Where are the Ledbetter's Right Now?
The Ledbetters are Home in Ireland again!

Each state
has many
photos taken
in that state.

I am sitting in terminal 1 at London Heathrow airport waiting to board our Aer Lingus flight across the Irish Sea back home to beautiful Cork! We are all tired for sure, and decided to have breakfast to pass the time. We have a total of 5 and 1/2 hour layover here in London. Weather seems cloudy but not bad. Rain is evidently on its way.

The lay over in London seemed to take an eternity - almost 6 hours, but we finally boarded Aer Lingus, and flew on to Cork. Once there, we anxiously waited for all our luggage, and then bolted through the doors to a gathered crowd of over 25 of our precious church folks who greeted as with shouts and a whole lot of hugs! We stood and hugged and laughed for almost an hour at the airport, just praising God together for bringing us home!

We are HOME!

Sarah and Josh are wiped out in Heathrow!

Arriving into Cork Airport, we were met by over 25 of our Church Folks!

We worked all day cleaning up the Mission's Apartment at First Baptist Church in Caldwell, which has been our base for the past month, and a real blessing to be able to come and go from so easily. I took a couple of trips to the UPS store and Post Office to get some packages sent out before we leave. Pastor Bulka then took us all to Newark Airport where we were asked if we minded missing the 6pm flight and instead travelling out on the 9pm flight. We were delighted when they offered to pay us to be on standby. But alas, it was not to be. They fit us on the flight anyway. It was a great flight. Both Nita and I got to witness extensively to two different people for much of the trip!

I headed out early for Plainville, CT, to drop off the Ford at the car dealer who is supposed to sell it for me! praise God! What a great car it has been, even though we had one problem back in Ozona, Texas with one spark plug! I met up with pastor Benson, and we went to lunch after dropping off the car, and then he drove me down to New haven to the Train Station, where I boarded the metro for Grand Central Station. I wish I had brought my camera, because it was beautiful! I had never been to Grand Central. From there, I travelled on to New Jersey, but got on the wrong train. Oh well. I had to back track one station, and then got on the right train, and pastor David Bulka picked me up! Now, I have no "wheels!" And it feels funny! Tonight we did a lot of organising and packing for tomorrow! Praying for a great and easy trip home! In the evening, we headed over to a friend's home for her birthday!

This morning, I presented our DVD in Sunday School at Berean Baptist Church. It went very well. After the presentation, I opened it up for questions, and several people were very interested in our ministry. Following Sunday School, I preached in the main service on The Missionary's Motive, from 2 Corinthians 5:11, and I had a lot of liberty.

After the morning meetings, we drove back down to Caldwell, for a going away service at First Baptist Church in Caldwell, NJ. It has been such a blessing to be around these precious people. They have extended so much kindness towards us with meals, and fellowship! We got to catch up on some old friendships, and hopefully encourage several of them to go further for the Lord!

It is raining, like it has been for the past several days! Tropical Storm Danny is making us feel right at home with the cool breeze, and the constant rain! Amen!

We head up to Schenectady to preach ONE MORE TIME before we head back home to Ireland! This will be my 43rd time preaching here in America!

Today we did some frantic shopping for last minute stuff, and then in the evening, we had dinner with a very special family named the Stewarts! What a blessing!

I drove the 6 hours back to Caldwell, and then worked on Thank You Cards and studied for preaching in Ireland in just over a week! I am very excited about getting back into my own pulpit! I was able to make several calls via Skype back to the folks in Ireland, to get things planned and prepared for when we get back home! I love fruitful days!

Today, I travelled to a little town in western Pennsylvania called LaJose, where a wonderful supporting church called Fairview Baptist Church faithfully preaches the word of God! It was a bit of a drive, but it is well worth it!

I found a faithful man of God, pastor John Landry, who is a soul-winner, and a strong shepherd of his people! I showed our DVD, and then preached.

Major shopping day. We went to the Willowbrook Shopping Mall, there were so many stores, but like a dream, there was an APPLE store - drool, drool! Oh, was it hard to walk out of there empty handed, but the spirit won over the flesh! ;) We ended up with much needed clothes for Sarah!

From here on out, we have to get everything organised and packed for us to leave in just SEVEN days! It gets complicated from here on until next Monday evening! Pray for us as we need to drop the Car off in Connecticut for it to be sold for us, and we need to just be all ready to head back home on Tuesday! Pray the Lord keeps us healthy (we have been so blessed this entire trip)! And pray for safety as we fly to London and then Cork! Amen!

This morning we were close by in a supporting church and I got to show our DVD presentation, report, and then preach during Sunday School! The folks are wonderful! Pastor Phalon is doing a fantastic job feeding and leading these precious souls! My family and I then were treated to a great message by pastor Phalon!

In the afternoon, we travelled back up to New York to be in Pastor Don Hughs' church, Lighthouse Baptist Church in Johnson City, NY. What a blessing to meet folks who still remember me coming and preaching 17 years ago! Bro Hughs and his wife were so gracious and giving towards us! The church had a time of food and fellowship after preaching, and it was sweet!

