Wwwweeeee'rrrrrreeee in Wagener, SC

back to Our Walk of Faith

What an exciting adventure filled with unexpected twists and turns…Last Friday, we ended up going to the Hannah House, Christ Central’s women and children’s shelter in Columbia, after leaving the library. We toured the house and played with the kids which is always one of our favorite things! We met Sasha , a student from USC who was volunteering at the Hannah House. She took us back to campus and gave us a tour and allowed us to post to the blog. She’s very interested in helping with the impoverished (especially women) in Columbia. It’s a huge problem…we also learned that 2,000-6,000 homeless people are on the streets of Columbia at all times. It was such an eye-opener to walk around downtown. Many of the business people went to the other side of the sidewalk to move away from us, but the homeless were really nice. We ran into Champ on 3-4 different days down there. He’s really nice and helped us find our way when we were lost! It didn’t work out for us to see Pastor Jimmy on Friday because God had other plans…my friend Abby (way back from the 9th grade) lives near Columbia, so she invited us to stay with her. It was perfect timing for both of us! We washed clothes, dried out the tent, and hung out with her and her little boy, Mason for the weekend. Abby found a church for us to visit on Sunday morning, North Point Community Church, and then we went out to lunch with her family. (It was great to see her parents!!) From there, Abby dropped us off back at the library…it was closed AGAIN, but Joel (a “student” who flagged us down on Friday to talk about our packs) wanted to meet with us to talk about what we were doing. After meeting with him, we learned that he’s not a student, but a Navigator staff person for USC. We were able to learn about their ministry on campus and share some about ours. Guess when Pastor Jimmy called…yep, right as we finished our conversation with Joel, so they met and shared some ideas about campus ministries. Then Pastor Jimmy brought us to Wagener, SC where the Christ Central Institute is.


We stayed in a bed & breakfast, The Claridge House, and met Gloria, the only person we know who has ever heard of Moravian Falls or the prayer fest that went on up there. Monday, we met with part of the board of directors for Christ Central and began discussing some ideas. Please pray about our future involvement with teenagers, missions training, and leading mission trips. Monday night we went to class with Pastor Jimmy and Jason (director of education at the Institute and a teacher there as well). Well, let me tell you…Jason taught us about several ancient Christians, the role of the early church in caring for the needs of others, and the rule of truth that governed many decisions made by the early church—a mentally stimulating experience. Then Pastor Jimmy taught the next class—one that makes you want to move and help others because it touches your heart. (It’s so amazing that they are teaching both your heart and your mind both of which are so important in our Christian faith!!) He instructed us from Isaiah 50:4-5…in order to deal with people we must first deal with ourselves…then God gives us a learned tongue to encourage the weary and a learned ear to hear Him! God loves people. He puts His Holy Spirit in us, so we can love people like Him! Wow…what a tall order! People tell big tales because we don’t truly listen to them, so we need to authentically listen to people!! Needless to say, we’ve wished for a tape recorder on more than one occasion as Pastor Jimmy teaches from God’s Word! On Tuesday, we had lunch with Jason and Bobbi, and Jason answered a lot of the questions that he had raised in our minds the night before in class. Then we went to class again this time to Colossian Christians…Jason taught and expounded upon Col 1:15-2:15. He also discussed the role of influences in our beliefs…1st Scripture, 2nd church tradition (all of it, not just your denomination), 3rd reason, 4th your experiences. Interesting…still thinking about all that he said…that’s what a good teacher does though…raise questions that you have to think about, pray about, and study in order to figure out. He also talked about the Jehova’s Witnesses and why they don’t believe Jesus is God. Pretty sad how the entire misconception comes from one verse being taken out of context and therefore not understood! They rejected the wisdom of 1800 years of those gone before them in the faith for their own “truth.”

Wednesday was huge! Pastor Jimmy arranged for us to meet the board of directors for FCA in SC (Stu Rodman, the chairman is also on the board of directors for Christ Central) and the regional director, Dicky Clark, for SC and GA. Amazing!! We were a little under-dressed, but praise God for the privilege to talk with them about FCA, our walk of faith, and some of our ideas for the future. That meeting was a HUGE God thing. Chris and I had discussed one day having that opportunity, but God thought it needed to be now! We felt speechless, but thankfully God gave us words to express how much mission experiences through FCA meant to our students and how much God had used those experiences to change them and their focus. WOW…that’s still all I can say! Then, we went to lunch with Pastor Jimmy (and to our own specialized class!!). He talked with us about praying for a vision and a goal…not just to arrive in Peru, but what would happen after that?, Why the journey? What would we do after we got there?, How does the journey fit in to the larger plan of God?, etc. That made us start thinking!! He also has emphasized 3 things during our stay here that are worthy of passing on because they are applicable to us all…1st “You are God’s response to this generation and it’s problems”—you could have been born any time, but you are living NOW so what are you going to do? 2nd “Do not ignore the people in your path.”—don’t go looking for people or their problems, but God brings people in your path for two reasons…for them to help you or for you to help them. So figure out which and work with them! 3rd “You must have a goal…Then when problems arise, stay focused on the goal (not the problem)…problems won’t improve until you improve (your vision).” Aaahhh! So good! God has taken us to school on this journey…we are in training for what’s next…we’ll be sharing more as God reveals the exact details of what that is! When we got back to Wagener, we went to eat with Pastor Leroy and Mrs. Carolyn. Then we spoke at their church, The Chapel of Love. I’ve never been in a service before where the things they praised God for outnumbered the prayer requests! It was amazing. They encouraged us and welcomed us with open arms! Wonderful!! We haven’t just been going to class and meetings here though…Jay David (an amazing artist) has been helping me with our website…he’s made an animation and a map for us!! Chris has been working with Dave on finishing a house for him and his wife Kari, who both work here at the institute. Well, I guess that’s all for now…we are planning to hit the trail again today or tomorrow as God leads us…We love ya’ll! God bless!
Raymond, a student at the Institute...











The newly remodeled girl's dorm where we have been staying...








Bobbi, one of the

Institute's receptionists...

Ryan, a student at the

Institute, loves playing

with the kids at church.

Dave & Kari

Ms. Delores who's been with the ministry of Christ Central since the beginning when the garbage can served as a podium to preach from...ask us about this story sometime!!