October 2, 2000

Missionary dog on trail of converts
___By Marv Knox
___Editor
___PORT ANGELES, Wash. --Former Texans Mark and Paula Weatherford have discovered a dog-gone good approach to missions.
___The Weatherfords are starting Eastern Hills Community Church, a Baptist congregation in Port Angeles, Wash. And their dog, Annie, brought four people to worship on a recent Sunday.
___The canine caper started off rough but soon rolled over into a wonderful witnessing opportunity, reported Weatherford, former pastor of Ferguson Road Baptist Church in Dallas and First Baptist Church in Emory.
___"We had just brought Annie back from a walk at the beach," Weatherford said. "When we tried to put her up, she just looked at us like, 'I'm not through yet,' and ran off.
___"Later that night, we received a phone call from a lady saying she had our dog. We had our phone number on Annie's collar."
___When the Weatherfords went to fetch Annie, the woman seemed glad for them to stay and talk about their new church.
___"We ... found out she had been really thinking about going to church, but she didn't know where to go," Weatherford recalled. "Her last remarks were: 'Please don't punish Annie. God led her here so I would find out about your church.'
___The woman soon visited the church and brought three friends with her, Weatherford said, noting the woman wrote on the visitors' card that she was a guest of Annie.
___The new Port Angeles church has about 40 members and averages 30 in attendance each Sunday.

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