Global Celebrations Kick-off

The Global Celebration kickoff was today but we did not have to be at the church until 2pm. We spent most of the morning outside on Kendra’s back porch, singing with Jason’s guitar, practicing the kid’s bible quizzing and watching the kids explore. They disappeared for a bit and we thought we should go and check on them. We found them down the lane hanging out with Paul’s parents at their house. Paul’s parents take care of Roscoe the guard beagle during the day while Kendra and Paul are at work. The kids were thrilled to find the dog and spent the rest of our morning following their friend Roscoe around and hanging out with him on the deck.

Just before two in the afternoon we headed off to find the church and to get registered. Biltmore Baptist Church is in a beautiful spot nestled in the mountains. We were over-whelmed at the sheer size of what they call their church campus. The kids are getting use to seeing lots of churches on every corner here in North Carolina, which is quite different from home but I am not sure they were prepared for Biltmore. Again we were welcomed and made to feel right at home. The kids were invited to participate in a children’s program. All of the kids except for TJ went to the new BBC Kids Hall. While Jason went with them I took Trinity to Praise Island which is for the younger children. Her eyes were as big as saucers as we rounded the corner and she caught sight of surfboards and the tropical murals. “Mommy,” she said. “This is church?” “Yes, sweetie, this is their church.” She was thrilled and went hand in hand with the caring volunteer. She loved it so much in fact that later on all through dinner she was asking to go back.

The next big event was the Kick-off Celebration. It was a time of worship, missionary testimonies and praise for what God is doing around the world. Jim and Joy were representing The Sanctuary Milton in the processional march. During the service Joy gave a testimony about our work in Milton. She spoke from her heart in front a huge amount of people and did an amazing job. We were all so proud of her. During the service, Biltmore also played a video about their mission trip to Canada. They had pictures of our block party, our Sanctuary signs and Trudy talked about the trip and challenged people in their congregation to join them next year. We have amazing friends here at Biltmore and God has touched their hearts and given them a passion for what He is doing in Milton. They are our community’s advocates here in North Carolina, telling others about our needs and praying for us faithfully. The Kick-Off ended with prayer time for both the children and for the adults. Jim, Joy, Leon, Elva-Jean, Jason and I met to pray with many of those that came up this summer. It was a very special time for me personally and has been my highlight so far. When we picked up the kids we were again encouraged as they said the children had all prayed for Liam’s brain tumor and his surgery on November 5th.

Today, Jason and I have meetings with the pastor of BBC’s children’s ministry and their worship pastor. We are excited about these meetings please pray that they are fruitful and that Jason and I will learn things that we will be able to bring home to Milton. Leon has a meeting with Pastor Bill who was on the mission team this summer. They will be talking about home groups. Please pray for the gas situation here. There is a severe gas shortage and some government offices are now closing on Friday and Monday as people can not get to work. Pray that this would not be a hindrance for people to come to the church for the rest of the events. Every Gas station that we passed today was out of Gas. Pray that the tankers would be able to arrive quickly and that this situation could be resolved. There are also some other events today and a concert tonight for the global celebration. They have an internet café at the church so I am able to connect to the blog and will try to keep posting about our activities.