Rest At Last!

Since coming home from Israel, we have been so busy. We arrived home early Friday morning. in time to hit New York traffic for the drive home. We dropped Shawn off for school and went to bed. Friday was kind of a throw away day. Although, no day is really "throw away." what i mean by that is...I was useless. We were able to get all bags unpacked and many loads of laundry done. I only mention this because Saturday, I was back at work.

We returned home from Israel right at the beginning of one of the busiest times in our church calendar. Our annual mission conference happens in March. And you guessed it, it started the Sunday after we returned from Israel. Now that it is Sunday Evening, I want to brag a little, because I would not have been able to survive if it were not for the people with whom I minister.

First, Sunday services opened and everything was already set up. The music for the entire week was ready, thanks Gina. We had a continental breakfast Sunday to kick things off, thanks Larry. The speaker was ready and delivered timely messages, thanks Greg. My sermon Sunday night was enhanced by our missions family, thanks Bill and Ralph. The Bibles that we prepared were a blessing, thanks Scott. And the international dinner was tremendous, thanks Hazel, Lisa, Daphne, Ana, Stacy, Jeannette, Wanda and Larry. In all reality, there were so many people helping, it's hard to think that anyone was idle.

This was different from many of our missions conferences simply because it went from Sunday to Sunday. But the biggest difference was that we scheduled a 4 day Bible project int he middle of our conference. We planned to put together 12,000 John and Romans. I must confess, when I saw the the Bible being unloaded, I was sure we were in over our heads. In fact, I thought... "It's been a good 13 years, they will ask for my resignation on Monday." But I forgot what great people we have at Pond Hill Baptist Church. We worked with Scott Sandy and the Northeast Baptist Seedline. Scott was awesome and he coordinated us in such a way that assured success. We started work on Wednesday morning and completed the work on Friday morning. Whew...I still have a job. And not only that, but our church is energized that we made 8800 Bibles to go to Africa and 3000 Bibles to use here in North Haven.

Tonight was our commitment banquet. We had a regular chicken dinner with matza ball soup and a traditional Ecuadorian meal with beef and chicken empanadas. I, of course, had the Ecuadorian meal. All the food was excelled, and it only confirmed what I already knew. I am so lucky to serve with the great people of Pond Hill Baptist Church. Thakns again guys for allowing me to be your pastor.

With Love,
Pastor Mike