Time for another trip report. This one has a lot of pictures.

Two Sabbaths ago we went to Ardmore, Oklahoma. We left around 7:30am, because Ardmore is only 130 miles away from Keene.

We got there during Sabbath School. They asked if we could do special music for Sabbath School. Mahalia was already doing special music for the church service but she sang another song last minute. Being ready to serve Jesus, right?

Meanwhile, I asked the greeter about the Ardmore church members, because I was preaching for the church service. I remembered what Professor Kilgore at SWAU told me in preaching class. Always know your audience.

We split us into classes and a couple of us went to youth Sabbath School. The teacher was talking about the book of Revelation. She was a nice lady who seemed to have a heart to serve young people. As you can see in the picture, they have a couple young people.

CHURCH SERVICE

The church has a very traditional order of service. The organist played well, and they had a couple of kids playing strings (violins and a cello) during the hymns.

Eileen read the Scripture reading.
Jared prayed the prayer.
Uzzie told the children’s story.
Mike presented a framed picture of Jesus as a gift to the church.
Mahalia sang for special music.
I preached.

For the first time, I actually preached without reading much of my sermon. I think this worked out well. I was able to preach more conversationally and look more at the audience.

POTLUCK

Lotta good food.

AFTERNOON SEMINARS

We had three seminars going on at the same time: kids, youth, and adults.

Kids

I didn’t get to observe the kids in our last trip, so I made it a point to spend some time with them.

The kids were great. They were well behaved. I had fun hanging out with them. I forgot how much fun it is to be around kids. They don’t put up a mask. They’re just who they are. Enjoying life and living in the moment.

Claudia, Uzzie, Hanan, Jared, and Mahalia kept them busy with singing, crafts, and stories. Good job guys!

Youth

I didn’t spend much time with the youth, because they were meeting in a small room and I didn’t want to be a distraction by leaving in and out and taking pictures.

I came in while we were doing an icebreaker where they try to remember each others’ names. Later, I found out that we taught them from Ellen White’s book, Messages to Young People.

Adults

Juliana started off the adults seminar by talking about her personal experience with reading Ellen White’s writings.

Then, Eileen spoke about devotional life.

Finally, Mrs. Hadley talked about Adventist history, specifically James and Ellen White’s trip to Oklahoma.

Group Picture

After we left Ardmore, we found a park and had sundown worship. Of course, we had to take a group picture.

More pictures from the trip