African Ministry 2009 - Greg and Faith

March 25, 2009

I write with great excitement as we prepare for our upcoming trip to the African continent. We plan to visit to visit two different works this July 8 through 26.

One part of our trip will take us back to Benin to encourage the Aja brothers and sisters. I had an extremely productive trip last year. We conducted a leaders’ seminar in which we studied through the book of James. We also had opportunities to visit with many of the leaders in their villages. This allowed us to talk and pray with them about the things that are going on in their churches. During these visits we were also able to visit with many other Christians. We spent time in their homes encouraging them and praying with them. We also visited other members who are no longer faithful. Our prayer is that those seeds will continue to germinate in their hearts until these souls are brought to repentance. The time spent in Benin this year will be spent much the same way.

We will also be traveling to Rwanda this year to visit our dear friends Murphy and Christine Crowson and Marty and Louise Koonce. They are the first wave of a team that has just moved to Rwanda to begin a new ministry. We want to encourage these former coworkers of ours. We are excited to see what God is doing in other parts of Africa!

I am extremely excited to share this trip with Faith. We have committed to exposing all of our kids to cross cultural missions. I am planning on taking a different child to Africa with me each year, and Faith has volunteered to be the first. She has thought about being a missionary when she grows up and this trip could be the next step in her efforts to discover God’s will for her.

I have included a list of expenses for our trip. We invite you to participate through prayer as well as financially, as God moves you. We might even be able to use some airline miles to get us to Europe. :) Let me know if you would like to help. Richest blessings on you,

Because of the Kingdom, Greg Bailey

Benin/Rwanda 2009 Expenses

Airline tickets $8,164
Visas $ 200
Food & Lodging $2,500
Medical $ 200
Transportation $ 500
Benevolence $ 400

Total $11,964

Still lacking $5964

50 Things about me

Thanks Patty

Play along if you want.

1. Do you like blue cheese? It's ok

2. Have you ever been to Yellowstone Park? No, but it is one of my dream destinations

3. Do you own a gun? Several

4. What are your favorite songs? I'm gonna dance, dance, dance; Hosannah - both by Hillsongs

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? no

6. What do you think about hot dogs? love 'em
7. Favorite Christmas song? I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Strong black coffee

9. Can you do push ups? yes
10. What was the name of your first pet? Chumley

11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? my wedding ring

12. Favorite hobby? raising Limousin cattle

13. Secret weapon to get the opposite sex? the grace of God (the only way I got my wife!)

14. Do you have ADD? no

15. What one trait do you hate about yourself? I hate home repairs!

16. What's your middle name? Gregory

17. Name 3 thoughts you are thinking at this exact moment? I hope this baby keeps sleeping (on me), I hope Melanie has fun on the boat, I can't stand the Disney channel

18. What did you buy yesterday? myself a cup of coffee and Melanie an ice cream drumstick

19. Favorite vegetable? beans - like pinto, black, etc.

20. Current worry right now? Will we ever move back to africa?

21. Current hate right now? Did I mention the Disney Channel? I don't trust it!!

22. Favorite place to be? Africa

23, What did you do to bring in the New Year? slept

24. Name three people who will complete this? Hmm?

25. Believe in God? He is my life!

26. Do you have an unusual skill? I can sing like a girl

27. What shirt are you wearing? orange Sonicflood t-shirt

28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I prefer cotton

29. Can you whistle? Very loudly!

30. Favorite color? black nor blue

31. Would you be a pirate? no

32. What songs do you sing in the shower? praise songs

33. Favorite girl's name? Grace (x2), Faith and Hope

34. Favorite boy's name? James
35. What's in your pocket right now? nothing

36. What made you laugh last? can't remember

37. Best bed sheets as a child? blue

38. Worst injury you've ever had? broke my neck

39. Who is your loudest friend? Melissa

40. Do you like where you live? some things about it

41. How many TV's do you have? 2, no cable, no satellite

42. How many dogs do you own? two

43. What would you do if you hit a deer while driving? call the insurance

44. What is your favorite book? Mark of the Lion series, Mittford series

45. What is your favorite candy? Hershey's Dark Chocolate
46. Favorite Sports Team? Dallas Cowboys
47. What were you doing at 12 am last night? sleeping

48. What was the first thing that you thought of when you woke up this morning? I need some coffee!

49. What songs do you want played at your funeral? Upbeat stuff from Hillsongs

50. Does someone have a crush on you? My wife and 3 daughters

He's Here!

