Youth Retreat at Shadow Lake

Last Thursday we loaded up the two vehicles and headed off to Shadow Lake with 8 teenagers for 2 1/2 days.  You may be wondering, “Why would you do such a thing like that?”  Well, we had a wonderful time and it was a huge blessing!

Brandon organized all the activities, devotions, and schedule while he left me in charge of the food.  There were lots of activities to keep the teens busy and us also.  First thing on the agenda Thursday morning was devotions and quiet time! 

Some of the activities for the first day included soccer, swimming, volleyball in the pool, fishing, kickball, crab soccer.

Events for day two were softball, shuffleboard, basketball, putt-putt, kick the can, hide-n-go seek, and horseshoes!

There were a few team building activities involved.  First was a blind taste testing!  Most of the foods were spicy or sour! 

Then, we were paired up into groups of two.  One partner was blindfolded and not able to speak while the other had to tell you how to build a birdhouse without assisting in the construction.  Let’s just say that was really interesting!

During some of the free time the boys went fishing.  Friday night was the night assigned for the teens to cook. (Don’t worry, I bought all the food so at least I would know what they had to choose from) Since the boys caught some fish they wanted to cook that. Hmmm…Right?!?!?! And yes, those fish in the picture are as small as you think they are!  I was brave enough to try one small piece.  It was okay. Funny thing, none of the teens who caught the fish at the fish.

We both had a wonderful time with all the teens and are still trying to recoup.  We are very proud of our teens!

Whew!!! What a Weekend

It has been several, several weeks since my last update, for which I do apologize.  However, life/ministry has been busy and preparation for Ordination took much of my time especially these last few weeks.

This weekend has included many different emotions including enjoying family time with both my parents and Kim’s parents as well as Kim’s sister, Allison; stressing, relaxation, busy, FOOD, special memories and more relaxing with family.  My in-laws arrived a our home on Friday morning and we got the camper parked, leveled and hooked up shortly after.  The afternoon was spent doing some local sightseeing so they could see where we live and serve.  My parents arrived later that night and after some unwinding we all turned in.

D-Day, Saturday

Today began with cooking a big breakfast for all the family that was here, more riding around, another family meal a lunch and then I had to escape to the office to settle my mind/nerves before Ordination Council.  Saturday afternoon/evening involved many local pastors from the area and my Uncle Jim and his family as well as my cousin Amanda, her husband Todd and their son Haddon (who are planting a church in South Portsmouth, KY, kickoff service is 8-27-2010) coming to participate in my ordination council.  My nerves were shot by the time 4pm rolled around as I had stressed for so long over the unknown questions to come from these men of God who were much wiser, and had been serving and ministering much longer than I had.  Thanks to Jim’s way of making me feel comfortable and even more so due to the overwhelming support from my church family (over 35 showed up) to observe the council session, my nerves eventually calmed and following the 2hr. session I was able to breathe a sigh of relief!  And once Jim informed me that the decision was unanimous that I be ordained, I really felt the release of all the anxiety from the previous weeks and months.  Of course a true Baptist Church can’t do anything without food and this night was no exception as the great ladies of Calais graciously came through as always.

Sunday, Today -

Today was a very special day for us because of 2 reasons.  First, the afternoon service was the official Ordination Service, and secondly, today marked the First Homecoming Service for Kim and I at Calais Baptist Church.  Jay, my cousin and Jim’s son began our day with a presentation during the Sunday school hour on his mission trip and his burden for Guatemala. He did a wonderful job and I believe that he will make a great missionary.  There is no mistaking his heart, his passion and burden for missions and the people of Guatemala.  Please pray for him as he is about to begin his senior year at Appalachian Bible College and as he continues to prepare to go to Guatemala to serve full time as a missionary.  Jim brought the morning message and the spirit of God was definitely present.  The music and preaching from the service seemed to just bring out the heart of the people and God’s man.  Praise God for such a wonderful morning.  Of course, we had our Homecoming meal at the church followed by the Ordination Service.  The Ordination service included a charge to the church, brought by Pastor Todd Lockyer of New Grace Baptist Church, South Portsmouth, KY; a general message of the glory of preaching by Pastor Jeff Cox of East Sunsburry Baptist Church of Beallsville, OH; a charge to me, the Pastor, brought by Pastor Jim Brown of Vernon Forest Baptist Church in Winston Salem, NC and culminated with the laying on of hands and presentation from my deacons.  Below is a photo album from today’s events.