The folks at Faith Baptist Church, Sparta, NJ

Pastor Hughs and his wife in Lighthouse Baptist Church, Johnson City, NY

Today is just a catch-up day! I wish I had a MONTH of these! When we got in to Caldwell, we arrived just in time, because a major storm moved in with even more awesome lightening and thunder than we experienced in Canada! It was like Armageddon! We stayed up until 3am just watching it out our window! Totally awesome, and our God reigns!

Last night, there was a terrific lightening storm - the likes that I have not seen in decades! It was GREAT! Constant lightening, and thunder, and then buckets of rain, and more lightening!
Today we went back down to the Falls, and walked around, and did some touristy shopping things, and the just did a LOT of travelling back from Canada, all the way back to Caldwell, NJ. We got back VERY late, and were (as usual) very tired!

This morning we headed westward for Niagara Falls, with some trepidation. We prayed, and asked that the Lord would hold back the rain so that we could enjoy the Falls just for a few hours! Well, the rain held back basically ALL DAY LONG< and we got to do so much and see so much! We rode on the Maid of the Mist boat ride, and took zillions of pictures, and got to eat up on the top of the Skylon restaurant, and THEN a lightening storm most excellent moved in and sounded such thunder, and lit up the sky for about an hour! What a trip!

We drove over 7 hours to get up to Rochester, NY today for a meeting with pastor George Grace at the First Bible Baptist Church here! We drove through almost 2 hours of construction along the way, but arrived at 7.02pm, and pastor Grace was VERY gracious! I got to give my testimony, show our DVD presentation, and then preach! What a blessing!

This morning we headed off to Liberty State Park, in New Jersey to meet up with a new friend named Teresa who came down from Pastor Cuozzo's church. From there, we took a ferry to Ellis Island, and then on to Liberty Island where the Statue of Liberty is. It was a great day. Loads of fun, but it was HOT. Seeing and experiencing the history of those two islands is intense! All in all, it took almost 6 hours to take in everything! The day was beautiful, so looking at the Statue of Liberty was breathtaking!

After returning to the car, we travelled back up to New Durham Baptist Church to drop off Teresa and Sarah for the Vacation Bible Club time they were having all this week, while Nita, Josh and I went to IHOP to grab a brief dinner, and then head over to the hospital to visit Pastor Frank Cuozzo and his precious wife! We were so blessed to just be with them, and talk, and pray! Oh may our blessed Lord bless that family, and that women especially!.

The Ledbetter family visiting the Statue of Liberty!

The Hospital Mrs Cuozzo is staying in

Today, in the morning, we went shopping at Costco with pastor Bulka and Kathy for their upcoming church-wide camping trip. After that, I went and had the oil changed at Midas, and the temperature was unbelievably hot!

In the evening, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Pastor Bulka's home and several old freinds from years and years ago!

This morning, we headed out early for south central New Jersey to be in the Leonardo Baptist Church in North Bergan, with pastor Joseph Crilly! It was a great group, even though it was hot and pastor Crilly cut his finger on the projector screen! Other than, the Lord met with us! Afterward, some friends of ours joined pastor Crilly and his family, and us for lunch. It was a great time of fellowship!

In the afternoon, we drove to see pastor Frank Cuozzo and his wife Margaret at a hospital before church services in his church, the New Durham Baptist Church. His wife needs a lot of prayer, as does pastor Cuozzo! We had prayer, and Nita and I felt so helpless, but turned our sights toward Jesus, and will begin to pray for a proper miracle for that family!

In the evening, I preached at Pastor Cuozzo's church, the New Durham Baptist Church, and boy was it as blessing! God has been very good to those people, and we had a great meeting!

We are quickly getting worn out though travelling, so pray for us as we have just 5 more church meetings to be in before we are back HOME in Ireland! Praise God!

By-the-way, when you click on our Picasa web photo albums, make sure you scroll all the way down for the latest photographs!

Leonardo Baptist Church, Leonardo, NJ

New Durham Baptist Church, in North Bergan, NJ

This morning, Nita and I got to take a nice long walk together, and just have a lot of planning to do for home school this year. I am sitting here trying to catch up on my Journal, and Bible reading, and plan on studying a lot this afternoon!

This afternoon I learned that one of our young men named Shane had burst his small intestine and was being rushed into emergency surgery! I prayed with his Mom over the phone, and then texted everyone in church to pray for him! Several hours later, we learned that they had to remove several inches of the small intestine, and that we needed to pray that the surgery holds! His Mom is so strong in the Lord, but needs a lot of prayer herself - this is very hard on everyone in her family! Her husband sure needs the Lord too, so pray God works all this together for the highest good!

This afternoon, we left the DC area and headed back  to the southern most coast of New Jersey to be in a long-time supporting church called Dividing Creek Baptist Church!

But we didn't know if it would ever happen because on our way up to Diving Creek, we were stopped dead in Bridgeton, NJ, by a downpour that was amazing! It was like a flood out of the heavens. The hard rain made it impossible to see at all while driving so we pulled over and waited for over an hour. When it let up a bit, we travelled on to Diving Creek, and thankfully arrived at the church only to have the rains come again harshly, and we waited in our car for another hour before venturing out and into the church. We didn't think anybody would try and come out to church on a night like tonight, but they came praise God!

Pastor Chaney could not be there because he and his family had already scheduled a brief vacation, but wanted us to come anyway. We were blessed to see many dear folks who still remembered us from 17 years ago, and have prayed for us so faithfully! I showed our presentation, and then preached with great liberty! It was a great meeting!

