CELEBRATING A NEW BUILDING AND GETTING READY TO BUILD

Paul Collins and the folks at Harrisonburg Free Will Baptist Church in Virginia just celebrated the Dedication of their new building.


But it took a long time to get to that point.


Here is Paul and me on the property when the new building was just a dream.





It took a lot of time, work, money, and prayer to get the nice building they have now.




Here is Paul Collins and FWB Pastor Billy King at the Ribbon cutting ceremony.





Very nice looking auditorium!




163 people came to church that morning!
Congratulations to Paul and all the folks in Harrisonburg!




Now the flip side:
Last Sunday, Sandy and I visited with Clayton and Tammy Hampton in Clarksville, Tennessee.
The Two Rivers FWB Church meets in a rented building.
Here are some of the people talking before service.





Clayton at the pulpit.

Here is Clayton and Tammy with their 3 children, a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law, and 2 grandchildren. Nice looking family.

Here is the location for the new church building. They should start digging and construction within a few weeks.

It will take a lot of time, work, money, and prayer.

But it will be worth it!

OXFORD, ALABAMA

A new church was started in Oxford, Alabama this past weekend. Len Blanchard and his wife, Linda, have moved there to start the church. On Saturday, 56 people showed up to help Len get the word out about the new church. It was hot! Here is a picture of some of the youth group from Piney Grove Church in Guin. They are a great bunch of young people and were a big help!

Len is working up a sweat and we haven't even got started.

Here is Sandy and me and our team. They were hustlers - even running to many doors. And they weren't afraid to talk to people. Between all the teams, 15 people said they were interested in the church.

We ended with lunch together. The Moody FWB Church provided lunch for us.

You could tell Len was a little nervous on Sunday morning. This was a big event! This first service was in the Civic Center. Starting this Sunday, they have another building rented. Here is Len and some of the folks setting up for church. The attendance was 126! Of course, many of these were out of town friends. But there were local people, too.

Shane and Jaime Suggs are moving up from south Georgia at the end of this month to be the co-church planters. Here they are giving greetings.

Of course, we had to have lunch again. Catered barbeque - it was great!

Len has experience, a heart for people, and a passion for the work. I'm excited about what God is going to do through him, Linda, Shane, and Jaime.

SAN ANTONIO

A group of pastors and their wives (and some other folks) accompanied the staff and wives to San Antonio over Memorial Day weekend.
We visited two Home Mission churches while we were there.

Here is Jeremy and Jill Lightsey. They currently have Sunday services in a daycare facility.
Jeremy did a great job preaching that morning.




On Sunday evening, we saw home missionary Don Bailey and his family. We had a picnic on the church property.




This is the line for food. Home Missions Board Member Ron Parker has his hands on his hips. Looks like he is trying to be patient until he gets to the food.




Don showed us around their new building. They hope to be in it by the end of summer.
Here is Larry Powell (HM General Director), Trymon Messer (former Director), and Don Bailey.




Don and Sonya Bailey family

Besides seeing the home missionaries, we did some other fun things on the trip. San Antonio has several interesting places to see.

Here is Sandy and me in front of the Alamo.

We took a boat ride on the Riverwalk. It was hot that day and Jay Baines from Delaware covered his head with a towel.

I didn't even get a picture of David and Kathey Crowe. They worked the whole trip to make sure things went well for us and did a great job!

If you have never been to San Antonio, I definitely recommend it as a place to visit. And stop by and see our home mission churches while you're there.