Donna Carpenter gave Sarah and I a good excuse to go home last weekend when she told us that the church was planning a SURPRISE party during Pastor Appreciation month to honor Mom & Dad for having served at Bible Baptist in Ishpeming for 30 years!
So when Mom & Dad arrived at church Sunday morning they learned that we were having a special service to commemorate their 30 years at Bible Baptist, including a fellowship dinner after the service. We had come up with an entirely new order of service, so Mom & Dad had the "fake" bulletin with what they THOUGHT was the order of service, when in fact the deacons had staged a coup and had printed off entirely new bulletins which changed the songs, Scripture reading, and even the speaker! We had a guest with us from Continental Baptist Missions, Tom Logsdon, so Dad didn't even have to preach!
We sang songs of God's faithfulness, had a moving time of testimony where several members shared what the ministry had meant in their lives through the years, and I put together a PowerPoint slideshow a "Walk Down Memory Lane" that Rachel & Sarah narrated with pictures of the last 30 years (thanks to Rachel for raiding mom and dad's photo albums). We sang a song as a family, Sarah sang a special, and we even had a special "virtual Tim" visit with a video testimony that he had mailed to us!
It was a special day for the whole family. During dessert we even pulled out some slides on the actual SLIDE PROJECTOR (thanks again, Rachel!).
I think it is good to have "stones of remembrance" of how God has showed Himself to be faithful in the past and will continue to show Himself faithful. It was a nice time to celebrate our ministry in Ishpeming!
Ephesians 4:11-12 "And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ..."
Mom & Dad during testimonies:
Singing as a family:
A prayer time and also a special presentation of a plaque:
Rachel & Sarah during the PowerPoint presentation:
4 comments:
I remember going to their church every year for an explors rally - they were always so kind and interested in the children and what we were doing! Congratulations Hills on being Faithful in the ministry God has called you!
So glad you could go spend some time with them too!
What a great post! Thank you for sharing. God has used your parents to be a blessing to many people. God is good.
That is so cool! Thank you for posting pictures of that day...how special for you and your parents!
Congratulations to your mom and dad! They are an inspiration! We are thankful for their example. It's motivating as Mark and I launch out into a new ministry! Tell them we said hello and congrats!
Post a Comment