Adams family brings new life to Moody
___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___MOODY--The talk in this central Texas community and Bell Baptist Association is about what the Adams family brought with them from Oregon.
___Not in the 24-foot rental truck or even in the minivan, but the faith in their hearts.
___When the Adamses packed up to move to
| |
THE ADAMSES (center) have found good friends in the Allens (right) and the Averys.
|
Texas, the only person they knew in the state was Pastor Hallie Tolbert. Tolbert, of West Side Baptist Church in Killeen, had learned that Ridge Adams felt called to ministry and wanted to advance his theological education.
___As a trustee of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Tolbert encouraged Adams to consider the Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated school.
___And so the Adamses began their long journey south.
___Fred Allen, a member of Heights Baptist Church in Temple who has become a close friend of the family, still marvels at the faith that trek evidenced.
___"They came with five children and a truckload of furniture and only knew two things --Ridge was accepted to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, and they had a mobile home to live in at West Side Church in Killeen," Allen said.
___The Killeen congregation quickly made the family feel at home, Traci Adams said.
___"That is an African-American congregation, and coming from central Oregon, I didn't have a lot of exposure to that culture, but they just loved on us, and it was wonderful," she recalled. "When we arrived, the GAs had made a welcome sign, there was Wolf Brand chili in the cupboard and Blue Bell ice cream in the freezer."
___The sponsoring church got a blessing from the Adams family as well, Tolbert reported.
___"It was a joy for me to see God at work; for someone to pick up and leave all he had in Oregon to come to Texas and go to school and join a black church," Tolbert said. "It also was a joy for my church to see how God takes care of someone who gives all they have to God."
___God soon provided the Adamses with the next step in their journey as well. Willow Grove Baptist Church, a rural church outside Moody, had dwindled but still had a faithful handful that needed a preacher. Richard Mangum, director of missions for Bell Baptist Association, asked Adams if he would be that preacher.
___Although he was the son a preacher with a calling to the ministry, Adams never had preached a sermon in his life. But he accepted the invitation.
___Worried he might have trouble finding the rural church and be late for his first sermon, Adams searched the church out on Saturday night. He found not only the church, but the front door partly open. The church building never has been locked as far as anyone knows. It has a lock, but no one has a key.
___Walking into that church that night, Adams said, he knew he had found his home.
___"More than the education, I now feel God called us to Willow Grove," he said.
___Even before he walked in that door, God had opened the doors of his heart to prepare him, he believes.
___"We'd thought I would be going to school in the day and that I would work in the food industry in the evening, since my background is as a chef," Adams explained. "Then I started thinking, 'What if there's a small rural church somewhere out there where I can preach and get some experience? And at that time I knew nothing of Willow Grove. It was just God directing me."
___The first Sunday Adams preached at Willow Grove, his family's number, seven, almost matched that of the rest of the congregation, eight. He soon was called as the church's pastor, and accepted readily, even though the salary was not much.
___"They told us, 'We can offer you $500 a month, but we know that's not enough,' Adams recalled. "I told them, 'You do what you can; we'll trust the Lord for the rest.'" The salary since has been increased a little, but Adams said God never has left his family in need.
___The church had a parsonage, but it needed a lot of work.
___"The first time we opened the back door, the whole bottom fell out of the door," Adams said.
___Even after the home was fixed up, the 1,200 square feet of space was too small for the family of seven.
___Allen invited other members of Heights Baptist Church to meet the Adamses, and from that a plan emerged to increase the size of the parsonage.
___Even so, the cost of materials alone was estimated at $18,000--a fortune for the small congregation at Willow Grove.
___Through pulpit exchanges and further interaction, the Willow Grove congregation and the Heights congregation became closer. Meanwhile, the Willow Grove church was beginning to revive under Adams' leadership.
___Before long, the church's building fund had grown to $12,000. And then strangers started dropping by the church unexpectedly and becoming fascinated with the parsonage project.
___One man passing by the church became intrigued by the project, obtained a central air conditioning system, stored it at his house until it could be installed and then delivered it.
___A local company donated not only new windows for the addition but for the whole house. The same company donated new siding for the entire house.
___A man from another Moody church built custom cabinets for the parsonage. Shingles for the roof and carpet for the entire home also were donated.
___What started out as an addition turned into a complete remodeling job. And the job that had been estimated to cost $18,000 in materials turned out to cost only $6,000.
___"It was a faith builder for all of us," said Bob Avery, chairman of the missions committee at Heights.
___"One of the things this project has shown our church is that if God is in something he will provide," Adams added. "God has taught us so much about his faithfulness that now when a situation comes up, if we feel like God is in it, we are willing to follow his lead."
___This demonstration of faith has led to rebuilding the congregation as well as the parsonage.
___Willow Grove has grown from the eight people present when Adams arrived to nearly 70. The number of Sunday School classes offered has grown from two to seven.
___And the church that could have died recently called a youth minister.
___The revitalized church did door-to-door visitation for a recent revival and is actively involved in ministries of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Bell Association.
___Adams recalls that when he first preached at Willow Grove in the fall of 1998, "this little old lady stood up and said, 'I just don't want my church to die,' with big tears rolling down her face."
___"I hugged her yesterday, and she said, 'I just can't believe all God has done here.'"
___
The Baptist Standard
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
|