It all started after the 1998 flood, when we lost our house and belongings. We
had insurance, which is never enough, and many of our family, church members
and friends responded with a whole lot of help. After dealing with FEMA and
other governmental regulatory agencies, we built a new house on the same
property, only this time it was about 13 ½ feet in the air.
Being a pastor of a small rural church, there was never much of a retirement
building for us. Our church did what it could, but there wasn’t much. Reva and
I, after allot of prayer, decided we would pour all of our insurance, including
what we had receive for furnishings, into the actual building of the house. We
wanted it to be nice enough to bring a good price when we decided to sell it
and we always believed it would sell when it was time to retire from the
pastorate. The house actually became our retirement account. In the end, we had
a much nicer place than we had ever dreamed of and God really showed His favor
on us.
In early 2013 God began to reveal to me that my tenure as the pastor of Forest
Hills Baptist Church would soon end. We began to make plans to retire at the
beginning of 2014, but things changed a little bit and I ended up retiring in
July. Though it was really not the best time to sell a house on the lake
(headed into Fall and Winter), we went ahead and listed the property. The value
of the house had escalated tremendously since it was built and we knew that
when sold it would afford us the opportunity to relocate, pay cash for another
house and have a nice sum left over to assist with our retirement. Remember, I
said God had shown His favor on us. To make a long story short, there was no
activity on the house from July through March. Then on Tuesday April 8, a
couple from San Antonio looked at the house and two days later made a cash
offer to purchase the house. Things began to move very quickly and Reva’s mom
offered to let us move into a building on her property. We have now closed on
the house and are currently residing in a twenty by thirty foot one room
apartment, our furnishings are in storage, and we’re looking for a house. The
money from the sale will be sufficient for us to purchase another nice house and catch up on lost time with our retirement. Did I say, God has
shown His favor upon us? Yes, I did!
During the past year I have re-established my evangelistic ministry which is
now focusing on assisting, facilitating, and encouraging pastors and churches
in fulfilling the Great Commission and the Acts 1:8 mandate through personal
and direct involvement in missions and church planting. While preaching over
forty times in area churches during this past year we have seen many come to
know Christ as Lord and I have had opportunity to mentor several pastors in
their pursuit of become an Acts 1:8 kind of church. We have had several from
the laity come along side of us in ministry through prayer support and
financial gifts. Did I say, God has shown His favor upon us? Through the sale
of our house, Reva’s continued work, and the financial support of both churches
and laity, I can now travel to help churches of any size become intentionally
missional. I never charge any church nor pastor a fee for my ministry, and I
take no salary from my 501C3 Evangelistic Association. We hope to provide at
least two pastors with financial scholarship assistance during the coming year
so that they can personally participate in a mission trip for the first time.
As they go, we know that God will do a work not only through them, but in them
so that they will return with a new and fresh vision to lead their church to
become intentionally missional.
If you’d like to partner with our ministry, please visit our web site at www.mitchtexas.com to find out more information.
Once there, you can support us financially by clicking “Donate” on the home
page, or by mailing your check to MEKEA at PO Box 288 Seguin, TX 78156. All
donations are tax deductible. More than anything, we covet your prayers for us
and our ministry.
Please feel free to leave your comments and feedback.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
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