Afterward, we drove the 2 1/2 hours back up to Caldwell because it would be quicker than during the day with New jersey traffic for sure!

The rain is finally letting up!

The folks at Diving Creek Baptist Church!

Today Nita and I dropped off our two children at a friend's home so that we could get away for two days, and wow, what a blessing to be alone as a couple again! It has been awesome travelling all these 15,000 miles together as a family, but there is nothing like walking slowly, hand-in-hand, with your bride of 24 years, and just doing nothing!

We travelled back down to the Washington DC area, and just goofed off! Ain't God good to allow us these quiet times!

This morning we had a slow start (just plain tired), and had a late breakfast. I took Joshua to get his stitches out, and then we did some shopping for Christmas and church ideas at a Christian Bookstore in the area. In the evening, First Baptist Church started its Summer Vacation Bible School, so Sarah got to attend.

This morning we were at the First Bible Baptist Church in Plainville, Connecticut! This church has grown, and grown, and stayed strong in their confidence in the word of God! Their pastor is an absolutely tremendous man of God who loves these people, and has taught them well! Several visitors came out for the morning service because they were invited by folks yesterday in soul-winning!

In the evening, we drove to Stamford, Connecticut to be in Landmark Baptist Church, whose pastor is Dr. Vince Massa. They were just beginning their Old Yankee Camp Meeting, and it was awesome! I got to present our work on our DVD, and then preached to a hungry crowd! Afterward, bro Phil Schipper preached, and boy was it good to hear! After the preaching, we all headed downstairs for some refreshments, fellowship. Bro Buddy Blunkall is here at this church all week, leading the music, and preaching! We got to spend some precious time together in anticipation of him coming to Ireland in just over a month to preach our Revival!

After everything was said and done, we headed home to Caldwell, arriving in at 11:45pm. Aaah! Good and tired!

Craig preached at First Bible Baptist Church, Plainville, CT!

In the evening, Craig preached at the Old Yankee Camp Meeting, at Landmark Baptist Church. Above are Pastor and Mrs Vince Massa

We went out door-to-door for a couple of hours this morning with about 30 other people in the Plainville, CT, area, and had a great reception! I got to give my testimony to several people, including some really strange situations. My son Joshua went with me, and we both kept coming away from homes saying, "Wow, that went well!"

In the evening, there was a wonderful pot-luck dinner, and the church folks all watched "The Hiding Place." What a great movie!

Cleaned up the Ford (it has basically been very faithful, carrying us from California all the way here), and washed it, and met up with the man who prayerfully is going to be selling it here in Connecticut. I am hopeful that we get a good sale on the sell! Also met with Pastor Thomas Benson, and had a good long talk over a Starbucks! Godly counsel is so refreshing!

Travelled up from New Jersey to Connecticut. Not bad traffic, and the weather is spectacular! The further north we travel, the milder, and more pleasant the temperature is! We took pastor Benson and his wife out to eat at The Outback! Wow! What a great steak, and what great fellowship! Tomorrow, I begin to do all the work to get the car sold up here in the northeast!

Travelled the almost 2 hours (in traffic) down to Trenton, to preach and report on our work in Ireland to the New testament Baptist Church. This church has faithfully supported us for all these years, and their pastor has been a friend to our ministry! So many of the folks still remember me from when I was last here about 17 years ago! We drove back home afterwards, and were wrecked tired! I think we are so ready to go home to Ireland! This Furlough travel is way past due for stopping! But we have 10 more meetings to go!

Got to meet up with some of the men who are pastoring here in New Jersey, and got to preach to them about Servants Being Humbled. It was a good meeting because many of the pastors got to preach as well! Got some Thank You cards written and mailed out.

A slow day. Worked on some projects, and got some office work done, and emails. Nita helped with the upcoming Vacation Bible School program.

For lunch we got to spend some time with some dear friends. In the evening, we were invited to a birthday party, at the home of two doctors that are members of FBC in Caldwell. The Indian food was tremendous, and the fellowship was great!

I got to preach at our sending church, the First Baptist Church, in Caldwell, NJ. The laptop that the church has died and did not show our DVD right, but the preaching went very well!

This evening, we went to Pastor Mike Dinges, and the People's Baptist Church, and showed the DVD, and preached, and it was awesome! The church has such a great spirit, and their pastor is such a faithful man. The Lord GAVE them their church building, and they have filled it to capacity.

Today was my study day. I am working on three big, new messages, and needed the whole day to get ONE finished! I love study days!

Pastor Bulka and his team arrived back from their mission's trip to Guyana in the evening.

Just a slow day, getting office stuff done, and clothes washed.

We stayed as long as we could for the remaining sessions and preaching at the Northeast Vision Conference, but at 2pm, we HAD to head north to get to Astoria, Queens before traffic swallowed us up! The remaining preaching was again, absolutely just what we needed!

