And They were Sent Off

Yesterday was our last Sunday Service in Madera. Pastor John (to our surprise) made it a "Commissioning Service" He used several passages from the Bible to support the purpose

of our existence here in Los Banos. Although we know that it is specifically the Lord who "commissioned" us here what a joy it is to have wonderful Brothers & Sisters join us in the work that God is doing in regards to Ministry here in the San Joaquin Valley. It will be hard to

say "farewell" to my Brother Tony Ministry wise but as God has always provided for him and I, we both know there is still plenty we will get to do together. (if I can just get Mike & Rene here) Ha ha.

Here is a shot of the crew that Linda and I will be Ministering to & with along with a few more who couldn't make the trip to Madera. I have never seen a more Motley Crew than these but boy do they love the Lord and are the benefit of all your prayers so please KEEP THEM UP!

In His Grip

AL

Something for Gina

Dear Cupcake very excited about your call today. Look forward to seeing you and family

Love Dad

Ok everyone in the Abdulla sector you are probably wondering "WHAT THE HECK IS UP WITH AL?" OK here is the scoop. Greg was over visiting and sharing about how delighted he was with the conversation he had with Gina his daughter today. I was showing him how easy it was to send info via the Internet/blog. Greg is still in the dark ages regarding tech stuff and i am going to try to corrupt him so he can see his family who live in Texas.

So here you are Gina.................your Pop!!

In His Grip

AL

The Abdulla's

It dont get any better than this all three of the women in my life

(ck out the one in the reflection of the door takling the picture)
In His Grip
Bapa

"Chasing Babies"

I thought this would be a great title for this topic "Chasing Babies." It grew out of our prayer time yesterday when Linda thanked the Lord for allowing us to take care of my Grand Daughters Nevaeh & Charlotte for 2+ days. You see its the first time that they have stayed with their "Bapa & Ada" without Mom & Dad. We had soooooo much fun Nevaeh got to plant her own Strawberry plant in a pot next to Ada's garden here is some photos of the process:

First you get a pot and put rocks in it for the drainage "but how come Ada?"

It looks like this "But how come Ada?"

Then you put the dirt in like this

Then you put water in and let Charlotte get her hands wet

Then you gently place the plant in its new home

Then you pack it down around it so it feel safe and secure in its new home

Then you even out the dirt around it all with a smile cause the plant likes it

Then you pose with your new Strawberry Plant cause that's what you do in Los Banos

This was a special treat that Linda had planned with Nevaeh and we will care for her plant, send her pictures of it as it grows and Bapa will eat the strawberries that it grows and call Nevaeh and tell her how good they are

Blessings

AL

A Sunday Drive

Linda and I wanted to share with you our ride to & from church last Sunday Morning. This is by far the best time of the year here in the San Joaquin Valley. The blossoms were absolutely beautiful just like my wife.
It looks like snow hit the trees and the fragrance was out of this world

Then on the way home the wild flowers were completely open
check out the color

And another shot

Check it out closely that is my Buddy Tony & Juana in the GMC in the mirror
They followed us back to Los Banos to do worship for us what a blast we had
Well I hope you enjoyed the pictorial ( is that a word?) if not it is now the next post will be of two lil Munchkins who came to play!

Lord Bless
AL

Which Way You Headed?

Here is a little something for all you steady people who have a good direction in your lives. You faithfully read the word, you pray, you go to Sunday service, midweek service and your going through life and all of a sudden you see a sign like this!

What the heck is this? I don't know I just saw the sign and I thought to myself "what does it mean?" Well if you can figure it out please let me know would you?

Ha ha I'm just razzing you. It means hey everything is going along just fine for you if you keep your eyes on the road in front of you and not in the rear view mirror. God is moving us in some serious direction here in los Banos and yet we have no idea what He is doing but He is doing! We had a wonderful time of Fellowship tonite with approx half of the folks gone and yet some GUY (what else) saw the lil add in the paper here and showed up ha ha. It is amazing to see what will happen as we fix our eyes on Him.

Missing you all
Where the heck is my Mother-in-Law?
AL & Linda

THE KNOCK @ THE DOOR!

This morning my lovely wife made us our healthy breakfast of egg whites & oatmeal (its the best) and I had the bowl and plate right in my hand just about to set it down next to my coffee when there it happened. THE KNOCK @ THE DOOR.

