We want to let you know of a wonderful Celebration of God's work here on the Gulf Coast that took place on October 11, 2008. The people of Oak Hill Baptist Church worked for many months to pull together this awesome event held at the Pontotoc County Agri-Center in Pontotoc, MS.
The event was to thank those from this area who have worked with us for the past 3 years to help rebuild the homes and lives of those devastated by Hurricane Katrina. It was also to let people know that the work is far from over and still very much in need of volunteers and it is estimated the work here will be ongoing for the next 6 to 10 years.
It was extraordinary to see all of the efforts of these faithful people in everything that was done. The first thing was the food. Awesome!! A giant trailer with the biggest cooker we've ever seen in our lives cooking the most food we've ever seen cooked at one time (we think over 30 Boston Butt pork roasts!!). It was sooooo good. And it was free to anyone and everyone who came!
And all of the people who helped with all of the activities. The pictures of the past 3 years of work at Power of Prayer was put onto two TV's set up for groups to see as they came in. A video of testimonies of some of those who have been helped through these past 3 years was playing on an enormous big screen in the arena. And one of the families on the video came in person to the celebration to honor those who have sacrificed so much to come and help from Pontotoc.
Workers were everywhere. There were people cooking and serving food, helping with people signing in, selling T-shirts and helping with donations, decorating the stage, printing up information sheets on P.O.P. for distribution, and people who made signs. Thank you to everyone who helped in any way.
We were thrilled to be able to see so many of the people from this wonderful north MS county of Pontotoc who helped us get started and have continued to help us through these 3 years. We enjoyed meeting with you in your "neck of the woods". We love all of you dearly. Thank you again for your times of service. We look forward to working with you in the future!!
And of course, the music was unbeatable. First there was a very beautiful and unusual performance put on by members of Oak Hill. It was in the dark with black lights and just their hands that sported white gloves were visible and they "signed" with their gloved hands to some very touching songs. Very impressive indeed!!
And those wonderful guys of Fishers of Men with their big booming outstanding voices always giving God honor and glory. It was great to meet you on your turf and meet your wifes and families. And to hear your joyous singing once again. And we look forward to next year!! Thank you so much for your sacrifices.
We want to thank the local radio station who broadcast the information and the local newspaper who had an article about the event and P.O.P. Ministries.
We also appreciated hearing from our speakers. And it was a pleasure to have with us our friends and helpers from the start, Kim Faulkner and Barry Boyd.
Barry presented Power of Prayer Ministries with a beautiful etching of an eagle and a dead tree. Very significant to us. While praying about whether to begin P.O.P.out in our back field of dead trees, God sent a bald eagle right overhead. He circled us for a while, then disappeared. It was very touching for God to do this, because before the storm we had a family of four eagles living behind the swamp from us. We would see them nearly every day and sometimes they would fly really low over us in the woods. One day before the storm, Linda was by herself on the boardwalk Dave built for her and she saw a shadow cast on the walk. When she looked up there was one of the eagles so low she could almost reach up and touch him. We worried that the storm had killed the eagles or sent them away because we did not see any living bird after the storm for months. But this day, when he circled us out in the back field where we sat, we knew this was somehow a sign from God that we should indeed begin P.O.P. and that we would "soar" as the eagle if we did. We have not seen an eagle again until October of this year while we were praying with a group from Florida out on our front drive, 3 years later exactly!!
We truly feel that is what has happened these past 3 years. God has allowed us to "ride on His wings" to see many blessings and miracles of what He can do with complete destruction of lives and things. It has been nothing short of pure joy for us to be a tiny part of His plan and we are humbled and honored that He choose us to do it. Thank you, Jesus. We wouldn't trade it for anything else. We have seen God's glory manifested in ways we would have never seen without this storm. We have gained entry into homes and into the lives of people we would have never met and ministered in ways we never dreamed possible. We have heard stories that were unbelievable of survival and of God's grace. Many have given God honor and praise for their being saved from certain death. And just about everyone has given God praise for you, His volunteers. A huge turn around from the signs on the roadway we saw when we first arrived back, "Christians go home".
So, thanks again for the wonderful celebration. We pray to be able to continue the work God has started for His glory and we are thankful that we have you to join us in that journey.
