Grace Fellowship Church

We had a great trip to Russellville, Kentucky, where we get to serve this week!  Our host church is amazing and has one of the best facilities for a mission trip we've ever had!  Our evening was filled with laughter while we got to know our PPM staff!  We can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

What a great way to start our week!  We began our day worshipping with our other team, in the historic First Baptist Church of Russellville.  The church was serving Russellville before the Civil War!  The sanctuary is so beautiful and Pastor Joe's sermon on the prodigal son reminded us that God's salvation means we are children and not slaves!  After service, we had an amazing potluck dinner with the friendly church members here!

Afterward, we visited Center of the Mark Teen Center.  We heard from Will and Joyce about how God provided for them as they served children and youth.  Will encouraged us to remember that God is always faithful!

We then drove around some of the areas that had been affected by the tornado.  There has been a lot of work done here, but it still stuns you to see homes and woods destroyed.  We stopped at a United Methodist church that had been damaged by the tornado.  It was moving as we all prayed together for them.  We also saw areas where homes were destroyed and stopped at a location and prayed for all those who had been affected by the storms.

Once we returned to the church, we split into groups and prayer walked some of Russellville.  The streets we prayer walked is the area where we will do door-to-door relational ministry this week.  We asked that God's Spirit would go before us.  We can't wait to see what that will look like!

Today was such a BLAST! We went over to Agape, a local ministry here in KY. We were able to trim back some bushes with the help of an ol' rake hack and a belt (if you know, you know....).

We were also able to wash down some siding, and pray with a group of individuals that were representing many local churches in the area! The ministry leaders, Janice and Mike, were able to give us some information on the history and timeline of this ministry and important individuals that contributed over the years. It's so amazing to be able to serve alongside such a beautiful ministry that is making an impact today! 

Today we got to celebrate 3 birthdays! Two of our very own and one of our new friends!

We were able to get a lot done today out at our ministry sites. We finished putting together beds that we cleaned yesterday. A celebration was had for the deep clean at the teen center. We also are making great progress in the plumbing for the showers upstairs in the bunk rooms. 

We continue to make progress in continuing to restore the property of a homeowner whose home was destroyed by a tornado. Access is being created so she can move her horses to another field. We are also moving debris and showing through our actions how much Jesus loves her. 

During our door-to-door evangelism, we talked to a homeowner who was not a believer. He encouraged us to make sure we knew why we believed what we believed, and we encouraged him to consider the things of God. 

We had a lot to celebrate today and cant wait to see how we can celebrate Jesus tomorrow.

We were filled with excitement, to put feet to our prayers from Sunday!  Pastor Joe encouraged us this morning with suggestions for relational ministry, as well as shared some of the history of our host church. A large group of us and our new friends began door-to-door visits.  When we didn't get to talk to a family, we left Gospel material supplied by our host church.  

Another group of us went to a homeowner whose home was destroyed by the tornado.  We began cleaning up the debris and cutting her grass.  Some of us were able to groom her horses, which went through the storms.  One was so alarmed by the storm, he didn't eat well for several months.  It was rewarding to love on him, and also on the homeowner!

Others served at Center of the Mark Teen Center.  We began cleaning bunk beds that had been donated to them.  They are hosting a PPM trip in a couple of weeks.  It is rewarding to think about how we are being part of a chain of ministry!  We also began installing plumbing for bathrooms in their bunkhouse rooms.  When the bunkhouse is complete, they will be able to host teams more easily, but more importantly, they will be able to return to part of their ministry that they had been without for many years.

Some of those doing door-to-door ministry went to Agape Services Ministry in the afternoon.  It was a joy to serve them by using our gifts of organization!  

We are off to a good start!  We are all wondering how we might see God move tomorrow!

Today, we had the privilege of serving Concerned Citizens of Logan County.  They are located in a historically ethnic area of Russellville and provide clothes, food, mentoring and other services for their neighbors.  We were ble to serve them by helping organize some of their storage rooms.  They were so full of supplies.  Now they can use them!  We have some people on the team that love to organize!   But even more important, we enjoyed laughter about wearing shorts and boots, and pop tart stories!  It made for an amazing day.  

After worshipping with our host church, our teams drove to L&R Soda Shop.  L&R is an old-fashioned soda shop, complete with copper roof ceiling tiles, Elvis stand-in, and a great jukebox. 

Our ice cream treats were INCREDIBLE!  We laughed so hard!  And we shared lots of stories from the week and our lives at home.  What a great way to end a fun day of ministry!

We had a second chance to worship with our host church tonight!  They invited us to be part of their Wednesday Night Prayer and Devotion service and to lead in worship!  We sang and played some well-known worship songs.  It is so rewarding to worship together! 

Our host church is going through some big transitions and was having a business meeting.  We were honored to serve them in this way and hopefully usher them into the presence of God, as part of their important meeting.  Who knows what other partnerships we might get to enjoy!

Today we went to Good Samaritan, a food pantry that is supported by local churches and other organizations. It is a beautiful cooperation over denominational lines living out what it means to love and serve those around you.  This is a very special place.

When we arrived we were warmly greeted by two smiling faces that told us a little about what Good Samaritan does in the day-to-day. Then we quickly got to work! Some of us put together bags of frozen meats for distribution. Others unloaded food that had been donated. Others visited and encouraged the staff! One thing that will never stop amazing us is how the Lord shows up in every situation and task. So although we were doing easy jobs the building was filled with laughter, jokes, and personal stories. It was so evident that the Lord had placed us there for a reason. 

Later on in the day, Good Samaritan received a call from a woman who was unable to leave her house due to a recent heart attack, but she was still in need of food. So the Director asked if we would be willing to stop by this woman’s house and drop off some food.  Of course, we happily accepted! Through talking with this woman we learned that she only left her house 1 day a month and rarely if ever had visitors. We shared her information with a local church, so she can enjoy community again. It was so clear that the Lord had sent us to talk to her.  We are eager to see to whom He’ll send us to next!