From the Elm City, New Haven Connecticut, we took two days to make our way down to Montgomery, Alabama, where we spent a few days with Pastor & Mrs Timothy Mitchell, founding pastor of New Testament Christian Center.
Birth of a Friendship
We got to know the Mitchells through a translation opportunity. Mutual friends, missionaries Eddy & Della-Mae Kennedy, let us know that Pastor Mitchell was looking for some help translating a Bible study course for new believers that he had authored, entitled The Way More Perfectly.
Liz accepted to do the translation and so, during the months that ensued, we were in contact at regular intervals and at one point, without even planning it, the Mitchells were on a cruise that stopped for the day in Saint John, allowing us to meet in person for the first time. Following that meeting, there were a couple of times, two in particular, where the Lord prompted Bro. Mitchell to call us “just to see how things were going.” Those calls came at pivotal moments and were definitely God-moments.
The translation was completed last year, but the friendship lived on and as soon as we decided to drive to Florida, we made a point of connecting with them. 
Unexpected Surprise
At one point in our drive, we realized that the highway we were on would take us within 10 minutes of Anderson, South Carolina (we had no idea this would be so beforehand… we just followed the GPS – nicknamed Olive for our trip) where Rev. Edward Goddard pastors a wonderful church (Sanctuary of Praise). Bro. Goddard was the pastor of Mission Point (First United Pentecostal) when Liz and I first started attending and so was an important part of our walk and growth in God.
We were able to stop in for a short visit and see the miracle church that God provided for them. So glad for even a short visit and thankful for the great example of this pastor who has been part of shaping who we are today.
Montgomery
After surviving heavy rain as we came through Atlanta, we arrived in Montgomery. Not only did we have the chance to worship with the Mitchells, both in the morning and evening services, but they showed us around the birthplace of the Civil Rights movement and the First Capital of the Confederacy.
As you read in my earlier post, The Power of One, the Rosa Parks Museum moved me tremendously (surprisingly so). We also visited the First White House of the Confederacy and the Alabama State Capitol (pictured at right) where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as President of the Confederacy.
We got a chance to visit the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site where African American servicemen had to fight to win their place, both in World War II missions and in military ranks back home.
The Civil Rights Movement is intricately woven into the American national identity and narrative, but such is not so much the case in Canada. Although we are aware of it, at varying degrees, I daresay it is not as widely understood here in all of its complexity. These two days were a humbling time as we were somewhat immersed in it.
Open Invitation to a GREAT church
If you live in, or are visiting the Montgomery area, you will find a great church in the New Testament Christian Center. They are located at 10300 US 80, Montgomery, AL, 36117 and can be reached at (334) 215-7215 (see link to their website, below).
If you are in Anderson, SC or the surrounding area… visit Sanctuary of Praise, 518 Stone Drive, Anderson S.C., 29625. You can reach the church at (864) 224-6699.
Next stop
…the Sunshine State. We’ll go there on Saturday
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Related Links:
The Clear Call of God
May was an incredible month!
we decided to combine pleasure with more pleasure and connect with friends along the way. The posts over the next couple of weeks will detail some of the highlights of that trip.
It was in July of the following year that I arrived, backpack and suitcase in hand for my first rehearsal camp in Dronten
A small flock of sand plovers glided low over the sand before us, landed within several feet of each other and proceeded to begin foraging through the sand in between waves flooding the sand beneath their fast moving feet.
At the time the book was published, in 2012, Gregory Berns was a neuroscientist at Emory University, in Atlanta Georgia. He was doing research wherein volunteers played a game while in an fMRI machine. They were shown, on a computer screen, two 3-dimensional objects and asked whether one could be rotated to match the other. When participants played the game on their own, they gave a wrong answer only 14% of the time. When they played with a group… they gave the wrong answer significantly more often. The trick was… in the group-play version… other “players” unanimously gave the wrong answer… and the individual player themselves gave the wrong answer (in conformity to the group) some 41% of the time (as opposed to 14%, when playing alone). Berns took pictures of the brain while all of this was going on and saw that, when playing with a group, the individual displayed more activity in the part of the brain that dealt with visual and spatial perception: People were not consciously choosing an incorrect answer in order to conform to the group… Playing in a group altered their perception.
More recently I was reminded of the sacrifice of missions with the passing, while on the mission field, of 
It never ceases to amaze me when I walk by a bedroom and look in to see one or another of my kids lying in bed reading the Bible, either before going to bed or before starting the day. Many times, with the two older kids, this happens without prompting from Liz or I (of course, for the youngest, a little more prodding is required, but even when prodded, it typically happens without protest or procrastination).
As a “post-mothers’-day-tribute”… my hat is off to my wife, Liz. Not only does she model this herself, but she consistently fosters and encourages this habit in our kids.
AIM Long 