View Full Album

This weekend has been a extremely special time for both Kim and I and we are so thankful for all that were able to come and show their support and participate with us and equally grateful for all who have been praying for us and sending words of kindness and encouragement for the past several weeks.  A huge THANK YOU to the folks at my church, Calais Baptist Church in Calais, OH for all the hard work and dedication this weekend and the strong show of support and love that you have shown to us this weekend and ever since we have been with you.  No one will ever know how special this weekend has been, especially with the family connection (Uncle Jim) being a major part of all of this.  Certainly not to be forgotten is the attendance of a very special member of our church, Cheri, who has been very sick for some time battling cancer and has not been able to attend in person for some time.  Please remember her in prayer and praise God that she was able to be a part of everything that happened this weekend, in person!

Gonna sign off for now, and hope that the next update isn’t so long overdue.  Pray for us as we are taking the teens on a camping trip this Thursday-Saturday.  Pray that God will help to build strong relationships, help everyone that is going to grow spiritually and that God will be glorified!

Faithfully and Joyfully serving Christ!

Fun Times

Well, last week we had our Vacation Bible School.  The week was busy but fun-filled.  Before the week began, I challenged them to get 80 children to come to VBS and I would shave my head.  They kept their part of the deal, so on Thursday night, parent’s night, Pastor Brandon got his head shaved:

View Full Album

Along with the reward of getting my head shaved, we also rewarded the winning team with the chance to throw pies at their leaders following the Parent’s Night activities:

View Full Album

Some of us adults performed a skit that was a spoof from Gilligan’s Island about how we can be saved.  Tied in really well since our VBS theme was Soul Survivors on Danger Island.

The following is a video highlighting many of the photos that were taken all through the week.  We have over 500 pictures so this is a very small sampling:

View Full Album

We followed VBs with a blood drive at the church on Friday and a Youth Afterglow on Sunday night.  I was greatly encouraged that several of the children from the week of VBS wanted to be picked up to come to church on Sunday morning and we had 3 teens that were visitors Sunday night join us for our youth activity.

Many things coming up in the next several weeks: weekly Visitation and Youth Bible Study on Thursday night,  Family Picnic and Movie night at the church Saturday night as part of our series on One Flesh, One Mind, One Life: God’s design for marriage and family; my ordination council on August 14th, Homecoming services and my Ordination service on Sunday, August 15th.  I am working on a Youth Retreat/Camping trip near the end of August, as well as working with my Deacons and church members to plan out the remainder of the year!  Our choir continues to grow and is loads of fun.  I have selected our Christmas Cantata for this year and am eagerly awaiting our first practice. 

Continue to pray for Kim and me and for our church here in Calais, that God will continue to bless and keep us and that our ministry will have an impact on our community and surrounding area for Christ.  Pray for families to be added to the church and for souls to be saved.

Time for an Update

Good evening!

Guess that everyone though I had forgotten about my blog. Surprise, surprise! I didn't forget, just have gotten a little busy trying to settle into a routine. Routine, what does that word mean?

Anyway, God is good, all the time! This past week was spent getting skits prepared and planning finalized for VBS along with my usual duties as Pastor. Today was spent working with several of our church members setting up the auditorium for VBS. We'll be having church on Danger Island tomorrow. It looks really good. I think the children will be surprised.

Tomorrow will be the first Communion Service with me as Pastor here at Calais, which will be special to Kim and myself. I have been assuring everyone, including myself, that I am sure that they do have communion on an island (if there is a church)

The week ahead is very busy with Vacation Bible School through Thursday night and the community blood drive on Friday afternoon/evening at the church.

Continue to pray for our ministry here at Calais that we will be everything God wants us to be through His power. We are working to rebuild a Teen Ministry, Ladies Ministry and Men's Ministry over the next several months with patience and constantly seeking God's will, along with intensifying our visitation efforts in the community and surrounding areas. We have several children that have expressed interest in riding the van to VBS (which we are renting) and several would like to start coming to church. Please join us in praying for God's will and direction concerning a van/bus ministry as we would need to purchase a van or bus - crucial for a bus ministry, and would need someone (s) willing to be the leader (s) for this ministry.

