Colbert-Lauderdale Baptist Association (CLBA) hiring a full-time director for its Earle Trent Assembly was one thing. Finding a comfortable place for his family of four to live was another.
But Danny Clark and David Mathis, members of Woodmont Baptist Church, Florence, didn’t think it was a problem at all.
They’d just build one.
So Clark, Mathis and about 30–40 other men from CLBA churches drew up plans for a house with five bedroom, two and a half baths and a two-car garage.
In three and a half days, the house was framed.
Needs were met as fast as they became known with men and women from CLBA’s 74 churches, as well as local businesses, donating time, skills and money.
From a heating unit, Sheetrock and shingles to ceramic tiles, siding and cabinetry, free and discounted materials, along with labor, rolled in one after another. And in about four months, the house was completed.
“It just confirmed to me that this was something God wanted,” Pat Gallagher said, referring to his move to Earle Trent after more than 20 years of working for the YMCA. “We didn’t expect to have a house built … for another three to five years, and when Woodmont (Baptist members) said, ‘Hey we do a missions trip every year. Can we come here and build a house?’ we knew that it was God. I wasn’t surprised at all that everything came together … and I wasn’t surprised to see people come out in droves to help. That’s how God works.”
But that was only the beginning of the blessings, Gallagher added, as people continue to give to further the retreat center’s ministry.
“The vision is for Earle Trent to be a place for people of all ages to come to,” Eddy Garner, CLBA director of missions, said of the 100-acre retreat located about 20 miles north of Florence.
Gallagher was brought on board to help make that vision a reality, he added. And the men and women who worked to build his house made his coming possible.
“Our needs are taken care of, and it’s a blessing the outpouring we’re seeing,” Gallagher said. “[God] had been telling me, ‘This is what I want you to do — be in a ministry.’ This is an incredible ministry and I’m very blessed. It’s the hardest work I’ve ever done, physically, in my life, but it’s so rewarding to know that for the first time, this is where God wants me, not where I want me, to be working.”
Garner said it was a blessing for him to see so many of the CLBA churches “come together with a common purpose.”
“It shows part of what an association is all about. It shows we can do things together as Baptists.”
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