trip. We are finishing up last minute things to do while here and looking forward to our last Michigan meetings this Sunday. We head back to NY next Tuesday (Aug. 11th) then off to WV for the following weekend.
7/31/09 – Friday- Our Sunday morning church had to postpone their meeting for this Sunday but the Lord provided another meeting with Mt. Hope Bible Church in Grass Lake, Michigan. We will still be in Hasting for the evening. Our time in Michigan has gone by quick. There have been several changes in our schedule and other planned activities, but through them all the Lord has a purpose even if we have not seen what it is yet. Thank you for bringing us before the throne of grace on a regular basis.
7/20/09 – Monday – On a lighter, funny note – when we left for Michigan a couple weeks ago, we were 9 miles into the 700 mile trip when our 3 ½ year old daughter Emily quoted the famous phrase, “Daddy, are we there yet?” To which I replied, “No, just a little bit longer.” What would we do without kids?
7/16/09 – Thursday – It has been a busy week. Last Thursday we finished re-writing our power point script. We were at the studio for four hours to get it recorded. Sam has spent several hours this past week re-working our presentation with the new voice tracks. Friday we met with the photographer to have a new family photo. We are working on getting our latest prayer letter mailed out and uploaded for you. Sunday we were able to find a last minute meeting at Forest Hills Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We used to attend this church (it was called Eastmont then) for about one and a half years back in college. Pastor Jeff lived across the hall from us when he was in Seminary. Our Lake City meeting was moved to this coming Sunday. We spent the evening service at First Baptist Church in Alto, MI. Please pray for them as they are looking for a new pastor.
7/09/09 – Thursday – We made it to Michigan. We got up about 6am (Wednesday), left around 7am and arrived at the house where we’re staying in Free Soil, Michigan about 7pm last night. We unloaded the van, went to visit Sam’s mom for a little while, hit Wal-Mart for some groceries, got back home, put the kids down to sleep, did some reading and fell asleep about 30 minutes past midnight. What a day! We drove a total of about 675 miles for the day. The kids did well for being cooped up in the mini-van for so long.
7/4/09 – Saturday – We are busy getting ready for our trip back to Michigan. We will be there for five weeks of meetings. It will also be nice to see some family while we are back.
6/30/09 – Tuesday – Thank you to First Baptist Church of Wyoming, NY for having us come and share even though it was last minute. We had a church that had to postpone and FBC had us come and visit. We made our way to Covington, PA from there for the night church. It was a good day with both churches. On the way home our anti-lock brake light came on in the van. Sam was able to take it to a mechanic today and have it fixed. We praise the Lord that He saw us home safe from our travels.
6/23/09 – Tuesday – We left Saturday about noon for New Jersey and got back Monday around 6pm. It was a good weekend with a couple churches there in NJ. Emi & Eli didn’t fare to well with the long trip. Glad to be home again. We have much to do before returning to Michigan in two weeks. Pray that we will get it all done.
6/13/09 – Saturday – We are leaving to stay the night in Allegany, NY then off to Sinclairville, NY in the morning for Sunday School, AM service, carry-in-dinner followed by an afternoon service.
6/06/09 – Saturday - We are leaving for Allenwood, PA today. We’ll be there at 1st Baptist Church in the morning. We then have a 4 ½ hour drive to Cornerstone Baptist Church in Ames, NY for the evening. Please pray for a safe trip and good meetings. Pray for Emily & Eli as this will be an especially long trip in the car seats for them.
5/31/09 – Sunday – 11:20pm - We left Saturday for Erie, PA. We were there for the morning service and then traveled to Springville, NY for the evening service. We just arrived home a few minutes ago. Thank you for your prayers. It was a very good Sunday of meetings.
5/23/09 – Saturday – Our latest prayer letter is now available to download on the prayer letters tab. Tomorrow we are going to be at Brooktondale Baptist Church in Brooktondale, NY. Please continue to pray for the completion of the Bronx church. Most of the structural work is completed. Now it is a waiting game with the city for the final inspections. Some adjustments have to be made to the blue prints and central air unit then re-inspected. Also pray that the issue with the plumber can be resolved some way.
