Safe and Sound with Boots on the Ground

We woke up to a sunny beautiful Sunday morning. The humidity was low and the skies were blue. After breakfast at the hotel, we drove to First Presbyterian Church Meridian and worshiped with them in their fellowship hall as their sanctuary is undergoing renovation. A foreshadowing of things to come at Calvary. A quick trip to Wendy's for lunch and we were off to Hattiesburg.

First Presbyterian Church (FPC) in Hattiesburg has not disappointed us with their hospitality. We were warmly welcomed by Knox and others at First Pres. Molly and Bobby fed us a delicious home cooked dinner.

We even had a few minutes after dinner to celebrate Gwen's birthday. Jeff had baked Gwen's favorite dark chocolate cake, from scratch, and we successfully transported it all the way from Raleigh.

After birthday cake, we attended the joint Sunday evening worship service at FPC with Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church (EMBC). Nate was asked to share with the folks from Hattiesburg what motivated us to come to Hattiesburg three of the last five years, the most of any visiting church participating in their Hope for Hattiesburg ministry.

Following the worship service, we fellowshipped over ice cream. Several members from both churches thanked us for helping in their community.  They were very encouraging and promised to pray for us. We got the chance to renew acquaintances from our past trips (Andy and Charles from FPC and Pastor Carlos from EMBC). Pastor Carlos will oversee our construction work at Mr. Price's home. Andy will be supervising our work putting up a fence at Mr. Holloway's home. 

We ended the evening with a quick tour of our worksites.