On Oct. 4th, Mission 403 spent the morning worship service at Autryville Church of God of Prophecy in Autryville, NC. This church is pastored by Jesse Matthews, a long time friend of Stephen and mine. In fact, you could probably say that Pastor Jesse is sort of our “matchmaker.” 🙂
In 2007, the first thing I saw when I walked out of the Asuncion airport was this really tall red-headed guy with a huge bright-red beard. At the time I didn’t know that I had just met my future husband. Stephen was just another member of the mission team to Paraguay. Apparently though, Pastor Jesse and a few others on the team thought we might be good together so they started making little comments about us. I guess we took the hint because we’re married now, but I will always remember Pastor Jesse on that trip laughing with us and arranging for us to sit side-by-side at every meal. Almost ten years down the road, his family has now also become great friends of ours. I’ve watched his grandsons, Jared & Jordan grow from boys to young men, and now that Stephen and I are about to take this step of faith to become full-time missionaries, his entire family has joined behind us in support. We are blessed to have such friends and we really enjoyed our time with them, no matter how short it was. I hope that Pastor Jesse, his son-in-law Larry and his grandsons will come and see us sometime in Paraguay. I know that they will be a great blessing to the people there and to us as well.
On the evening of Oct. 4th, Stephen and I were also invited to visit Life Impact Church of God of Prophecy in Winston-Salem, NC. Life Impact COGOP is already a big supporter of Dan & Gwen Miller and the children’s home located in Carapegua, Paraguay. Several families throughout the church support an individual child in the orphanage providing the monetary support needed to help them grow into happy and healthy individuals. Sid Autry, the missions director of the church, has been a driving force behind the support for Paraguay, and after much prayer he invited Mission 403 to share the vision for ministry at his church.
The evening service at Life Impact was great! People seemed to enjoyed the worship service and we were even joined by one of the church’s local musicians. We gained much support for the ministry and everyone was really encouraging. However, the most notable thing about Life Impact was how the different families who support the children in the orphanage all wanted to hear news about them. Even though they were separated by 1000s of miles, it was like the children in Paraguay were a part of their families. I was asked how a certain child was doing and if there was any news I could share about them. Messages for me to carry with me to Paraguay were spoken and I will be certain to tell all of the children that “Grandma Jean” sends all of her blessings when I arrive. The people of Life Impact COGOP are amazing to me! They have invested in someone’s life whom they’ve never even met. But in their giving they have changed a life. Abandoned children now have a chance at life because of their support. They live in a loving home where they are safe and taught about God’s love. So, I am very grateful for being invited to Life Impact COGOP, but more I want to applaud these people for their faithful giving and support. They are making a difference in the world. They may never meet in person the child who they’ve help raise, but I am certain that the world will be a much better place because of their efforts. We can’t save every child, but to those 18 youths at Hogar Puerto Seguro in Paraguay, the people of Winston-Salem have impacted them for the better.