Faith On Every Corner_July 2017_CR

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“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. “ PORCH MINISTRY Vicki and Willie Williamson Our stories will most likely be ones that are suggested by our readers. Anna Friend told us about her friends Vicki and Willie and we are thrilled to share their story with you. Vicki and Willie Williamson met online about 15 years ago. Vicki had been divorced for many years, and prayed for God to send a Christian man into her life. Vicki and Willie met through an online dating service. They first exchanged emails and talked to each other on the phone. During their phone conversations, she could hear his children’s voices in the background or when she called him at work, he was always available. She felt comfortable that she knew he was honest and a good man. Vicki had two grown children, the last was getting married and Vicki was facing an empty nest. Willie still had four older children at home. After getting to know each other, they were ready to take next step of meeting for dinner. Vicki lived in Forest City and Willie lived in Gastonia. They met in Shelby weekly for dinner. They were comfortable and Vicki says she knew she was with a faithful man, a man who shared her faith beliefs. They dated for five years before they married and are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary this year. Willie and Vicki have a beach home in Cherry Grove, South Carolina in the North Myrtle Beach area. They drive down at least once a month. They both love to go to yard sales while there and often strike up conversations with people who they believe are Christians. They are very personable and always look for like-minded people to share a friendship. Vicki and Willie decided to invite their neighbors from across the street, Rock and Susie, for dinner one evening. Soon after, they began to invite people they met at yard sales. They all enjoyed sharing God’s word, listening to each other’s testimonies, singing, as well as eating a nice meal together. Vicki is fast to point out that Willie is a great cook. As time went on, they started inviting more people to join them for dinner, music, praise, and discussion on their screened in porch. They felt it was a great way to keep their faith strengthened. The number of people attending and size of the meals grew quickly. Soon Vickie and Willie had a full Porch with 12-16 people joining them each month. I asked if they called this the Porch Ministry when they first started. They said no, their only goal at the time was trying to think of what they could do to encourage other Christians. Willie mentioned Proverbs 27:17 which says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. “ 13
Vicki said when they look back, they didn’t know that God was leading them into the Porch Ministry. They started inviting people over to sit and talk about their blessings and the good news of God. They fixed dinner, read scripture, gave testimonies, praise reports, and sang. “Who doesn’t like to sing,” says Vicki. Vicki plays the keyboard and Willie loves to sing. <strong>On</strong>e of their guests, a Pastor’s wife, once asked them, “What exactly is your mission?” They started thinking about it and prayed, that is when they realized it was a ministry. Like-minded people coming together, worshiping, praying for one another, sharing music, singing, reading scripture, and being with those who want to be with other Christians. When you think about it says Willie, “We like to sharpen each other, get refreshed, and go out into the world so we can talk to others about Jesus Christ. Willie said, “being with other Christians is important. Over time we all get dull, like a knife. A dull pocket knife is useless and in order to keep ourselves sharpened, we need to keep the knife sharp. That is our goal, to keep sharp and spread the word. We encourage each other, share our blessings, pray for one another, study the Word, and sing God’s praises. Some people bring instruments. We had a young couple come and the father played guitar, he had twin boys around 5 years old. The kids had little guitars and would sit and watch their daddy and strum their guitars to the music. It was so special.” We now have different people to speak or give testimonies. We are a diverse group of people, people from every Armed Service, a bible scholar and writer, a music-worship leader, missionaries, stay at home moms, engineers, a pawn shop owner, and teachers. We also had a retired Pastor, who at age 81 volunteers at the homeless shelter and jail ministry. At our last dinner, four Pastors visited while they were in town. I asked how people find out about them and come to their home. “People who attend invite their friends, but mostly, we find them at yard sales!” says Vicki. Willie said, “We also know that it is Divine intervention.” Meeting people at yard sales is their gift. They strike up conversations and they can tell if the person has the spirit. The Holy Spirit lets them know that they would enjoy the Porch Ministry. There are no dividing lines as far as the people who attend the ministry, no boundaries, it’s all about God. Vicki and Willie contribute the food as their offering. Some days some of the women will bring a dish. When I asked if anyone gives them money, they said, “No, this is our gift. We are blessed so we bless others.” Recently, a sincere fellow put a donation into Willie’s pocket and wouldn’t take it back. The money was placed into the church offering the next morning at the church the man attends. At the last Porch Ministry in June, they had 35 people attending. They can seat 16-20 on the porch. They set up tables, tents, and tell everyone to bring their chairs. What started out as a small group that met on their back porch has grown out to the yard. They knew they were expanding as a ministry. At the last meeting, Willie cooked 12 pork tenderloins and 10 pounds of grilled red potatoes. His special recipe cole slaw, green beans, tomatoes and Vicki’s banana pudding were served. Susan and Don Campbell from Rutherfordton, NC came down to attend and helped. Willie walked us through a normal evening. People arrive around 6 pm, they have tea and other drinks and appetizers out. They socialize for 10-15 minutes, and get the food cut up and put out buffet style, working to serve it while it is hot. <strong>Every</strong>one serves themselves, and they say a group blessing. They have everyone introduce themselves and tell how they met the Williams or the people who told them about the Porch Ministry. The common theme last time was that they met Vicki & Willie at the yard sales. They spend an hour or so eating, then people are invited to either come on the porch or get close. Vicki says, “The Holy Spirit is moving, it began as everyone ate together,and continues to move as we gather on and near the porch. It is all about God’s business. We start off with people sharing their testimonies, praise reports or prayer requests.” “It is amazing how sharing their stories allows others to open up. When you allow people to freely worship God by offering up their testimonies, it’s special and the Holy Spirit is among us. I am amazed how the Holy Spirit works. It is so rewarding how people are lifted up in this environment,” says Willie. He continually gives all credit to God as he talks about his experiences. 14
Page 1 and 2: Faith On Every Corner Everyday Peop
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents The Ujifusa Famil
Page 5 and 6: Faith On Every Corner Publisher & E
Page 7 and 8: She has been a part of many differe
Page 9 and 10: Early in our journey to interview p
Page 11 and 12: Bud Deck does the kitchen setup, pl
Page 13: Let us not lose heart in doing good
Page 17 and 18: Vicki has heard God’s audible voi
Page 19 and 20: Master Woodsmen Home Improvements C
Page 21 and 22: The Whites became friends with the
Page 23 and 24: In 1924, when the church was being
Page 25 and 26: In 2014, Stainless Ministries distr
Page 27 and 28: The Coffee Is On ministry is fully
Page 29 and 30: Be A Voice 4 Kids has been very suc

Faith On Every Corner_July 2017_CR

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