1. Word from the Pastor (pg.2) 4. Heritage Days Pictures (pgs. 5– 10)
2. Church Calendar (pg. 3) 5. Summer Intern (pg. 11)
3. Arena Update (pg. 4) 6. The Parent Link (pgs. 17-20)
June 2012 Issue 36
Home Sermons Calendar Children Youth CAMO Roping
Father’s Day Prayer
God our Father, in your wisdom and love you made all
things.
Bless these men, that they may be strengthened as
Christian fathers.
Let the example of their faith and love shine forth.
Grant that we, their sons and daughters, may honor
them always with a spirit of profound respect.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
IN THIS ISSUE
Page 2 Word From The Pastor
As they were going out, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, whom they forced to
carry his cross.
–––Matthew 27:32 NET
As a general rule humans do not enjoy forced service. I personally know several men
who were forced into serving their country during 1969 and 1970 for the Vietnam War. This
forced service forever changed each of their lives. Some made life long friends and to this
day carry many good and beneficial memories of their time in the military. Others held in
their arms the friends they had made while they suffered and died on the battlefield, and the
memories that remain haunt them to this very day. Regardless of the experience, none of these
men I know appreciate the way they were forced to serve. We should however be thankful
that they did along with all of their other comrades who have faithfully served the United
States of America throughout history. Take time to thank a service member today!
In reading the passage above I pondered how I might have felt if forced into service
like Simon was. Granted it was the Roman soldiers not God who forced him to serve, but
there are no accidents or coincidences in God's Kingdom. God knew that Jesus would be un-
able to carry His cross after the terrible beating He endured and therefore positioned a for-
eigner in the perfect position to be thrust into forced service to help the Son of God. So what
can we learn from this man? First, we learn that we must always be prepared to serve. As be-
lievers we are not promised time to prepare or plan out our service. At times God will simply
have us in the right place at the right time and through some circumstance of events we will
find ourselves, like Simon, quiet unexpectedly serving. Second, we learn that this service will
likely require sacrifice, and some amount of suffering to our own lives. Carrying the cross
was a hard, grueling exercise demanding all of Simon's strength. By the end of the journey he
would have been bruised, scraped, and raw portions of his own personal flesh would have
ached with pain. Finally, it has been my experience that these moments of forced unexpected
service always result in the greatest and most unexpected blessings. Simon is the only man in
the history of the world to have carried the cross for Christ. Today any believer would jump
at the chance to be able to serve our Lord in such an amazing and practical way. As I reflect
on the times I have been forced into God's service I can't help but see a pattern of extreme
blessing, and fulfillment after completing the task.
So next time you feel the unction of the Holy Spirit calling you from the crowd into
the street to serve boldly step forward, pick up the cross and carry it to its destination. God
knows what He is doing, your name was called for a reason, and long after the pain is gone
the blessings from the experience will remain for eternity.
Pastor Pete
*The following are reoccur-
ring events that take place
each week/month at the same
time unless otherwise de-
noted:
Church Services - Sunday: @
10:45 AM
Discipleship Classes –Will
resume in September.
Children’s Play Group Every
Tuesday from 10am - 11:30am.
CFY R.E.A.L.M. - Every
Wednesday @ 7:00 pm unless
otherwise noted.
Pre-Teen Ministry—Every
Wednesday @ 6:30pm—Bldg
D
Living Hope - Every Thursday
@ 7 PM Call Paul @
830-570-4301 for more info.
Men’s Fellowship Breakfast
Every 3rd Saturday
@ Stage Stop - 8:00 AM
Share The Harvest—Every
Wednesday @ 5:00pm
Please Go To Our Website For
Times And More Information!
www.cowboyfellowship.org
June Schedule
Of Events
SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT
1 2
3
10:45 a-12 Sun Morning Wor-ship Serv.
10:45 Baptisms
12 Potluck
12:30 Growth Spurt
4
5
10a-11:30a Play group
6
6:30p-8p 5th & 6th Grade Youth
7
6:30p-9p CF band prac-tice
7p-8p Living Hope
8 9
10
10:45a-12 Sun. Morning Wor-ship Serv.—Amanda Car-penter Town Hall Mtg.
