The Gomar Family

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,


A week ago Friday, Brother Francis Gomar, a member of Antioch Bible Baptist Church - Pastored by Steve Pawley went home to be with Jesus as a result of a car accident. Brother Francis leaves behind a wife (Lisa) and three children that range from 9yrs old to 7 months.


Ps. 116:15 says Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. We know that Paul said that to be with Christ is far greater than to be on this earth and that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We do want to rejoice that this brother is far better off in the presence of Jesus Christ but of course our hearts immediately and overwhelmingly go out to a wife without her husband and three children without their daddy. Brother Francis would have just turned 30 this past week. I know that I held my family a little tighter last night as we continued praying for God's matchless and abundant grace to be poured out on this family.


It is for this reason that I write. I would like to share with you briefly the wonderful salvation testimony of brother Francis. In May of 2003 my wife and I went to our first family camp weekend at Camp Li-Lo-Li that is hosted by Pastor Vince Giardino of Gospel Light Baptist Church. While there we had prayer meetings each morning where Pastor Steve Pawley shared with us his burden for this man Francis who needed Christ. Francis' native tongue is Spanish and as the weekend progressed, God orchestrated something special. Andy Hinds drove from family camp back to Rochester to be with his Home Bible Study on Friday night and when he came back, he brought Don and Kathy Hinds (missionaries to Guatemala) back to family camp with him. This was an answer to prayer as Pastor Steve wanted Missionary Don to talk to Francis. If I recall correctly, they had an initial conversation on Saturday and then during the Sunday morning service God used Don Hinds to deal with him after the message and lead him to Christ! I remember tears in the his eyes after He became a new creature in Jesus Christ that morning and how many of us rejoiced by being blessed to see this miraculous work of God! That event taught me alot in that I was somewhat critical of Andy leaving his family that night to go all the way to Rochester for a Bible study he wasnt teaching at that evening. Then his parents returned with him and the pieces came together, I was humbled and rebuked. God's ways and thoughts are much different than our reasoning of a situation but as you can see from this example, God always has a reason and a plan that is far greater than we could ever think of! Praise the Lord for what He orchestrated that weekend to bring Brother Francis to Him! Pastor Pawley's testimony regarding Francis is that he remained on fire these past four years, ministering to people, spreading tracts and being a godly husband and father. May we all have that testimony when we depart this pilgrimage and go stand before our Saviour!

The other reason that I post this is that I have been in contact with Pastor Pawley and he has expressed that they intend to support Sister Lisa and her family financially so that she can continue to stay home and raise the family according to God's word. As we know, it is the church that God put in place to minister to people in their time of need and certainly a commission of God to His people through time has been to defend, support and honour the widow and fatherless. The body of Christ that assembles weekly at Antioch could use some help in ministering to this family. If you would like to assist this family financially through a one time gift or regular gifts of support, they can be sent to

Antioch Bible Baptist Church

3984 Lockport Olcott Rd

Lockport, New York 14094

with a designation to Lisa Gomar

Lets all keep them in prayer and communicate to others regarding the opportunity to be an encouragement and help to this dear family. The testimonies that I have read already (click here for a blog post with comments well worth reading) indicate that God is being gracious and faithful in this painful time to the Gomar family. Our God will comfort and strengthen.

God's Blessing on a Missionary Friend

My friends know that my last trip to the Philippines was to the Island of Cebu where a missionary named Travis Lewis (who did not know me) allowed me to be a part of his ministry, showed me great hospitality and taught me many great lessons on ministry in the Philippines.

Brother Lewis (http://www.lewisinthephilippines.com/) is on his first planned furlough after serving in Cebu for 4 years. In that time God has builded a church that is overflowing and has a whole different group of members coming on Sunday night and Sunday morning, mainly because of space. A good problem to have but it is a problem as they are finding it difficult to grow with no place to put people. This church is in Cebu City.

HERE IS THEIR LATEST PRAYER LETTER (arrived to me 7/24)

Dear Praying Friends,

The church in the Philippines continues on in our absence. We have heard great news from the Philippines thus far. In fact, many of the men have ‘stepped up’ in our absence. One of the men that had never been soul winning before said “Since Pastor is gone, the church needs more help with the soul winning”. He has been faithful ever since! We also have another man who was scheduled to work abroad but circumstances have postponed this. He has been a tremendous help at the church visiting the members and helping with the preaching. Attached to this e-mail is the picture of our 3rd Anniversary Sunday.These are just our regular church members since we do not have the space to do a major push with visitors. In fact, this group is usually divided between Sunday morning and Sunday night because we do not all fit into the building at once. For this day, we brought everyone together for one service and rented a tent outside to help with the overflow. One of the main purposes for our furlough is to raise money for property. At this point, we are renting a store front. Property in our city costs around $125 per square meter. 400 square meters would be a good start for the church at it’s present size. We sincerely appreciate the churches here in the U.S. who have given already toward this need. Currently we are at 37% of the needed funds to buy the property! God is great and mighty and He can do anything...even the seemingly impossible! The ‘Lewis Property Fund’has been set up at our regular missions support address. The church in the Philippines has been giving sacrificially toward a building. Once the property is bought, the church people will build their own building as God provides the funds. We will start with just a concrete slab, poles, and a tin roof. Over the last four months, the church in the Philippines has given $600 so far toward THEIR church building! Pray for us as we travel the roads and keep the church in Cebu in yourprayers!If you would like to contact me, my cell phone number here in the states is 512-656-8069.Travis Lewis

They are now at 42% of the money needed for the church land! God has blessed them immensely and they are rejoicing. He was just entering into New Mexico for more meetings (they are out of Texas) and look forward to seeing God provide the rest through His people so the gospel can be spread to further cities and villages. They came back to the states in May and within 3 months they have 42% of $50K to get the land and lay the foundation! The other part of their goal is to start a church in a town called Carcar. I had the privilege to see the land that was donated to them there (major blessing) a while ago and they are eager to put up a small structure to being some organized meetings there. God is moving in wonderful ways through this family and I am so glad to hear it. They will be coming to Rochester in October for a visit which we look very forward to. I know many of you who read this post prayed for this family while I was there and so it is a joy for me to share this blessing that God has given them with you.

This brother is a great blessing. He is a few months younger than I am, is fluent in the Cebuano language and is gifted as a preacher, singer and musician. Their family is a blessing and I hope that you will join me in praising the Lord for His wonderful works in their lives and in the work over in Cebu. I am thankful for having an opportunity to see what God is doing over there and look forward to being in contact with him (although a few islands away) when we get to the field!