Free Granola Bars and an Angry Hot Dog Man

Yesterday (July 6), I (Chris) had the opportunity to do servant evangelism in the downtown area of Rochester with the church plant that I am working with here (more info about that one to come later). All-in-all, it was a good experience. The only set-backs were that the weather was abnormally hot for Rochester and that we were chased away by a hot dog vendor.

When Elliott, the church planter, told me, prior to yesterday, that we would be going downtown and handing out free granola bars with information cards to go with them, I immediately revisited the memories of the last time I handed out granola bars in the Northeastern region of this great country...

...[side story]: It was my freshman year at Southern Miss and I was with 50-something students from the our BSU in Boston, Mass. We divided up and found ourselves among some of the elite college students in America, such as the students of Harvard, MIT, and Boston University. If you know me, you know that I don't really hunt or even act like I do. But for some reason that previous Christmas, I was given a hand-made Mossy Oak hunting jacket from one of my dad's cousins (my dad got a matching jacket as well). Then for some reason, I thought it would be a good idea for me to bring this jacket along as my only big jacket to Boston in March on a mission trip...don't ask why...I just did. And did I ever pay for it. I would stand on the corner of a street and attempt to hand out granola bars with a piece of paper attached to it. Who in their right mind would take a "free" granola bar from a complete stranger wearing a camouflaged jacket and a wool cap in the middle of one of the largest cities in the US? You guessed it...not very many...

So, with that thought in mind, I made sure not to wear anything that would scare people away! In fact, I was quite successful. I gave nearly 100 granola bars and cards in the span of 45 minutes. I met a lady who is looking for a church to get involved with, and was able to give to the hungry and brighten someone's day.

Elliott and one of the summer missionaries did not have as good of luck. In short, they were chased off by a hot dog vendor, who said they were not allowed to mess with his territory. He said that he had rights to sell food on that whole block and that he would call the cops if they did not leave. They moved across the street and down a bit, but he ran over and complained that they were still not allowed there either. Elliott did not want to cause a scene, so he moved along, but it really put a damper on the spirit of service. Despite, the complication, they were able to truly feed the hungry and have great conversation with a guy, who would not have been able to buy a hot dog anyway. So praise God for that. (FYI: Elliott talked with a street cop about the situation and found out that we actually are well within our rights to hand out free food anywhere along the public sidewalks).

Please pray for the efforts of Elliott Sneed, his family, and Discovery Church in Greece, NY. Pray that we will find a location to meet, and that souls will come to know God's love and grace. Please pray for the spiritual starvation that fills the Rochester area.

We're Coming Home!

One week from today we will be arriving in the wonderful state of Mississippi!!!

We are very excited to come home for a little while, but to be honest, we are fearing that there is a good chance that we just might melt! I'm afraid the Northern air and breeze has made us soft. Last week the temperature got up to like 88 degrees. Someone that I work with suggested that everyone should be careful because as she said, "the heat might cause heat combustion and bust windows out of cars." She was serious! It was everything I could do not to laugh at her! Anyway, we are not looking forward to the heat, but it a strange way, I think we will embrace it just because it will feel like home.

All that said, we are doing well here in this last week before we come home. Becca is finishing up a workshop at the school. She has really enjoyed it and has learned a lot. Work is going well for me, and Sunday I will be preaching at a church in Rochester before we leave for our trip. After the service, we will have lunch with friends and then begin our way to Louisville, where we will stay for the evening. So please pray for us and pray that I will speak the Word of God in the way only He could speak it through me.

As for our visit, we hope to see a lot of friends and family, but to be honest, we unfortunately may not get to see everyone. Part of the reason we are coming down is that I am coming to hopefully try to raise a little more money for the campus ministry I am starting here. If anyone has connection to a church that you think might like to partner with me or give a one time gift, please let me know. I will also be involved with a new church plant this coming September, so the funding will help me start the campus ministry in Brockport and assist in the church plant in Rochester. Most of all, I am asking for your prayers for growth, provisions, and guidance on what the Lord wants.

Along with the support raising efforts, we will be visiting people in Hattiesburg and most definitely visiting family and helping my grandparents move. We also will be attending the first Sleger family vacation since Becca lived in Baton Rouge (I think...just guessing...it has been a long time...that's the point).

We hope to see as many people as we can!

Please pray for us this week as Becca finishes the workshop, as we prepare to travel, as I prepare a sermon, and as we start our travels!

