Thursday, February 18, 2010

Church Planters Are My Favorite People

Sandy and I just got back from a trip to Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. We thought it would be nice and warm to go south in February. We were wrong. It was cold and snowy. But the people we spent time with were warm. I know - that sounds corny. But it is true. As I travel among Free Will Baptist churches, I meet a lot of salt of the earth people. Many times the saltiest are the church planters. They have to be prayed up or they can't stay encouraged. They have a heart for God; they have a heart for people; and they have a heart for getting God and people together. Almost all of them are humble. (Yes, I said almost)

Chad Kivette is a former church planter and now a pastor in Pensacola, Florida. Sandy and I spoke about marriage and I preached. It was good seeing them. He said as we left, "I miss being a part of Home Missions." I said, "You are still part of the Home Missions family." Again, corny, but true.
Here is a picture of Chad and Paula and us.




While we down in that area, we got to see two present home missionary families. Tim and Angie Riggs are ministering in Mobile, Alabama. Here are two pictures of his church:



They have 3 sons - Stephen, Andrew, and Caleb. Stephen is graduating from high school this year and heading to college. We went to the mall together and Tim and I got something for our sweethearts for Valentine's Day. (We also went to the Bama Fever store) Tim wanted to get the picture in front of the Alabama sign.





We also stopped by Meridian, Mississippi on the way home to see Larry and Sherry Reynolds. Their children are grown and they have 4 grandchilden, including one little girl born just last month. We took pictures of Sherry, too, but only this one came out:



Here is a picture of Larry on stage in their church building:







The Riggs, the Reynolds, and the Kivettes are all friendly and easy to like. But they are also people of faith, courage, and determination.


They are my favorite kind of people.

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