FFM Online Newsletter - August, 2007
FAMILY.....FUN.....FRIENDS....FELLOWSHIP! These are the best words to describe our month!! We began the month of August finishing up the revival at Erin, TN. On the 3rd, we headed home to pick up Leah who had been staying with her grandmother for the week. Then it was off to Indianapolis, IN where we enjoyed a day of worship at Liberty Baptist Church with Pastor James Woods. On Monday we began the Crossroads of America Jubilee at Victory Baptist Church in Greenfield, IN with Pastor Calvin Hensley. What a great week of worship and fellowship it was! The Lord then gave us the opportunity to spend two whole days with Nancy's parents in Louisville, KY! We celebrated her mom's 81st birthday as well as her parents 59th anniversary. On Friday we all drove down to Natural Bridge in KY. The plan was to take the chair lift up to the bridge and then hike down, but alas...the chair lift was out of order because of the intense 100 degree heat!! So Grandmom and Grand-dad waited at the lodge while we Gilleys hiked up to the bridge to enjoy the view! It was beautiful all right.....but HOT!! We enjoyed worshipping at the pavilion at the top, and even sang Majesty and Glory and the Hallelujah Chorus up there! We finally made it back down the trail and met at the lodge so we could head back to Louisville. It was a special visit, and could only have been better if David had been with us. We didn't have long to wait, though!! On Saturday we headed for Greenville, SC where we began a Family Revival at Parkwood Baptist Church with Pastor Stan Wardlaw. They are so precious to our family, and make us feel so loved. On Monday we tried to contain our excitement until we could go to the Greenville/Spartanburg airport to pick up David. What a family reunion we had!!!!! With joy in our hearts, we drove right to the church for the Monday night service where we enjoyed singing and ministering all together again!! On Thursday of that week we drove to Sunset, SC where we sang and preached at Victorious Valley Baptist Church and showed Rebekah and David the tremendous ministry of Susan and Johnny McGill at the Victorious Valley Homes. They are always such a blessing to us, and the girls there will never know how much they have blessed our family with their CD's of godly music and with their testimonies of God’s grace! It was a thrill for Rebekah to share her testimony there and the let the girls know how they have blessed her all the way in Taiwan. The next day we drove back to Greenville where Rick spoke at a Sunday School meeting on Saturday and then preached on Sunday at Freedom Baptist Church with Pastor Jerry Clark.
The next week was spent in Wilmington, NC, our home of 19 years!! We stayed with our friends, J.M. and Geneil Caton, and spent our time visiting with dear friends from our church there, and driving around to see our favorite sights! We spent an afternoon with the precious Hispanic children that we used to bring to church every week, spent a morning at Wrightsville Beach, and fellowshipped at a pot luck dinner. What a wonderful week!!
We left Wilmington and drove to Lumberton, NC where we began a revival at Tabernacle Baptist Church with Pastor David McNeil and his precious family. The Lord blessed that week in a mighty way! Special thanks to all our friends from Wilmington, Southport, Monroe, and Candor who drove down to be with us during the week!
We finally headed homeward, stopping in Covington, GA for a night of fellowship with our dear friends, the Comptons, and then a wonderful day of tubing and boating on the river with Pastor Ken Bowman in Bowden, GA!
It was a tired, but happy crew who pulled into the driveway at 2505 College St SE that Saturday after a solid month on the road. There is no way we can express our joy at serving and ministering together for these 3 weeks. We have sung, prayed, played, reminisced, and enjoyed each precious moments together. God has truly blessed us, and we praise His name! Please pray for us as we prepare to send Rebekah off to Taiwan for her 4th year of ministry there. Pray for God's grace to give her to Him once again, and to trust her to His care. We are so unworthy of His love and grace, yet we rejoice in all that He has done for us!