Willing hearts

One of the highlights for people who come to Back Bay for work camps is attending worship services on Wednesday evenings at Main Street Missionary Baptist Church in Biloxi. Rev. Don Morgan, who is associate for volunteer services at the mission, is also connected with this church. So folks from Wisconsin and Illinois and Connecticut gathered with about a dozen Biloxi residents to sing a few hymns, hear a bit of scripture, form an improptu gospel choir under Don's direction and then hear Don preach. And can he ever preach!

His theme was that a willing heart and a made-up mind with availability and ability can get the job done. He applied that to those of who are here as volunteers this week. One reminder -- that many folks back at our home churches have a willing heart, but not the availability to come to Biloxi. He urged us to thank them for their support in prayers and in money to help get all of us here (so thanks, y'all). He also talked about how those of us with willing hearts were learning this week to do a lot more than we thought we were able to do. Lots of heads nodded as he said that.

After the service, John H and John VanO met a woman whose house they had worked on last year. This afternoon, Dave and I were talking with the man whose house we are working on this year and he told us how he had been baptized at Missionary Baptist Church when he was a child.

So this night tied a lot of threads together in an interesting way. We ended by forming a circle around the sanctuary, holding hands and saying the Lord's Prayer. People from many backgrounds, from many points on the compass, all came together in this wonderful moment.
Phil

The whole experience