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Newsletter – January 2001       The many places that we have traveled this past year seem easy enough to write about. Yet, time and space will prohibit us from sharing many stories that mean a great deal to us. For every turn in the road, every church, and every person that we meet is a story in itself. After much prayer and consideration, we purchased a tour bus in June. Prior, we had been driving two cars and we still could not carry all of our music equipment with us. Now, we are able to expand our traveling distance. The last few months we have been spending time converting it to support our three families. Our trip in April has enough events to fill this entire article. We went to Jeffersonville, Indiana to Brother Ken Andes' church, which also included singing at Brother Charlie Cox's church in Elkhorn, Kentucky. On our way to Brother Cox's we got lost and traveled around sixty unnecessary miles. This caused us to be late. However, God honored and blessed us for our efforts with a wonderful service and splendid fellowship. Also, merely minutes before we arrived the next day at Brother Andes' the Lord's Grace saved us from having a terrible accident on the road. We testified in service that night of God's protecting, traveling Grace as we sang "There is a Land." Even facing death we have such wonderful Hope. Both of these services were just great preludes of the blessing of the Lord for the rest of the year. A few days later we were in Anniston, Alabama singing about the "Token." That evening Brother Hildebrandt spoke a powerful sermon on the subject of "Rahab the Harlot." We were all blessed. The trip that we took to Brother Dale Ketch's church in Blacksburg, Virginia was a last minute booking confirmation. Despite our last minute plans, the Lord moved in a special way. We felt a tremendous liberty while singing and ministering there. Everyone seemed to join in with the Lord in Worship and in the Truth of His Word. We are appreciative to the brother who escorted us out of town after the service. Perhaps he felt sorry for us after watching us trying to turn the bus around in the church parking lot. Often, as we spend hours traveling we think and talk of the nice people whom we have had the opportunity to meet. During the same trip, we stopped at Brother Bill Younce's church in Elizabethton, Tennessee. We drove over the hill and passed the church before we saw the sign. Yet, we had to turn the bus around and drive back up the hill. You see, we knew it was the church because we had already been told of the beautiful view, and how well the name, Lighthouse Church for Jesus, fits the scenery. We had a glorious time singing and worshipping the Lord. After leaving, we drove to a truck stop on I-81 to fill the bus with diesel fuel. We met an unbeliever who had heard of Brother Younce. We talked with him and gave him some cassettes and CD's. God moves in mysterious ways, and at times when you least expect it. Next, we were over in Cleveland, Tennessee at Brother Junior McCann's church. We met many old friends there. The saying "There are no friends like old friends," is so true. The bus air conditioner quit in Cleveland for about five minutes and then started working again. We do not know what happened, we just give God the praise for fixing it. Cleveland, Tennessee is called the Pentecostal capital of the world. We thank the Lord for Brother Junior holding up the Word of the hour. The events that took place on the road to Brother Tim Humes in Gastonia, North Carolina will be long remembered. We encountered a minor problem called "running out of fuel." As simple as it may sound, it is more complicated when it is a diesel engine. During the same time, the steering column on the bus broke. The Lord sent us Brother Jackson. Brother Jackson welded for hours while others Believers helped us get diesel into the fuel lines. After a several hour delay we were on the road to Brother Humes'. We are thankful that it broke at the right time, place, and amongst the right people. Oh, how God works like this more times that we recognize. The time we spent in Gastonia worshipping the Lord is like the song: "The tolls of the road will seem nothing when we get to the end of the way." Later, when we returned home from North Carolina we took out the whole steering mechanism and replaced some of the driving supports. The welding that Brother Jackson had done was judged by a Nashville bus expert to be durable and quality work. We enjoyed special meetings in Dyersburg, Tennessee in August with speaker Brother Donny Reagan. It was a hot August day and the building was packed, but the Lord really moved in a mighty way. A few weeks later we had a singing in an auditorium in Fairview, Tennessee. This was a family reunion concert. Our hearts were touched to see kinfolk's talk about what Christ means to them. During Thanksgiving weekend, we had the privilege to sing in Bartlesville, Oklahoma at Brother Jess Trammel's church. This was a two day, two night, 1300-mile round trip. We also stopped at Brother Jeff Clark's church in Noel, Missouri. We felt right at home the moment we arrived at both churches. We certainly enjoyed the fellowship dinners and the fellowship breakfast. The hospitality was almost overwhelming. We thank the Lord for giving us this opportunity to make new acquaintances with several Believers on this mid-west tour. After the Saturday evening service, we started home. In speaking of coming home, we must say, it is the Believers at our home church, the support ministry, which enables us to reach out to others in the way we do. If any honor is due, it should go to our home church. Our music ministry and the Eagle's View publication could not work as it does without the congregation here in LaVergne, Tennessee. We finished up the year 2000 by visiting the Turney Center Prison in Only, Tennessee. When we arrived at the prison, our paperwork was lost. Therefore, the guards asked us to leave. As we started the bus, a guard came and told us we might be able to stay. Later, another guard returned to write our names down and told us to leave again. This continued for about forty-five minutes. At one point, we had the bus turned around and was getting ready to go, when they came and said we could stay. Only days before, they had made another church group leave because of lost paperwork. We were thankful that the Lord provided a way. As we began singing to the prisoners, our hearts were stirred at their sincerity. While we were getting prepared to sing, "Marked by the Blood," Dad hit his head changing guitars and his forehead started bleeding. He thought he was just sweating, so he kept smearing the blood, as we sung. It seemed to have a supernatural effect on our brothers behind bars. "I've made mistakes...leaving scars in their place, I've been changed by His grace...I'm marked by the blood of the Lamb." After the song, a brother mentioned the blood on Dad's forehead. Dad used this opportunity to testify about being marked by the Blood of Christ. We ministered in song and Word for nearly the entire allotted two hours. It was a great way to end the year, by worshipping the Lord in that atmosphere! In closing, we wish we had more time and space to mention all the other meaningful stories, places, and people whom have been a blessing to us along the way. We would like to extend our gratitude to the brothers everywhere who have helped us unload our equipment, find parking for the bus, giving us directions, and many other things. Please keep us in your prayers that the Lord will guide us as we travel. May God bless you all!

In His Service,
The Tidwell's
James, Michael & Andrea