We travelled through the Lincoln Tunnel (against advice), but it was because we wanted to see downtown Manhattan (I don't ever want to do THAT again!). We even accidently passed right by the fifth avenue Apple store that is a glass cube! We arrived at the Open Door Baptist Church in Astoria to a grand welcome by Pastor Peter and Julia Montoro and their wonderful family! We had dinner with them, and fellowshipped! Pastor Montoro and I go back to Bible College days in the early 80's and he is still faithfully preaching and reaching the lost in this very needy mission field of New York City! What a great Man of God! I got to show our presentation DVD and give my testimony, and then got to preach, and the people were tremendous! What a testimony to the labours of Pastor and Julia Montoro!

All day we were at preaching and teaching sessions on church planting, and it was awesome! pastor Fisher preached and then had to head on to Australia for another preacher's conference there. Dr. David Gibbs Jr. then came and preached in the evening - WOW! This is a very, VERY needy series of meetings!

We drove up from Alexandria back to Solid Rock Baptist Church for the start of the Northeast Vision Church Planting Conference which started this evening! Pastor Doug Fisher and Pastor Charlie Clark III preached, and boy did we get stirred for planting churches! The atmosphere is charged, and the singing was just what I needed! But the messages were spot-on about focusing on reaching this northeastern corridor in the United States! For more information on the Conference click here

We drove down to Alexandria for Nita to go to a Chiropractor we heard of. 

In the morning, we left Caldwell real early to drive the two hours south to Mickleton, to be in Kingsway Baptist Church with pastor Jim Fish! What a faithful man of God and a fruitful ministry! After church, pastor Fish and his wife took us out for lunch and we had a great time of fellowship!

In the evening, we were in Solid Rock Baptist Church's new building (2years old), and were able to show our DVD and give my testimony! Bro Clark, and his family are so on fire for God, and the people are a perfect reflection of pastor Clark's heart and vision! We can't wait to be back on Tuesday evening for the start of the Northeast Vision Summit conference on Church Planting!

Us Ledbetters with Pastor Fish and his wife in Mickleton, NJ

Our family at Solid Rock Baptist Church

Studying and preparing for the upcoming meetings, while Nita worked on two huge paper mache planets for Vacation Bible School that will be going on here in two weeks.

We got to out to dinner with a dear friend from First Baptist Church named Clair! God has been so good to us, and just reminiscing with other believers is sweet!

We are now back in our home church, First Baptist Church in Caldwell, New Jersey. Just in time to get to see our pastor, David Bulka, as he and 7 other people from the church head off to Ghayana on a missions trip! Amen!

We got to talk to all the kids at Victory Youth Camp back in Ireland via Skype and it was overwhelming seeing all the kids, hearing them sing, and do their funny skits, and I was so blessed to know God has blessed that camp so much this year! Praise God for all the workers, and all the campers who went!

We first went to Ocean City, Maryland and got to go on the beach since the weather was cool, and yet beautiful enough to enjoy! We spent several hours just on the board walk, and eating ice cream before heading north to the Cape May-Lewes ferry, that would take us to the southern tip of New Jersey.

We are still in Maryland

We had a beautiful 3 hour drive to Salisbury, Maryland, where I got to report to a wonderful supporting church called the Salisbury Baptist Temple under their pastor, brother Carlo Leto! I got t omeet up with their previous pastor, Oren Perdue, who is still there, helping run their Summer Bible Clubs all summer long with horse riding, and rodeos, and great Bible preaching and activities! There were several who remembered me from over 17 years ago when I was last in their church!

Today we did some work on our travel journals, some letter writing, and then had dinner with Pastor Norris Belcher, Jr and his son, and his son's wife and family

A slow day today. Joshua got his hair cut, and we completely emptied out the car, and got all our luggage organised! praise God!

This morning we were at Bethel Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it was awesome! Pastor Dominic Pennachetti has started several churches here in the Philadelphia area, and he has just stayed on fire for God all the years that I have known him! We all went over to his home for lunch after church! What a blessing!

Next we travelled to Maryland

In the evening, we drive 2 1/2 hours south to Westminster, Maryland, to preach at Church of the Open Door! It was such a blessing to be at this great church again! Pastor Norris Belcher loves his people, and they reflect his heart! We got to see several of the folks who first came over to Ireland 7 years ago! So many friends!

Church of the Open Door! What a Great Church!

Toured around Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which is an Amish and Mennonite area. The farms are so clean, and the crops so full and lush. They take great pride and care in their lively-hood!

We visited and got a tour of a replica of the Tabernacle, and it was cool.

We didn't travel too far today, just up to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where we hope to spend just a little time in Amish country.

Went to Mount Vernon, where George Washington lived, and died. It was the best part. There was so much by way of instruction, and information! It was way cool!

Then, had dinner with one of the families in the church here, which was very special, and the fellowship was amazing! God's people are THE BEST!

Enjoyed more of Washington DC.

Got to visit Fairfax Baptist Temple

The hard drive arrived today, but was not the problem. Phoned up Dell again, and they agreed, the problem is with the main mother board, and would be sending out a technician to repair it by Thursday. Today we went back into Washington DC and saw the Air and Space Museum, the Library of Congress, saw the monuments, and the war memorials - it was a full day!

Today we headed for Alexandria, VA where we met Joy Barley, and prepared for our next few days of touring around Washington DC. It was good to see Joy again, and she knows she needs to get back to Ireland.

We did not get away very early because I spent over 2 1/2 hours on the phone to Dell trying to get the hard drive replaced. It is on its way! Finally!