Leadership Mtg.
5:00 p
Saddle Up
11
12
10a-11:30a Play Group
13
6:30p-8p 5th & 6th Grade Youth
14
6:30p-9p CF band prac-tice
7p-8p Living Hope
15
16
8a-9a Men’s Fel-lowship Breakfast
17
Father’s Day
10:45a-12 Sun Morning Wor-ship
18
19
10a-11:30a Play Group
20
6:30p-8p 5th & 6th Grade Youth
21
6:30p-9p CF band prac-tice
7p-8p Living Hope
22
23
24
10:45a-12 Sun Morning Wor-ship
12-1 Lay Pastor Mtg.
25
26
10a-11:30a Play Group
27
6:30p-8p 5th & 6th Grade Youth
28
10:30a-12 Helping Hands
29 30
Psalm 91:2
I will say of the Lord” He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.”
Page 3
Page 4
Work continued in May on the Cowboy Fellowship covered facility in anticipation of
our Heritage Celebration May 11th and 12th. Thanks to so many workers putting in
many long hours the work was completed in time for the festivities. We are now be-
gin Phase ll of the Covered Facility This will consist of having permanent bleachers
built. Below are drawings of the new bleachers.
www.cowboyfellowship.org. We are grateful for those who continue to faithfully
support this project with your financial gifts. In the month of May you gave
$ 20,577.00 toward the second phase of this project. Donate Here
Covered Facility Update
Heritage Days Exhibits
These pictures represent a sample of the fun activities that were enjoyed by the attendees of the Cowboy Fellowship Heritage Days.
( more pictures on the following pages)
Page 5
Pictured are some of the participants and
winners of the Youth Rodeo
These young cowboys and cowgirls did an outstanding job.
Page 6
Ranch Rodeo and
Team Roping
Page 7
The Pie Contest THE JUDGES THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER
THE PIES
When do we eat?
The Grand Prize winner of the Pie Contest was Myrtle LaGrange.
Congratulations Myrtle !!!
Page 8
Page 9
Heritage Days Events Guests and Participants enjoying the festivities
The winning teams in the #13 slide were :
1st place- Joel Rocha and Devin Hayes
2nd place- Dustin Wright and Devin Hayes
#13 Slide Average winners were:
1st - Corey Blaschke Randy Silguero
2nd- Deno Hayes Sergio Gonzales
3rd- Little Joe Arizmendi Corey Bader
4th- Deno Hayes Joel Huerta
The #10 Round winners were:
1st- Randall Gaydos and Bubba Jahns
2nd-Clint Tieken and Ricky Gonzales
The #10 Average winners were:
1st- AJ Lopez Dustin Powell
2nd- Jimmy Baker Rene Guerra
3rd- Slade Malone Butch Bode
4th- AJ Lopez Dustin Powell
Pictured are the High
Point Ropers from the
#10
AJ Lopez &
Dustin Powell
Pictured are the Buckle Winners from the #10
From left to right:
1. Clint Tieken 5. Dustin Powell
2. Rene Guerra 6. Ricky Gonzales
3. AJ Lopez 7. Deno Hayes
Bob Berg Buckles were given to first in average in #13 slide and to 1st-5th in average in the #10. Justin
Boots were awarded to the fast time in the first round. High point header and heeler in #13 were
awarded $500 each. Fully tooled custom saddles will be given to high point header and heeler in the #10.
Heritage Days Team Roping Results
Over 400 teams competed for buckles, boots, jeans, saddles, and $1000 added money during the Heritage Days
Team Roping on May 12. Team roping is an annual event to celebrate the anniversary of Cowboy Fellowship.
this year's event was held in the new covered facility on the grounds of the church. Producer Cass Ringelstein
and his crew did an outstanding job. The roping teams competed all evening and into the wee hours of the
morning before the winners were decided.
Page 10
Page 11
Welcome Andrew Higdon. Andrew will be serving as our summer
inter . We are blessed to have such a fine young man with us serv-
ing the Lord.
