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"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Matthew 25:35 Summer Interns

IN THIS ISSUE

Baby Dedication

What can you do to change the world? Frequently in the church we speak about changing the world. We say things like, “God can use you to change the world!” But can you really do it? And if you can change the world it’s probably going to be really difficult right? After all our world has over seven billion people living on its surface at any one time. The circumference of the earth is almost 25,000 miles. And if you put the world on a scale it would weigh about 13,169,533,693,875,800,000,000,000 pounds. The world is a big place, with lots of people, and lots of space so how can you change the world? Believe it or not I think it is possible for you to change the world and it may not be as hard as you think. Let me give you a few quick things you can do to change the world.

1. Read and memorize scripture every day. Changing the world is impossible if you try to do it without God’s help. However, if you stay in the word of God daily and commit as much of it to memory as possible, you will be able to stay in the will of God and that is very important if you want to change the world.

2. Pray every day. And don’t just pray for what you want or what you are thankful for. Talk to God like you would a friend. Prayer is not your avenue to get what you want, it’s God’s avenue to direct you to what He wants. When you get that put in the right perspective your prayer life will become amazing and you will be on your way to changing the world.

3. Share the gospel. Changing the world requires that we reach the world one life at a time. You may never have a chance to address all seven billion people on earth with the good news of Jesus but in your lifetime it is plausible to think that you could influence tens or hundreds of thousands of people with the Gospel if you will only share the good news.

4. Pursue your passion- God frequently causes people to be passionate about the areas in which he has gifted them to serve. Pursue that passion you possess in your heart, and allow God to use it as a platform for worldwide change. Your passion seem small in your eyes but God often uses the smallest things and people to make the biggest impact.

5. Leave a legacy. Disciple your children and grandchildren. Make sure they read and memorize scripture, pray, share the gospel, and pursue their passions. This is not only Biblical, but it also multiplies your effort in changing the world. And if the task is not completed before you depart and go to be with Jesus at least the mission for change will continue long after you are gone.

Changing the world is a huge task, but it is not impossible. If every believer practiced the five things mentioned above imagine the impact that the world would experience by the end of this year, end of this decade, or end of the century. I can’t do your part to change the world but I am committed to doing mine. Will you join me?

Pastor Pete

Word from the Pastor

Page 2

Philippians 4:4-6

Page 3

The following are reoc-

curring events that take

place each week/month at

the same time unless other-

wise denoted.

Discipleship class—

Resumes in Sept.

Church Services - Sun-

day @ 10:45 AM

Children’s Play Group

Every Tuesday from

10am - 11:30am.

Men’s Fellowship

Breakfast 3rd Sat. 8-9

Call Bob Byrd for info

at: 210-896-5525

CFY R.E.A.L.M. - Every

Wednesday @ 7:00 pm

Pre-Teen Ministry Every

Wednesday @ 6:30pm—

8 Bldg D

2nd Sat. Clean Up 8 am

–10 am

Please Go To Our Website

For Times And More

Information! www.cowboyfellowship.org

JULY 2013 SUN MON TUE WED THUR FRI SAT

1 2 10a-11:30 Play Group

3

6:30p-8p 5th

& 6th Grade

Youth

6:30-8p CFY

4 Office

closed

4th of July

6:30p-9p CF

band practice

6:30 –8 Judo

5 6

7

10:45 a Sun

Morning Serv.

Baptism

1:00 Play Day

8 9

10a-11:30 Play Group

10

6:30p-8p 5th

& 6th Grade

Youth

6:30-8p CFY

11

6:30p-9p CF

band practice

6:30 –8 Judo

12 13

8:00 –10am

2nd Sat

Clean Up

10-12

Ladies

Riding Group

14

10:45a Sun.

Morning

Worship Serv.

12-2

Leadership

and Lay

Pastor Mtg.

15 16

10a-11:30 Play Group

17

6:30p-8p

5th & 6th

Grade Youth

6:30-8p CFY

7p-9p Adult Riding Group

18

6:30p-9p CF

band practice

6:30 – 8 Judo

19 20

8- 9 Men’s Fellowship Breakfast

21

10:45a Sun Morning Worship Serv.

