The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 2003

Maranatha \ l,1ra11arl, 11, ,1,,.. ,011ther11 1110 ·r area. ,·r, erl·/11111! ,1l,>11r:, rhc ()/,io Ri ,·cr to .... " 111l lt1tft.' ,1,,.. Porr,·111c>11rh an,I Gall1jJolis ar1.'<1, <111,I as far north as Chillicothe. ho111c to ()l,io s /irsr ca1>1ral. This area 1s also hc>lllt! ro ciotv Hill a111p. H J11ch . er, ·<?. 111a11.,· of our ourh Bethel ancl \ faranarha churches. The ladie • ht?l,I their pring .\leering on .4pril 5 in Cl,1l/1corhe. .featuring peaker Felicia Oana. 111i ·sio11a11· to Ro,nania. Pre ident 's Dav Ice Storm Hits ., e, ·eral l aranatha Churches by Pastor John Gowdy n the \\'eekend f February I 5th a record- etting ice ~ron11 hit the counrie along the Ohio River alley o hard that Governor Taft declared them a di a ter area. Temple Bapti t, Pon mouth, along with the other churches of the area, wa unable to have ervices on that unday, a fallen tree knocked out the power to the entire region. Due to the nature of thi s storm emergency vehicles and other traditional forms of help were useless. The fir t le,·el of help had to be "neighbor 4 How To Reach Us... State Representative David & Pat Warren 360 College Hill Drive Cedarville OH 45314 937-766-5913 Church Planting Coordinator Max & Phyllis Tucker 9163 Steamboat Way West Chester, OH 45069 513-942-1295 pltucker5@juno.com taking care of neighbor.'' lowly, the ar a began to recover. Po"ver wa r tor d to the larger grid fir t but it ,va ,veek later befor many outlying area again had electricity. If it had not been fo r the help of power crew coming from olumbu , Cincinnati , Cle eland , and even Mt. Airy orth Carolina, many would ha e remained in the dark much longer. Temple Bapti t played host to several relief team . A Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Corp crew from Co lumbus establ i hed a kitchen operation on Temple' s south parking lot. Three days later a relief crew from the Dayton– Cincinnati area arri ved. They slept in the church and prepared just under 9,000 hot meal which were distributed by Red Cross Emergency Response vehicles. ext a chain-saw crew from Tennessee and Virginia operated from the church. Leavi ng each morning at 7: 00 and returning at dark, thi s ten-man crew began clearing trees off houses, freeing trapped animals and clearing driveways. Temple, of course provided their service free of charge and everal opportunitie came to share gospel tracts. After the crews returned home a group of men from Temple Baptist continue to clear brush. All of this was done in the spirit of giving a "cup of cold water in Jesus' name. " While all thi s was going on, the Red Cross set up a Field Outreach Center in the church parlor. They were able to handle 104 individual cases and provided materials and supplies in excess of $45,000. These Red Cross workers came from Ohio, Illinois, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Alaska. Some attended the church services and their work went on seven days a week. Amazingly, there were no reported deaths attributed to the storm and personal injuries were at a minimum. In addition to presenting ministry opportunities, thi s has been a great bonding experience for the river cities. Forestry professionals say that in the long term view, events such as this help eliminate weakened trees, provipe more sunlight to the forest floor and the rotting logs and branches provide habitat and food for the entire ecosystem. During this time of stretching the church facility to near maximum, the area Word of Life "Teens Involved" was held at Templ e, wi th over 400 young peopl e attending. The newe t t- hirt een on the streets read, "' I urvived the econd Ice-Age! " You can ee evidence of the torm da1nage at H'lVl1' .ci.portsnzouth.oh.us . ervi ng with John and Leigh Gowdy at Temple Bapti st are Dan & Joyce Rase. OTHER M RA TH RE H R IIE : Chillicothe, Calvary , Baptist, served by Dwayne & Rachel Gib on and Randy & Sarah Arboga t. Gallipolis, First Bapti r, wi ll host our Fall OARBC Confe rence led by Archie & Mary Conn Alvi s & Brenda Pollard, and Fred Williams (Sch. Adm.); Faith Baptist. comp leted a new Family Life Center, erved by Jim & ancy Lusher and Jeff & Janet Reed. Minford , Grace Baptist, pastor and wife, Scott & Jennifer Duncan became parents of a baby boy in January; Madison Missionary Baptist, with pastor and wife, Jim and Deni se Brown. Portsmouth, Shawnee Hills Baptist, led by pastor and wife David & Kim Frazie. David also has a tent evangelism ministry in the summer· Rio Grande Trini ty Baptist, located adjacent to Rio Grande Col lege, pastored by Marc Sarrett. Sciotoville. Waits Baptist, pastored by Ralph Frazie. Wheelersburg Wheelersburg Baptist led by Brad & Sherry Brandt. ~--the- e: One Man's Struggle eet Joe Lowry. Joe lives in Over-the-Rhine. About a year go he was released on parole after three years in prison, hi s second time to serve time for drug trafficking and possession. A woman kept him encouraged with her regular visits. Rhonda Carter however, insisted that life had to be different when he returned, if they were to stay together. This time things do seem to be different. Joe and Rhonda have remained together. She worked at Wendy's, he for a small construction contractor making $300 a week. Earning $50 a day for hard physical labor is a far cry from $1500 a day as a dealer. Neither does this work have the status or bring the respect that comes in this community for a drug dealer. Yet Joe kept hanging in there; the parole board released him. They were expecting a baby. Even when you wonder how you will feed another mouth, a baby brings hope. But contunued, page 5