It was my privilege this July 19-25 to preach the Camargo, Ky camp meeting. It was extremely hot but that did not dampen the spirit of those who were there. As a young man I attended Camargo a couple of time in the 1970’s but had been unable to give the time to it since then. It was a real pleasure for me as I preached 8 times and led 4 conferences as well as attending 5 other worship services. While I was there I preached on the truths that God has blessed our Movement with and found the people to be very receptive. I want to thank you for enabling me to do this.
The life of our congregation is filled with all kinds of events and investments of time and money. On July 19 our youth returned from a trip to Florida where they went to our International Youth Convention. Anita Miller, our youth pastor, took a total of 53 youth and counselors with her and they were able to have a marvelous time in the Lord. Thank you Anita along with all your counselors and the parents who made this happen.
Our Faith Promise Campaign will be on August 15 with Dr. and Carolyn Sirker being our guest speakers. For those of you who do not know the Sirkers they work at our Missions Compound in Nicaragua. I have had the privilege of meeting them and seeing their work first hand and you will not regret getting to hear about the lives that are being helped and changed through the efforts of this congregation there as well as their leadership. I ask you to pray about the part you play in missions and ask God to guide you on what you would promise. Remember Faith Promise is not taking money from anything you currently do or receive! But it is believing that God will give you money from an unexpected place and you will be the conduit through whom He sends it to missions work. Our missions steward, Kim Trantham, and her team have been working hard to make sure we are ready for this time will you pray that we see the will of God done in it all?

Well this past week has gone fast and it has been filled with all kinds of things that are common in the life of the church. We see people who are in the hospitals, visit people in the nursing homes and in their own homes. Death, birth and everything in between are the common things that take place here.
One of the difficult pieces that come to play in the life of our congregation is the attempt to figure out what should be done to enable us to move forward as a local body of believers. I have been reading a book, "Taking Your Church to the Next Level" and the subtitle is What got you here won't get you there" by Gary L. McIntosh. Therein lies the problem--I find that I know how to get to where we are at but it is a struggle learnign what must take place for us to move foward. I ask you to pray with me on this issue because I believe that God wants us to win souls, grow disciples and honor Him in all that we do. I cannot reconcile not moving forward with the mission of the church or the Person of our God. Pray that the local congregation, the pastoral staff, the administrative staff, and other leadership will be able to see what our God desires.
I will be in Camargo, Ky preaching the campmeeting there next week. Pray that God will be present and that we will hear from Him. Have a great week.

HGRudd

This past Sunday was July 4 as you all know. But we really had a marvelous Sunday here at Greeneville First Church of God. Our worship was filled with the presence of God and I was thankful to be back from Haiti and with the church family here. Then we went out to Locust Springs Retreat Center for the evening worship. We started with just some play time for families and their kids then we had dinner at 5 p.m. The folks who put it together did a great job. There was fried chicken and you know that any preacher loves that. Thank you David Dotson and your team with special thanks to Gordon and Betty Aldridge. At 6 p.m. we had a worship service with the youth worship team leading. Once again they did an excellent job and I think that God was pleased with what they did. At 7 p.m. we had a dedication service for the new Chapel and it was packed full. Those individuals who made it a possiblity should be given thanks but there are too many to mention here. I would just say to the Locust Springs governing board that you are doing a wonderful job and to those who did the physical labor and gave financially I want to thank you for providing such a wonderful additon to Locust Springs. At dark the youth provided fireworks, thanks Anita, and many stayed out to see them--of course, some of us older ones left before that took place. What a wonderful Independence Day we had. We should obvious give thanks for those who have paid such high prices to make that day possible and we should also give thanks to God who is the ultimate Provider for all of us.

Well, I returned from Haiti last night after being gone for one week. During that time I was privledged to preach 7 sermons and to teach one lesson. I also attended a baptism service that began at 4:30 a.m. and went until 7 p.m. We had to walk about 2 miles to get to the sea where they baptized about 20 people. I was also able to attend a wedding ceremony that had 3 couples being married. On Thurs-Sat worship morning services began at 7:30 a.m. and went until 10:00 a.m. During the evenings they began at 5:30 p.m. and went until at least 8 p.m. They would sing for 2-3 hours and then I would preach. There were 7 people who gave their hearts to Jesus during those worship services.
We participated in a water and clothing handout at a local congregation. You could not imagine what that was like unless you were there. The people were pushing and shoving and attempting to get all that they could. I guess I might be like that if I lived in their conditions. Some of the homes since the earthquake are nothing more than tents and tarps. There were literally thousands of those. Others had concrete homes or mud thatch homes that had dirt floors and where numerous family members shared the same bed. The living conditions are horrible and the countryside is filthy with trash everywhere.
The roads were horrendous. Even the good one was dangerous to travel on as there are no lane markings and people drive as fast as they can and there is no one to attempt to enforce any traffic laws even if they had them. Buses traveling at 70 miles an hour, small pick up trucks loaded to where bumpers were almost touching the ground, people everywhere standing around, or attempting to make a living by selling trinkets. The mass of people pushing and shoving is absolutely amazing.
Phyllis Newby is recovering from malaria and typhoid. The compound where we stayed houses about 70 orphans, has a hospital that is serviced by local doctors and nurses and, of course, houses missions work camps. We slept on the third floor where there were about 40 beds but there were only 7 of us who were there at the time. There are no walls on that level only a tin roof. It was miserable hot but up there we did have a breeze. The rest rooms were about 200 feet away and there was only cold water. It made for interesting showers as you were attempting to get your breathe after the cold water hit you. Jerlee Ottinger did much of the cooking and caring for folks. What an amazing woman she is who at 80 years of age is still making that trek to serve the people she has fallen in love with.
My daugher, Debby, went with us and I was blessed to have her share this adventure with me. Of course, she attempted to take her mothers place by telling me what to do all the time. We went together to St. Marks, a large town, the streets are still more dirt and rock than anything else and the amount of people who are at every point is amazing. Again there are no traffic laws so vehicles were turning everywhere and coming from every direction.
I am wonderously blessed by being able to go there and by being part of a congregation that is filled with people who believe that they are called to be part of the ministry all around the world. Thank you all for your wonderful love and support and for just being you.

Pastor H. G. Rudd