July 4, 2014

May Newsletter


May 2014
May went by incredibly fast, which I am sure is just an indication of how fast this summer is going to come and go.
We had the pleasure of hosting a group from Lipscomb University for the second year in a row. They provided much physical and spiritual support in the time they were here. The most obvious benefit is the actual physical work that was accomplished. We are able to have a very large community garden because of the work this group put in. (Do things actually have to grow before you can call it a garden? If so, we might be building the communities largest sandbox) They worked for an entire week preparing the garden in the sandy, windy weather. To describe it as simply “windy weather” is certainly an understatement. We would not be able to do this on our own because of limited time and resources. Every year the garden project has gotten a little bit better and this year we have high hopes, especially because we have two interns helping with it. The Lipscomb group also put together a clothing drive and “Kid’s carnival.” It really puts a positive face on our church and draws in a lot of people. The children absolutely loved all the games and activities. The group also brought a basketball hoop for us and they installed it permanently on the property. It’s very popular. Also, my interns are terrible at basketball. ☺
Mission trips benefit the members of the congregation greatly because of the encouragement they receive. When members of the mission team talk to our members and show the warmth and love of Christ, the church can feel it. Groups bring a source of energy and rejuvenation to the congregation. The Lipscomb group was no different and many of our members enjoyed talking with them.

Heidi and I also personally benefit from short-term mission trips. For the second year now we have really enjoyed fellowship with the Lipscomb group in particular. It is a time of encouragement to be with Christians that have a heart to serve. Also, our social life is limited so it is a source of rejuvenation for us to have groups come and spend time with us, personally. We played games almost every night and had a fun day of sight-seeing as well. In addition to all that, this group had the great idea of babysitting Julia while we went on a date. This date was long overdue, as many of you with small children I am sure are familiar with.
We had another really great time of fellowship over Memorial Day with a cookout and some outdoor games. The new basketball hoop was a hit. Thankfully the wind held out enough for us to eat outside and really enjoy the sunshine. We even had a few of our visitors from the day before come by and eat with us. This is the type of fellowship that brings the church together and it’s the sort of stuff I love the most.
While in the midst of getting ready to leave this fall, we have done a lot of work over the past month to prepare the men of the congregation to take on more responsibilities. We are now having men’s meetings every other Sunday to talk about these responsibilities. Every Monday night, we are going to meet to train the men how to prepare for teaching and preaching, kind of an informal training workshop. I am also working on getting materials together for the men to use for Bible Classes. One thing I am trying to gather is live video recordings of great Bible teachers and their lessons. The church here can watch the video and then have a facilitator answer questions and have discussions. If there is any way you think you can help with this, please contact me.

No comments:

Post a Comment