Well, good morning, everyone. Welcome to Wheat Among the Tares, our live program here, brought to you from Gethsemane Baptist Church of Lexington, South Carolina. And I thank you for joining us this morning. Pastor Williamson is not here with us this morning, feeling a little under the weather, and I'd ask you to remember him in prayer, if you would, as he's feeling kind of poorly this morning. And you may hear I'm a little bit hoarse this morning myself, so trust that we will get through the program and are looking forward to our guests this morning. I want to mention a story that I've been following. for the last number of weeks here, and many of you are familiar with Pastor Adrian Hendricks, our folks that live in Bengaluru, India. We've had Brother Hendricks on our program here several times. And I wanted to mention a story that happened back in early November in the very state in which Brother Hendricks and the folks there at Heritage Baptist live and have the ministry there. But this particular story happened in the state of Conataca. And it simply, on November the 7th, Pastor Chandrakath and his congregation were attacked, this is another local church there, were attacked by a mob of 40 radical Hindu nationalists as they gathered for worship in India's Karnataka state. Now this small group of believers were meeting together, and they were attacked by a group of 40 Hindu nationalists. And the pastor explained, the congregation stood before me as a human fence. They gathered around him. Otherwise, the Hindus would have killed me. The radicals want to wipe out Christianity from this area, and they think it's easy under the present government situation there. They said after about an hour, police arrived on the scene and took control of the situation. However, they filed a case against Pastor Chandraketh for disturbing the peace. And he was told to appear before the local magistrate there on the 13th of November. Now, I have not heard anything in follow-up to that. But I would ask that you would pray for these churches, specifically in this area of India. And again, our own Pastor Adrian Hendricks, his wife Emma, and their sons and the brethren there with Heritage Baptist, they're in this immediate area. And Pastor Hendricks shared with me last night that a lot of this is going on, and we are trusting that the Lord would deliver them from any harm along the way, but certainly it is in the Lord's hands. So I wanted to make mention of that particular situation this morning, and I trust that you will continue to pray for our brethren there in India. Many things are going on there. So with no further ado, I want to bring in our guest this morning. He is a pastor from right here in South Carolina, down in Beach Island, South Carolina. He pastors Amazing Grace Baptist Church. His name is Brother David Hickson. Welcome to Wheat Among the Tares, my brother. Yes, sir. Good to be here. Blessing to have you with us this morning, and brother, we have just gotten to know a little bit about each other over the last couple of days here as far as phone calls and touching base as far as the ministry and your appearance on the broadcast here this morning. But Pastor Williamson shared some information with me about your ministry and the fact that you're going to be leaving the pastorate and going to a foreign field after 28 years of ministry, which kind of caught my attention, brother. Usually, is it not the opposite way around that pastors, that people come off the field, and then they start to pastor a local church? You're doing just the opposite, are you not? Yes, sir. It seems that way, but I mean, I guess it's just I've been involved in missions in a lot of different ways, and serving on a mission board, and going on trips, and God just kept dealing with me about it, and so back in May at our revival, My wife and I surrendered to go to Southeast Asia. Well, that is quite a story. I wanted you to give a few details about this this morning. I do know that just from the information that Pastor shared with us, that you are going to the nation of Thailand, and tell us a little bit about, some details about how you got involved, first of all, through the ministry of a church, I think it's out of Ludwigia, Georgia, and a pastor there, and you kind of hooked up with him. So kind of give us some background, because I know folks will be interested in knowing how that a pastor from the small town of Beach Island, South Carolina, ends up going to Southeast Asia. Yes, a friend of mine, a pastor friend, Tim Parrish, he actually pastored Trinity Baptist Church there in Lutawisi, which is right outside of Hinesville. And I think he was there about 16 or 17 years. And, um, we knew one another, you know, way back Bible college days and that kind of thing. And, and it kind of make a long story short, he, you know, started going on mission trips and all. And he, in 2013, I believe it was, he, uh, surrendered to go to the mission field. He and his wife, they sold her house and. and started several works there in the Philippines and then also over in Thailand and Bangkok. Just like God just kept connecting him with the right people there, God kept opening up doors and starting ministries and then getting nationals to take over. So I started going on a few trips. over the years, and God just kept dealing with me about it. Of course, I started the ministry here at Amazing Grace back in 1994, and God's been good to us. We're probably doing as well right now as we've ever, probably back up to, as far as