Our First Meeting:)

We send out a very special thank you to First Baptist of Port Richey for being the first church to let us present Stillwater. Thank you for being kind enough to overlook some of our blunders and allowing us to be a part of your service. Your kindness and hospitality helped remove most of the anxiousness of a first meeting. We appreciate each and every one of you and your generousity was such a blessing to us. We're looking forward to seeing some of you in June for Jr. Camp. (And yes, I'm still going to plan "Supper Sloppy Double Dare" and I have plans for another new game this year!!) Thank you to your ladies group for thinking of us in such a kind way. Pastor & Mrs. Bond your are more than welcome anytime. Family never leaves your heart and we'll always have our phone:)

WOW!

Where God guides he provides is more than just a cliche and we are learning that daily. We needed funds for the prayer cards. These are a little pricer than first imagined. (at least by me) However God provided the exact amount through gifts given by friends in the NPR area. Even to the copyright fees for photos that were needed for the prayer cards God provided it all before we even know we needed some of it. Jeremiah 33:3 tells us to call unto thee... Well we are learning that he means what he said. We are praying for the funds for a proper scroll display and expect that he will provide it soon. You cannot outgive God. Thanks to all those who have given to this ministry. We will publishing our logo as: Builidng your church by lifting up your leaders!

"See you next time!"

You never say goodbye to family, just simply, "See you next time!" This past week we said that to many of our extended family at Fellowship Baptist Church where we have spent the last 12 years of our lives. Family remains in your heart always, no matter how great the distance. We want you all to know that you will be forever in our thoughts and prayers. We know that the Lord will continue to work among you and you are going to do great things for Him. Never lose sight of who He is and what He can do when you allow him. We love you all so very much and "We'll see you next time:)"

Sweet and Sour

Sweet and Sour sauce is tasty because it is just that, sweet and sour. We must admit this week was unbelievably both. We had a few sour tastes in that our 12 year identity with Fellowship had changed. We will no longer be a part of the daily operations of that great work. This week's revival was absolutely sweet with God working through the Foresters and Tony Howeth. When Bro. Tony was scheduled a year and one half ago, we never realized how much his expertise in deputation would mean to us now. Thanks to all for the meals and sweet times of friendship shared in this power packed week. We received yet another clear confirmation of God's certain calling on our lives this past Friday. We had not yet turned in our contract to rent our home with the property manager. So imagine our surprise when the manager (who is by the way a Christian another miracle) called us and told we us have a tenant that wants to rent on the first of December. What amazing timing that our last workday at Fellowship would bring that kind of news. Coincidence, I think not. We can only praise God for leading us along one day at a time.

A Special Thank You:)

Today I'd like to say a very special thank you to the Fellowship Baptist Academy Volleyball Team, Cindy McKeel, Jodi Kulp, Gina & Bill MacLellan, my mom & dad (for driving the bus and just being who you are) & brother. Together we tackled a tough project--our change drive banks!!! For those of you who don't know, we are putting together a change drive to help raise the money to purchase the camp property. Some very wonderful people in our church pulled funds together to help us purchase the banks. (Another prayer request answered!) The banks are made of cardboard and come some assembly required!! Kinda like putting a 3D puzzle together. Much laughter and some minor frustration (poor Bill!!) was spent putting them together & taking them apart, deciding who should stick to putting labels on only (my wonderful husband who is horrible at puzzles) and others maybe who should just watch (Bill, again) In the hour and a half we were on the road, we put together 231 banks:) Thanks so much everyone!! I'm going to miss all the road trip singing and silliness. I love you girls:)

Meeting Schedule

For those of you who have asked what our meeting schedule looks like, here it is.

October 13th-Ormond Beach, FL-Baptist Bible Fellowship Monthly Meeting
October 17th-New Port Richey, FL-Meeting with an individual
October 25th-Our last official day at Fellowship
October 29th-Port Richey, FL-First Baptist Church of Port Richey
November 9th-Holiday, FL-People's Baptist Church
November 16th-Coats, NC-Coats Community Church-AM Service
November 16th-Benson, NC-Benson Grove Baptist Church-PM Service

For the short amount of time that we have been able to contact churches, we have been blessed with a good number of meetings. We are waiting on some churches to get back to us. The Lord has really blessed us with an extremely positive reaction every where we have gone. We'll continue to keep everyone updated:)

You want us to do what?!?

The first thing I did after I picked my jaw off the floor was started to pray. We began to ask God for very specific leading. The first request was that someone needed to tell us that this was something they thought we could do. The catch was that we weren't going to say anything to anyone. What can I say, I believe in asking, and both my husband & I needed VERY specific direction. Hey, this is a major life move!! So out of the clear blue, a friend told us his pastor had said that he could see us running a camp ministry in the near future!! Ok, God, maybe...but I think we need a little more confirmation. My daughter has been in New Port Richey all her life. Show us that she'll be Ok with moving. In June, after Jr. Camp, Mylanie pips up, "Mommy, I could just live at camp all the time!" WOW!! Do you have goosebumps, yet? Just hold on, it get better!! We still weren't 100% sure. (OK, we're a little slow!) And the Bible does say, "In the multitude of counselors, there is safety." So we called a close pastor friend in North Carolina. Bro. Billy has been a mentor to my husband for a very long time. Tim simply asked Bro. Billy if we could stop by on our vacation in July and talk to him about something. That's all my husband said. Bro. Billy said, "Sure. And while you are up here I want to look at a camp that's for sale. I think you should look into it." That was all the confirmation we needed. Stillwater Ministry has begun. You can check out our ministry website (if you haven't already) at www.stillwaterministry.com

And we're off...

What do you say when you husband says, "I feel God is leading us into a new ministry. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I believe it has something to do with camp." Well, I did what every good pasor's wife does and quietly "freaked out!" We've been happily serving the Lord for 13+ years at Fellowship Baptist Church in New Port Richey, FL. We have been involve in youth camps (8-12 year old) even before we were married. I've never made it a secret that I love camp and that running a camp full time would be my dream job. But that was for when we were old, and had some money saved up. Not right now. This is the only town my daughter has ever known, and I just figured we grow old here and retire into camp ministry. But the Lord had other plans for us. The Lord has been leading us for several months now. The first few posts will be a recap of how we had to be pushed by God to start and then we'll try to post at least once a week. We invite you to follow along with us as we begin to tell you about what I now refer to as our "Incredible Journey of Faith" that has only just begun and truly it has already been incredible...