I lumbered over to it wearing my sweats and slippers and proceeded to open it up when to my shock and dismay were two gentlemen holding brief cases! When I inquired "what can I help you guys with" they said "Do you desire to have peace in this world." Yup you guessed it complete with the little brochure with the yellow and orange color schemes on it, with a little girl petting a black bear of all things. I"ll spare you the blow by blow conversation but one thing that stuck out to me was how the Holy Spirit had brought to remembrance the scriptures that were needed to share with them. Little did I know Linda was sitting just 10' from me behind the door praying for me ha ha. We had a great conversation about the Love of God and Jesus and how Jesus died for them and wanted to spend eternity with them, and of course Eph 2:8-9. But hold on! They don't believe their all going to be allowed to heaven but 144,000 and the remainder will kick it here in the "New Earth." I stopped him just briefly and said "WHAT" ha ha "Dude don't you want to go to heaven and hang out with the Lord?"

It saddened me that these guys were so zealous with their faith however it lacked one thing THE LOVE OF JESUS! I was very kind to them, shared the Gospel with them, exhorted them on their works going door to door and even told them that the Lord loved them even if they didn't do this which they refused to believe. My greatest hope is that they will follow up and come back next week like they said. My plea to you is pray for Eric & Sam for salvation who knows there may be a Damascus road story on Deanza Way soon and I believe that.

We shared about 45 mins @ the door and had a great time but my breakfast got cold haha. I was blessed by Linda just sitting there praying for me only to find out she was praying that I wouldn't go off on them ha ah! Hey I look at it this way If I don't go door to door the least I can do is share with them when God brings them to my door! Dont be lazy!

Keep Eric @ Sam in Prayer
IN His Grip
AL

I wanted to share with everyone how the Lord provided a projector for us this past week. As most of you know we are operating here in Los Banos on sheer prayer. We know that through His word that He tell's us "you have not because you ask not." I am still dealing with a lot of pride in my life when it comes to asking for things. A week ago when we took our trip to Fresno I was talking with my Brother-in-Law who Pastors a small Community Church. I inquired where they purchased their projector from. After telling me where, he asked why I was asking. I told him of our need for one when we start our Sunday morning service's. Richard said "hang on a second" and went into his office. (ok, ok so it was a bedroom we Mexicans call an office) He walked out with a bag in hand and said "here ya go." I almost jumped (if I could I would) he said "ask and ye shall receive."

Linda almost lost her mind because earlier on the trip she kept asking "what are we going to do?" I told her we are going to keep looking and keep asking God and Walla! Now we are praying for a screen to go with it ha ha. We wanted to share this with you so you can see that your prayers do matter to us. I will be leaving today to a Men's Retreat that that the Lord provided through a brother from Visalia. It is a Northern Ca. Men's Retreat that some of the guys I met from here and Gilroy will be at. God even provides when you don't ask. He knows our needs Amen? I am somewhat reluctant to leave even for a day or two because you never know what Linda may do to this back yard in that time. Garden, chickens. horse's i am afraid to ask.

Stay tuned to the next blog where I will give a garden update I see her out there planting tomatoes now geeeez!

Blessings
AL

The Word is OUT!!!!

Just in case any of you have been to the other blogs we recently had I posted this pic there with a caption "A Sunday Service." Well so everyone is up to date we have been praying for a while about starting Sunday Morning Service here at the house and it appears it is going to happen on Easter Sunday. We have been a little reluctant on this as it is a very big undertaking but we have been hearing the voices of the people here wanting a place to go to worship on Sunday Morning. I remember sharing with you that many here cannot afford to drive the 50 miles either to Madera or Gilroy to attend the Calvary's there. I guess it becomes a no brain er when we are rapidly becoming one of those people!

After much, much prayer we feel its time. Our plan is to have:
* Sunday Morning Service
* Sunday Night prayer
* Thursday Night Study

I will also start a Monday Night inductive refresher for the guys who desire to learn more about studying the Word. What a blessing it would be to get these guys raised up soon to reach some of our surrounding Cities. We are also praying about a Spanish study as well this year Lord willing and Pancho steps it up. Ha ha can you believe it I am working with a guy named "Pancho Villa." Only in America & Los Banos can you do that.

Linda is very excited about the work except for the fact that I am always tying up the computer but I told her not to worry the Lord WILL send us a MAC I am sure of it. She has been very busy with her garden and is really bending (and I mean bending) my arm for some chickens. Whats next a farm? I want to thank you all for letting me ramble tonite just wanted to update you.

Blessing's
AL

Everything is Green

Saturday Linda and I took a short drive on the Motorcycle to Monterrey. We went with Tony and we just absolutely fell in love with all the greenery along the way I thought I would share some of the pics with you all just in case you think about "Wow I wonder what they do in

Los Banos"

This shot below is about the half way point just before you get to "Casa De Fruita"

"Green fields and rolling Hills"

AAAHHHH how did that get in there?

Well you all we wanted to share that with you it was good to be able to get out with Tony again. We haven't been able to ride lately but we are looking forward to some more scenery soon

God Bless

Al