Leaving Fenton

So how is God working in our lives? After 16 years of making our home at First Baptist Church of Fenton growing, learning, and being prepared for service, we believe God is moving us on to be a part of another local Church.

We weren't unhappy at Fenton or looking for another church so let me explain how this came about. Back in June we went to a Homeschool conference where I met a man who was getting ready to go to the mission field. He told me about his church and how they have at least 8 people preparing to go to the mission field.  This is a large amount considering the church only has a membership of 128.    A few days later Michelle looked at the church's website and told me that a missionary (who we know and have been praying for) was going to be there to speak at their Men's fellowship. I told her that I wanted to go to hear how his work is going but would be more comfortable if we visited on a Sunday and got to know a couple of people instead of just turning up at the breakfast.  When we visited that Sunday we discovered that due to scheduling conflicts the missionary was not going to be at the Men's fellowship but he would be there for the Sunday service the following week. I told Michelle we have to come back next Sunday to see Him - it had been at least 3 years since I had seen him. He had no idea that I was going to be there and I enjoyed surprising him.

 So, why does this lead us to move our membership? By our second visit to the church God was stirring our hearts for the work He is doing there (don't take this to mean that He is not working at our church) by showing us how He has been preparing us to be a part of that work. We left that Sunday saying to one another, what is God doing? What does all of this mean? What is He wanting us to do? We spent time praying about it - seeking Him for understanding and wisdom. After some weeks of prayer we knew what He was asking us to do - to move our membership, leave the people we love, to step out of our comfort zone again and follow Him.

This is hard! We have to make new friends, get to know new people. I personally hate this, in most cases I am quiet and I find conversation with new people very difficult because I just don't know how to talk to someone I don't know. I know it shouldn't be this hard but for me it is.  In some situations I get extremely tongue tied because I just don't think fast enough as to what to say. I have been noticing it a lot lately. In these cases I end up not saying anything and walking away feeling inadequate and will continue to think about the situation for quite a while afterwards.

So, we are leaving First Baptist Church of Fenton for the next adventure of our lives. We are being obedient to our Father in Heaven "to go". This doesn't mean that we won't see many of you, we will. We are not leaving Saint Louis. We will continue to be in contact with you but we have to follow as we believe the Lord is leading.

In Christ,
Gary

Next post will be pictures of our trip to Haiti last week