10:30 –11:45 Saddle Up

22

23

10a-11:30 Play Group

24

6:30p-8p 5th & 6th Grade Youth

6:30-8p CFY

25

10:30 am

Helping Hands

6:30p-9p CF

band practice

6:30—8 Judo

26

27

28 10:45a Sun Morning Worship Serv.

12-1 Elders mtg.

29 30

10a-11:30

Play Group

31

6:30p-8p

5th & 6th

Grade Youth

6:30-8p CFY

7-9 Youth Riding Clinic

Schedule

Of Events

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness

be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but

in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your

requests to God.

The Arena Ministry Adult Riding Group 2nd Wednesday of every month 7pm -

9pm Contact Liz Powell 830-426-9391

Youth Riding Clinic 4th Wednesday of the month 7pm-9pm

Contact Liz Powell 830-426-9391

Ladies Riding Group 2nd Sat. of the month 10am-12 noon

Contact info.: Marian Knowlton phone 210-831-6079

email marian.knowlton@gmail.com

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July Events July 4th Office Closed

July 7th Baptism

July 7th Play Day

July 8th-12th Summer Blast 6pm-8:30pm (see pg 19)

July 16th Mirror Maze Challenge, 10 am, Finished 4-6 grade (see pg. 19)

July 21st Saddle-up 10:45 in conference room upstairs

July 26th Minute to Win It - Family Fun (see pg 19)

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Baptisms

Harriett Baker Gregoria Guerra

Cristian Alvarado Caden Schulte

On Sunday June 2, 2013 four people

professing they had accepted Jesus Christ

as their Lord and Savior were baptized.

Pictured below are : Harriett Baker,

Gregoria Guerra, Cristian Alvarado and

Caden Schulte.

These four were the first to be baptized in

the new baptismal. It is now a permanent

fixture on the stage.

Matthew 3:13

Then Jesus came from Galilee

to the Jordan River to be

baptized by John.

Matthew 3:16

As soon as Jesus was

baptized, He went up out of

the water. At that moment

heaven was opened, and He

saw the Spirit of God

descending like a dove and

lighting on Him.

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Mobry and Ryan Laffoon dedicated their son

Aiden Jesse Laffoon.

Russell and Elizabeth Booker dedicated

their son Dwain Booker

Jeremy Evans and Elizabeth Cimoperlak

dedicated their daughter

Chezneigh Nicole Evans

Jason and Lindsey Cartwright dedicated

their daughter Ryleigh Cartwright

On Sunday, May 19, 2013 Cowboy Fellowship, celebrated with six families in the Baby Dedication

Ceremony. Pastor Pete prayed with the families and Children’s Pastor Adam Shelburne presented each

family with a certificate.

Brancy Niemann dedicated son

Westin Niemann

Justin and Savanna Conner dedicated

their daughter Maci Lyn Connor

Share the Harvest Ministry got off

to a great start on May 22nd. With

all of the wonderful rain the Lord

has provided so far this year the

vegetables are plentifully. We pray

the rain continues and the

temperature stays in a reasonable

range (below 100). Many families

in the area are appreciative and

grateful for this ministry and the

volunteers who work many hours

to prepare the vegetables for

distribution each Wednesday.

If you’re interested in helping with

this ministry you may contact

Cuatro Hindes 830-570-0248 or

Kelli Hindes 830-570-2388 email:

stahlk12@yahoo.com

My name is Terry Flechsig! I’m very excited to be the children’s ministry intern this summer! My nickname is “Half-Tex”, because I’m kind of a Texan, but not really. I lived in Texas a total of sixteen months also in Northern Brazil, Illinois, South Dakota and Minnesota. My dad is the pas-tor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Pleasanton. I finished my first year of college at the Association Free Lutheran Bible School in Minneapolis. I have one more year to finish in Minneapolis, and then I plan on going to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago with a major in family ministry. One of my favorite passages in scripture is Deuteronomy 6:7-9, “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.” Jesus loves each child here at Cowboy Fellowship and He gave His Word for you and me to disciple them into His Ways. I look forward ministering here at Cowboy Fellowship!