Will try to get more pictures posed next week so that you can visualize what is going on. We will strive to take as many pictures as possible throughout the week of VBS. Looking forward to all the fun and excitement that is waiting for us.

Have a great day in church tomorrow and a wonderful week next week.

VBS Cavassing

Yes, it's time for Vacation Bible School already. This year's VBS runs from July 12th-15th. Our theme this year is Soul Survivors on Danger Island. The theme verse is Romans 8:37, "...We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." The main objective is to get the children to recognize spiritual dangers and realize that we can overcome, conquer, them with God's help. Our adventure on Danger Island will begin with a shipwreck, then carry us deep into a bat infested cave and finally climax at the base of an active Volcano! Sounds like it will be great fun, and I think the children will enjoy it too :)

This past Saturday our church canvassed the area handing out Vacation Bible School pamphlets and Gospel Tracts. It was a good time for making some more initial contacts in the are for me, the new pastor, and a great opportunity to reach out to the community and let them know that Calais Church is interested in them and their families. Please pray that many children will come to Vacation Bible School this year, that there would be souls saved as a result and that perhaps many families may be added to the church.

We already have a family who has asked that the church van begin picking up their children this Sunday for Sunday school and church each week! Though we are without a van at the moment, I told them that the pastor and his wife would be more than happy to come pick them up. The Lord has already begun to do a work. What an opportunity to minister and witness to this family!

The Value of The Word

Tonight was my second Wednesday night at Calais as Pastor and we had a very sweet time of prayer, special music and Bible Study. We were privileged to have Jessica and Della West in the service tonight to sing for us. Jessica is on her way through preparing for her mission trip to Australia.

We had a warm time of prayer this evening where everyone had the chance to pray with a small group. There are many physical and spiritual needs of the church and community. Please pray that God will continue to work here at Calais and impress upon us the importance and power of Prayer.

Tonight's Bible study centered around the value of the scriptures as found in II Timothy 3:16-17

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

What truth is found in these 2 short verses! Because all scripture is literally God-breathed, it is profitable for the teaching of Biblical truths and principles, for training, for evidence or proof, to put right any and all false teachings and doctrines, for the schooling of mankind in true righteousness: that the man of God may be fitted exactly and fully equipped for everything that God has called him to do!

God used over 21 names for the Bible, God literally spirited or breathed each word, he has preserved it through the ages and still uses it today to change lives! If we truly valued His Word as much as we should and prayed the scriptures, lived the scriptures, and memorized the scriptures, we couldn't comprehend or contain the blessings we would receive from God.

I pray that my congregation saw the heart of their Pastor tonight. It was truly a sweet, sweet spirit in the House of God.

Finally! Now we have internet/phone at home.

God evening everyone!

I know that it has been a while since I last updated this blog. I apologize, but with the excitement and chaos of the last days right before the move and then not having internet/home phone or very good cell phone coverage since moving is what I will blame.

Let's see...where to begin. We left Nash County, NC on Wednesday evening, June 2nd and traveled to Winston Salem to attend church services and spend the night and next day with my Uncle Jim and his family. The caravan: Kim in the pickup w/trailer, Mom in Bryan's jeep, Bryan driving Kim's car, and finally my in the moving truck, headed to Ohio on Friday, June 4th. We finally arrived at our new home in Batesville, OH. It is a very nice and quaint and small old farm house sufficient for our needs with 2 bedrooms upstairs. To our surprise with no central A/C, which apparently is very common around here. ADJUSTMENT is probably the best word for it. After figuring out the best sleeping arrangements and getting some rest, we all woke up Saturday where we were joined by more than 12 folks from the church to help us unload the truck. What took us a little over 6 hours to load, only took about 3 hours to unload if you don't count the time we wrestled with the chest freezer to get it down in the basement. :) Thanks to everyone from our church who came out and worked so very hard to get us moved in.

We have had 2 Sunday services and 2 Wednesday services since we moved and have had really good attendance for all. The people of our church are so loving and friendly and extremely supportive. Mom and Dad, Billy and Ann, you don't have to worry about us. They will take good care of us while we are here.

Hopefully since the internet is now working at the house, updates will become a more regular occurrence. Thanks for your prayers and support. Continue to pray for us as we are beginning this new ministry. Pray that we will not get so busy or prideful that we miss God's will for the church and ourselves.