I am sitting in out little coastal apartment on a Saturday evening. I thought that I would keep you updated with what has been happening. We are three weeks in (or more accurately three weekends in) with our new ministry pastoring the small church on the coast.
It has been amazing not only how things have come together to make this happen, but how blessed we have been up to this point. On many levels. This is our first week in our little cottage.
As this is a bi-vocational position (bi-vocational meaning part time), we needed a place to stay while we were here for the three days. I had arranged to say in a motel with one bedroom in town. It wasn’t the most ideal situation, but we determined that it would be doable, but a bit costly.
As soon as we agreed to the position, we received an e-mail from a member of the church there offering us their vacation rental cottage for the eight months of our interim service. They said hat they would take it off the rental market and we could have it seven days a week, so it could be ours. They offered it to us at a reasonable rate, which was the same price that we originally had hoped to find so our financial situation could be eased a bit.
The place is wonderful. It is a little two-bedroom cottage, panted blue with white trim. The inside has soft yellow painted walls with a beach house décor. The view from our windows include the mountains, a sandy beach inlet, a market, the post office, the back of a fish café, and their crab cages. It is wonderful.
The church we are serving has a small building and averages about 40-45 people on a Sunday morning. Last week’s attendance was 53. The style of the worship service is traditional with a country feel. Now, this is certainly not the style that I prefer, and hopefully some “adjustments” can be made, but I am focusing primarily upon teaching and building relationships. Most of the people attending are retired with the exception of maybe four families, including us, who are younger. And by younger, I mean not retired.
I will say that, even though I have only been there a short time, these people really like one another and are doing he best that they can to be the light to their community. In some cases, they may not know how to reach and relate to the other town members, but they truly seem genuine. I realize that with time ones true nature is always revealed, but for the present, they seem to enjoy each other company. Their midday Bible study, which they just moved to Fridays to accommodate my schedule, begins with people sharing any prayer requests or things for which they are thankful. After about fifteen minutes of sharing, they then begin to pray. And they pray for each request, and for the praises, and for each person that was on the list. They pray by name and with detail. They even pray for any visitors that were there the previous Sunday. Most visitors that attend the worship service are usually vacationing in the area or are passing through on their vacation. But they pray for them anyway, knowing that we may never see them again.
The prayer time take twenty minutes or so, and then with whatever time is left over, we have a Bible study. It is apparent that church believer, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God not only hears their petitions, He also acts upon them. It was an honor to share in that time.
As with a coastal town, this town and church gets their share of vagabonds and transients passing through needing assistance for some need.. The church members told me it is only periodically that we come in contact with the needy, but I have been in the area for five weekends total, counting the two times I was there before I was officially called, and have been involved with three different scenarios. One person they fed and a member gave them a ride to the next town 25 miles away. One couple was given food and some money to put gas in their car. The most recent couple were give a motel room for the night, and the guys socks were all wet, so a member went home and grabbed a pair of his own to give the man. All of this generosity knowing they will probably never see them again.
All in all, it is good that we are here. Good for them and good for us.
More to tell. But for now, some pictures of our new second hometown.
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