We had our annual District Council at Cathedral of Praise in Memphis. On our way there, we stopped by to visit Terry's mom at Wanda, his sister's house.
Their son, Jason, and his family were there. We had a great time! Jason is very talented musically, and his kids are following in his footsteps.
District Council was amazing!! We have it once a year to take care of business for the year, but it is SO much more than business. We elected a new Youth Director, Jeremy Austill and his wife, Michelle, General Presbyter Todd Alexander, Bro. Glenn Burkes as our Secretary/Treasurer for the next year, women's director Lori Hawkins and assistant women's director Tammy Waycaster. We're excited about our new leaders and about what God has in store in the coming years under their leadership.
Brian Jarrett spoke the first night and the next morning. On Tuesday morning, he talked about not holding offences. It is so troubling to me to see Christian people holding grudges and offences against one another. The Bible clearly says to "forgive one another even as Christ has forgiven you". It also says that if we do not forgive others then God will not forgive us for our sins. We have the tendency to minimize our sins and maximize others. Does it really matter who is right or wrong?
On Tuesday, we had a ladies luncheon. The women at Cathedral of Praise where the council was held did all of the decorations and did a great job!
Janet Greer prepared the food. We had salad, poppy seed chicken and green beans. For dessert, we had a chocolate/fruit cup. Everything was delicious!
Samalee Allen spoke to the ladies at the luncheon. She talked about the new ministry they will be involved in, Calcutta Mission. I know it helped me understand more about what they will be doing. She was also very entertaining as well!!
We had a missions banquet on Tuesday night. Shane Warren preached a great message and really stirred everyone's heart about missions.
At the banquet, we skyped with missionaries Nathan and Barbara Lambert in Belize. Thirty acres of land has been given to the Assemblies of God in Belize with plans to build a campground. Terry and eight presbyters will be going to Belize on Monday, April 24th, to visit the site. Construction of the dorms will be done by the Amish. We received commitments from nine sections to complete ten dorms as well as received $13,000 in cash and $5,500.00 in pledges to pay for the plumbing fixtures. It was a great victory!
There was a group of young people from Cathedral of Praise who worked behind the scenes for weeks prior to the Council and tirelessly during the Council helping us with basically anything that we needed. Sometimes we fail to thank those people who "make the magic happen". From the bottom of my heart, thank you Tricia, Danny, Tristen, Paige, Jacob, Curtis and Ian for all you did for us! You guys are awesome!!
There was such a feeling of family and unity at the Council. That's really what we are...family. We all have different callings and gifts, but we are all called for the same purpose...to evangelize and reach our world for Jesus! As a team, we can do just that as we keep our eyes focused on our true leader, Jesus. We're in this thing together. And I love it!!
By the way, this is my first rose of the season. Just had to share it!!
