GateWay East Africa Ministries - Uganda Trip July 2012

GateWay East Africa Ministries

April 3, 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

Sifa Mungu!  Praise God!  Here is a list that contains ways that you can be a blessing to the national church leaders in east Africa that are working with GateWay East Africa.  We do not keep any money for administrative costs out of these gifts.  Each dollar given goes directly to the purpose for which it was given.  We ask that you will be praying for us regarding the other expenses needed regarding travel.

• Metal roof including trusses and labor     $1,000 each
• Purchase plot of land for new church     $600 each
• Purchase Bibles in Kirundi language     $7 each
• Sponsor a Pastor for 1 year in Bible College     $250
• Bicycle for a Pastor     $120 each
• Support one Pastor in Burundi     $40 per month
• Rent of land for new church     $50 per year
• Hymnal in Kirundi language     $5 each
• Purchase a goat for Pastor’s family     $35
• Purchase a cow for Pastor’s family     $350

God has been increasing the importance of this ministry and the burden of my heart for the people of east Africa.  Many others have shared with me that God has been doing the same in their heart.  More information will be coming, but for now you can look at GateWay East Africa on Facebook and richmondgoolsby.blogspot.com.  We are committed to continuing to plant new churches in this area of the world and to start Bible colleges to train the national leaders.  We are also praying about taking a medical team for a trip of medical treatment and evangelism to Burundi in the near future.  Please be praying for us and may God bless you as you serve Him.

Grace and Peace, 

Pastor Richmond Goolsby

“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses,  commit these things to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”    2 Timothy 2:2

A Prayer From the Valley of Vision

If others deem my faith folly,
my meekness infirmity,
my zeal madness,
my hope delusion,
my actions hypocrisy,
may I rejoice to suffer for Thy name.
As I pursue my heavenly journey by Thy grace,
let me be known as a man with no aim but that of a burning desire for Thee,
and the good and salvation of my fellow men.

Light Into Darkness

LIGHT INTO DARKNESS BIBLE CONFERENCE
April 27-29, 2012
Harvey Baptist Church
Stephenville, TX


 We are praying that God will revive us and send a great spiritual awakening through this gathering.  We are blessed to have a wonderful schedule of speakers including Dr. Jimmy Draper, Ed Ethridge, Jeff Campbell, and Richmond Goolsby.  God-honoring music will be led by Wes James in this special time together as we seek to take the glorious light of the gospel into the darkness of this world.  Please join us for this very special time and please call 254-965-4368 or 254-434-7444 if you have any questions.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven!
Please click on the images below for information.

More Love To Thee

I have light enough to see my darkness,
sensibility enough to feel the hardness of my heart,
spirituality enough to mourn my want of a heavenly mind;
but I might have had more,
I ought to have had more,
Thou hast always placed before me an infinite holiness,
and I have not taken it.
O recall me to Thyself, and enable me to feel my first love!

- The Valley of Vision

What God Can See

What we can see is so limited.  We can see what is before us but we glance over the intimacy of it all.  The creation which surrounds us is filled with wonder as the birds sing praises to the glory of God and the sun burns brightly with a magnificence that barely reflects the splendor of the heavenly King.  People stand before us and we carry on with conversation but we rarely look deep enough to see what is within.  The pain of the many burdens we bear weighs down the inner man.  We feel it in ourselves but do we have eyes to see it in others?  The glory of God is all around us.  The light of His presence encompasses our daily lives but we must be still to see it.  The word of God is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.  There is so much more we can see in the depth of His word if we will just stop and meditate upon it.  O that He might show us the “exceeding riches of His grace” (Eph. 2:7) and that we would know and preach the “unsearchable riches of Christ”!  The psalmist cries out, “O LORD, how great are your works!  Your thoughts are very deep.”  If we will ever know His thoughts we must go deep, and this means we must be still and take the time to dig.  If we will be firmly grounded in the love of Christ we will be able to know His “width and length and depth and height” (Eph. 3:18).  “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Rom. 11:33)  There is so much more to life that God sees.  There is so much more wisdom available for us.  So much more knowledge within our grasp.  So much more of the riches of His grace in which we can walk.  If we would only be still and know that He is God, then we will see more of what God sees.  Jesus describes the lilies of the field as being more arrayed with splendor than even Solomon in all of his glory (Matt. 6:29).  Solomon knew riches untold and wealth beyond measure.  We look at a flower in a field and it seems so simple, so plain.  But when Jesus looks at a flower He sees such a grand complexity that it’s splendor outshines all of the wealth in the world.  God can see so much more than we, but we can see more if we will look unto Thee.

Preaching Not For Personal Acclaim But For Christ's Glory

In his book "Christ-Centered Preaching" Bryan Chapell offers some very helpful words regarding the use of illustrations in preaching.  Not only would I wholeheartedly recommend this book but I consider it one of the greatest contributions to the field of homiletics.  Regarding the "wrong reasons to illustrate" he writes:
"Preachers who illustrate primarily to entertain ultimately destroy the foundation of their messages.  An entertainment ethic creates shallow congregations and hollow pulpits.  People who attend such a church are implicitly taught that their own desires and sensations are to be the objects of their worship.  Such people learn to evaluate the success of a sermon not by the conviction of spirit it brings but by the lightness of heart it offers.  This shallow expectation is matched by the hollowness of purpose behind the pulpit: personal acclaim.  Such preaching inevitably fails over time.  Congregations realize that no one always entertains well.  They grow to resent the manipulation of their emotions in a world in need of deep spiritual discernment.  Though the dynamic may take years to unfold, ministries that compromise truth for appeal lose their allure."

Many times preachers are frustrated with the self-centeredness of their congregation and they fail to realize that through their own self-centered preaching they have contributed to that which creates greatest frustration in their own lives.  It is good to be reminded that the goal of preaching God's word is not to be well liked but to declare God's truth.  There is a subtle desire in us all to be well received but let us not forget the preaching of Jeremiah, Paul, and of course, Jesus.  Cross-centered preaching may or may not cost you your life but it will at times cost you some popularity.

"But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."  Galatians 6:14