Pastor’s Pen
Dear friends,
Does February seem like a long month to you? I know it is the shortest month on the calendar, but it seems to drag on the longest. Maybe it is just me, but it doesn’t seem March can’t get here soon enough! It could be that February seems to crawl because life just moves a little slower. Well, that hasn’t been the case at church this month.
Our second mission to Yendi, Ghana took place when Bryan and Nancy Taliaferro, Tyler Lowery and Eddie Hammond traveled to Dulles International Airport for a non-stop flight to Accra, Ghana. The team left on a Monday and returned the following Friday. Check out some of the things they accomplished while in country:
- Helped start 15 churches
- Distributed 1,000 mosquito nets
- Shared the Gospel with thousands of people
- Helped put the roof on Beale Baptist Church
- Distributed soccer balls, clothes, 100 dolls and Bibles
- Repaired the computer lab for a local school
- Purchased a five acre camp for the training of leaders
- Watched 1,200 people respond to the Gospel
- Saw 42 people baptized
Consider for a minute, that there are churches that will never start another church in their existence. Think for just a bit, that 10,000 Southern Baptist Churches in this country that have not baptized a person in three plus years. Think for just a moment how long it would take us, you and me, to share the Gospel with multiple thousands of people here in Virginia. How many years has it taken our church to baptize 42 people? Three years…maybe more. Amazing. It is simply amazing when you stop and ponder all that was accomplished.
Now, here is something else that is really cool. Do you think that it is a coincidence that on the Sunday our team returns from Ghana, God sends us a 12 year old refugee from Burundi to join our church? How incredible is the timing of our Heavenly Father to bring our team back from Africa and then insert a new member into our church from Africa. May we love and care for this child just as we have worked for our friends in Ghana.
Thank you Lord for considering us worthy of the task at hand. Thank you for every person you are sending our way. We consider it an honor and a privilege to be Your servants. Whether it is serving you in remote Ghana or reaching out to an immigrant new to our country, or a new friend from our community, may we be the gentle and compassionate hands of Jesus.
