I personally love receiving reports from our church planters here in Alabama. I received this one yesterday from Barry Britt, a church planter in Orange Beach, Alabama. He and his family planted Oasis Church that opened and began meeting at The Wharf in late Spring of 2016.
Here’s his report:
We are coming to the end of our first 3 months of meeting and worshipping the Lord as Oasis Church at the Wharf. Things are very busy and exciting. Two of our regular attending girls accepted Jesus as their Savior at VBS and were baptized last week. We were able to host a large youth group of about 150 from Irving, Texas for their worship services last Thursday-Sunday and the youth pastor let me know that they had 10 students commit their lives to Jesus as well. We have been blessed to have many of the student staff members from Camp Baldwin join us for Sunday worship this summer and we are beginning to see some vacationers and new locals visit with us.
One of our biggest challenges has been getting the word out that we are here. Right now we’re planning a mass mail out, local paper ads, signs, a door to door effort and anything else we can think of.
By the time many of the vacationers realize we are here they are headed back home. I am realizing that being effective and bearing fruit in this ministry is going to take time. A garden doesn’t grow overnight but takes a lot of work, time and patience. God continues to confirm that we are right where we are supposed to be and the neat thing is that we still have no idea what this is going to be. He just says “keep on being faithful and obedient and trust Me with the direction and results.” Sometimes I wonder if I will be like Jonah who saw a great revival or Jeremiah who saw great rejection of the gospel, but this one thing I know, God has got this and I can trust Him.
We thank God for His many blessings, provisions and other answered prayers. I am so thankful that Spring Valley Baptist just welcomed a new pastor to continue leading the great ministry there. We certainly love and miss our faith family there and our family members around B’ham. We are grateful for the many brothers and sisters in the Lord and Baldwin Baptist churches that have helped us and the North American and Alabama Mission Board. Without all of their support and prayer we would not be able to be here beginning this new work. We also thank you and ask you for your continued prayer support. We need your prayer for this ministry more than anything else.
Continue to lift up in prayer all of our Alabama Baptist church planters!
We look forward to hearing more stories like Barry’s in the future.
