 | By Ron and Louise Maynard (Mankato Church of Christ) Ron and Louise Maynard’s Fishers of Men Newsletter March 23, 2015 58117 238th Street, Mankato MN 56001 fomrlm@aol.com 612-963-2808 WEBSITE / FACEBOOK |
St. Vincent: We "thank God on every remembrance of you." (Philippians 1:3)
We left St. Vincent in the early hours of last Thursday and arrived in Minnesota in the early hours of Friday. It was a long day, but God granted us safety; not only that, but all our luggage arrived with us! Leaving St. Vincent was bittersweet. We had never been gone from home for three months before, certainly not to another country, and it is always sweet to return home, but we love the people of St. Vincent and found it difficult to say good-bye. This was one of the best 11 weeks of teaching we have ever experienced. The statistics tell part of the story:
| RELATED ARTICLE: Fishers of Men @ Richland Park | MORE PHOTOS: WEEK IX @ Sandy Bay |
Already 2 souls have been baptized into Christ as a result of the classes. We trust that God will continue to give the increase.
With numbers like those above, you can imagine that many students were in the Honor Club with over 200,000 points: 3 at Sandy Bay, 9 at Richland Park, and 30 at Kingstown! I can’t ever remember having half of the class in Honor Club as we did at Kingstown.
Of course, the numbers do not tell the flesh-and-blood story of the work in St. Vincent. One man wrote on his Idea Page: “I have words of extreme gratitude to express to you, the instructors of this class. The great number of things I took for granted and used to overlook, I now see in a new and substantially brighter light. For all the effort that you put into teaching and encouraging us as students, I am truly grateful, and I can now say with rare confidence that I have benefitted more than I imagined.” And we say, “To God be the glory!”
With numbers like those above, you can imagine that many students were in the Honor Club with over 200,000 points: 3 at Sandy Bay, 9 at Richland Park, and 30 at Kingstown! I can’t ever remember having half of the class in Honor Club as we did at Kingstown.
Of course, the numbers do not tell the flesh-and-blood story of the work in St. Vincent. One man wrote on his Idea Page: “I have words of extreme gratitude to express to you, the instructors of this class. The great number of things I took for granted and used to overlook, I now see in a new and substantially brighter light. For all the effort that you put into teaching and encouraging us as students, I am truly grateful, and I can now say with rare confidence that I have benefitted more than I imagined.” And we say, “To God be the glory!”
Sandy Bay Class at Graduation
We are indebted to so many on this beautiful island, and to begin to thank them all here is impossible, but I must single out Jimmy Bracken and his family: Katra, Lleyton, Mark, Gail Williams, and Willie and Christine Phillips, (yes, all of these are in the Bracken family!) who made our stay so pleasant and rewarding. They furnished our transportation to the Sandy Bay and Richland Park classes, to appointments for me to speak at various congregations, to the bank, the grocery store¸ the immigration office, etc. It was Jimmy who invited us to come to St. Vincent initially and who recruited classes for us. We are also especially indebted to Joel and Janelle Jack for arranging our lodging, for providing transportation in Kingstown, and for taking us on a couple of sight-seeing excursions. Their son, Jamali Jack, is a master of technology who helped me in many ways. He created and maintains one of the best church websites I’ve ever seen, and he took countless pictures of everything imaginable related to the FOM classes. Check it out at kccsvg.org/fom2015.
Spring Classes
We plan to make the familiar trek from Minnesota to Alabama on Thursday. Classes are scheduled to begin on March 30th with the Flint Church of Christ in Decatur. We plan to be at the Curry church of Christ in Jasper on Tuesdays and the Tanner church of Christ on Thursdays. We have never worked with these congregations before, but we also have a Wednesday morning class scheduled with the Midway church of Christ in Trinity, a beloved group of Christians who have hosted five classes in the past. We are thankful for the doors of opportunity that God has opened for us once again in northern Alabama.
Can you help us financially?
Please prayerfully consider our needs. Funds may be sent to Cordova church of Christ, 7801 Macon Road, Cordova, TN 38018.
