This morning, our speaker met with the Sunday School classes to talk about her experiences as a medical missionary in the Congo many years ago. She and her husband were both doctors on the mission field in the 60s. After they left Africa, her husband was the head of all medical missions for the UMC. She started a practice in her home town of Wilmore, KY. Her husband has been long gone now, but she keeps puttering along. She's 80, by my guess, and had to get back this afternoon to do rounds in the local hospital.
AND she preached a great sermon.
And then came the pledges. I always experience fear when I have to ask people to support the list of projects we've chosen. They're usually so faithful, but they don't have to be. We asked them to support a list of causes and projects to the tune of $7,000. They filled out their faith promise cards, then we proceded to finish the service. As we were singing the last hymn before the benediction, the Missions Committee brought the hastily added total to the front for me to read. They had promised over $8,000 -- in fact, with late promises coming in, it ought to be around $8,500 for this next year.
God is so faithful.