Hello, my name is Hector Martinez. I am the summer

youth intern here at Cowboy

Fellowship. I grew up right down

the road in Pearsall and have lived

there most of my life. I will be

attending the University of Mary-

Hardin Baylor in the fall (Go Cru!)

where I will be pursuing a degree

majoring in Christian Studies with

an emphasis in Youth Ministry as

well as minoring in Graphic

Design. I do not play an instrument of any kind, but I love

music. Christian Rap is my favorite, but I like acoustic

music as well. Some of my other hobbies include

discovering new music and graphic design. I look forward

to all this summer has to offer, and I am thankful for the

opportunity to serve here.

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Helping Hands

Page 8

The Helping Hands Ministry met at Cowboy Fellowship on June 20 . Their project this

month was to help the Children’s ministry with Vacation Bible School. The team was a

little short handed this month but they all pulled together and got a lot accomplished.

After putting in a couple of grueling hours of cutting out large paper dolls ( some of

cutouts looked like Bigfoot) they all met at Café Chris for a meal and fellowship.

P.S. Avalon Newell is one of the faithful member of the Helping Hands but you never see any pictures

of her because she is the photographer. Avalon you need to come out from behind the camera once in a

while.

The Matthew 25:35 team started and finished a wheel chair ramp in a day for a Veteran & his wife in the Pleasanton community this past week. The team is Lead by Rick Thayer. If you have time and would like to help, even if you don’t have any skill like me, but can hold up a post even that makes a difference. We started about 8:30am-9:00am and the project was completed about 1:30pm or so. One guy was cutting boards, while 4 or 5 others were helping set the foundation, the poles, and screwing down the boards. It didn’t take long once we started getting the foundation laid out, and then everything else came together. Something I learned this time around has to do with tools. Don’t know if anyone has been look-ing at the lithium battery powered tools, man they are great. These batteries last a little bit longer, have great power, and are definitely a lot lighter as well as durable. Besides being lighter, the other difference between the two is when the lithium battery has lost its charge then “that’s all she wrote”, it’s time to change for a powered up battery. The older cordless drills may give you some warning with a slower speed when they are losing their charge; not with Lithium batteries, it either works or it doesn’t. Also, did you know screw heads are changing to hex style? I know old news for most of you but for a newbie like me it was fresh news. Seems like a better grip for the driver, and less slip outs when you need to get that last 1/8 down into the wood. If you would like to do some work and visit with some great folks, and most importantly be able to help someone in Atascosa county who couldn’t have done a project like this own their own, then Mathew 25:35 might just be the team for you. Get in touch with Rick Thayer and see what the project for next month is and come help out. Have a great week,

Associate Pastor Scotty Smith

I can hold that

Yes I ever brought two of my sons, Isom and Robert along, as

you can tell they played in the water some, but they did some

work as well. I think it’s important that we teach our kids to take

some time out of their schedule to help do something that make

a difference for someone else. Just have to make time to do it..

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Continued on next page

Getting the foundation laid out

How much water will it take to make this

concrete hard? Good question boys.

Cutting it up

Don’t tell him I took a picture of him working.

Just a little shovel work.

Getting it ready for the hand rails

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Page 11

Life in the good ol' USA 06/06/2013

Greetings from America! I am writing this in an air conditioned room in a comfortable chair listening to the

sounds of basketball on TV. I ate fish, couscous, and corn on the cob for dinner and made blueberry muffins for

breakfast yesterday. Yum.

Life is good.

America has truly been a land of opportunity for my kids so far as well, and they

are taking full advantage of all it has to offer. They are amazed by the simplest

things:

- ice, everywhere and in everything

- free (and safe) drinking water

- fountains everywhere! America seems full of water to a family from the parched

regions of Uganda.

- strawberries, grapes, and peaches

-squirrels! Believe it or not, this has

been one of their favorite things to

see. They chase them almost every time they see one!

- different kinds of dogs. Vaeh actually chased a lady down in order

to pet her poodle! That girl is born to be a vet :)

- air conditioning. Ok, this one is NOT a favorite of any of them.

They prefer open windows all the time and can't understand why

people are always inside!

- seat belts. No more climbing around the car while we drive.

Another non-favorite.

- "the thing that makes things hot" aka the microwave :)

Most of our days so far have been full and fun. Trips to the museum, dinner

and playtime with friends, trail running through the woods, visiting various

churches, playgrounds, yard and garage work, bar-b-ques and tractor rides,

and the local "castle", aka arcade, have balanced out our school hours.