I preached first at a small church called Green Valley Baptist Church, whose pastor is very, very ill. It was a wonderful time with the small group of believers!

In the afternoon, we got to spend a little time with Pastor Heflin and his wife at their home. What an honour to be with such a faithful man of God again!

In the evening, I showed our DVD presentation, and then preached at Front Royal Baptist Church - they are a great church, and Pastor Clegg has a great spirit about him, and serves gladly!

We arrived safe and sound in Front Royal, while travelling through the Shenandoah Parkway (it was so beautiful, with loads of animals, and especially deer), only to discover that my Dell (wish it was an Apple) had died! The hard drive no longer responds. It will be Monday before I know what can be done! Thankfully, it is still under warranty!

Note: (For the next week I will not be able to upload any more pictures or information, but will catch-up after the laptop gets fixed)

Kind of a slow day, to catch up on Thank You notes, letters, bills, and with the folks back in Ireland. At 11am, I went soul-winning with pastor Murray, and had a great time talking to quite a few people who were home. There are so many Mexicans here, and most do not speak ANY English! We had plenty of Gospel tracts in Spanish thankfully.

We travelled east to the original Jamestown settlement of 1607 to see a re-enactment of the Indians and settlers who began this nation 400 years ago! It was cool! A lot of history though. This is where America was founded, and a new nation was forged.

We visited one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, called Rock Bridge, which is a huge natural bridge that a highway runs over. After that we travelled on up to Harrisonburg, and preached at Victory Baptist Church in Harrisonburg! The church's DVD player just did NOT want to cooperate, but the meeting went great anyway! Such wonderful and faithful people, under their very faithful pastor Murray!

Today we headed east, and just drove and sight-saw the beautiful Appalachian mountains. We ended up in a small town called Lexington, Virginia.

We took a break today and went Ice Skating with pastor Underwood's family, and then had a BBQ at his home which was a real treat!

Preached in the evening at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Belle, WV! What a blessing to see some faithful folks, and be able to report on the wonderful victories in Ireland!

Preached in the morning in Leatherwood Baptist Church, Elkview, WV. Pastor Underwood and his family have been faithfully preaching, and evangelising this area for the past 15 years just as we have been trying to evangelise Cork in Ireland! God blesses faithfulness! What a joy to meet up with the precious folks again after so many years!

A rainy, and kind of cold day. We didn't do much of anything except just travel from Anderson, South Carolina, all the way up to Charleston, West Virginia! The mountains are beautiful!

Nita and I went to see some friends up in Greenville, and then caught up with a distant-relative-reunion, and it was cool meeting people who you have never met before, but are related to you somehow!

Today, we all went out to eat with Dad and Bonnie (Granddad and Gram) at Ryan's! It is an all you can eat place that is just sinful, how much food you can try and stuff onto your plates!

It was fun, and the fellowship was sweet! But right after, Nita worked hard at washing and drying clothes, and Josh and I worked at packing up the car for our long trip north to our next stop in West Virginia!

Today the ladies went shopping for food, and visited a geological museum, while I stayed and worked on office work (Oh what fun!).

The weather continues to be hot, but we are just soaking it up because we will have NONE of it in Ireland when we get back - so no complaining from us!

We haven't seen rain since Texas! Amazing!

We headed off to a wonderful small town called Pacolet where Pastor Bill Pickel has been used of God to build a tremendous church! They have supported us for years without ever meeting us - all by recommendation! We are so humbled, and blessed!

I got to show our DVD presentation, and then preach. The people were awesome!

Today we are still visiting with my dad and his wife in Anderson at their lake house. We are trying to race across the lake in a kayak, and it is WAY cool!

Today we went on a tour of the BMW assembly plant here in the Spartanburg area, and it was way cool!

In the afternoon, we dropped into Bob Jones University, and then headed back to the Lake House where we just relaxed at the lake. We have not had many do-little days, so this is nice!

A special highlight of furlough so far has been the opportunity to be at the Trinity Baptist Church of Spartanburg, South Carolina, and meet Pastor Denis Carter and his wonderful wife, Linda! The folks are so precious, and kind, and were such a blessing to my family and I.

Pastor Carter has been fighting cancer for too many years, and just beats it hands down, every day, by the great grace of God!

In the morning, we were at Oakwood Baptist Church in Anderson, SC, and the meeting was great! I got to sit and listen to a very good message from Micah 6:8!

After that, we travelled to visit with the Mark Hill family, who live nearby, and it was awesome seeing them! We miss them dearly in Ireland, but they are on fire for the Lord and serving in a very marvellous way in their home church right now!

Spent the day with my Dad and the family members who live in this beautiful part of the States.

In the evening, we went to an early Fourth of July Fireworks show, and it was spectacular!

Well, we are with my Dad and his wife at a beautiful lake house, just enjoying a slight break in travelling!

What a beautiful wonder of God's handiwork! This cavern is amazing, simply because at the centre of the cavern is a 150 foot waterfall that is absolutely beautiful! It was discovered by a born again Christina name Lambert who gave all the honour and glory to God and had the elevator shaft dug out to people could experience the beauty of this waterfall that he instantly named after his wife, Ruby!

We got to spend just a little more time fellowshipping with Andrew and Jennifer Day, as well as the Jim Green family before we headed on to South Carolina to see my Dad.

