So my incredible squad leader and dear sister in Christ, Allison Johnston, spontaneously invited me to accompany her to speak at a church in West Virginia. I think she gave me 36 hours of notice (World Race style), which is perfect for me, because I am incapable of planning social events further than one hour in advance, anyway. I’m a spur-of-the-moment kind of guy, and hope to remain that way until I have children of my own who will gently (unlikely) persuade me to grow up. Anyways, I ended up driving fourteen hours in two days to visit a church I had never even heard of, let alone visited. But let me tell you that God rocked my world. I am in such enormous debt to Allison for including me in her wild adventures. She is absolutely insane, but her craziness is rooted in a crystal clear, evidential love for Christ. When we arrived at the church, one of the members brought Allison a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha because she had mentioned her preference in one of her blogs (men should take notes from this guy). I am sincere when I say that God’s spirit was all over this church. We remained in fellowship with the church body from before 9:00 am until nearly 4:00 pm, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself the entire time. I think southern hospitality and charm is partially responsible, but it is more likely that God is to blame for our incredible day.
Since I regretfully took no photos, here are a few that I stole from Word of Light Community Church’s cozy website:
(As shown above) Pastor Doug has a heart like David’s. I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing that, as tears welled up in his eyes, he was humbled by the spirit that day. He was gentle, affectionate, meek in spirit, humble, quick to laugh, and totally anointed by God. He mentioned several times his eagerness to soak up all he could from us, and let me say that he stole my exact sentiment <laugh>. If I could, I would constantly surround myself with mentors like him. Proverbs 13:20 reminds us, “Go with wise men and be wise: but he who keeps company with the foolish will be broken.” Sincere thanks to you, Pastor Doug, as you touched our lives and led the entire congregation in prayer over us.
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(As shown above) While he no doubt has his own story to tell, I wanted to at the very least mention Pastor Doug’s son and a bit of our experience together. After spending an hour with Allison and me, he went home and had a long talk with his girlfriend. Both of these warriors of God felt a calling toward the ministry, as they each expressed interest in the World Race! Praise God and may He continue to work through your lives regardless of where He places you. Best of luck in Boot Camp, my friend.
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Special thanks to Allison, Pastor Doug, Word of Light Community Church, and to the special friends of Allison’s who hosted us and made me feel so warmly welcome.
