Redneck Band & More

Sunday morning on April 30, Martha and I traveled from our Tupelo, Mississippi motel room to the Bear Creek, Alabama Church of Christ assembly. I presented the PowerPoint “World Evangelism Media & Missions” during Bible class time, and for the worship period, I preached about “The Focus of Jesus Christ.” Following lunch at the meetinghouse, Mrs. Rushmore and I retreated to the home of brother Royce and sister Helen Mann for a while and to wait out some bad weather that was passing through the area. Not as pretty as if it were sunshiny, nevertheless, brother Mann gave us a tour of his tree farm. Shortly after breaching the gated and fenced little forest, we forded a small creek in the club cab pickup truck. Pressing onward, our host fed wildlife and fish in the pond as we trekked about amidst the mostly pine trees.

That afternoon, we departed and drove around the larger rural area of that part of Alabama. We located the church building for the Gravel Hill Church of Christ and made sure we were present when the first car arrived for the 6 p.m. evening worship. Bonnie and I had been the beneficiaries of a gracious donation in 2014 toward our foreign excursions, and now Martha and I had an opportunity to visit the congregation for the first time. Happily, the elders of the church invited me to make my mission presentation, and everyone was friendly and encouraging.

(Between the meeting times of the two churches mentioned already, we happened on a couple of sisters who were cleaning the church house of the Hackleburg Church of Christ. We left some copies of The Voice of Truth International and some Rushmore Newsletters with them.)

Tuesday and Wednesday, Martha and I attended the India Missions Conference, hosted in the facility of the Hamilton Church of Christ. We continued to lodge in Tupelo to take advantage of the hotel group rewards associated with Choice Hotels. That location also afforded us convenient shopping and a variety of restaurants.

Thursday and Friday, we were present for the annual Missionary Retreat, this year held outside of Florence, Alabama. Repeatedly, brethren commented favorably about recharging their batteries. Following the program, everyone in attendance yet was treated to folk or to country renditions of a variety of songs by our very own redneck band.