Tonight will be an emotional night for us as we see City Reach 2016 come to a close. City Reach Fayetteville is the last City Reach of the year and tonight is the last night of service in Fayetteville. We planned and prayed for over three years about City Reach and then 2016 has zoomed by in a flash! It is very hard to believe it has come and gone.
I am sure I will have more to say about the conclusion of City Reach 2016 in a later post. My heart is full of stories, details and emotion and I know that I want to share at least some of that with you eventually. But today's post is more about the strong emotions that welled up inside of us yesterday, in the service last night and today.
What is going on? Well, tonight is the last service of City Reach but last night was the last service of City Reach 2016 for Bro. Jimmie Radcliffe.
Bro. Jimmie is flying out early this morning to California. He is a certified Grief Recovery Specialist and is attending an international convention and training session that begins tonight.
Bro. Jimmie is flying out early this morning to California. He is a certified Grief Recovery Specialist and is attending an international convention and training session that begins tonight.
This has been part of the plan for many months but now that the day has arrived, it is a sad day for all of us. Bro. Jimmie has been and continues to be an integral part of City Reach. Those of you that were able to attend even one service of City Reach any where in the country, know that fact very well. We have conducted many, many tent revivals all over the country for many years without Bro. Jimmie, but we could Not have completed City Reach without him.
We truly believe that God sent Bro. Jimmie to be with us this year.
Bro. Jimmie Radcliffe has worked so hard and been so faithful. He has helped carry the physical load of City Reach but he has also helped carry the spiritual load of City Reach. He left his home, his business, his own ministry, his home church and his family and friends to spend nearly a year with us, helping to fulfill our vision. Who would do that?
Bro. Jimmie would and did. In the process he has endeared himself to our family and to Pastors, churches and new converts in every city. Folks all over the country are now blessed to have a lifelong friend because Bro. Jimmie spent time in their city reaching for the lost and hurting as part of City Reach. How cool is that?
It has been a pleasure to watch him connect with Pastors, church members, strangers on the street and people in the altar. He has lead people to the Lord during service, during the day and even in the middle of the night. God has used him to bring hopelessly lost folks into the kingdom of God!
It has been an amazing experience for our old friends, new friends we have met along the way, for our family and I hope for Bro. Jimmie.
Thank you, Bro. Jimmie for your service. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for your selflessness. Thank you for your strength. Thank you for your sincerity. Thank you for your spirit. Thank you for working so hard for the promise of so little. I know you have told me that God has already blessed you for blessing us but I am praying that God will bless you abundantly more in ways that you can not even anticipate.
The good news is that Bro. Jimmie will be flying back to Fayetteville Monday and then pulling his trailer to Ohio to join us for several more days. We need to remove all the tent stuff from his trailer and move it to our tent trailer that is stored at the barn. Then if all goes as planned he will stay a few more days and help me with a few projects at the Lazy OD Ranch.
That means that today's goodbye is really only "see you later." That sounds and feels much better.
Thank you for reading, friends.
Davy