Today was our last day of Mission's Training School, and it was awesome! The preaching and the fellowship was just what we needed!

In the afternoon we went to a Civil War museum that was amazing!

We are just immersed in the teaching and preaching involved in this training school! It has been great for our children to be a part of the school this year!

I got to preach this evening, and it was an honour!

Today we had a full day at our Mission's Training School (from 8.30am, until 10pm)! What a day of preaching! Got to meet and fellowship with so many precious spiritual warriors! This place is so good for the soul! Especially, the soul of a missionary!

I preached this morning.

During the afternoon, Nita got to do some necessary shopping, but in the evening, we were back for preaching, and God worked on all of us for the ministry!

Photos of this event are HERE

Today we left early from Hattiesburg for Word for the World Baptist Ministries for our annual Missionary Training School in Rossville, GA. We travelled 8 hours northwest, and had to stop in Birmingham Alabama for a bit of shopping while Craig did some studying.

When we arrived in Rossville, we met so many dear friends, whom we have known for 19 years now in the ministry! Praise God for faithful labourers! Especially for Brother Homer Smith who has personally helped out more missionaries than any other 20 men put together!

We even met up with Andrew and Jennifer Day, who are missionaries coming to Ireland as soon as they raise their needed support! Amen!

Today we spent all day at one of our supporting churches here, Central Baptist Church. The church is excited, and growing, and their pastor, Dean miller was very kind to us!

Today we doing some shopping, getting ready for church tomorrow at Central Baptist Church here in Hattiesburg. I am sitting at a "Food Court" in a big shopping centre trying to catch up on things, and study for the next few meetings! God's word is so awesome!

We also got invited to a family's home for a Mississippi Bar-B-Que, and it was wonderful.

Today was a hard day, saying goodbye to Joel, Liz, and to our grandbaby, Noah. But it was wonderful being with them, and we can't wait to see them again when they come to Ireland, hopefully soon!

We left Hot Springs, and went South, through Louisiana, and into Mississippi, and finally stopped in Hattiesburg where we will be ministering at Central Baptist Church on Sunday.

The car is running great, and we are so thankful for AIR CONDITIONING! It just gets hotter and hotter (obviously)!

Went shooting with Joel, and firing off some fireworks - it was way cool!

Did a lot of packing up for continuing our trip on South towards Mississippi, and to Georgia. Tomorrow we all say goodbye!

Tonight I got to give my testimony to the precious folks at Gospel Light Baptist Church here in Hot Springs, and meet many of them.

Today we are doing a lot of "office" kind of tasks - you have to do it when you can on the road because things change, and you might not be able to touch stuff again for days!

It is very, very hot, but the weather is fantastic none-the-less! Missing Ireland though!

Twenty Nine years ago, God saved this 17 year old sinner from a devil's hell, and I just cannot get over it!

We are just spending a lot of time with family here, and getting to know the extended family, and it is wonderful!

We attended the Gospel Light Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Craig got to preach to about 150 teenagers in Teen Church - it was great! This church is awesome, and a real missions-focused church! In the afternoon, we just "crashed" at Joel and Liz's and caught up with John and Dan back in Ireland for a report on today's meetings back there (which were great)!

This morning, I woke up at 3am, and then drove about 20 minutes to get to a place to be able to Skype our church in Ballincollig for our Fifteenth Anniversary! I was so blessed to see everyone there, hear them sing via a live hook-up, and then say HELLO to them all! I heard that there were 111 people in attendance, with 8 first time visitors! Bro Dan preached a great message, and the report is that four got saved! Praise God!

Today we went to a neat Science Museum, and then had a giant BBQ with Joel, and Liz, and her family! Wow, can they cook! We just had a very restful day, and are just enjoying being with family!

We arrived in Hot Springs, Arkansas in the midst of a heavy rainstorm with lightning, and it was great! We miss the lightning so it was wonderful! Once we got to Jo0el and Liz's house it was dry and so amazing to see them! Liz's Mom was there as well, and we took a bunch of pictures (CLICK HERE for photos)!

Today we left Pflugerville for NASA in Houston, but the car kind of hesitated again (Ugh), and so i stopped at an Automotive "Specialist". He found that a master air sensor was dirty and just cleaned it, and it works much better. man, all this electronics - I JUST WANT TO DRIVE THIS CAR! Oh well, the Lord got us back on the road, but we were too late to get to NASA, so we just travelled on to Texarkana, right on the Texas and Arkansas border.

Got to spend a little bit of time with Craig's other brother, Paul, and his family, and get some work done - it is VERY HARD to work on the road with a family, but it is necessary, and it is worth it!

Preached at Capital City Baptist Church in south Austin to an amazing church that has supported us for so many years! Pastor Adam Thompson and his people are so precious and excited about God's word, and were such a blessing to my family and I.

A shopping day, not much happened. We went to see Craig's brother Bill and his family for a few hours, and then went up to see Nita's sister and her husband who live right on an amazing lake! We had a great time with family!

Today we went to see the Alamo, and walk through the beautiful River-walk! The entire day was spent just walking and seeing the beauty that ONLY the Lord could have imagined! I am so glad they have developed this area in the middle of such a big city for just slow enjoyment!