We are excited to let you know that he's finally here! James Gregory Bailey, Jr. was born July 3rd at 5:37 P.M. He weighed 7 pounds 11.5 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. He and Melanie are both doing well.

We reported to the hospital at 5:00 AM on the 3rd. The doctor induced Melanie and she spent the rest of the day working very hard to bring him into the world. She said this was the hardest labor of any of the 4 kids! I did very little, except pray!

We were so thrilled to have many friends visit us while we were in the hospital! Thanks to Andy and Rhonda Wilson and their boys, Larry and Melissa Mullins, Randy, Kelly and Tori Vaughn, Anthony, Maureen, Jeremy and Jonathon Parker and Chris, Cara, Autumn and Ethan Flanders for helping us celebrate his arrival. Thanks also to our parents Larry and Charlene Heil and Jim and Sonya Bailey for their presence and tremendous support. We also thank Jeff and Brenda Holland for blessing us with the use of their home while we were in Abilene.

Jessica Grace, Faith and Hope love their little brother! They have been a great help to us. We have had to remind them more than once that while we appreciate their enthusiasm and love, we are his parents! :)

Thanks you all for your prayers during the birth and delivery of James. May he grow into a mighty servant of the Lord!

----Greg

No News

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that we have no baby news yet. Things are progressing. Melanie has been having some serious contractions, but nothing regular yet. We are scheduled to induce Thursday, July 3, at 5:00 A.M. We'll try to let you know as soon after that as possible, but I can imagine that we will be pretty busy! :) Blessings to you all and thanks for your prayers!

New birth!

No, Melanie has not had the baby yet. However, we did experience new birth in our family last night. In fact we had three new births!

Jessica Grace, Faith and Hope were all baptised! We have been having ongoing discussions and intense study for quite a while, and recently the girls all decided that the time was right. We had a small gathering of both sets of grandparents and some of the girls closest friends. We were very excited that Melanie's folks could come in from Tennessee. We were also thrilled that the McKillup and McCoy families could be with us.

After the baptisms, we had a time of blessing and encouragement during which anyone who chose to could share a scripture, a word of encouragement, or a song. It was very encouraging.

We later celebrated the occasion with continued fellowship over food at Underwood's Cafeteria.

Faith had the one liner of the evening (Imagine that!). I asked her just before I baptized her if she had anything to say. She said "Bye!". Ha! I agreed that the old Faith was going to die and that she would be a new creation when she came up.

We are thrilled that the girls have taken this next step in their journey with the Lord. We encouraged them to seek continued growth in their faith and service to Him.

Please join us in praying that God will continue to work in and though these children of His. Thanks in advance for your prayers. May God be glorified in all we do!

I'll try to post pictures in the next few days.

Baby Update

Hello everyone,

I wanted to give you the latest update on the baby. We went to see the doctor on May 19. He did another ultrasound exam. Right now, the baby is already over 5 pounds. He still says that the due date is July 14. He predicts that the baby could weigh between 9 and 10 pounds!

At first the doctor seemed a little concerned. He thought that Melanie might have gestational diabetes, but the blood work indicated that everything is normal. He wants to check her every 10 days from here on out.

Melanie still has periodic contractions, but they seem to be within the range of normal. She is swelling quite a bit, which is bothersome.

We are hoping that she will be able to take things a little easier after next week, which is when school will be out.

Thanks you for your prayers. Blessings to all,
----Greg

Contractions

I wanted to update you on Melanie's pregnancy.

Saturday afternoon she started having regular contractions. They got as frequent as every 5 minutes. She followed the advice of a nurse on call and was able to get them to subside greatly. Last night (after work) they picked up again, but she was able to get more comforting advice from a nurse practitioner.

She went to see her doctor today. He has placed her on bed rest for the rest of the week. He also gave her some medicine to stop the contractions and some antibiotics. He also did another sonogram and said that the baby is definitely a boy!

Thank you for any prayers that you have or will offer up on her behalf. God bless!