view more pictures from the week We departed Huntsville, Alabama and made our way up to Oak Ridge, Tennessee on Saturday morning. This was our third meeting with Pastor Tom Craig and Oak Ridge Baptist Church. Last March, we had a full week of meetings at this church and were not scheduled to return until 2009. Pastor Craig called one month in advance and asked if we could come during our open week in February for a special Friend's Day. He had been praying for a speaker and music team to come for quite some time. When the opportunity arose, we gladly accepted it as an open door from the Lord. We had a great Friend's Day with their third largest attendance in the church's history (177) with one man accepting Christ as his Saviour. It was a shorter week for us, with the meetings running only from Sunday through Wednesday night; and the emphasis throughout was primarily on revival themes for Christians. I preached a message to the church on Brokenness, one on How to Be a Zero, and one on Running the Race from Hebrews 12. We saw some wonderful decisions and changes made. As a team, we had a refreshing time with these gracious and encouraging people.
Seeing how God has been working in this church just in the last year was really special for us. The church is growing both spiritually and physically, and they are looking to relocate soon, as they are quickly outgrowing their current site. Just in the last few years, Pastor Craig has added Jon Kopp as a youth pastor/music director/publications coordinator and Bobby McCoy as a help in financial and administration duties. All of these men were a continual blessing to us as they bent over backwards to serve us. They are men with a heart for the Lord and for people, and their families all graciously contributed to our having a wonderful week. We were glad to be back at Oak Ridge, and we praise the Lord for this added week of ministry.
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