Carlinville, Illinois

After the morning service in Abingdon, we had a three and a half hour drive south to First Assembly of God in Carlinville.  We had an hour and 15 minutes to set up for an evening concert service. To this point we have had a Friday night Sound Team Workshop, an all day Saturday praise team workshop, a Sunday morning service, and now we have driven three and a half hours for this evenings service.   This is when you know its a God thing...to have the strength to minister after a whirlwind series of events.

Pastor Dave and Connie, seasoned ministers with many years of pastoral experience, took the position of senior pastors here since January 2009.   Listen to what he had to say after the concert in the following video.

Glenda was impressed by the friendliness of the congregation and their warm reception.  The majority of this congregation were seniors that were solid examples of being faithful pillars of this church.  There was also a mix of younger families who are now joining this church fulfilling Pastor Dave's vision of outreach and growth.  

There was an Assembly of God district campground a few miles away.  During our time here in Carlinville we had the opportunity to visit the campground.  Some of the folks that attend the church are on staff there.  We had a wonderful visit with them and they gave us the VIP tour.  

Anna conducted a hip hop dance class for the youth on Wednesday during the week.  The youth pastor was very excited to have this event as she also has a heart of outreach.  There were about 10 girls who attended the class. There were lots of laughs and smiles.

Welcome to our first Blog!

  

Abingdon Illinois  

  This tour began with white knuckle driving due to gale force winds on our way to our first stop in Abingdon Illinois.  But thanks to the prayers of many we made it!  We had to stop twice on the way due to the winds and tornadoes were reported in the area.  Even the pastor and several church members had water in their basements, some which never had the problem in the past.  

  We began our two day Sound/Worship Workshop on Friday and Saturday to the sound of a shop vac trying to suck the water out of the sanctuary.  The sound team really connected to the information and were excited to put it into place.  Many small churches have volunteers that know nothing about the equipment and it's such a joy to see the "lights come on".  

  We loved out time with the praise and worship team.  The "generational gap" is a nation-wide issue, for example, hymns versus contemporary praise.  It's important for people to know everyone matters no matter what their age.   When we have the spirit of serving each other it changes the attitude to a heart of worship.

  This concert was Anna's first full concert to be on stage for the entire service.  She is singing the tenor part that Michelle used to sing.  She made her Mom and Dad cry because she did so well.  The people were very responsive and touched by what they heard and saw.  

  This church was booked months ago via the connection with Matt and Amanda Foutch from our home church.  Dwight and Pam Foutch and family helped us load and unload equipment and fed us a wonderful dinner.  The church was filled with wonderful people like this family.  Dynamic testimonies of God's faithfulness were shared with us as we got to know these people.  We expect to hear wonderful things about this church in the near future. 

Next up....Carlinville Illinois and the great folks at First Assembly of God