We have also started a new school curriculum and are slowly changing the

way we "do" school. This has been a challenge, but I am hoping we will get

the hang of it by the time we go back to Uganda. This last year of teaching

has been tough on me (and probably them!) so I am excited for the change.

Hopefully it will breathe new life into my teaching and their learning. All of

the kids have done really well with the transition to America.

continued on next page

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Selah is making friends everywhere she goes while Acuka tries, in his own way, to get his point across. He has fully

entered the terrible twos, but at least he's so cute that you just have to forgive him :)

My kids are continuing to do daily

chores, some of them a bit different than

they're used to, but they continue to be

helpful and obedient.

For some reason I thought America

would ruin them.

They are so innocent and sweet in so

many ways. They spend their days in

Karamoja climbing trees and mountains,

playing football and jump rope, and prac-

ticing with their slingshots or bows and

arrows. Such a simple, lovely life.

I view America as the insidious evil (to steal a phrase from Andy) that can rob them of their innocence. And

maybe that's true in some ways. I had forgotten a lot of things about America. Things that make us all wince and

turn our thoughts back to our friends struggling right now in Karamoja.

Things like the way we live to eat instead of eating to live. Things like throwing away food. Any food. Period.

Things like disposable plates, cups, forks and spoons. Things like "processed foods".

We can't see the people begging for food and so we get all we can, can all we get, and sit on the rest.

We can't see kids like little Nacuk pick up a potato I dropped in the sand and brush it off and pop it in her mouth,

not willing to waste even a bite.

We can't see the children that climb through my "trash pit" looking for treasures I might have thrown out. Some-

times they even scour my compost heap, claiming rotten potatoes and onion tops for their family's dinner.

We can't see these things and so we forget to be careful with what we've been given. And we've been given a lot. I

have been here for two weeks and am already forgetting. It's so easy to forget.

We are blessed.

We are blessed with an abundance of food.

We are blessed with riches, more "stuff" than we know what to do with.

We are blessed with comfortable homes, cars, beds, even chairs.

We are blessed with good, free education.

We are blessed with knowledge of the world at our fingertips.

The list goes on and on...

We are so blessed to live in this country. And yet we live such divided lives.

In the whole week we stayed in Texas we were the only family outside. My mom's yard was littered with toys, and I

was always missing at least one kid who had gone bike riding or exploring in the creek. And although you might

worry about that, my missing children, there is no need because we never saw any people. Now and then you would see

someone coming home from work, or there's that one neighbor who likes to sit for hours on end on his front

porch, shirtless, but otherwise, no one.

Not a soul. continued on next page

And although I am happy for the break and enjoying visiting people, this place, no matter how comfortable, can be

awfully lonely. (Is it just me or do you all feel the same way??)

So thank you to those of you who have made us feel at home in this home away from home (and even in south Uganda as

we finished paperwork for leaving). You have blessed us more than you know.

Thank you for inviting us over for dinner, picking us up from the airport, fixing us delicious meals, giving us a place to

stay, letting us do laundry at your house, jumping on the trampoline with us, running with us, sleeping on the couch so that

we could have your bed, hosting bar-b-ques in our honor, babysitting for us, allowing us to speak to your churches and

Sunday School classes, giving us money and food, and reminding us that we are not alone.

Thank you for reminding me of the best thing about America, the people. And because you are such good people I

know you will try, as I do, to remember how much we've been given. To show your thankfulness by making economical

decisions regarding food, money, and time. To try your best to be a friend to the lonely and hurting around you. To invite

them into your homes and your families and love them as you've loved us.

Thank you for being the hands and feet of Christ to us. We are so grateful and so blessed to call you friends.

I hope to see many more of you in the months to come!

(A special THANK YOU to Hackers for Charity in Jinja, Uganda, for the free housing during our adoption process! You

guys were a huge blessing to our family!)

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Izzy, 5 years old

Nevaeh, 9 years old

Rikot, 9 years old Ezra, 8 years old Zion, 7 years old Selah, 2 1/2 years Acuka, 2 years

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For more information contact Adam 830-769-3733 adam@cowboyfellowship.org

Grades 3-6

July 29 -August 1

Cowboy Fellowship

P.O. Box 68

Pleasanton, TX 78064

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July 2013 Issue 49