Pastor's Blog

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)

I begin this entry by praying for our President and his wife as they have both tested positive for the virus.  Early reports are that they are doing well while quarantining at home.

Larry Whitehurst will have his second eye surgery today.  Pray all goes well.

Mike Parker (Clubhouse Guatemala) has a very serious medical condition within his family.  Pray for this situation.

The container did not leave Gulfport as planned.  US customs has decided to scan it.  Now maybe we will be able to find that missing member of the loading team!  Pray that the scan goes well and that the container will ship on Monday.

Morris Bryant painted the interior of our youth building.  Bro. Jerry says it looks like a new building.  Thank you Morris for this labor of love.

Danny Lewis put shingles on the office building.  We had a few disappear during Hurricane Sally.  Danny is always working on the church campus without any fanfare at all.  What an awesome church member!  Thank you Danny!

Let’s talk live streaming of our services.  The only way to receive the live stream signal now is to contact me personally in order for you to receive instructions on how to receive the signal.  I need to hear from you no later than tomorrow at noon.  At this point, I have only heard from Maxine Ervin Dupont in Texas.  You will need to be homebound locally or out of town to get this information.  If you live in the South Mobile County area, we want you involved in our services in person.

The Day of the Child in Guatemala was great!  Deidra, Angelina, Chino and I left at 8:00AM yesterday and got back to GRACE Mountain around 1:30PM.  We delivered pizza, chips, cookies and drinks to almost all of the one hundred and forty three students enrolled at Colegio JET.  They were meeting in small groups in various locations around the area.  While they cannot attend school due to the virus, they voluntarily come to a designated place several days each week to received educational instruction from our teachers who are voluntarily tutoring them.  They are doing the social distancing thing, wearing the face coverings, et cetera.  Yesterday was a day of fun and games.  Basically like a field day or Spring Fling in our US schools.  The students were happy campers.

Speaking of Guatemala, the needs here have always been great but they are even more so now with the virus.  Folks have seen their lives disrupted in a major way.  We need boots on the ground doing ministry.  So, the dates of Wednesday, November 11, through Wednesday, November 18, 2020 will see us bring a team to do ministry with Soy & Deidra coordinating the work.  The price of the tickets are favorable right now out of Mobile and Grand Rapids.  Please know that ticket prices can change at any moment.  So, if you are absolutely sure of your desire to join this team then please contact me via e-mail immediately.  Please know that once the tickets are purchased they cannot be refunded and they cannot be transferred.  I have one firm commitment to fly out of Mobile at the time of this writing.  Will there be tickets available to purchase later if someone decides to go?  Yes, but that person will have to pay the fare difference.  At today’s ticket rate, the trip will cost $950.  Any other participants?  Contact me now!

Also, as it stands right now, the price of tickets are also favorable out of Mobile for the dates of Tuesday, December 29, 2020 through Tuesday, January 5, 2021.  (Tickets out of Grand Rapids are much higher those dates)  If you prefer coming to Guatemala on those dates then please contact me immediately too.  Can a person do both trips?  Yes.  This trip will also cost $950 if the tickets remain the same fare.  Folks, time is of the essence here!

I pray that you will have a great Friday with Jesus.