Meet Baby James Holland

Note From Davy:

Some of you probably missed my afternoon update to yesterday's post. I was letting folks know that there was no church here at Ellisville Friday night due to an accident that took the life of one of the men in the church. It is incredible how that one phone call, one text message, one knock on the door can change your whole life. That pretty much sums up the whole day yesterday for many of our friends. Please pray for the family of Bobby Robinson, especially his wife Wanda, his daughter Heather and all the folks here at Ellisville First Assembly.

Meet James Holland

Hello, dear friends, this is Odie writing today.

We love to be in Ellisville, Mississippi with Pastor Kenny and Sis. Joan Morris. The fellowship this week has been wonderful and every service has been God ordained. This week has flown by way to fast and I can not believe it is time for us to move on from First Assembly. 

In several past posts we have mentioned our dear friends, Bro. JJ and Sis. Bailey Holland. They have had a roller coaster ride of emotion all last year but God has helped them so much.

James and John Holland were born over 2 months premature in September. Their lives were miracles from the very beginning and many of you joined us in praying for them during their hospital stay and when John went home to Jesus in October. It was a heartbreaking time for JJ and Bailey and their families and church.

 

James was able to come home from the hospital in November. Now he is doing great. He is a growing bundle of joy. He is well loved by his parents and church family. 

 

It was a highlight of my week to meet Baby James. He is precious! It is an amazing feeling to know I was holding a miracle. Praise God for His help!

 

Thank you for taking time to read today. I hope you have a blessed weekend. Below are some pictures of the little miracle.

Odie

Davy meeting Baby James 

Sis. Bailey and James 

I enjoyed every moment with this little man.

The Holland Family with Sis. Margaret

Praying for James and John Holland

Hey!

This is Odie writing to you once again from Kansas. We are having a fantastic week at City Reach Wichita. Thanks to everyone for the prayer! God is answering your prayers! 

We appreciate all of you that called, text or emailed letting us know you were helping carry the burden of prayer this week. I wish all of you could have experienced God moving in countless lives!  We still have two more City Reach services here in Wichita. I am expecting a great cap to a wonderful week. 

Please continue to pray for the lives that were touched this week. They really need to get in these local churches and seek God. I would love to come back to Wichita and see changed and free individuals!

In August Dad told you about Bro. JJ and Sis. Bailey Holland they were in Ohio for special care for their babies. Bailey was carrying twin boys. I was thrilled it worked out that we were in Ohio at the same time as my friends,

When in Ohio you to eat at Acapulco. It is a must for us!

Pastor Bill Lamb with the Hollands and their niece 

We were able to see Bro. JJ and Sis. Bailey a couple Wednesday nights ago at their home church in Ellisville, Mississippi. They were praising God for all the miracles He had given their sons already! The next day they went to Jackson, Mississippi, which will be there home away from home for a while. 

The twins were born in Jackson last week. They weighed in at 1lb 10 oz and 3lb 7oz. They are little guys but they are fighters. Bailey has given me permission to write about James and John and to post pictures. 

James is doing very good. He just needs a little oxygen. They think he can leave the hospital in a few weeks. John needs a miracle! He has a long ways to go. They are anticipating the need for heart surgery in a couple months. 

God is able to give them a complete healing! Join me in believing with and praying for the entire Holland family.  They are blessed with wonderful pastors and a caring church family but you can never have too much prayer!

Thank you for reading today. We plan to travel toward Richton, Mississippi Monday. City Reach Richton is scheduled to begin Friday. We are looking forward to a mighty move of God! 

I will leave you for now with pictures of precious James and John Holland. They have already tugged at my heart strings and I can not wait to meet them. 

Odie 

James

John 

James

John

James

John

Sunday In New York

I hope I am not over loading you all with pictures. We have plenty more today.

Sunday morning started early and dreary. We left our hotel in Secaucus a little before 7:00 AM. We wanted to attend the 9:00 AM service at Brooklyn Tabernacle and we were not sure how long it would take us. I figured the traffic would be light on Sunday morning and I was right. The rain slowed things down some but we made it across the river, through Manhattan and to Brooklyn in about 30 minutes.

Going under the Hudson River in the Holland Tunnel.

We drove right through Chinatown.

The Manhattan Bridge

The Brroklyn Bridge from the Manhattan Bridge.

The Brooklyn Tabernacle is in a beautiful old theater and it was full at the 9:00 service.

The church was nearly empty we we walked in. There were only a couple hundred people sitting around.

Gathering in.

They do not allow pictures during the service so no pictures.

The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir sang and they were great as usual. All of the music and singing was excellent. Associate Pastor Tim Dilena preached and he did great too.  A church that size has to run like a well oiled machine and it does but they retain a personal touch as well. We really enjoyed it.

By the time we were ready to leave it was only 30 minutes until the next service. We considered staying but we wanted to attend a service at Times Square Church.

We parked the Green Machine less than a block away in a lot that gives discounts if the ticket is validated at the church. The lots that offer discounts are listed on the church's website. It was $7, a great deal in Brooklyn.

http://www.brooklyntabernacle.org/the-church/directions

Edison Parking

160 Livingston St.

They put the Green Machine on the shelf and away we went.

We crossed the East River from Manhattan to Brooklyn on the Manhattan Bridge. Going back to Manhattan we went across the Brooklyn Bridge. There's a lot of history in those bridges.

Soon we were in Times Square walking toward a highly recommended Italian restaurant called Carmine's.

There were lots of people along Broadway and in Times Square but it was not bad at all.

Carmine's was every bit as good as we expected.

They serve food family style and Sundays they have a four pasta special. Wow! It was good!

Unbelievably it was more than we could eat and cost less than all three of us ordering an entree at Olive Garden. Not bad for New York City.

We got to Carmine's just in time. The crowd really poured in while we we there. We were finished in plent of time to walk back to Times Square Church for the 3:00 service.

We had parked very close to the church. Their website lists the parking garages that offer discounted parking when attending the services at Times Square Church and this was one of them. http://www.tscnyc.org/visit-us/

We were parked there about 5 hours and it should have been $45. With our card validated at the church the total cost was $2 plus tip. That is a deal any where but in NYC that is phenomenal. 

The church is located at 237 West 52nd St and the parking garage we used is in the next block east. It is the garage for the Manhattan Times Square Hotel. You can enter on 51st or 52nd between Broadway and 7th.

The church is in an old Broadway Theater and it is an amazing building. It was packed for the 3:00 service.

The entrance to the church.

The Founder of the Times Square Church was David Wilkerson. His book The Cross and the Switchblade had a real impact in my life as a young man. It started a fire in my heart to win souls and it is a desire that still burns today. Although Pastor Wilkerson has been dead for about 3 years it was important for me to visit his church while I was so close. I am glad I did.

After we drove north from Times Square to the upper west side and then through Central Park to the upper east side. It was a nice drive and we saw some neat sights. We went back under the Hudson River through the Lincoln Tunnel to our Hotel.

We had a nice short visit to New York City and early Monday we headed toward Boston and our dear friend Esther Richards. We had a great visit Monday evening and we plan to spend more time with her today and tomorrow. We already have lots of pictures to post.

Thanks for reading.

Davy