It’s been a busy, fruitful Winter season for Wesley Putnam Ministries. God continues to open doors for us and we are honored to walk through them. In early January, I was asked by Dr. David Bush to speak to a class at Memphis Theological Seminary. Dr. Bush has taught this class for years and wanted an evangelist to close out the final session for his students. I taught that afternoon and shared one of the Bible stories in a closing worship/communion service.
It was very well received. It doesn’t get much better than having the joy of challenging and influencing future pastors as they prepare to step into their life’s work. Perhaps a new evangelist will emerge from those students.
From there, we travelled back to Stuttgart, AR, for a weekend of renewal.
Dr. Bush is the pastor in this great church. We had a lot of fun on Saturday morning as I shared music and stories with the children
and that evening we shared a concert with the congregation.
Sunday morning the church had the opportunity to meet Jonah as a Cajun. Before the service started I spoke with a pre-school girl who had been in the saturday morning session. “Are you excited that Jonah is going to be here today?”, I asked. “Oh yes!” she replied. “I just want to sing and dance all the way to my seat!”. Now, wouldn’t worship be great if we all had that spirit?
In January 1979 Olton UMC was the first church I had a revival in in the Northwest Texas Annual Conference. I’ve returned several times across the years and have enjoyed some life-long friendships in this community. Olton UMC has a long history of faithfulness to Christ and a love for evangelism and missions.
I remember on that first visit how my host and his wife moved out of their master bedroom and gave it to me. I’ve never forgotten the servant spirit that was shown to me that week. It was a joy to worship with these folks again and to introduce the kids to BibleQuest. Rev. Tom Carter is doing a great job with this wonderful community of faith.
I was also privileged to speak to the kids in the school district. The kids were very well behaved and attentive and the administration was excited to have a positive message shared with the boys and girls. Storytelling gives me an open door into many schools. I have averaged speaking to over 10,000 kids in public school every year since 1981!
February was spent in south Texas. We thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the Hill Country around Kerrville. FUMC, Kerrville, was an exciting place to be! I doubt I’ve been anywhere where there was more activity going on. One day the education wing was filled with over a hundred kids learning orchestral instruments. The next day, the gym was full of people who were receiving food and clothes for their families.
The gym had something going on all the time. The staff at FUMC is doing an amazing job. It was a joy to be a part of their fellowship. To the delight of the staff, there was great participation from both children and adults as they enjoyed BibleQuest, worship, and storytelling.
From Kerrville, I drove further south near Corpus Christi, to Orange Grove, TX. This was my first renewal event in a Lutheran congregation. My brother, Jan Putnam, is the pastor here. He is a retired UM pastor who is now in the LCMC (Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ). No one could remember ever having a revival in this church, and they were a bit nervous as to whether anyone would come. Well, they did come. The folks not only came out, but invited their friends and neighbors to join them. We had a blast! The Spirit of God was moving in the worship and the word got out around town. The kids had lots of fun in BibleQuest as well. When it was time to pack up, a line of kids came up to thank me for coming to their church and asked me to come back soon. How cool is that?
Please pray that God will bring the seed planted in these communities to a great harvest. Also, pray as we pack and travel this month on a missions trip to Jamaica. We will be working in several churches as well as sharing with pastors and encouraging them in their ministry there.