attendance, what we were before COVID. I just kept battling this thing, and God just kept dealing with me and my wife about it. We have two grown sons who serve in the church and we actually have three grandchildren now and they're all there. It's like I have the perfect life. It's like, God, why are you stirring all this up? We felt that call and just couldn't shake it. There'd be times my wife and I would be up in the middle of the night just talking about it and praying and crying. I probably went through a period of time there actually trying to talk God out of it, but we just couldn't shake it. So in May, the Sunday night of our revival meeting, we said, well, Lord, here we go. I'm 56 years old, and we're going to do this. Now's the time to do it. You know, we've been playing our deputation, you know, I'm still the pastor here till the end of the year. And we have another, another fellow that's going to take over then. And so I've been trying not to be gone on deputation too much, you know, maybe one Sunday a month. And, but, uh, you know, God's just opened up doors. We put our house on the market. We built a house a mile down the road from the church about 14 years ago. And, uh, we put it on the market about three or four weeks ago and it sold the next day. and we actually closed on it last Thursday. We actually live in our camper right now behind the church, so it's a huge step. It's exciting, but it can be scary, too, I guess, at the same time. Yes, sir. Amen. You bring up such an interesting point, because I know Pastor Williamson here has preached a number of times, and our listeners, for those of you who just joined us, we're talking with Pastor David Hickson, pastor of the Amazing Grace Baptist Church down in Beach Island, South Carolina, which is right outside of Augusta, Georgia. Brother Hickson, you bring up an interesting point because the fact, as you said yourself, as far as being in your comfort zone, you were there, right in the middle of your comfort zone, had your house built, had everything that you thought was going to be till the end of your days when the Lord took you home. And God stepped in the middle of your nest, if we can call it that, and stirred it up and brought about this change. And as you said yourself, it is something that you cannot shake. And I know Pastor Williamson, if he was sitting here, he would be shaking his head. He was saying, yes, he's preached it before about us getting out of our comfort zone And stepping out and believing God is gonna do some things that normally within the confines of what we think is gonna be our life, that he steps in and totally changes things. You brought up a point about that just it can be exciting, but also it can be a challenging thing fear wise, just from the standpoint of the unknown. I do know that you, based on the information you furnished, that you had, you got a point of contact, as you said, in Thailand. That's where you're going to be kind of operational from. Before we go there, let me ask you, you mentioned your wife and I do want to, I just want to bring in because of the fact that a lot of times a man can be called to the field and maybe the wife doesn't have necessarily that same fault or that same feeling, if I could use that word, but obviously your wife was praying and right on board with that. Was she not? Yes, sir. And it's, it's actually, it's probably a lot harder on her. Um, and the, and the tough thing is, is, is those grand youngins, you know, we have, uh, you know, they're everywhere from six months to two years old now. And, and, you know, to, to leave them, you know, is for her to get on an airplane and go to the other side of the world is that's going to be the tough part, you know, and I, and, and for me too, but especially for her. So, but, uh, but you know, she's on board and she said, you know, there's, There's kids over there that don't have a grandmother and need one. And so, you know, she kind of looks at it that way. That is well put. That is well put indeed. And again, just to be rooted out of your comfort zone and for God to do a work there. And by the way, brother, you know, 56 is not old by any stretch of the imagination. That is young still. And as God gives you strength, and I know he will for both of you, I know that he will prosper your ministry there. Let's transition now from the home front here, let's transition to Southeast Asia and the work there and what you're anticipating as far as Thailand and your base of operations there. Give us an idea of the ministry there and what you're going to be doing. Well, to continue to help plant churches, There's one that's been planted there in Bangkok, and there's a Filipino pastor that actually came over and he pastures it doing very well. And then on the northern border there, right below Myanmar, there's a ministry there that actually there was a building that was called the Blessing House that a lady had. and she actually gave that building for, so it's actually called Blessing House Baptist Church, and they had several that were coming in to there from however they could get to church. So now, actually my friend, Brother Tim, he went over a few months ago and they actually purchased some land about 45 minutes away where they're going to be building another and starting another work there. And so I'm just going to be working with all of that, you know, continue. And that's basically why we say missionaries to Southeast Asia, because if I just said missionary to Thailand and then I end up down in Indonesia or