2020 has definitely been a year to remember! It has been filled with uncertainties, challenges, and difficulties. Yet amongst all of that, the Lord has showed Himself strong and bountiful in blessings. In mid-January we had a super early Spring revival with Brother Boyd Collins. The Lord stirred in hearts through the messages that He brought. I had shared with the folks at the New Year that I felt the Lord was going to take our church to another level. God used these meetings to begin our journey to a higher level of service and faithfulness. It has been such a joy to see folks grow in grace and young converts learning to walk with the Lord! Shortly after that, the whole country was introduced to pandemic paranoia. It even made it all the way to Challis. We had been running in the high 40’s on Sunday mornings but as the media driven mayhem swept our country we dropped to the teens in attendance. I had recently preached on “Doing business in great waters” Psalm 107:23 but had know idea how great the waters of the pandemic would be. Every other church in town shut down, but God strengthened our faith and resolve to remain open and assembling. It was during the months of February- May that the Lord showed Himself Mighty and Strong! We finished out the last $40,000+ of our building fund goal as well as being incredibly over budget in our general fund offerings. I am forever humbled and stand in amazement of how the Lord works the greatest when things seem the bleakest. We have been able to enjoy special services with the Damron’s, Lewis’, Love’s and Lord willing the Garraway’s this October.
In July we had our 3rd VBS since coming here. We had no idea how the community would respond to this event. We had a parade float as usual and folks really enjoyed it. We averaged 35 kids for the 4 nights and had 1 young man get saved! It was definitely the best VBS of the 3 we have had in both attendance and spirit. The Sunday following, I was able to baptize 3 adults and 3 children from previous decisions. The month of July we are back to averaging 48 on Sunday mornings! Faith is conquering fear as our young Christian families return to Church. On July 26th MVBC celebrated our 23rd anniversary. We were missing 18 regular folks due to various reasons but still had 42! Hearts were moved in both the morning and evening services. Pastor Randy Love brought a great message in the evening titled “Is Church Essential”? It was a great challenge. We continue to praise God for the great things He has done in our small town. Thank you all for your prayers and gifts that you have sent our way. May the Lord richly bless you for your efforts. I will send some pictures of some of these events as well as the progress on our addition. Lord willing, we will have it
completed sometime this fall. As the Church grows, we need the extra classroom, bathroom, and kitchen space it will provide.
Looking to Heaven while sowing in the Valley,
Pastor Scott Sinz