I went and preached in an awesome church called Victory Baptist Church in Cedar Park, Texas, and then had some great Tex-Mex food, and then it was off to San Antonio to preach in Harvest Hills Baptist Church in northern San Antonio. What a sweet and warm spirit was there - they have so faithfully supported us for years and years! What a blessing Pastor Taylor is to our family!

Craig and Nita with pastor Jim Taylor and his wife in San Antonio

Today we all met for a Family Reunion at Grandma's house! What a neat day! Perfect weather, FIVE generations of family members, precious memories, and super special people! We had a blast!
Click here or on the picture to the right to see all the pictures in Texas so far!

We finished saying a bunch of goodbyes, over and over to the Smith's (what a wonderful few days), and then finally got on our way, heading south to Pflugerville, Texas. We stopped in Tyler to have lunch with Nita's sister, Maryann, and then in the afternoon arrived in sunny, warm Pflugerville with my Mom!
We will be here for almost a week before we head off to Arkansas!

Wow! What a reunion! Today we got the remaining work done on the car that was needed, just before Church tonight - just barely, and then I preached for a wonderful church and pastor in Springtown! And, as we were singing at the first of the service, in came John and Ann Cranford! John led me to Christ nearly 29 years ago, and there he was! Oh how we hugged, and it was a reunion like no other! What a faithful man, and his wife is still so sweet and a blessing!
Some of Jack and Maureen's children, who are now parents themselves, came out to meet us and hear me preach, and it was a time full of memories! God has been very good to all of us!
After church, several folks came over to Jack and Maureen's home for some BBQ and deserts, and we just fellowshipped! Oh, how little was the time!
To the right is John Cranford and his lovely wife, Ann with myself and Nita!
Be sure to click on our picture links (the picture to the right, or HERE), and scroll down to see new pictures as they are uploaded!

In the morning, we had an early breakfast with pastor Don Ziriax, and then headed northeast to meet up with some very special people!
Well, we finally got to meet up with the woman who gave me the Gospel 29 years ago at a Dunkin Donuts shop in North Austin! jack and Maureen Smith are my second set of parents, who taught me so many practical things from the Bible, and things about the normal Christian life! We get to spend a few days here, just hugging, and fellowshipping, and encouraging ourselves in what great things HE hath done! Truly, there are so many people who have been saved and are serving the Lord because of this family!

Well, the mechanic worked all day on the car, trying out different things, and we thought at 2pm that the problem was fixed, only to find out it was still there! Man, the devil just does NOT want us in Brady or in Arlington. But at 6pm, the car was running fine. It still needs a few minor things worked on, but they can easily wait until we get to Austin!
We drove on to Brady and met pastor Ziriax of the Bible Baptist Church.

We have had the mechanic work a bit on the car, but he says he will have to wait until tomorrow to do the real work of finding out what the problem is. We missed church! We finally had church as a family in the central park because it was so nice, and we could not find a church within walking distance. We will have to wait and pray until tomorrow!
A very kind man from an area church was a blessing to us, as were some friends that knew us from off the internet, who actually drove to meet us from Midland, Texas!

Well, it happened. After 4,500 miles, we had a problem with the car. The "Check Engine" light came on during a massive flash flood storm in Fort Stockton, and we lost power while driving. We made it to Ozona, (a small village just off Interstate highway 10) where we found a great mechanic who tried to help us for over 2 hours, but was unsuccessful. We are staying overnight here, and will try again tomorrow. The Lord knows best!
We are still praying the Lord will make a way for us to travel the remaining 2 hours to our meeting tomorrow in Brady at the Bible Baptist Church there!

A lot of miles, a lot of beautiful mountains, a lot of rain! About 900 miles from Phoenix to Brady, and it just stretches on and on! It's a great time just doing nothing, and spending time talking and being a family on the road! Way cool!

I don't know if I will ever get used to 101 degree Fahrenheit weather! Wow is this heat something! Not much green anywhere! But the folks say it is great weather! Oh well!
Today, we are heading up to the Grand Canyon, and hope to be awed at the handiwork of God!
I finally have updated by Blog with a lot more details of our trek so far, so you may want to check that out at...
The Canyons are truly amazing! They go on, and on, and as the sun set, the long shadows brought out every shade and colour! What an awesome God we know!
We arrived back at the Mission's Apartment at 11.30pm, wrecked-tired, but it was worth it!
Tomorrow, we head towards Texas!

The Grand Canyon

We travelled from Lancaster, California to Phoenix Arizona, and WOW is it HOT! I mean HOT! The tarmac just radiates some of the hottest heat I have felt in years! We are staying in a Church's Missionary Apartment, and visiting Nita's brother and family who live here. I will be preaching in North Valley Baptist Church tonight!
The church was fantastic! We stayed in the Church's missionary apartment, and the people were such a blessing to us! I had a lot of liberty in the preaching, and we really enjoyed being in Phoenix!
It was a sad day though, because we also said good bye to our second daughter, Ruth, who will be staying in a pastor's home with his daughter who also is going to West Coast Baptist College. Ruth will be working through the Summer, saving for Bible College!

Arrived in Arizona!