Andrew is from Detroit, Texas and is attending Pensacola Chris-
tian College in Pensacola, Florida. He is working on a degree in Bib-
lical Studies. He enjoys
playing guitar, reading,
flying kites, and playing
with his yo-yo. He is very
excited about what God
has in store for him as
he comes to serve along
side Tanner and Adam
this summer at Cowboy
Fellowship
One of Andrew’s favorite
verses is:
Ephesians 6:20, for which I
am an ambassador in
chains. Pray that I may de-
clare it (the gospel) fear-
lessly, as I should.
SHARE THE HARVEST
The SHARING THE HARVEST Spring garden has started
producing some great looking vegetables. The first distribution
of vegetables was on May 16th. Zucchini, yellow squash, and
cucumbers were distributed. On May 23rd there was yellow
squash, zucchini, potatoes, cucumbers, and tomatoes. There was
a good turnout on both days. The Share The Harvest distribu-
tion day is Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary.
We would LOVE nothing more than to have you join our team
and help us further God’s kingdom through the sharing of our
harvest!!!
If you are interested in joining our ministry please contact: Kelli
Hindes (830)570-2388 or Cuatro Hindes (830)570-0248
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Month of May
On May 10th and 11th the Helping Hands Ministry met at Cowboy
Fellowship to put the finishing touches to the brochures for the
Heritage Days Celebration. They stapled meal tickets and
information cards into the brochures. (Sorry no pictures this time.)
They took time off for lunch and then back to work.
On May 24 our wonderful Helping Hands showed up again to put
together the packets for the Children’s Ministry.
Page 13
Volunteer teachers that I work with
The kids at school got to partici-pate as well and try to guess how
big my belly was!
Being on the mission field is difficult at times, especially during times like this. I never imag-ined I'd be having my 1st child in a foreign country! But I have to say that the love and re-sponse we have received from the people here and the people back home, has made it such an enjoyable and amazing experience. In the States, I wonder if I would have taken this for granted. Waiting on the Lord, and seeing Him provide has strengthened our faith. From baby beds to baby bouncers, from bibs to burping cloths, we just could not be more blessed. We thank the Lord for His continuous provision and how He lavishly gives His children good gifts. And thank you for being so incredibly wonderful. Thank you for your prayers and your random acts of generosity. You have truly made this couple feel loved and special. Thank you!
I can not begin to express the gratitude to family, friends, churches, bible studies, friends of family who have shown us God's love by providing for our little girl. It has been so fun to be a part of and so amazing to see how God uses His people to love on us. The Lord has provided everything we need and more. We could not be more grateful, our hearts are truly overflowing with gratitude!
I remember having some of the same fears when we found out we were going to have a baby nearly 9 months ago. Would our support cover this new life being given to us? Would we be able to provide for her? I was re-minded that God is control of all things. And if He provided for Larry and me, beyond what we could have imagined, wouldn't He also provide for our baby girl? The answer is YES!
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Showers of Blessing
Shower from ladies at HCJB
And the Lord said, "Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." Malachi 3:10
These words will always be etched on my heart. We began the journey 3 years ago. Larry quit his job at the end of May 2009 and we raised support so that we could come and minister to the people of Ecuador. We were nervous and scared at first about the whole thing. To ask others to support us was frightening... at first. Then we realized that God was going before us and preparing the hearts of friends and family. It was such a blessing. He gave me the verse above to encourage me during those months of uncertainty. It wasn't until later that we understood and experienced the truth behind it.
Ladies from the church that Larry and I attend
Shower given by family/friends in
My 1st "Double Baby Shower" with
Williams in the Wilderness
Imagine if you were there when Jesus died, one of His followers. You have been with Him three years, watched Him heal the sick, befriend the
poor, open His arms to the rejected children, and preach the good news that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He has told the world that they have
a heavenly Father that loves them and is calling out to them. Their heavenly Father cares about them, their needs, their struggles, their suffering,
and He desperately wants to replace all of the pain with Himself. He tells them for the first time that they can talk to Him, hear from Him, and have a
full-fledged relationship with Him. Then Jesus dies, and you cry, wondering what will come of all this. He sends His Holy Spirit whom He said would
actually be better than having Him there. You get it now! You have to show the world that they can have God live with them, love them, and relate to
them! So what is your next step?
