From Hinesville, GA, to Waycross, GA and beyond

back to Our Walk of Faith

On last Wednesday afternoon, Peter called and told us that it didn't look like it would work to go to his church, but there was another church that was really great. We dropped his workers off and went to his house to meet his wife, Marie, and to drop off our stuff. Then we headed out to church...when we got there, it was Trunk or Treat night, and so we didn't stay. We drove around looking for another church, but we weren't able to find anything until around 7. It was a Baptist Church...we were about to leave because it started at 6:30, but as we were walking away, 2 ladies who were just getting there invited us to come in. (God uses everyone, so the next time you are stressed about being late, look around to see who's on your path...God put them there!) We walked in just in time for prayer and Bible study. Everyone was really friendly and they told us that they would be praying for us. Peter and Marie were waiting for us when it was over. We went to the grocery store...everyone knew them because of their friendliness. Thursday morning, Peter had a flat, so we stopped at a neighbor's house to use the air compressor. "It just so happened" that she and her family are from Costa Rica. So she gave us contact info for 2 of her aunts and 2 of her daughters who are still in Costa Rica! Amazing...our God is just amazing...working through a flat tire. Sometimes we don't get the privilege of seeing the good that He is working out through the bad (Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28), but today we saw it and so did Peter! Wow!! After that was all taken care of we went to help a friend of his unload some pickets for a fence. Then we picked up his guys, and we were on our way. Peter wanted to get us down the road a bit so he dropped us off at a gas station about 9 miles down the road. From there we walked 10-11 miles to Hinesville, GA. The guys at KFC told us how to get to the library, so we headed in that direction, but ran into the Chamber of Commerce along the way. We went in to ask about a campground, and they ended up putting us in touch with Father Carter at St. Philip's Episcopal Church. He brought us supper after checking out our story with Chris's dad and let us stay in the Educational Center, part of their church. Pretty exciting...no worries about being too cold outside tonight! Friday morning, we went to a Korean mass at the St. Philip’s. Jennifer saw that we didn’t have a clue about what was going on, so she came over and showed us the songs and readings in English. She is such a servant. The priest who was doing the service speaks very little English, but he tried to say a few sentences for us during the homily. After the service, we met Ken and Sue. They invited us to stay with them (God had different plans), and we chatted for quite some time. Ken is just now beginning to understand God’s love for us, and he says that it’s like seeing the world through completely new eyes…what an encouragement! Next, we met with Father Carter and he shared about the Holy Spirit and church history. He also told us that God kept telling him Waycross, GA, which was interesting to us because Chris picked that out on the map when we were in KFC on Thursday. Father Carter brought us to his house and introduced us to his wife, Judy. (and their dogs!!) They shared with us about their experience with the Holy Spirit’s moving in their lives…such great testimonies of His presence throughout their lives. Not only did Father Carter tell us that he was supposed to take us to Waycross, but there was a Presbyterian pastor there that we had to meet. After we met Pastor Jeff (Martin), we learned that they had only met once for about 10 minutes several months ago. Why did God lay Waycross and Jeff Martin on Father Carter’s heart? Well we were about to find out. Pastor Jeff has also experienced a powerful move of the Holy Spirit in his life!! (I’m amazed to find such movement of the Holy Spirit and such power…we’re talking about Acts being lived out here across denominational lines!! It’s awesome…It’s the body of Christ as God intended it to be!!!) He’s been anointed to pray for people’s healing. So he prayed for Chris’s knee (old soccer injury) and his jaw and my hip (old running injury). After walking so much we were hurting. I was even struggling to walk especially after sitting for a time. We are both fine now! God’s power is so real!!! Pastor Jeff had arranged for us to stay with a good friend of his who lives about 2 miles down the road. As soon as we met Wes and Carol Highsmith, we knew that they were so in love with God! The Holy Spirit is so strong on them! They let us stay in their guesthouse and have just taken us in as family. They talk of nothing other than what God has done in their lives and in the lives of those around them. It’s amazing to hear of how God has used them. We think that the Holy Spirit has crossed our paths now because of something else He wants to do in the future…pray about that! On Saturday, we went to their grandson's soccer game. He's the one on the right with black and red shingards. On Sunday, they took us to their church, Christian Renewal, in Brunswick (near St. Simon’s and Jekyll Islands).
(The picture is of Wes and several of our new friends at church!)
Pastor Bill called us up at the end of the service and everyone prayed over us. We talked to several people after the service to share with them about what we are doing. It was such a blessing to be in that service. Pastor Bill and Sister Dorothy Jean took us all out to eat along with several other folks from the church. They both shared their story about the Holy Spirit…wow! They were Southern Baptist missionaries in Spain at the time. Sister Dorothy Jean received the Holy Spirit first and the gift of tongues. God used one of Pastor Bill’s professors to reveal the truth about the Holy Spirit to him. When Pastor Bill received the Holy Spirit, he spoke in Spanish initially and later developed a prayer language in the Spirit. Their testimony hits pretty close to home! We were so grateful that they shared and took so much time with us. Our schooling continues…God keeps reminding me of Mark 9:38-41 " 'Teacher,' said John, 'we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.' 'Do not stop him,' Jesus said. 'No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.' " In other words, which denomination you belong to or what church you are a member of isn’t that important. The focus should be on God as our father and provider, His Son Jesus as our Savior and Lord, and the Holy Spirit as our guide, comforter, and teacher. We are meant to work together for our Lord for His Kingdom purposes instead of being divided!! Sunday night we were able to speak to what we thought was going to be 1 small group of girls but ended up being 3-4 groups! We shared our testimony and what God is doing right now too! I was so excited because I love working with teenage girls!! They are at such a special time in their lives! We prayed for them, and they gathered around us, laid their hands on us, and prayed for us too! It was humbling! Those girls are really sweet and love the Lord! (It made me miss those SSS girls!! (and the guys) Please know we are praying for all of you too!) Christian Renewal Church also has a school, so on Monday we spoke at their chapel service to the middle and high school students! They were our first school group! We again shared our testimony and how God is proving scripture true in our lives daily! It’s exciting to witness. After the students were dismissed, a 6th grader named Abby came running us to us. She told us not to leave because she had to get something for us. Her mom came up while she was gone and told us that Abby had some birthday money. She had been making her list of what she wanted to buy with it. Well, she decided that she wanted to give it to us instead. Chris and I didn’t know what to say! It’s just like I said…the scripture is being lived out…God’s Word is alive! We are praying that God will bless Abby 100 fold and that we will all be moved to give like her. We as Christians need to take care of others. We are just account managers because all we have belongs to God. We need to give back to Him and be good managers of his money. Here we were at Abby’s school to share with her. Instead, she became our teacher! Carol showed us around Georgia’s sea islands after our time at the school, and we came back to their house. Tonight we’ll be going to The Salt House a church in a nearby town. We’re preparing to head out again tomorrow (Thursday) southwest across GA on 84W. This time we will be hiking with a staff. Wes made a staff (with a cross and the Ten Commandments on it) for Chris to carry to ward off animals along the way. Chris is extremely excited about it!! We’re continually excited to see what God is doing…please be in touch to let us know what’s going on with you! We love you! God bless!