March and April happenings

Greeting, friends,

Spring has sprung! At least the snow is melting. I put the snowblower away for the spring. I saw the first few crocuses last week, so warmer weather is on the way. Things are continuing to go well here in Conway. I say “well” in that we have not had any serious setbacks or concerns in the congregation’s life this month. In fact, we have just come off of an exciting weekend as we hosted a Women’s Weekend Rally here at the building. Becky Blackmon came and did the speaking for the ladies. She is the daughter of Russ and Lea Fowler, who established the work here in Conway in the late 70’s. Maybe we were a bit crazy for hosting such a weekend so close to our youth rally last month, but it all went well. The men did a lot of the cooking and behind the scenes helping. We ended up with over seventy ladies coming for the event. Becky did a wonderful job and many women mentioned how they really needed the weekend. In fact, we had several ladies in attendance who were part of the group that left the church a couple of years ago. One can hope and pray that through things like this the door may be opened for some eventual restorations of fellowship. We’ll see. Someone mentioned that the weekend was a good testimony to the New England area that the Conway church is alive and well. We may be alive and well, but we are also wiped out and tired, but it is a good kind of tired.

As always, I want to make note of my appreciation to all of you for your love and concern for the work here in Conway. I am thankful for your support, both financial and spiritual, and long for the day when the church here will grow to be self supporting again. I fear because of the economy that this might be later than sooner. What the church needs are more members, not just for the financial aspect, but for the sake of souls in our community.

I am always trying to figure out ways to get the word out about the church here. Having the youth rally and the ladies’ weekend is great, but primarily focuses on the Christians of New England. I know God has many people in this town who need to hear the Gospel. While people don’t respond well anymore to door-to-door calling, I believe there are opportunities available through tools such as web sites, e-mail and blog pages. I am trying to secure some funds toward developing a working web site that I can manage and update myself.

A few months ago I mentioned in my blog of a family in Arkansas who had made a decision to give $300 a month as long as they were able. Sadly, the wife developed cancer shortly after their decision and she passed away a couple of weeks ago. I would appreciate your prayers on her families’ behalf, particularly for her husband, Jay. It was interesting that shortly before we heard news of her passing, we received an unexpected donation from another family. God seems to work that way in our lives right now. He is faithful to provide for our needs when he knows we need it.

As far as other activities of the month, I was able to get away to Manchester, Connecticut for a church growth conference. It was nice to be with many ministers from the New England area, some whom I hadn’t seen for quite awhile. Linda spent much of the month in Arkansas with her family, helping them after her dad’s knee replacement. She’s back now, doing great. We both continue to do various things in the community, such as my singing in the community chorus and Linda’s part time work in one of our member’s convenience stores. We are again having Friday evening visits with some of the young couples in the church, trying to strengthen their faith and understanding of the church and its work. We have been enjoying some good discussions on Wednesday evenings. We have opened it up to simply answering questions the congregation has about different religious topics. So far we have talked about Eldership and church leadership, how to reach out to a postmodern culture, the resurrection, and the restoration attitude.

Well, I’m going to finish up for now. I hope you enjoy the pictures from the month. Have a great spring, and we’ll be in touch again soon!


Brotherly,

Leland and Linda

Pictures of the "Ladies' Weekend Rally"

Becky with some of her friends who have been part of the Conway and Concord churches.





Becky teaching in front of the fireplace downstairs. She liked the cozy atmosphere so much she moved the ladies downstairs for the Saturday night lesson.












Our houseguest locked herself out of her bedroom so I had to break into my own house. The curious beagle is coming to offer her assistance.



Linda and me with the Scarletts and their friends from the Concord church (the O'Neills) who stayed for worship Sunday morning after the Rally.


"Ladies' Rally Weekend" With Becky Blackmon. Here is Becky with some of the ladies the first night of the program.











Friday evening was "soup night." This is my version of how to sample soups!

What a motley kitchen crew. (ha) The men really did a good job stepping up and helping with this weekend. They made it such that all of our ladies could participate in the program.







Here is Becky with Decker and Anne Clark of the Leominster, Massachusetts congregation. Decker has been a strong advocate for church growth in New England for a lot of years. he was the one responsible for getting me up here in 1986, when we helped begin the work in Southbridge, Mass.


Every Wednesday night during the winter months we put a fire in the fireplace in the fellowship room and have our Bible classes. The ladies sure enjoyed having the fire going during Ladies' Rally Weekend.