About our work here.....

Even though I am posting this early Tuesday morning, I wrote most of it about 4 yesterday afternoon. Internet access is spotty and so my posting is as well.

I am going to write mostly about the area we have come to, and over the next couple of days we’ll show more of what our own people are doing.

When you drive to this part of Virginia. You are immediately struck by the beautiful scenery – tall mountains and lush green valleys. The towns you drive through seem prosperous and busy. But you don’t have to go far off the main highways to realize there is a tremendous amount of poverty here.

You first hint is the Powel Valley Baptist Association building itself. Unlike our associational building in Roanoke, which is mostly offices, the Powel Valley office is two metal buildings, one of which is largely dedicated for use as a clothes closet. They are sponsoring a free shoes day and free bookbag day for people at local churches. As Martha Murray and I were preparing meals today, the phone rang constantly and one after one they were calls from this church or that church asking for 20, 30, more bookbags or shoes for their kids. Simply taking care of day to day needs is a large part of their ministry here.

Jonesville, where we are doing a backyard bible school, and a bible study at the nursing home, is an old town, founded in the 1760’s. Walk through the town and you’ll find about half of the buildings are vacant. Saint Charles, the town near Darbyville First Baptist Church, where we are doing the Vacation Bible School, is an old train switching town. They still switch trains late into the night there, but it’s far from it’s once bustling self. Walk the streets here and you see there are only a couple of real businesses – all the other buildings are being used by various social services, or lie empty.

I parked at the church, where we are doing the VBS, and where Tim and Joe are working on the roof and other projects. A boy who had attended the bible school that morning and a young man who was his friend were there. We walked up the road and they told me about their neighbors. Nearly every third house had adults of working age sitting on the porch or standing outside, with nothing to do. “No Jobs.” the young man told me. “Nothing to do anywhere.”

A lot of times, when we think of missions, we think of going to non-christian places, but that is not always the case. There is a lot of faith here and people are not afraid to proclaim it. In the hotels, gas stations, restaurants, and everywhere you go, there are faith reminders. On our hotel tables, there are bibles, open, not hidden away in a drawer someplace, and a note asking for God’s blessings on the guests. At a store where I stopped to take a picture, there were hand written prayers framed on the walls.

Consider this, a week of VBS is like getting an entire quarter of Sunday School in just a few days. Many of the small churches do not have the people or the resources to provide a VBS for their kids and the kids in their neighborhood. And our coming here allows them to do that, providing not just good teaching for their own members, but an outreach.

Every one here is working hard. As I type this, the teens from our church are finishing up working with David O’Dell on the backyard bible school in the blistering heat of the day. Our adults have finished up teaching in the nursing home and are now packing bookbags and gifts for the kids in the local church. Tim and Joe are probably on a roof at the church. We’ll meet here again about 6 and eat, then worship together.

Thank you all for your encouragements. You comments here and to individual members hold us up and remind us that there are many who are praying for us. Each of you who pray; each of you who gave food or drinks, have made a profound difference for us, and for people here in Powell Valley.

Tom

PS - don't forget, you can click on the small pictures for larger versions.