Spring 2008 Update
May 2nd, 2008 by admin
Wow! It has been a crazy spring! The hectic part of the spring schedule started off with a cold weekend in Indianapolis, IN at Cumberland Christian Church. It was cold but fortunately it was dry. The weekend prior to our Indianapolis trip it had snowed 12 inches in Louisville. I think it would have been a challenge to build walls in 12 inches of snow!
The last weekend in March our team split to cover two events. One event was in the Atlanta area (with McDonough Christian Church) and the other was in Columbus, OH (with Westerville Church of Christ). That weekend Kentucky and Tennessee were hit with huge rains. But you guessed it… Columbus and Atlanta were dry.
I handled the Atlanta build and returned on Monday to wash clothes, repack, and head back out on Wednesday. We had a build with First Baptist Church – Texarkana, TX. As we drove across Arkansas, I was sure I would see an ark being constructed. But as we drew closer the clouds began to thin and you guessed it, we were blessed again with a great weekend of weather.
From Texarkana we drove to Topeka, KS. It was a cold day and we actually had light snow flurries the day of the build (a Help Build Hope first). But cold with light flurries is better than cold and rain. God again gave us the weather we needed to complete the project.
The third weekend of March placed us in the Cincinnati area at Christ’s Church of Mason. As I drove to the church on Saturday the clouds grew dark and the bottom dropped out of the clouds. It was pouring down rain as people were arriving. As the participants ate their breakfast the rain continued. The worship leader got up on stage to start us off with a time of worship and the clouds and rain lightened. As we got up to give the devotion and instructions the rain diminished further. When we stepped down off the stage and dismissed the group, the rain had stopped. Everyone got settled in to their work stations and built their first wall and the clouds began to further thin. As the groups were working on their 2nd wall the sun began to shine! We wrapped up the project around noon and proceeded to Wendy’s to grab a bite to eat before we delivered the walls. Guess what… It began to rain. By the time we arrived to the delivery spot the rain had stopped again providing a dry window of time to unload.
This past weekend (the last weekend in April) I was in Florence, KY at Florence Christian Church. The weather man had changed his forecast from a slight 30% chance of rain to a near certain 80% chance of rain on Friday. Boy did he miss it… we had sunshine… I got a little sunburn!!! As we watched the news prior to bedtime, the weather man said a large weather system was in the St. Louis area and would arrive in the Cincinnati metro area around 8:00 am clearing out around noon. I began to formulate contingency plans in my brain as I drifted off to sleep. God already had the contingency plan in place because He must have given those clouds a nudge through the night. The system cleared the area at 8:00 as we were setting up work stations. This was one of the first events that Cindy and Emma traveled along since she has been mobile. Except for a few schedule challenges (Emma up past her bedtime), it went very well.
I hope all this talk of weather has not terribly bored you. I just find it encouraging and affirming to see how God takes care of us. I often say that I am constantly amazed but no longer surprised at the hand of God at work to guide rain clouds out of the areas where we work. Why should I be surprised to see the One who spoke and silenced the raging storm at work steering a few rain clouds out of the way??!!
Thank you to all of you who regularly lift our ministry in your prayers. I know it is in no small part your petitions before the Father that support this work. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Please visit http://www.crossroadsmissions.com/helpbuildhope/dates.php to see our upcoming events so that you can pray for us, more good weather, safe travel and good events.
