Just Another Day at Olivet

US Navy Blimp Over Olivet

Olivet Church looks to be an ordinary place - a little church in a quiet neighborhood. But God continues to surprise me with extraordinary blessings wrapped in the "ordinary packaging" of a country church.

It's quiet here, but many visitors drop by. Just today, a stranger was walking down Olivet road taking pictures. He stopped in to tell me he was sightseeing all the way from Scotland (not the one by Point Lookout, either!).Then there are the visitors who circle our sky - like the US Navy blimp that spent quite a long time in our neighborhood last week.
Simple miracles happen at Olivet all the time. For instance, there was the Miracle of Pickles. A kindergartner heard the cries of a cat coming from beneath the church. He and his grandma discovered that a cat had become trapped and couldn't get out.    With the help of church members who cut him an escape hatch, the friendly cat named Pickles was rescued.

Pickles' story began the week before, when I was praying for dirt so that we could fill-in a gap under the church. Miraculously, a bulldozer
appeared. It was heading to the end of Olivet Road to move dirt from the site of James Dodson's old store.    The driver offered us a pile of dirt for our hole. What a gift! It seemed to be sent from James Dodson himself to meet the needs of the Olivet Trustees!

The Hole Filled In with Dirt

The only problem was nobody knew Pickles was napping beneath the church, he never knew his entrance way had been blocked. It took a little boy, almost five days later to discover him. He is now safe and the hole is closed up.
This week's miracle is just as exciting. Our Governing Body launched a fundraiser for the renovation of the church hall and set up an on- line giving website. Within three days, contributions started coming in as we posted the requests to facebook and email. To date, we have over $2,000. Inside this newsletter, read more about this initiative and what is involved.
Olivet was named for the holy spot outside Jerusalem where people encountered God. Here at Olivet, we also encounter the holy. In simple, ordinary ways, God reminds us that his love for us is always a miracle.