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Summer Article

The 2004 Adoration Tour was an unforgettable time for the trio and sponsors, Howard and Patsy Gwartney. A series of services started May 16, 2004 in Nashville, Tennessee with the Cornerstone FWB Church and Pastor Cliff Donoho. The Campbell and Pate families helped to provide meals and lodging. Sunday night, May 16th, we were with Pastor Randall Wright at Oaklawn FWB Church in Chapmansboro, TN. May 18th, we enjoyed a wonderful service with Pastor Jim Walker at the First FWB Church in Greenwood, Arkansas. Associate Pastor Ken Brown did an excellent job hosting us. We had a wonderful opportunity to be with Cornerstone FWB Church in Tulsa, OK on May 19th. Dr. Curtis Linton was very gracious to us. We were able to visit with alumni Sam and Jennifer Smith and Zach and Hope Hinson. Their new building is beautiful!

First FWB Church in Haskell, Oklahoma hosted us on May 20, 2004. It was such a blessing to see Asst. Pastor Robert Ketchum, and his wife Holly. It was our pleasure to be at East Valley FWB Church in Mesa, AZ on May 23rd. Pastor Mike Cash and his wife, Misty were so warm and welcoming to us. Alumni Cody and Jamie Mansfield visited with us. Howard and Patsy were able to visit with their daughter Brooke. Pastor George Harvey and the North Valley FWB Church in Phoenix, Arizona was very generous to us. We enjoyed a great service with them. Mrs. Linda Harvey and Greg and LaDonna Harvey provided a delicious supper meal for us.

On May 25, 2004 we enjoyed being with Pastor Mark Harrison at First FWB Church in Bakersfield, California. Pastor Mark and Cheryl were very gracious to us. Wednesday night, May 26th, it was our privilege to have a service with the Wasco FWB Church in Wasco, California. Pastor and Mrs. Danny Scott provided an authentic Mexican meal prepared by different people in their congregation. We enjoyed getting to see Matt Poettgen, a student at SEFWBC from their church. Pastor Jim Kilgore and his wife Tracy drove over from Taft, California to visit with us. Thursday evening, May 27th, we were with Pastor and Mrs. Jeff Hollinsworth at Harvest FWB Church in Bakersfield, CA. Pastor Hollinsworth, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Phil Hollinsworth, and their Christian School Principal, Kurt and Mrs. Lingren provided great food and lodging for us.

May 30th we were able to be with Pastor and Mrs. Sam Hensley at the Fairfield FWB Church in Fairfield, CA. We rejoiced to be a part of their exciting services. We enjoyed Sunday dinner with Pastor and Mrs. Hensley and Associate Pastor Jason Hensley and his family. Pastor Hensley has started an exciting ministry to children, the Barrier. Sunday evening we were with Associate Pastor Carl Gray and the wonderful congregation at Capitol FWB Church in North Highlands, CA. They were very kind and gracious to us.

We traveled all night to reach New Hope FWB Church in Kent, Washington. It was well worth it! We enjoyed a wonderful service with Pastor Brent Nix and his people. Pastor Nix was kind enough to take all day Tuesday to show us the sights of Seattle. We then drove on to Oregon City FWB Church in Oregon City, OR. Pastor and Mrs. Darrell Smith have such a beautiful church! Their kindness in providing meals and lodging was an added blessing. Wednesday night, June 2nd, we were blessed to be with Home Missionary Eric Thompson at Desert Hills FWB Church in Bend, OR. They were so kind to us and provided great meals and lodging. They are doing a great work in Bend. Thursday, June 3rd we enjoyed a service with Pastor and Mrs. Gene Kissinger at Jerome FWB Church in Jerome, Idaho. It was a joy to see this exciting, growing church in a mostly Mormon town.

June 6-8, we were in revival services with Pastor and Mrs. Roger Raper at First FWB Church in Ft. Collins, Colorado. We enjoyed a delicious barbecue meal Sunday at lunch. The church prepared gift bags for all of the members of Adoration. They also provided a beautiful decorated cake for Howard and Patsy’s 29th wedding anniversary. It was our privilege to have the wonderful people from Highland Hills FWB Church in Greeley in our services. Pastor and Mrs. Mark Thomas prepared a meal for us, as well as bringing their people to the services. Howard and Patsy were able to visit with Ben and Fawn, their youngest daughter.

Pastor and Mrs. Tim Stringer provided a wonderful meal and lodging for us at Faith FWB Church in Salina, KS. We had a good service and a good altar response. Pastor Tim was a part of Brother Howard’s youth group when Howard was a youth pastor in Oklahoma. Our last services was with Pastor Clifford Ball at the Bethel FWB Church in Kansas City, Kansas. We were thrilled to provide special music and preaching for the Kansas State Association. What a warm reception we received!

Things we learned on this tour:

God was so gracious to protect us and supply our needs over the nearly 10,000 miles we traveled.

Southeastern FWB College has the best students in the world! What a privilege it was for Howard and Patsy to travel with such a dedicated group of young people. They were a blessing in each church. They worked hard to sing well each night. They were friendly and loving to the people we met. They had a grateful servant’s spirit. It was a privilege to travel with them.

Free Will Baptists are blessed with the most kind, generous people in the world! We will never forget the kindness that was shown to us. We appreciate the financial support and words of encouragement we received everywhere we went. We thank God for our denomination and its gracious people.

There is such a need in the western United States for Free Will Baptist churches. It is our desire that God would call some young men from our college to plant new churches in the huge cities of America. Everywhere we traveled, we saw cities without a FWB witness. Please pray with us that God will send forth laborers and that He will use Southeastern FWB College to train them!

The Gwartney's and the Adoration Trio Summer Photo log (51 photos)

(6/14/04)

(Use the arrows below to navigate the photos.)

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Southeastern's Adoration Trio and Gwartney's Summer Itinerary