Nice little vacation. I played a couple of rounds of golf with my son and his father in law... helped teach the six year old grandson to ride a two wheel bike... took the grand kids to see the 4th of July Fireworks on top of Snowshoe Mountain (and nearly froze!)... spent some quiet time with Linda... and RESTED! Quite a bit of rest...
Now it's back to work. I spent about 5 hours in the office yesterday afternoon, catching up on what needed to be caught up. Went with Thamer Calhoun to Belle, WV to pick up a van load of our youth mission team and bring them home. Preached this morning... went to the mission church at Wayne, WV this afternoon to help Darrell Clark kick off their first Sunday service... and soon ready to head back to our church to speak tonight. I've only been back two days and already tired - again!
I am probably not as tired as the 30 folks who went to Philadelphia, PA for mission work with "M-Fuge". What a trip they had! We had two 15 seat vans, a mini van, and a U-Haul trailer loaded down with the kids, their stuff, and their adult chaperons who left Huntington at 4:45 AM last Sunday. By 5:30 AM they were broken down in Milton, WV (about 30 miles up the road) - bad water pump! We got on the telephone, waking up several other pastors before 6:00 AM, trying to find another van to replace our inoperative one, with no luck. All the churches we spoke to were using their available vans and we had a dilemma to say the least.
Terry Harper, the Executive Director of the W.Va. Convention of Southern Baptists was also enlisted to help and he was able to procure a van for us from Witcher Baptist Church in Belle, (Kanawha Co.) West Virginia. We are so thankful to Pastor Bernard Toppings and the good people of Witcher Baptist Church for loaning us their van on such short notice. We are also appreciatave of Pastor Cledith Campbell and Altizer Baptist Church in Huntington for the loan of their van as well. Without the planned help of Altizer and the unplanned help of Witcher, the plans for this year's mission trip would have come to a screeching halt.
The team made it safely to Philly on Sunday night (about four hours behind schedule) and got settled in for the work which began Monday. The Enemy scored again on Tuesday morning when Cheryl Bledsoe (one of our youth leaders, and the one who planned this trip) broke BOTH shoulders and had some other injuries in a freak accident just before heading to the worksite.
Transported to a hospital by ambulance, Cheryl's injuries were diagnosed and the doctors felt it necessary to transport her to another hospital where an orthopedist who specializes in severe shoulder injuries could do the surgeries on Friday. The surgeries were successful but the team had to sadly leave Cheryl behind with her husband and parents to look out for her. The prognosis for her recovery is good, but it will probably take six months or more to regain the use of her arms. We are requesting fervent prayer for Cheryl, Roger and for their daughters, Alex and Sarah, whom Cheryl home schools. They have a tough road ahead.
Thankfully, there were no other incidents, and the kids performed their mission duties admirably. They got home about 11:00 PM Saturday night, and most of them were at church this morning. Twenty of them are scheduled to take off for Centrifuge Camp in Buckhannon, WV tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM, but without Miss Cheryl. I have tremendous admiration for these teens and their leaders. Missions are in their hearts, and they are an important part of our Mission strategy at Westmoreland Baptist Church.
So... as I said earlier, back to work. Nice quiet little break, but there are still many ministry needs to meet. I thank God for the time to come apart and recharge for a while and for the place of ministry where He allows me to serve.
I am blessed.
Have a great time at camp, Kids.
Cheryl, we're praying for you!
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