5/7/09 – Thursday – We still have 4 Sunday evenings in 2009 that we are trying to line up meetings for. If you are interested in having us please check the “Available Meeting Dates” tab for the open dates. We would welcome the opportunity to come and share about the ministry of the Bronx, New York
5/4/09 – Monday – Thank you for your continued prayers for our family. Pre-field ministry (deputation) is definitely different with two children. With Eli our travel time has increased by an hour or more for each trip. Our next prayer letter should be out in the next week. Sam is finishing this semester of classes this week. Instead of taking the summer off, Sam will start more classes next week. Continue to pray for his studies.
4/29/09 – Wednesday – This week has been a little milder than last week. From Sunday April 19th – Sunday April 26th we drove over 1,600 miles which took over 26 total hours of driving. We spent over 33 hours in church and conferences. But it was a very good week. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Second Baptist Church in Auburn, NY, Edinburg Bible Chapel, Bethel Baptist in Vestal, NY and at the ESF Conference.
4/23/09 – Thursday – It has been a very busy & good week. We started Sunday at Second Baptist in Auburn, NY for a mission conference. Monday & Tuesday we were in Yorkshire, NY for the ESF conference. We are at Second Baptist a couple more times this week. It has been great to get to know several people from Second Baptist. Jen and the kids have come to about half of the meetings this week. We are trying to break little Eli in slow. He has done well this week and been very tired. Thank you for all your prayers.
4/16/09 – Thursday – Today we have had one more church and two more families take us on for financial support. Last week one of our individuals significantly increased their monthly giving. Our level of support is at 57.69%.
4/7/09 – Tuesday – Our new baby boy was born yesterday (Monday) at 2:32pm. He weighed 8 pounds one ounce and was 20” long. His name is Samuel Christopher Elias. We will be calling him Eli. Jen and baby should be coming home tomorrow sometime. Thanks for your prayers.
3/30/09 – Monday – Today we learned that two of our individual supporters had to lower their monthly amount that they can give. Our support is now at 49.1%.
3/27/09 – Friday – 51.42% – We were praying to be at 50% by the end of the month. As of this morning we are at 51.42% – Praise the Lord. Thank you for all of your prayers. We do not like to dwell and over emphasize the money part of missions, but it is a necessary part. 51.42% – This means that we are that much closer to being in the Bronx full time. That is our hearts desire – to reach the lost people of the Bronx for Christ. Please keep praying for our family. Thank you.
3/20/09 – Friday – Please remember to pray for our family. We do not have any scheduled meetings for the next month. We left two weeks open not knowing exactly when the baby would be born. After that is Palm Sunday and Easter. For good reasons, churches don’t have missionaries for those Holy-days. Our next meeting will be a weeklong conference starting April 19th. We are still keeping busy with our next prayer letter, e-mail and correspondence with pastors and churches. Sam is very busy with classes and many other things. Jen is going to the doctor once a week right now. Things are going well with the baby. We appreciate your continued prayers for our family.
3/13/09 – Friday – This morning we had an e-mail from another couple that told us they wanted to financially support us on a monthly basis for $25. We praise the Lord that this has brought our support level to 47.58%. We are praying to be at 50% end the end of March. To remaining 2.42% equals $133.55 a month to get to the 50% by the end of the month. Please pray for us in this matter. Thank you.
3/11/09 – Wednesday – At the beginning of the year we were at 40% of our needed support, now we are at 47%! Praise the Lord! So far this year we have had three churches take us on ranging from $25-$75 a month and four individuals/families ranging from $10-$100 a month. We are honored to partner with these fellow believers in reaching the lost people of the Bronx for Christ.
