Equipping Christian Leaders to Fulfill the Great Commission
8 August 2007
Joining the Heartland Presbytery
As I drove to the Heartland Presbytery meeting in Wichita, I
watched the voltmeter on the dashboard begin to drop steadily and electrical systems
on the van fail one by one – the odometer, the A/C fan, the speedometer, the
brake lights… The engine itself finally stalled just as my son Peter and I
coasted into the parking lot of Heartland Church. God must’ve wanted us to make
it to my examination by the Candidates &
Credentials committee! I had
prayed that I would not be anxious about this exam, so perhaps the car trouble
was God’s answer – causing my mind to become preoccupied with contingency plans
for being stranded on the side of I-135 instead of thinking about what to say
in the exam!
Having a bunch of pastors hunt for my weak spots was very intimidating, but God got me through the exam somehow and I was encouraged when the committee members announced their verdict – they would recommend me without any reservations to join the Heartland Presbytery!
After another examination before the whole presbytery, they decided to accept me as their evangelist to plant a church in Manhattan. They pledged to do all within their power to encourage and help us become a mission and then a full-fledged church!
I am thankful to God for those who took time to protect the purity of the church by carefully examining me, for the presbyters who took time to work through the ecclesiastical actions needed, for those who helped me with my car and put me up for the night, and for all of you who prayed me through this experience. Thank you so much!
P.S. As it turns out, the car’s problem was by nothing more than corroded battery terminals!
Building a new church office in our garage
George & Chris (church friends) framing in our garage – Josh installing the door
Nate nailing on siding – Amos installing insulation in the 140˚ attic
Beni wiring up the electricity – Hope having fun with the paint.
Kid’s Corner: Peter
Hi, I’m Peter. I’m 10 and going into 5th grade – whenever we can finish last year’s school. Since my last Kid’s Corner, I finished the New Testament in my Bible reading, started back at the beginning, and am almost ¾ of the way through Joshua. In June and July we did a reading program with the Manhattan library and I picked out a new book as a prize called True Survival Stories. I’m also reading through Jonathan Park and the Adventure of the Hidden Cave – I’m not far into it, but my brother Amos said it would be fun. We recently remodeled our garage into a study and are planning to remodel the rest into a library. The funnest part about the remodeling was when we were in the attic. We had to replace some floorboards and put in a pull-down ladder. When I was stepping near the pull-down ladder, I thought that I was stepping on a board, but stepped on the drywall and fell through the ceiling! A bunch of insulation and plaster fell down along with me. I didn’t get hurt, but I was tempted to run away to my bedroom and not clean up the mess. God helped me, though, to win the victory over Satan, and I went back to the garage to help fix the hole in the roof. Thanks for praying over the past year that I would be a good warrior for God, and please keep on praying because I still struggle with things like losing my temper and telling the truth. Well o.k., I have a lawn to mow – bye!
PHOTO: Peter Justin, our fourth-born (left) paints the new office with his sister Irene (center) and brother Amos (background)
Praise
God for improvement in Aletheia’s ability to nurse – we aren’t having to spend
as much time on supplemental feeding methods. Foot problems for Amos and Paula
continue to be a concern, so please keep praying for them.
Praise
God for the acceptance of our work into the Heartland Presbytery of the PCA.
Please pray that God will gather a critical mass of people here over the next
year.
Praise
God for enabling us to build a nice, quiet office in our garage. (We ended up doing
this instead of going to see family in TN.) Please pray that we can finish the
project quickly and that God would bless the work Nate does in the office to
serve God’s church.
Praise
God for Peter – for his passion, for his servant’s heart, and for his eye for
detail. Pray that he would keep growing into a man of God.
Donations: Christ the Redeemer Church, POB 1007, Manhattan, KS 66505 * 785-537-9377 * www.ctrchurch-mhk.org
Nate & Paula Wilson, * www.NateWilsonFamily.Net