I like the little phrase “Here we go again!” It kind of leaves it open to whether that is good or bad. It does suggest that something is being repeated, we are doing something again. I hope in the case of these two things, it represents “another round of blessings”. So, let’s talk about it.
The first round of blessings is in reference to our opportunities to bless the relief work and the community in LaPlace, Louisiana. Our former church members, Charles and Judy Dillon have set up their home and base in LaPlace, where they will likely live for the next few years. Hurricane Ida stalled out over LaPlace for 5 hours doing an incredible amount of damage. Remember when Hugo was the most destructive hurricane in history? Then came Andrew in South Florida that topped Hugo. Then came Katrina in New Orleans and other coastal communities proving to be the most expensive and destructive hurricane on record. Now, Hurricane Ida comes along and says “watch this!” So, here we go again. We are sending our first scouting team on Monday, September 20. We have four or five people going on the short bus loaded with supplies and loaded with love. Another group of 6 will meet them there Tuesday, September 21. Our goal is to meet with Charles and Judy Dillon, the local pastor and his staff, and hopefully some pastors in the surrounding community. We will have an African American Pastor, Larry Goss with us on this trip. He is the Pastor of Destiny Church, a part of the Charleston Baptist Association. Pray that our Father will open doors for us to speak to and encourage local pastors as they deal with terrific devastation on top of the Corona Virus pandemic.
My goal is kind of like what we do when we prayer walk a community: we are praying on site with insight. What has God blessed JIBC with that could be a blessing to this community. When we return we will put together a list of possibilities. Really, almost anything we do will be a help. I imagine things like prayer teams, cooks, kitchen cleanup crews, blood pressure stations, people to hand out food and Bibles, listening stations to have coffee with distressed people, children’s activities, bands to play praise music and lead in healing concerts, construction crews, chain saw teams, etc, etc. Here we go again…another round of blessings.
Now, the second round of blessings I was referring to. Janie and I celebrated our 36th year serving our Lord and His church family at James Island Baptist. I know it is so very unusual and uncommon for a Pastor and church family to stay together for anywhere near 36 years. I just read one survey that said the average stay of a pastor is 3.5 years in smaller churches and 7.7 years in larger churches. Janie and I have been honored to raise our children at JIBC and now to work on raising some of our grands here. I find myself saying it over and over…I love our church family. So, here we go again…another round of blessings, good Lord willing.
Hope to see you Sunday!
Pastor Tom