Do you begin by renting yourself a local office in town and then maybe gathering a few of the other followers to strategize with you? Maybe you
convince them that if they will give you a certain amount of money you can spend your whole day telling people the truth. You talk about how you
are going to get into the streets, the alleys, and the walking paths, into people's homes and their places of work in order to make God known. Fi-
nally, you and the followers decide to build a building and see if you can get all of these new people you meet to come to your place instead. Some-
one asks the question, “Why are they going to come to our place?” You explain that you will just give them a few catch lines concerning what the
meeting is about, and they will be hooked. It seems simple enough. A few people are not sure this will work, but they decide to watch and see.
Is that really how you want to begin? I mean, Jesus was on the road, walking from town to town. He was sharing in houses, on mountain sides,
and in the streets. Why didn't He just call everyone to the local synagogue where they could form neat rows? What if it rained while He was on the
mountain? Then what would they do?
Jesus sat in the homes of the unchurched, the unclean, and the sinful and taught them, places the pastors of the day wouldn't even venture.
Eventually you decide that you should do it like Jesus. You think about the lady who was unclean, bleeding for twelve years. She wouldn't have
been able to come into your building. You think about the man they called Legion that had so many demons. Jesus healed him and changed his life.
You don't think he would have come to your office. You probably would have made the roof to your building up to code so that the four friends
couldn't have dug a hole through it. No lowering of paralytics into your building, only a good, strong roof. The more you think about it the more you
realize that all of the experiences you had with Jesus just wouldn't have happened in your building.
We discovered a few years ago that “church” has to happen where the people are. Jesus' way might not have been the most efficient or the easi-
est way, in fact it was often messy and uncomfortable, but man, listen to His stories! Don't you want stories like that? We do, and we are here in
Karamoja, Uganda, trying to live out those stories. How do we plant churches? We make friends in a village and ask them if they would like to sit
under the tree with us and talk about God and His kingdom. Sometimes once a week, in other places multiple times a week we sit, read the Bible,
and talk about what it says. When someone wants to follow God we have a church. I don't say “church” because we start doing it more formally, but
because there are now two of us, two children of God gathering together. Sometimes we sing, but sometimes we don't. Usually we read, but some-
times we don't. We almost always pray for one another because we have yet to find a day when someone doesn't need it. We do this under trees, in
homes, and wherever works. The Spirit of God is moving, and people are gathering to hear the word, deciding that it is what they want for their
lives.
The other day a man's son went missing. A search could not produce any results, so we prayed. The next day the son came back! He was lost
and then found, and our friend's faith increased. A woman came into our home almost dead. We cared for her as well as we could, but she died
anyway. Despite her death her village was able to see God's love, and another church was birthed. We have made loads of mistakes like asking the
wrong man to lead. I didn't know he was an alcoholic and thief, and we start over and try again. Oops! No big deal. I think God is being glorified, and
lives are being touched so I am excited.
I find that people get excited when we tell these stories, and they encourage us to keep on. My question is, why don't we do this at home? Why is
this great for missionaries in foreign countries but not for America? What keeps us from inviting coworkers to Starbucks or into our homes for a meal
and talking about God and His kingdom? Why does church need to be more complicated than that?
Let's dream together. Imagine our “churches”, as we will call these gatherings. Imagine a place where someone has a need, and the group uses
their tithe to pay that person's rent for the month. Their money is not being used to pay off buildings, pay utility bills, pay pastors' salaries, put in new
carpet, run their programs, or buy new choir robes. Imagine a place where everyone's prayer requests and needs are made known...a place where
everyone can use their gifts of music, hospitality, teaching, service, etc...a place where when someone's husband or wife dies, the whole group
mourns together...a place where everyone gets a chance to share the truths God is teaching them. In this place you can worship God together with
your children. They don't have to be completely quiet because we believe that God speaks through our kids. Imagine a church where a homeless
person comes to Christ, and the group loves on that person until they are back on their feet. I like the early church as described here:
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul
and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they
were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together
and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the favor with all the people.
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42-47
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Cowboy Fellowship
P.O. Box 68
Pleasanton, TX 78064
Our Links
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