Midwest Storms

Update from Don

At the Howell Church we are working on our upcoming "Super Saturday" that is to take place Sat. July 26th. We are planning a three hour VBS followed by a cook out, followed by a hay ride. In preparation for this, we are encouraging our young people to make sure they invite their friends. We are also planning a door to door, house to house campaign. We plan to visit all of the houses in the community with a personal printed invitation to attend. We plan to put large posters up in many of the places of business. The names address and telephone numbers of all who attend will be taken so that we can follow up encouraging them to attend the church in Howell. We hope to set up several bible studies from this effort. We have found that these "Super Saturday" VBS's are an excellent way to engage the surrounding community. We are working now to put together a seminar that we can present on our mission work with other churches so that they too, if they desire, can make use of this "Super Saturday" method in Church Growth.

The material from the Sycamore Bible Bowl should be arriving anytime now. At Howell, we are looking forward to fielding a competitive team for the Bible Bowl that is in Sept.

It has been said, When you show an interest in people, they show and interest in you. Could it be, that as the church shows and interest in the community, the community will show an interest in the church? "I think so".

Ocala National Forest Fires

Yesterday around 2:30 pm a fire started in Ocala National Forest within an hour it was burning over 1000 acres. Authorities evacuated around 100 families and set up shelter in Paisley. I talked with 3 of the Churches of Christ closest to the area and we agreed to keep close contact in case things got any worse. Today the wind had calmed down and they have let the residents return to their homes.

National Hurricane Center

With less than two weeks until the beginning of hurricane season, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center issued their predictions for the season on Thursday.

They said to expect 12 to 16 named storms, including six to nine hurricanes.

The predictions were announced at a conference in St. Petersburg Thursday morning.

Forecasters said they're afraid that two years without a major landfall in the United States may have lulled coastal residents into complacency.

Update from Don & Rosemary

Rosemary and I had a good mission trip helping the Hemly Rd. Church in Bayou La Batre. We were given the job of going and visiting new members of the church. This we did and were successful in our visits and study with them. This is a very young church and is striving to help people in that area know the gospel. They have done a lot of work on their building and I was privileged to preach the first gospel sermon in their auditorium. This church works hard to influence the youth in the area.

Some other good news: The Plain View church in Merianville, Al. has an interest in helping the Church in Key West. I believe with the proper help they could have a great work in Key West. Of all the places, that I have door knocked, setting up bible studies, I have never had a more favorable reception than at Key West.

Our work on the fellowship hall is nearing completion at the Howell Chruch. We are looking forward in making good use in outreach for the Lord with the completion of this building.

Camp Joy will be hosting the Fri. night singing Aug. 1st at 7:00pm. If at all possible, I plan to go to this singing.. For more info about Camp Joy, you can write them at Camp Joy P.O.Box 8192 Lynchburg, Tn. 37352

Speaking of camps and the great work they do, I spoke to Mike at the Fla. Bible Camp in High Sprigs Fla. and he tells me that the camp is really booked for this summer. He is doing a great work at this camp. You can go to Mike's blog at www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com

If you are retired -or not retired- and are looking for a great way to serve the Lord, may I suggest you look at the Sojourners. You can go to the web site www.sojourning.org and find out a lot about opportunities for service in this great organization. You will meet some of the finest christians you will ever want to meet and you will have an opportunity to work and grow side by side with them.

Neal Holt and several sojourners will be working on the New Hebrew Chruch building starting June 1st. This is near Lewisburg, Tn. Even though I have to go to Fla. for about a week in June to see my Dad, Rosemary and I hope to spend some time on this sojourn.

Thanks for your email and updates about what all good is going on. Don

Busy Times At Florida Bible Camp

We have had groups here 14 out of the past 16 weeks and the next 3 weekends are booked. After that our youth camps start on June 8 and run through July 19. Following that we have 2 more weeks of youth camps scheduled with other groups. We are also getting bookings for late summer and fall. If you would like to schedule a men's or ladies retreat, church meeting, youth meeting, family reunion or company outing. Please let us know before the date you need is taken.