American Missionary Fellowship

One year ago we were in the process of moving to Wilhoit. By February 1, we were working at the only church in Wilhoit, with Randy as the new pastor. Randy assessed the needs and developed a plan to pursue youth. It would take real work to make that happen.

The large basement was filled with clothes and shoes for a ministry the church had carried on for several years. In observing some abuses of this ministry, Randy and the church board decided to empty the place and prepare it for something more useful.

Two large rooms are contained in the basement of the church. The rooms are entered through a bottom door, which comes off the lower basketball courts. To our benefit, this is the only public slab or basketball court in Wilhoit, but “No Trespassing” signs had been installed at the church to keep the children and vandals off the property.

The gutter had failed and caused the paint to boil on the leaking walls in the large basement room; the floor had moldy carpet since this had happened several years earlier. We knew we would need this room to house VBS workers in June, so the walls were scraped and prepared with new paint, the carpet was ripped up, and the carpet glue was stripped out. What a job! New tile was laid, and it was so fresh and clean. Randy called a local thrift store and asked if he could donate all the clothes – they were so happy to take them. Excitement was building in us all for this new direction.

During summer VBS, we found out the new toilets that had been installed in the basement did not have a hook-up to the septic field. The original plans did not contain this information. It came as quite a surprise to the VBS workers! So the toilets were sitting idle from non-use the week of VBS as a lift station and septic line hookup was installed. A contractor donated the drop ceiling that was needed in the old clothing room. The volunteers kept plugging away at finishing the showers for summer use in 2010.

Now it is one year later, and we are ready to pursue the youth. We have had a new influx of members with children and energy. Several of them were challenged to give up the worldly things in their lives so they could be an example for the youth. Three have quit smoking and drinking, and they are thriving in faith. Mentoring is going on, and they are hungry for the Word. The naysayers are gone, and new growth has begun. The Lord goes before us…and we are excited to see what will occur in the new year. We praise the Lord!