Sometime in February I looked at Bobby's schedule (our schedule) to see if there might possibly be a Saturday evening service we could eventually get to at our own church. When I excitedly announced that maybe Saturday, April 25th, we could go to Cornerstone, Bobby shot me down with, "Well, I'm trying to book that date so don't hold your breath." I understand that we need the bookings in order to make a living, of course, but at the same time, I love being able to attend our own church. It's refreshing! We WERE able to attend this past Saturday night and no one in our house was disappointed.
The following morning we rose early and headed up to Owensboro, Kentucky to Wings of Faith Church of God, pastored by Larry Bidwell. We sang here the first weekend of August last year after being home 7 weeks in a row. It felt kind of like starting over that day. Brother Bidwell replied to Bobby's email asking if we could come minister, not having any idea who he was. It used to be that when Bobby would contact a church, he wouldn't bother telling the pastor that his family traveled with him or that we took part in the service. So that morning back in August, Pastor Larry was surprised when the whole family got out of the van and walked into the church. He visited with us that morning before church but I could tell he was really checking us out. He was reserved and observant. By the end of the church service, he had totally opened up to us and we became good friends. As a matter of fact, he called Bobby the following day and invited us to come back in April of 2009. And we did.
Sister Mary Jane Bidwell is a hard worker, playing the piano and leading the singing, preparing the lunch yesterday and just tying all loose ends.
Pastor Larry had not planned to preach yesterday but he had just come back from 2 weeks of police training and it was a very dry and lonely place for him. If you know anything about going through a dry and lonely place, you know that is the place you can best hear God speak to you. Brother Larry had revival in his spirit during the 2 weeks prior to us coming and he was bubbling over with the joy of the Lord yesterday. In about 20 minutes he testified and glorified the Lord before Bobby sang. At the end of the service, he laid hands on us and the church circled around us. We'll take all of that we can get!
They gave us a wonderful lunch afterward as well as 3 boxes of clothes, a case of juice and some small boxes of snack foods. (They have a charity clothing closet as well as a food pantry.) We are so blessed to know these precious people and we hope to come back and visit them soon.
We drove on to Fordsville for the evening service. Since it wasn't but 30 minutes from Owensboro, we had a couple of hours to just sit and rest yesterday afternoon. It wasn't like there was a mall or even a Wal Mart to go and kill time, so we sat.
Sunday evening was challenging and we learned a difficult lesson. When Bobby first contacted River of Life Worship Center Church of God of Prophecy, the pastor's wife, Cathy Green, declined because she didn't want to go through the humiliation of not having very many people attend. However, Bobby assured her it didn't matter how many people were there and so they welcomed us. Well, it WAS a small crowd but that wasn't the difficult part. The difficult part was that every question Bobby asked and every statement he made, he got absolutely no response from the congregation. He couldn't get a smile, a nod, or a raised hand. As a matter of fact they looked at him like a mule looking at a new gate. After the third song he was ready to pack it up and leave but he hung on. Another problem was that a two year old was allowed to roam all over the sanctuary during the service and it was very distracting, of course. By the end of the service, Bobby, who was ready to get out of there, skipped the altar call because he figured if he got no response to any of the simple and fun questions he'd asked them earlier, he surely wouldn't get a response for an altar call.
After the service, we had a quick fellowship with food in the church basement and after everyone else had left, Pastor Neville and Cathy shared with me some interesting things that have been happening in their church. One was that the couple with the two year old that was allowed to roam during church, were recently married after receiving counseling, have been very faithful in attending church and he has been very faithfully working for Pastor Neville. The only catch is, they're not saved. The other interesting thing that happened was that a young man showed up at their Sunday morning services yesterday named Paul who said, "I don't know why I'm here." Paul wasn't saved either but he returned last night for the concert. When I told Bobby about this on the drive home he immediately felt bad about skipping the altar call and said he was going to have to ask God to forgive him. It was a wake up call once again for us that it doesn't matter whether or not we're getting feedback from the people; it doesn't matter how WE feel things are going in a given service. What matters is that we sing and speak the things God has called us to sing and speak and not rely on man's approval. I believe God is really trying to help us fully understand this because we had a similar situation last weekend in Charleston, Mississippi.
Now...how 'bout some good news? We've been given a motor home! Here's the letter I sent to Pastors Davis and Sarah last week, telling the whole story:
Two days later, while at home, Bobby received a call from the pastor of Balko Baptist Church who asked if we remembered the gentleman that visited with us after church. Dale Naylor was the man's name and he had a motor home that he didn't need and wondered if we could use it. Needless to say we were pretty excited and even more so when he told us it had a washer/dryer in it, a full-size whirlpool bathtub and a handicap lift. Mr. Naylor asked 2 things of us. One was they requested a receipt for a tax write-off which we worked out with their church since we're not a non-profit organization. The other was that he wanted me to share my testimony with his mother the next time we were in the area. Not a problem! Does God hear our prayers and answer them? I should say He does!
They sent pictures of the motor home and we offered to come get it but they insisted on driving it to us. We were in Texarkana the week before Easter, so Dale and his wife, Jackie drove the motor home to us there on Good Friday. This vehicle was customized by the manufacturer to accommodate Darrell. They had a hospital bed in the back and they bathed him every day, hence the whirlpool tub in the back across from the bed. There is a lot of work to be done as this is a 1984 model. It's almost retro! When Bobby fir
st started looking at it after Dale left to go back to Oklahoma he was tempted to get discouraged. And, I'll admit we both felt a bit of a pride issue concerning driving around in this old motor home. But Bobby said it runs GREAT, it handles very nicely and the problems are going to be more cosmetic than mechanical. The day we drove it home, Grace and I were in our van alone all day as Bobby and the other 3 children were in the motor home. I fasted and prayed that day and right away I believed the Lord was reminding me of our family prayer for a vehicle and that if He provided that vehicle, He didn't send it to be a burden, but a blessing.
We are enjoying what God has for us to do and we know that it's only for a season. We're not trying to be stars and we don't live glamorous lives (1984 musty motor home, still changing Grace's diapers after 10 years, and homeschooling) but we're called for a purpose: to encourage and exhort the body of Christ. When we look at the President's agenda we know that our time is short and that we need to hurry about the Lord's business while we still can so we are extremely grateful for His provision in our lives to do what He's called us to do.
See? Good things CAN come out of Oklahoma!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TwIJrAAEQ0
With His sufficient grace,
The BowenArrows
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