The Mission

And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.   -  Luke 15:6

Our Lord is relating a parable here about the rejoicing of salvation in heaven. I am struck by the nature, timing and location of the rejoicing – and I must admit this is something that was never all that poignant to me before. When the one is saved, the rejoicing is immediate. Even as the shepherd returns home, he begins his private celebration at his fortune in having found this little lost one. But, this is not sufficient. When he arrives home, then the ingathering of those with whom he has the closest relationship takes place as he relates to them his great joy.

Home is where we share our greatest joys with those that can appreciate them best. For a missionary, Home becomes that place to which God has knit our hearts. I am so glad to call Summerville home, and I am so glad to be back home to rejoice with my friends and neighbors. Of course, for any Christian our ultimate home can’t be in this world and I long to be in that place where Jesus the Chief Shepherd resides!

After nearly two weeks away in Alabama and Florida, we arrived back here in Summerville to prepare for a baptismal service on Sunday morning. I was privileged to baptize Brother Danny McCary and his wife Kathy – they were both saved as teenagers, but had never really been very involved in church. Several family members came to witness the event and we had a record 36 folks in attendance for the morning worship service!

Please pray for us as we approach our Grand Opening date, April 29^th. We have A LOT of work to get done to be ready, and we are praying for a big crowd. Dr Jeff Amsbaugh my former pastor from Grace Baptist Church in Columbus Georgia will be preaching with me on that day and there will be special singing and a big barbeque lunch. If you have an opportunity, we would love to have you attend the service that day. In addition, we are still looking for folks to help with literature distributions on Saturdays in April. If you or your church could help out, we would love to have you – just give me a call.

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What a blessing to have distribution teams from Stanley Heights Baptist Church and from South Haven Baptist Church sending forth the Word of God through Chattooga County in the last few weeks. About 4,000 John & Romans Scripture portions along with a promotional flyer were given out in the last month. We have about 1,000 left, and are praying we can get these out before winter sets. in.

This past week, our visiting teams met a good number of prospects and saw four trust Christ for salvation. We will be following up in the coming days.

Thanks to everyone who participated from the various churches, in both the distributions and the production and assembly of the materials. God is using you to reach the people of Summerville, Trion and Chattooga County for Christ.

Pastor Todd 

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We had a great day yesterday at NHBC. We had 18 in Sunday school, 23 in the morning worship service and 20 in the evening. In the Adult Sunday School, we studied the importance of the King James Bible and why we use it, while the morning preaching message was entitled There is Still Water in the Well from John 4, based on a message we recently heard preached by Dr. Shelton Smith at the Sword of the Lord Conference. The evening preaching was a continuation of our series on the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 entitled simply Love. Everyone enjoyed a Fruity treat at the conclusion of the message (a chocolate covered strawberry, in honor of Love).

We were honored with 4 first time visitors and a few special guests, including a piano player - praise the Lord!!!!

Please continue to pray for New Haven Baptist Church and the work in Chattooga County.

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Almost 3 weeks on the road, and we are finally heading back to middle Tennessee! Its hard to call it home, but it is where our stuff is. And our grandchildren - and our South Haven church family. Well - I guess we can call it home for now. The truth is, we long to be in Summerville at New Haven Baptist Church.

It has been a wonderful trip these last three weeks. We were blessed to be  in six different churches, all with a passion for the Lord! We have been blessed beyond our expectations by the generocity of God's people. It is a humbling experience to see Him work through His Church.

God is good, All of the time!

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This morning while preparing to write the The Mission, I saw this indicator for something on my computer: "Status: Not Saved," it said, and it struck me how many people are in that same condition - their status is "Not Saved."  

Mark 16:16 tells us "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." God has given us the awsome responsibility of reaching a lost world with the Gospel of Christ. Some days, I fear that I don't really consider the gravity and urgency of that responsibility.

Yesterday, at the conclusion of the evening service, we were priviledged to speak with two folks about their desire to be baptized. One of them was a young high school girl who has attended services with her family for several months. Mrs Jennifer Larson took her aside last week during prayer time, and asked her about her spiritual condition. Jesus became real to her in those moments and she was wonderfully converted. Her new Status: SAVED!!!!!

We are so thankful for the faithful work of The Larsons. Brother Bob and Mrs. Jennifer have made their home here in Summerville this summer and labored for the Lord. The people at the church love and appreciate this special couple as do we!

Continue to pray for the needs of the church and us as we continue on deputation. We reallly need meetings for the fall, so if you know anyone please pass that information along.

Your servants in Christ - the Threlkeld Family

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