Springerville, Arizona

Kenny & Laurie

      This past weekend I enjoyed spending time with old friends' Kenny & Laurie. Now Pastors at the Calvary Chapel in Springerville, Arizona. Got to share a bit during Sunday's service, helped stack firewood a little bit at Saturday's men's fellowship and sang in the local assisted living facility Friday.

Backstory:

                         

      Thirteen years ago, the second year in the ministry, I was passing through this general area on a Sunday. When I showed up at the church they were serving in at the time. They gave me the opportunity to share during the service and invited me back to their house to park overnight and shower.

 

     As we drove there, they noticed that the old van I was using (1991 Dodge Caravan) spewed a lot of smoke out the tailpipe. Later we laughed about the fact that it used a quart of oil every two-hundred miles like clockwork.

 

     The next morning Laurie cooked up a T-Bone steak and egg breakfast. Yum!    Afterward while sitting at the dinning room table visiting, Kenny very humbly said to me, “If you want it, we'd like to offer you our minivan for your ministry”.

 

     Wow! What a gift! A 1997 Dodge Caravan. Six years newer and in great shape. Same make and model, so the bed I'd built and the curtains moved right over.

 

     We simply traded titles. He gave mine to a Pastor on the reservation who used it for another year before it finally broke.

 

     I used his for the next four years, got it up to 226,000 miles before the next one showed up.

 

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Larry Eugene Stevens.

May God Bless You!

Yours in Christ, Larry

Datil, New Mexico

A Tough Day

      On Monday October 28^th I started off with a rather unpleasant encounter in the morning.

 

     Then drove into New Mexico for a few hours, to the bump-in-the-road town of Datil in time to attend the noon Fellowship and Bible Study at the Cowboy Church I stumbled onto last year.

 

     These dear folks gave me an opportunity to share in song and testimony for a bit. They also gave me permission to park overnight at their RV spot on the property like last year.

 

     In the afternoon a very angry lady came aggressively knocking on the camper demanding that I leave. I tried to explain but she would not believe or accept that I had permission.

      I didn't argue, simply left.

 

     I could have gone over to the other church in this small town where I'd ministered in previous years. They'd given me an open invitation to stay anytime. But I was so disheartened and uncomfortable at the time, that I drove another sixty miles down out of the mountains arriving in Socorro just after dark.

 

     It amazes me how much these things hurt.

 

     Interesting that the subject at the Bible Study had to do with Spiritual Warfare.

 

Look for these messages on the Blog and Facebook.

To send a friend request on Facebook search my full name.

Larry Eugene Stevens.

May God Bless You!

Yours in Christ, Larry

Lacrosse, Kansas

Mark

      Yesterday I attended the “First Christian Church” in Lacrosse, Kansas where the Pastor (Mark) gave me a 10 to 15 minute opportunity to share in song and message during the service.

      At the end of the service while going through their announcements Mark asked me to do the nursing home service in town which he was scheduled for at 2:00 pm.

      So after sharing a meal at a nearby restaurant with a group from the church, I got over to the “Locust Grove” facility and had a wonderful time with about twenty residents.

Background:

      Quite a few years ago I stopped in this town on a Wednesday and sang in their nursing home attached to the hospital. The activity director called her Pastor (Mark) encouraging him to come meet me. Which he did.

      Turned out that on Wednesday afternoons they gathered a group of about 50 children (mostly little tykes) for a service followed by a meal. Mark asked me if I'd do the service for them.

      Well I figured right off that singing old gospel songs was not going to work. So, I did just a couple of “Jesus Loves Me” type songs, told them what I do in simple terms, then opened it up to question & answer.

      It worked very well. Seems like just about every child had a question. They stayed focused and relatively quiet.

      Now this was back when I was living in the minivan. So many of their questions were due to their fascination over someone living that way.

      They were so sweet and absorbed. Needless to say this is a special memory for me.

 

Look for these messages on the Blog and Facebook.

To send a friend request on Facebook search my full name.

Larry Eugene Stevens.

May God Bless You!

Yours in Christ, Larry

Osceola, Nebraska

Bill & Jo

      During the beginning of the ministry, while using the first minivan (about fifteen years ago) I was passing through the small town of Osceola, Nebraska when I noticed a city park with a couple of free RV spots with a three day limit.

      So I pulled in, put up the curtains and started reading a book. Not long afterwards I heard someone pull up, walk over and ask, “ Are you alright? ”.

     I never looked out, just simply answered, “Yes I'm okay”.

      If memory serves, I sang in the town's nursing home the next morning and continued on down the road.

      Years later I again passed through that same town. I pulled into the city park and noticed what appeared to be an employee in a city truck driving around. So stopping beside him, I told him what I do and asked if there was a place in town where I could get a shower.

      He immediately answered, "Yes, my house".

      He had me follow him to his house, introduced me to his wife (Jo), insisted I park there at the house overnight and it being close to the weekend he connected me with the Pastor of his church paving the way for an opportunity to share a bit during the upcoming Sunday service.

      When I shared with local folks about what Bill had done the common response was, “Yep, that's Bill”.

P.S. Turned out, it was Bill who had stopped to ask if I was alright all those years ago.

 

Look for these messages on the Blog and Facebook.

To send a friend request on Facebook search my full name.

Larry Eugene Stevens.

May God Bless You!

Yours in Christ, Larry