Today kicked off four Sundays in Saipan. The church has really been thriving in the new building. There are new families, new ministries, and community outreach. And though it is summer on the islands so attendance is low, we still had one of the biggest summer crowds I have experienced today! Plus, I got to meet several new people attending the church. We have an ER doctor and his wife. They are teaching the adult Sunday School class and have headed up a food and hygiene pantry that runs out of the church two Sundays a month. (Today was one of those Sundays, so I got to see that in action.) We have a new lady and her children. (As I Facebook stalked her last night, we had two mutual friends. I confessed my stalking today and learned she was in band with two of my former students. She plays flute! And she volunteered to help me with VBS that I was planning to do solo. Score!)
Today, I only had to teach children's Sunday School, lead the music, play the piano, and preach. It was an easy Sunday. (Ha!) But it was wonderful to see old friends! (Sorry, no video below. Just a screenshot of me being in my home church today.)
Today's message was on courage. Though it wasn't planned, it was well timed as going into the service (and for a couple of hours following), I received a million messages asking if I was on Guam and letting me know the B-2s were on their way. B-2s are nothing new on Guam. They come once or twice a year for military exercises. (There are some huge exercises planned over the next few weeks. This has been in the news. My guess is the B-2s were already scheduled to come. But you know what happens when the media gets a hold of something.) I love watching the B-2s. It is dangerous for me to be on the roads when they are flying because I find myself looking at the sky more than the road! What was new in the local news yesterday were the articles on what to do if bombs are flying. Basically the 22 tornado warnings in Pontotoc County this spring have prepared me for such activity. Hiding from bombs and tornados are exactly the same. Go the basement. (We don't have those here.) Go to the lowest level, inner most room. See, I know what to do. But as I said in the message today, over 300 times the Bible tells us to fear not! Don't be afraid! We talked about Esther and the courage that she need to do what God called her to do. For at least the next few weeks, I am ~130 miles north of Guam and ~5 miles from Tinian (where the military are using old WWII runways for training). See, I'm not even close to the action. No worries. :) (But in case you are worried, I do have 55 gallons of drinking water, and papayas and lemons growing in the yard. Oh.....and there are old bomb bunkers everywhere! I'm less than 1/2 mile from several. I'll be fine.)
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