A Sweets Confession

As I said in the previous blog, Becca and I are trying to workout with the P90X program. If you know anything about P90X, you know it is intense in physicality, mentality, and in how you eat. Eating well makes a difference in the results you see, which is obviously the case in pretty much every activity. The program comes with a diet program that we have found to be very difficult to follow. Therefore, we try to just generally eat healthy. There's nothing wrong with that. However, we have a strong struggle with sweets. Becca and I do not help each other out with sweets. If I want something sweet, she will have some too. If she wants something sweet, then of coarse, I will have something as well. So, we thought it would be wise to do a sweets fast for a week...Let me tell you how this went...

We thought we would start this fast on Sunday (Father's Day), however, we were given two mini pies at church. So, of coarse, we didn't want them to go to waste...both little pies were eaten as soon as we got home...Happy Father's Day, right? Anyway, after eating our Father's Day pies (which by the way, I am not a father...the church had a lot left over...just needed to clarify), we decided ok, no more sweets. So for a couple days (actually, I think it was a day and half), we did well. Ate healthy meals and had no sweets. Around Tuesday, however, we decided "you know, Domino's has a really good deal on two-topping pizzas, so maybe we should get one for lunch then I could take leftovers to work that night." Logical, right? So we ate very unhealthy pepperoni and banana pepper pizza for two straight meals...no sweets though! The next day i did not go into work until 5pm, so we decided to go into town and enjoy the day together. We had a healthy sandwich from Panera, then went to the mall. After the mall, we thought that it was such a nice day and I still had a couple hours that it would be a great idea to go to Starbucks, sit outside, and enjoy a nice coffee drink. But, what drink did we get? It was a warm day, so of coarse, we got one of the new fraps!...we did add more coffee and less flavor, so that has to count for something, right?

Then comes Thursday....

You know, sometimes when you're faced with a buy one get one free milk shake from your favorite ice cream place, you hate to see it expire without using it...so....YES! We fell into temptation! We each had Vienna Mocha Chunk shakes, and we LOVED them!! So the sweets fast is off....maybe next week?

ps: I am going to blame the shakes for the reason I did so poorly in my first softball game in over a year...shakes were right before the game...0 for 7...yes, I'm going to blame the shakes...but, I think they were worth it!

GO USA!!!!!

The new blog...promise there will be more...

So here we are at the start of the summer and enjoying the beautiful weather of Brockport, NY! Becca is enjoying her time of relaxation and preparation for next semester. Chris is working hard at the Marriott in nearby Greece, NY. He has now moved into a front desk position and for the last few weeks, he has been working, basically, a full-time shift. He enjoys the job for the most part, but he knows there is something more for him. He is just working and doing what he can until he can figure that out.

We are both going through P90X! Needless to say, we are sore and a bit tired, but we can already feel the results. So, if anyone that is reading this sees us soon, just know that we are eating, yes. We are just working out, eating right, and staying very active. It's so hard to not be outside and staying active in the clear skies, cool breeze, and low 80 degree weather! We now even have bikes. We ride down the Erie Canal at least every other day.

We have also made a connection with a couple in Greece, who are starting a new church. He is originally from Texas, and they lived in NYC the past two years, where they were apart of pastoring a church called Journey Church. They have now moved away from the city for health reasons and to start a church in Rochester. We are going to do all we can to help him along the way. The church is called Discovery Church, and we are really looking forward to what will happen with it and where God is taking it. So please pray for this ministry, for Elliott and Heather Sneed and their family, and for us as we try to find our place in what God wants us to do with the church.

We are really looking forward to going home in July! We will also continue to keep you up to date on what we are up to and even into our time at home. So come on back and keep checking our blog and see where the McArthur's are at the moment!

New Blog to come.....

For those of you that might be checking our blog....we will be updating you all as soon as we possibly can.

We are settling into Brockport quit nicely, and Chris is eagerly awaiting a job. Please pray that we will find that job and begin bringing in that income. Becca is doing very well, and is officially a student now. She will begin classes on Aug 31.

We miss you all, and thanks for checking in.

The McArthur's 1st Blog

So we have never done this before, but we figure all the cool people are doing it. Plus we thought this could be a fun way to keep people updated on our big adventure of planning to move to New York, then getting there, and then what is like up there.

Becca will be finishing her job as a nurse tomorrow! She will no longer be able to claim that she is a nurse, which is somewhat unfortunate. She will, however, be able to call herself an active dancer again, and that is very cool! For the next month she will be doing her best to train and get ready for school, as well as, spending much needed time with her family and friends.

Chris will continue to landscape up until they leave for New York (which is Aug 1, by the way). He will continue to work out in this scorching heat and continue to get more tan, so he can get to New York and make all those Northerners jealous...haha. He is also eagerly applying for jobs up there, so we pray that he will find one soon!

We ask that anyone and everyone, please be praying for us as we try to get everything worked out and prepared to leave. We know this is what God wants, because he has done nothing but provide and guide us in the way to go. Your support is greatly appreciated!

More updates to come....