We just returned this weekend from a Global Impact Celebration at First United Methodist Church in Smyrna, Ga. The six of us were able to attend the weekend since Sidney was concluding his spring break and Ashley beginning hers. We are so glad they took this weekend to spend with us.
Our host family, Steve and Sherry Stoichev and their children made us feel like family and gave us free reign of their downstairs, really the whole house and made us feel so welcomed. We spent the first night staying up late talking with Steve and Sherry getting to know them, how they met and about their life's journey. They are a great couple and we feel blessed to have met them and to know them.
Smyrna First UMC is filled with so many loving people. It blessed us to see the spirit of God moving in that congregation especially during the faith promise ceremony where over $100,000 was committed to missions in the upcoming year. We were able to speak to a group during an International Banquet on Saturday night and then to a Sunday School class on Sunday morning. Both groups seemed to be interested and touched in the way we are responding to God's call. We pray that the Lord will continue to work in each of their lives to discern how they can be faithful in their journey with Christ.
The most special event of the weekend was an opportunity to serve along with other Missionaries and members of First UMC in distributing lunches, hugs and prayers to the homeless of Atlanta. We were hosted by an organization called 7 Bridges to Recovery, they took us under bridges, to areas that are drug infested and poverty stricken, and to other particular places where homeless live. We were so blessed to be able to pray with these brothers and sisters in Christ. We went to offer the love of Christ and encouragement, but left feeling blessed by their presence. Many are believers and have hope in Christ in powerful ways. To have our whole family out together serving Christ and growing in respect for all of God's children was a powerful experience. Our children prayed with the homeless and offered love and hugs.
God is so Good.
We learned this weekend that a way to respond when asked how we are doing is "Blessed and Highly Favored". This is a response we all as believers can respond for we are all indeed blessed and highly favored by the Creator of the Universe who sent his beautiful son as a sacrifice of love for us.
Blessings to you.
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