What's happening at Good Ground!

 This past month has just been incredible! Time goes by so fast and is so full that when I check this blog it is a month later! Wow!

We recently added 29 new members to Good Ground which means that my husband and I have both been teaching the new membership class for several weeks now. My last class was on a Friday afternoon in the Toddler room because a certain Mom, who wanted to become a member, could only make it at that time. Between singing Veggie Tales and going through the membership materials we got the job done! (It was my favorite class!)

We hosted our first Membership dinner this month complete with t-shirts and beautiful donated gift pens with our name on them both. The t- shirts read "Grounded in Good Ground" on the back with the Church logo on the front. Pretty snappy indeed! And the food was delicious thanks to Ralph and his wonderful staff (his wife!) Thanks Eileen! Lots of people told their stories about how they came to Good Ground. Great stories and fellowship.

This Saturday, the 24Th, we will have our annual Church picnic at Grafton State Park. We have great food, fellowship and fun with Miss Beverly our fun game coordinator. One of our highlights of the day is that we baptize new members and believers who have never been baptized. It is a public profession of faith. Last year the park was packed with people and we went right in the middle of the crowd in front of the life guard and baptized almost a dozen people including one couple. A Holy Hush came over the entire place as everyone stopped or slowed down their activity to watch. For the first time all day the lifeguard's whistle was silent. What a great public testimony it was and we look forward to another tremendous picnic this Saturday.

This Sunday my husband and I  celebrate our 17th year in ministry. We left Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa Oklahoma and returned to New York with our three small children to begin a new life in Ministry. Our kids would join the ranks of being PK's and I became a Pastor's wife, even though I had to train as I went. That is a story for another time. Seventeen years flew by so fast. Our kids are grown now and we still feel like we have just begun! So much to do and so many adventures to take.

Next week Pastor flies to Sri Lanka (our friend Ernest Guratunum's homeland) to speak at a Pastor's conference. He will practice preaching with a translator here at Good Ground with a Hispanic brother in our congregation. So if you want to hear this Wednesday or Sunday's message preached in Spanish, come on out! I will not be going on this trip because I already worked on my tan this summer. So did Pastor but he will be going to preach! What an exciting adventure! Please pray for him and for me holding down the fort here. I have lots of help now that we just installed five new Deacons this past Sunday. Glory!!!! Another amazing time at Church. I am telling you that you do not want to miss service here. Something new happens all the time!

I have a meeting to attend with our outreach coordinator so I have to run. Hopefully will write again next week!

Bless you all!

Dona