somewhere, you know, starting in works and then it's, you know, it's kind of like, well, wait a minute. Now I thought she was going to be in Thailand. So that's why we just, you know, those whole 10 countries and we are doing work already. And, you know, three or four of them was doing a lot there in Myanmar. Um, But I don't know if you're familiar with that. Of course, the government's kind of taken over. The border's been closed down now for months. They control the internet and everything, and you can't come in. There's actually two men there that we helped support that are in Myanmar, and they were coming over the border and all that. But their names are actually Moses and Aaron. Those Buddhists from Myanmar, when they When they're converted to Christianity, they want to take on a Bible name. They're not ashamed of it. They want their family to know, you know, now we are Christian. They took on the names Moses and Aaron, and they have works there. They can't come across that river, across that border right now. It's kind of a different situation as to how we get the support to them. A guy there in Thailand, Brother Warchai, money is wired to him, he puts it in a sock with a rock in it and meets on a certain day every month and he throws it across the river to him. What a way of getting people, trying to help people with a divorce, but you got to do what you have to do. Brother Warchai was a blessing. My friend, several years ago, he met him. Brother Warchai, of course, you know, he's Thai, he's been there all his life, speaks very good English, interprets for us when we preach. But there was a missionary there that was there for 10 years, and this was, you know, several, several years ago, and trained Brother Warchai, you know, discipled him. And then the missionary got very sick and he came back to America and died. When we met Brother Warchive, we had the same beliefs, same doctrines, same everything. He had been praying that God would send his son. He is such a blessing, such a good guy. It would be tough without you know, somebody like him. So God just opens door. God knows what he's doing. He has a plan. So he does. Well, I, and I was just thinking brother, I had about three thoughts in my mind at one time and I could only get one out of the time here. But I was thinking about your, your story there about just throwing the sock across the river. And, uh, we have, uh, several folks that we have interviewed with regard to the nation of Myanmar and, uh, just the difficulties that are going on there. Um, one of them was how to get funds into some of the brethren there that in there is such a desperate need for them. And as you said, ingenuity does some wonderful things, including socks and rocks and getting money across the river. So I thought that's a very interesting story. And I would remind our listeners that past programs of Wheat Among the Tares is posted on our Wheat Among the Tares podcast site. So you can go back and listen to some of these previous programs as well, and re-familiarize yourself with some of the things that are going on with this country, because a lot of times we tend to forget things that have happened, and we need to be reminded. And brother, I know that this brother Warshay that you mentioned, He probably again wondered what in the world happened, but God sent some other people into his life to encourage him. And of course, as you described, he has been a great encouragement to you. So it is wonderful to see the hand of the Lord and how he does these things. And we give him the glory and honor. Brother, when are you anticipating, uh, leaving? Uh, I know you mentioned by the end of this year, you will be turning over the pastorate. Uh, do you have kind of a target date? So our folks that are listening, we'll be able to pray for you and know that when you and your wife are leaving, they can lift you in prayer about what do you, do you have a date? Well, we're looking at, you know, we probably deputation is going to take at least two years, I'm sure. So, you know, we're probably looking at, you know, maybe somewhere around the spring of 2024, you know, and maybe sooner. We just have to see how it goes. We do plan on taking a few trips. We were going over last February, actually, even before we even surrendered. We had a trip planned. We was just going to go for several weeks. And then of course, the COVID thing, we could have went, but we'd have had to quarantine for two weeks. You know, as soon as you get there, you have to go straight to a motel room and you cannot come out. They, they bring you your food and set it on the floor and knock on the door, you know, and you got to do that for two weeks. So two weeks of our time that would have been just, you know, held up in a room. So, We put a, so anyway, but things is really opening up a lot better than they were. And so now we plan on, uh, we plan on going over this coming July. So I'm not, I'm trying not to book any meetings, you know, around that time. And so we can, uh, we can go over, which I guess officially we'd probably call that our survey trip or, you know, kind of things. So, but, um, But yeah, we're hoping maybe within about two years, we'll be able to have our support raised. you know, be able to go and actually move there. Well, we're going to pray that that comes a lot quicker, and certainly the need on the field is great, as you have described. Brother, the preaching of God's Word in the world itself is so sorely needed, and as you mentioned, Buddhists the Hindus, all these