Today we left Redding to head 8 hours south back to Lancaster, to pick up Ruth from West Coast Baptist College! Wow! Even though it is Memorial Day, and everybody should be at the lake, or river, or at grandma's house, they ALL seem to be travelling on the road going south with us! A whole lot of traffic today! Ugh! Oh well! The Lord protected us and got us into Lancaster. From here we travel on to Phoenix tomorrow!

Well, today marks our 24th Wedding Anniversary! We celebrated it by getting to minister to the teens at Shasta Baptist Church in Redding California in the morning, then being treated to lunch by Pastor Johnson and his wife, and associate pastor and his wife! Then we hung out at a Starbucks so we could phone some dear folks back in Ireland over the internet (Skype), and then we did a bit of shopping at a local shopping mall! What fun!
Then, that evening at 6pm, I got to show our 15 years of labours in Ireland, and then preach at Shasta Baptist Church! What an awesome group of believers! They, on the spot, voted to take us on for financial and prayer support! Amen! and Amen!

Shasta Baptist Church, Sunday Evening! Wow!

Went soul-winning this morning with the Shasta Baptist Church. I got to go out with an 89 year old man named Ford Bishop. It was awesome! he is such a powerhouse of determination! We had a lot of liberty for our 2 1/2 hours door-to-door! Amen! After that, we headed over to an afternoon BBQ at someone's home that was packed with families from the Shasta Baptist Church! As usual, the weather is amazing! But we still miss Ireland, and desperately miss our church family!!!
Today, the kids went swimming, and both got to shoot rifles, and hand-guns. Joshua got to shoot a 12 gauge and he loved it!

Craig with a true soul-winner!

We travelled up to Redding to meet up with some very special friends that we met last year at Victory Youth Camp. We travelled east through the Redwood forest to the Pacific Coast! Wow! the trees are still amazing, and the beach was FREEZING! From there, we travelled north to Crescent City. Here we are just relaxing and fellowshipping after a long day of travelling!
Added 50 more pictures to our California page in Picasa

Today we travelled to San Francisco from Fresno and got to see and be with Sharon and Luke who are staying there for a whole week! What a blessing just to be with them and to share a meal! We walked around Pier 39 and had some donuts and coffee! We treated the kids to a Corn Dog too! It doesn't get much better than this (well, it does, but I thought it was an appropriate thing to say)!

Just heard from Joel that Liz is in the hospital in labour and that baby is coming! Amen! Noah Scott Ledbetter was born this afternoon to Joel and Liz and wow is Noah handsome!
We got to take Pastor and Mrs Miller out to dinner, and just spend a few hours fellowshipping - they were such a blessing to us! Family is surely one of God's great gifts to us all!
Added a few more pictures from the wedding online here!

Joel and Liz's new baby, Noah Scott!

Today I taught Sunday School and preached at Faith Baptist Church in Fresno, then travelled up to Lodi near Stockton and preached at Faith Baptist Church there! Both churches are amazing miracles, led by godly men who are doing great works for the Lord! The people were precious and a blessing! It was a full day travelling and preaching, and boy am I tired!

Well Sharon and Luke are MARRIED! Amen! The wedding pictures are online here, and growing! It was a packed church, and a wonderful ceremony and celebration of the love of Jesus Christ! Thanks to all who came all the way here to Fresno, and to those who stayed up late in Ireland and watched the wedding online via Skype!

The most awesome wedding of Luke and Sharon Miller

We are finally back in our hotel after a very busy week with graduation, then moving day to Fresno, then days of final preparations for the Wedding! We just went through the rehearsals, and then enjoyed a wonderful rehearsal dinner! Sharon is wrecked tired, but it is to be expected!
There are many more pictures online in our Picasa web album,
so keep coming back and checking it out!
The web link to the pictures is here!
Scroll down to the end to see the latest pictures!

Sharon and Luke graduate today from West Coast Baptist College! Whew! We are so very proud of Sharon, and know she has earned this honour! We have been able to spend just a little time with her, but with the graduation and wedding coming up, well, it is just never going to be enough! How we pray for our daughter, that the Lord would finish the work He is doing in her and through her! If anyone wants to watch the graduation ceremonies live, they can go to www.wcbc.edu, and click on the Live Stream video! Listen for the shout! (It will probably be mine)! Continue to check out the new pictures I am uploading onto our picasa web album below.

Graduation Day for Sharon!

Pastor and his family just finished preaching in two churches in southern California on Sunday. In the morning, we were in Lancaster Baptist Church where Craig taught an adult Sunday School class, and then in the evening, he preached in Bible Missionary Fellowship in Santee, near San Diego.
We finally have a bunch of pictures uploaded to Picasa, so check them out here...

Today we headed off to Disneyland, and wow, what a huge place! It would take DAYS to visit everything! And, a lot of money! We just went for about 6 hours, and it was cool!

We are busy organising the purchase of our car and a phone and other shopping! The day is beautiful and warm! Amen!
We haven't taken any pictures yet!

May 7th, 2009 - We landed in Los Angeles!

We landed in Los Angeles!
It took 25 hours from the time we woke up until we finally hit the pillows!
We are in a hotel in Oceanside, California.

In California!

As of May 4th, 2009

The Ledbetters are in Cork, awaiting their flights out to Los Angeles, California!
They are gathering with their church family for a Big Church Picnic out at Goughan Barra, West Cork!