2/27/09 – Friday – Last weekend’s meetings did not go as we had planned. But they did go as God planned. Our plans are not always His plans. Thankfully His are better – perfect in fact! Sam left Saturday morning for West Virginia. He arrived there around 9pm. Overnight West Virginia received about 3 inches of snow. Being from Michigan we are very accustomed to snow. In fact 10 inches would have been normal to us. It is a little different in WV. The morning service was cancelled because of the weather. After Sam called and spoke with the pastor for the evening it was determined that it would be best to reschedule for the future. The trip was about 1,100 miles total. Sam left WV about 2:15pm Sunday and arrived home about 11pm. Sam was able to have breakfast with Pastor Justin and his wife Jill from the morning church and fellowship with them for a few hours Sunday morning. We look forward to rescheduling and seeing them again.
2/19/09 – Thursday – Please keep Jen & Emily in your prayers. This weekend our meetings are in West Virginia. It is about a 10 hour drive each way. Jen & Emily are going to stay home for the weekend. Jen is at the end of the pregnancy and that long of a trip would not be good for her. Pray for Sam as he will leave Saturday morning and return Monday evening.
2/16/09 – Monday – This past weekend we were at Calvary Baptist Church in Lockport, NY. Saturday Jen & Sam did a skit for the church’s Valentine’s Banquet then Sam gave a short devotional. Sunday we were there for Sunday school, morning worship and the evening. This week we are busy getting our prayer letter out in the mail. It should be available to download in the next day or two.
2/5/09 – Thursday – Last night we had a Wednesday meeting in New Berlin, NY. We left our house a little after 2pm. We had a good evening of fellowship with the church and sharing about the Bronx. Jen was able to do a lesson with the children after the main part of our presentation. After the service we drove home and arrived a few minutes after mid-night. Sam made more calls today to try to fill our remaining opening we have. We now have a total of 65 meetings for 2009. We still have 5 or 6 Sunday evenings we can fill. The boiler inspection that was yesterday in the Bronx did not pass. There are a few minor things to fix and redo. We are praying that it will be re-inspected next week...............We are now on FACEBOOK! It is another way to keep in contact & up to date with us. Especially the day to day “small” things. We also have posted our presentation there so you can watch it as well as a video Sam made about abortion & the need for the pregnancy care center in the Bronx. Sam & Jen have their own facebook accounts. To find Sam type in the following e-mail – sjlake@rochester.rr.com For Jen type in thebronx@samandjenlake.com then request us as your friend.
1/26/09 – Monday – We just made it home from the Bronx this evening around 4pm. Tomorrow Sam will be going to Bath, New York to attend the ESF Winter Conference.
1/23/09 – Friday – We are in the Bronx, NY right now! We are staying at a 1 out of 5 star hotel! Interesting place. We were able to see the progress on the new church today. It is going slower than expected. Please pray the plumber will come and do the inspection on the boiler system. He should have been here weeks ago. Still much work to be done. Tonight is the mid-week service. We will be able to go to that. We took a walk around the neighborhood today for about 75 minutes. We saw lots of people, pigeons, trash, empty alcohol bottles, cars and stores. Please keep the Bronx in your prayers. Satan is definitely at work here. Time is running out for people to hear the good news. The Lord could return and most of these people have never heard. What a shame no one has ever told them…
1/19/09 – Monday – Another church has taken us on for financial support. We are now at 40.5%. We now have 61 meetings scheduled for 2009 and are praying for a few more.
1/11/09 – Sunday – We did not have a meeting today. We had one scheduled two months ago but the church had to postpone it. We were not able to get another meeting for today. However, we did get to worship with our friends at Bible Baptist Church of Williamson, New York.
1/07/09 – Wednesday – We now have 56 deputation meetings scheduled for 2009 along with a couple other speaking engagements. Our goal each year is to have at least 60 meetings.
1/05/09 – Monday Yesterday we were at Grace Baptist Church in Brockport, NY. We had a great morning with the church people. We are thankful for another chance to share the burden we have for the lost people of the Bronx, NY. This coming Sunday we do not have any meetings scheduled.