false religions are out there and people who have known nothing. And I think of Southeast Asia and the strongholds of Myanmar and Thailand and Laos and Vietnam and a number of these countries in Southeast Asia that have been so inundated with the Hindu and Buddhist religions for centuries, and how that the Word of God can go there. And I am thankful personally that we can see the hand of the Lord who stirs up a pastor and his wife from Beach Island, South Carolina, And I'll be honest with you, brother. I mean, there's a lot of our brethren across the U.S. here, many of them we've never heard of. You had never heard of us, and vice versa. But now we're talking about how God stirred your heart and the heart of your wife to lay aside all the, quote, comforts that you have here in the United States, and to go to a people that are in sore need of the preaching of God's Word. And let me just say, I personally am thankful for you, brother, that you have followed the promptings of the Lord, and that God has united you and your wife with one heart and one accord to go there. And I certainly would ask our listeners, many from, I'm looking at a long list of people from around the U.S. and several in other parts of the world right now, and we want you folks to pray for Brother David Hickson and his wife Susan, that God would use them tremendously. Folks, Brother David, how would folks get ahold of you if they're interested in talking to you about your ministry there in more detail. Give us an idea of how our folks can get in contact with you. Yeah, probably the simplest way would be just through my cell phone number. I can give that if you'd like. Yes, sir, you can go ahead, and if you have an email contact information, you can go ahead and give that as well. Okay. All right. Your phone number is 706-829-7000. 8268 and then my email is davidandsusan4, that's the number 4, davidandsusan4sea, which stands for Southeast Asia, at yahoo.com. davidandsusan4sea at yahoo.com. Well, we certainly appreciate the opportunity, my brother, to talk with you this morning about that. Certainly, again, the unusual story of folks that have been in the ministry here in the United States for years, and then uprooting, if you would, brother, and going to the foreign mission field, and we trust God's richest blessings upon you. It has always been our custom here that whoever is on the air with us, we always take time to pray for them in the ministry. So, Pastor, we're gonna do that right now with you, and then we will close out uh this particular interview so let's pray now father we want to thank you for certainly the opportunity to speak to pastor hickson this morning and certainly the ministry of the southeast asia and what he and his wife are going to do thank you for stirring stirring their hearts concerning that ministry, and thank you for the effectual doors that you have opened, and I pray your continued good hand be upon them. Thank you, Lord, for uniting their heart concerning this ministry. And as his wife said, I could only think about the many children there who she will minister to as a grandmother. And I certainly ask again that your good hand be upon them. I pray for many souls to come to know you as a result of the preaching of God's Word there. May you guide and direct in every detail. And Lord, I do pray that their support be raised very quickly, that they can get to the field and begin the ministry there. And Lord, for those that are there, our brethren in Myanmar and Thailand and others who we don't know their names, but Lord, you do. And I pray that you be of comfort and strength to them today. And thank you for our listeners. May they be blessed, Lord, by what they've heard this morning. And for these things, we will give you thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Brother David Hickson of Amazing Grace Baptist Church, Beach Island, South Carolina, thank you so much for being with us this morning, and we trust God's good hand be upon you, my brother. Yes, sir. Thank you. Lord bless you, brother. Bye-bye. Well, certainly we trust that what you heard this morning, and that's the purpose of Weed Among the Tares, is to bring these pastors out, these ministries out, these missionaries out, that you can hear what's going on in the good hand of our God that is leading the matters of the preaching of his word across the country and across the world. I want to close with one thought this morning. I'm reading from the book of George Whitefield and a biography of him, and I want to read a just a closing statement that George Whitfield said in a letter of his, actually in a diary, and he was describing the preaching of God's Word there in Gloucester, England in the 1700s, and he said this, he said, In one of his preaching, he said, several young men came to me under serious impressions. The arrows of conviction had stuck fast. And he said they, talking about those that were listening, were all attention and heard like people hearing for eternity. And I thought about that one statement that he said, their attention was such that they were hearing the words that would affect them for all eternity. And isn't it true that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is just that? It is words that will affect us for eternity. Well, we thank you for joining us again for Weed Among the Tares this morning. I trust that you will join us every Wednesday morning at nine o'clock Eastern time for our live broadcast here. Pray for us here. May the Lord bless you and have a wonderful day.