Saturday, July 23, 2011

I have my hands full now!

Last Sunday evening I was unanimously voted in as the interim pastor.  So now it is official.  The retiring pastor was appointed as the school administrator.  He is also beginning an IFCA church plant in Kingman (50 miles away).

My mission as the interim pastor is threefold: 1) I need to unite the church body.  They body is split over the operation of the school. 2) Place the focus of the church upon the New Testament design for the church.  Previously the school had priority over everything. 3) Train up leadership. The church currently has two very faithful men as their deacons, but the church needs additional leadership. A leadership training class begins next week.

One of the members must have felt sorry for us having to drive our big truck around town.  Our truck gets about 15 miles a gallon around town.  So he loaned us one of his cars.  Its a small Geo Prism which gets about 30 miles per gallon.  What a blessing!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Pigs or Dogs?

We went for a hike in 100 degree heat.  The doggies got a little hot and found a mud hole to cool off in.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

London Bridge is Falling down....

Wow, so much has happened since our last post. The church seems to have come alive. I called for a clean-up day, and the people turned out ready to work. They scrubbed walls and floors, cleaned windows, vacuumed the carpets and shampooed carpets, filled up the dumpster, rearranged and organized the rooms. The place actually looks good. The ladies emptied out the kitchen while Stan and I took several days and refinished all the cabinetry.


The following weekend Stan and Stephanie took us and several other church members out for a boat ride up the Colorado River.  What a beautiful ride it was.  The water was very clear and the scenery was beautiful.  Even the dogs liked the ride.  The only thing that made me a bit nervous was all the boats on the river.  It truly looked like a freeway traffic jam.

I have never seen so many boats underway in such a small area. 

Some of the boats were speeding past us pulling water toys and people on water skis.
Returning to the marina we went under the London Bridge. It is pretty impressive when you see how big this bridge is and that it was disassembled in London and shipped here piece by piece.  It's not falling down any longer.


Stan and Stephanie also took us on a car trip to Parker to see the Parker Dam.
Parker Dam

So there you have most of the fun stuff that we have been doing.  But most of my time has been spent at the church studying for messages.  In the morning service I am going through Philippians and James in the evening services.  I am going through the books at an accelerated pace.  On Wednesday evening I am teaching on church leadership and the biblical mandates for a church.  Next Sunday, July 17th is the next business meeting.  Here is were the pastor is to offically resign and I am to be officially appointed as the interim pastor.

Well, we have been here in Lake Havasu City for almost three months now.  We have learned much on how to live in the desert:
1.  Always be alert for rattlesnakes, scorpions, and coyotes.
2.  Never go away from your RV without first putting up your awning as the afternoon winds can come up without warning.
3.  You must not drink the water.  The water is so hard and so mineral rich that health problems almost immediately emerge specially numerous and frequent trips to the bathroom. 
4.  You must have lots of sun screen on at all times.
5.  Your air conditioning units run 24 hours a day. Last night we had a low of 90 degrees.
6.  You do not have to turn on your hot water heater.  All the city water is hot enough for a shower all the time.  (Wow, what savings it must be to not have run a water heater.  Don't worry, the 24/7 air conditioning more than makes up for it.)
7.  All windows, even the ones that never get direct sunlight, must be covered with a thermal insulation to keep out the heat.  Our trailer is as dark as a cave.
8.  You must always use a windshield sun screen and a dashboard cover to prevent cracking.
9.  Always carry gloves.  Any metal such as door handles, shopping carts are so hot that you will be burned if you touch them.
10.  Pay close attention to the weather reports as this is now monsoon season.  (No joke!  We were outside the other day and saw some clouds and lightning in the distance.  We thought that maybe we would not have to take down the awning if it just going to be a light rain.  Not even 60 seconds later it was like we were in a hurricane.  We barely got the awning down.  If we were not right there when this monsoon came up, the entire awning would have been torn off the side of the trailer.)
11.  Finally, do not go outside when the monsoon is in progress.  The wind was so strong and the rain drops were so big that I felt like I was being hit with small pebbles.

Well, now I a going to go outside and take the dogs for a walk before it gets too hot.  It's only 105 degrees right now at 10:30 in he morning.  At 8:30 a.m. it was already 100.

Prayer Requests:
1. For the right pastor to be found
2. Spiritual growth for the people and us
3. For the upcoming men's bible institute and leadership training
4. The business meeting on July 17th

For more pictures of Parker Dam and the Colorado River go to my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pastorshelley