Partners in Planting II

Sowing the Seed…Laying Up Treasure…!


This is the second installment in the Partners in Planting Series posted last Monday. I invite you to join this new series as I share with you the journey of ministry and enlist you as partners in the process of planting a new church in this community. The goal is to provide you with the opportunity of laying up treasures in heaven where thieves cannot steal, moths nor rust can corrupt, from right there in your present location; Sow the Seed in Longview, WA.

I left you with the fact that I had been teaching the Adult Bible Class for three years. I was also able to fill the pulpit in the absence of our Pastor. While attending the church I could never shake the realization that this community, particularly the west end, needed a church. May 2, 2010 I resigned that coveted position. That was the hardest thing that I ever had to do. I love that class. It has given me such an opportunity to grow spiritually. Now I am ready to take on this new challenge. But before we talk about let’s go back for a moment…

I finished my college education in 1989 at the Shasta Bible College in Redding, CA. I actually was fortunate to have completed my education. I was able to “cram” a four year Bible degree into eight years! I had been married for fifteen years and had four daughters ranging in ages fourteen to six years old.

We had moved from Reno, Nevada to Redding, California in August of 1988 and I started school that September. Those of you who have worked full time, tried to be a family, and carry a full class load of twelve credits you know the difficulty.

Graduation day came in June of 1989. I had actually taken enough credits to finish a four year Bachelor’s curriculum. I was elated! But what next, what now? It was suggested that I attend seminary and further my education. After they dropped the attempted murder charges against me for trying to run down the man who suggested more schooling, I decided to move to Tacoma, Washington and attend the Northwest Seminary.

Dude, where was Washington? I had thought I had heard of it and was sure it was in the United States. Irene and I drove up to Tacoma after finding it on a map and stayed a couple of nights at the Seminary. We checked out the campus, the book store, and the courses and decided to enroll.

Moving day came and I was a gimp. I had hurt my arm and wrist at work and now how was I suppose to load a UHaul truck? Well, I still wonder to this day if they were that tired of us in the family dorms, because help came out of the wood-work faster than you can skin a tater on a rainy day. The college threw us a great farewell dinner, gave us an envelope with a little somethin’ somethin’ for the trip.

The drive was hard. It was only about sixteen hours in a UHaul truck filled to the brim, towing a station wagon. The cab was filled with a wife who was wondering what she got herself into and four girls who were crying as they left their friends and familiar territory. To make matters worse the closer we got to the border of Washington the more it began to rain. It poured rain. It rained cats and dogs. The rain came down in buckets. Did I mention it rained? Everyone in California warned us that we would grow web feet and begin to rust away, but this was something else.

In spite of driving for sixteen straight hours, my wife checking and rechecking our wedding vows to see if a move to wet Tacoma was part of the package that she had to honor, cherish, and obey and four girls crying their little hearts out, we made it to Tacoma, Washington August 31, 1989.

(To be continued…)