Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Cokes Chapel

Cokes Chapel in Sharpsburg, GA is a small, older church with an average worship attendance of about 115 people if you count both services. I was a member here in middle school and high school, my parents are still active members here, and my sister was married in this church. There is something comforting and familiar about going back to a home church. And for some reason it is always surprising when things change, even though it shouldn’t be. Cokes Chapel has grown and has new members from the community and has a new pastor since I was a member, Pastor Lisa. David and I have only known Lisa for a short time now, but she was so supportive of us and compassionate to us and the ministry and led Cokes Chapel into becoming passionate for the kids of the Blessing Home.

Cokes Chapel has decided to partner with us and Thailand Methodist Mission and has committed to doing fundraisers throughout the year for us and another missionary couple, the Haddens. Cokes Chapel committed to raising $1,200 each year for each missionary family. Our first fundraiser was a Mexican Fiesta dinner and silent auction a couple weeks ago. People bought tickets to come and have dinner and could auction on quite a variety of items from hand sewn baby dress to an antique gun, which was apparently in high demand. It was a packed house! People were getting so into the auction that Pastor Lisa started live auctioning off the leftover food in the kitchen. We had people getting all riled-up betting over a box of local grown tomatoes! It was a lot of fun. That Sunday Pastor Lisa allowed us to give the sermon and explain our ministry at both services.

Grand total raised for Thailand Methodist Mission that weekend was $3,500! Everyone was surprised. Everyone thought we would have to do multiple fundraisers throughout the year just to raise $1,200, but surpassing the goal did not slow these church members down. We had multiple people telling us ideas of how they want to do the next fundraiser. It is so encouraging to me and David when we have church members who we feel understand the importance of this ministry and have developed a love for people in Thailand they have never met. David and I know that there is nothing either of us can say that can make people love others in another country who they don’t know. But we pray every time before we go speak that the Holy Spirit touches peoples’ hearts and cultivates a love for the people of Thailand. When we have a whole church or group of people who we speak with that grows to love the Blessing Home children we thank God for reaching these people and allowing us to be a part of it.



David and my mom at the silent auction

Mexican fiesta dinner
 
Winners of the tomato auction