Notes from the Ohio Trip, Part 1

Well, here I am...sitting in a hotel room in Bellville, Ohio. (I wonder how many hotels I've been in during the course of my life? Too many to count!) We are in a meeting at the Peoples Baptist Church in Mansfield, Ohio, this week. Pastor James Spencer and his church have been very kind and very receptive to us. The meeting started on Sunday, but we arrived Monday afternoon. I've enjoyed the preaching of Evangelist Tim Booth. From what I've heard, Evangelist Dennis Corle was here on Sunday, and Evangelist Randy Taylor, Sr. is expected later this week. It's always refreshing to hear great preaching. The church has their own quartet, as well as some other folks who have played and sung. It's nice to see a church with their own good groups...gives us a break now and then! The three of us started out on our three-week Ohio Trip last Saturday. We were at the Cleveland Baptist Church this past Sunday. Pastor Kevin Folger is such a gracious man and we enjoyed spending some time with him and his wife and son, Pete Folger, and his family. It has probably been about fourteen years since we have been here, and probably seventeen years or so since we last sang at the church. Many, many people were telling us that they remembered us with the bus and "all those kids". Yup, we sure had quite a crew back in those days. Kinda funny to reduce down to just three of us and a car. But, that's the way things change! Cleveland Baptist seemed to like the music, even though the family has shrunk to only three...they especially liked the harp and pennywhistle. Hmmm....makes me wonder if Joanna and Monica would do fine without me? We were surprised to see Bro. Butch Caldwell and his wife, and son, Jason, on Sunday morning. (They were presenting their ministry at CBC this weekend.) They came to lunch with us and the Folgers, and it was nice to get to talk with them some. Tisa (Thompson) Damron was also in the services along with her 3 kids. We were excited to be able to catch up with her on Monday and hear all the news from the Thompson family. So many memories! Please pray for the Lord's Hand to be upon us as we minister this week. We already sense His presence here in this meeting. How we need His power to enable us to do His will!