For several months God has led us to pray about a new direction in ministry. He has been calling us to minister in Tennessee. As He continued to confirm this call, we knew the next step was to step out on faith and submit Mitch's resume to pastorless TN churches. About a month ago Jones Chapel Baptist Church in Paris, TN began dialogue with Mitch. Over the weeks that followed, it became clearer and clearer that this might be the Tennessee church God had in mind for us.
On Sunday, June 5, Mitch preached in view of a call and Jones Chapel Baptist Church voted to call him as pastor. So. . .we are moving to TN. This is an easy statement to put in print but a harder one to put into practice. The move involves many difficult things: saying goodbye to our precious, loving church family and community friends here, buying a house in Paris, and moving our home (and pets!) nearly 2000 miles away.
But God is so good! While we visited Paris this past weekend, we quickly learned that there are also wonderful, loving people at Jones Chapel. We also placed an initial offer on a house in Paris that will sufficiently meet our needs (and has room for Big Jake and Callie!). Jane has also submitted teaching applications at the two school districts in the county and is waiting on the Lord to open this door in accordance with His will.
Will you join us in prayer at this time?
- Pray for our church family here in Pioche during this transition. We will serve with them here through the end of June and then begin the trek to TN on July 4.
- Pray for a TN home. Our initial offer has been countered and we're waiting to learn God's will regarding this home or His will about where we'll live. Our greatest prayer is that the entire process of finding a place to live will be finalized in time for us to unload the first box (and road-weary pets) when we pull into Paris.
- Pray for a job for Jane.
- Pray for our new church family in Paris during this transition. They are preparing for a youth revival the end of June (which we'll miss) and VBS the third week of July (which we'll be able to take part in).
Thank you for your prayers!
Tennessee plates from our rental car (wrong county--right plate)
Paris is home to the World's Biggest Fish Fry.
The remaining pictures were taken after the Sunday evening service.
