Blountsville Civil War Reenactment

We take a trip to nearby Blountsville

to get a little glimpse of what life was like
during the "War of Northern Agression" :-)

One Sunday in April we decided to do church a little differently.

Down in Blountsville, Alabama, about 45 minutes south of Huntsville, there was a Civil War reenactment going on. The event was designed to recall the "Forrest-Streight Raid" which occured there in April of 1863.

As part of the weekend, they were holding a traditional outdoor church service, complete with "Sacred Harp" singing, and a good old-fashioned time of preaching. We decided that sounded pretty interesting, so we packed up and headed down.

The weather was gorgeous, the singing was awesome, and the whole set-up for the battle was most impressive. After the service, we were able to wander through the camping areas, and across the battlefield, talking to participants as we went.

Back to Venezuela

Our Family goes back to Miranda to work with

our partner church over Spring Break

Group shot at the new land during our going away service.
We held up a copy of the Huntsville Times in hopes
we can get published in their Travel section.

In contrast to last year's rush of excitement about international missions in our church, life seems to be intruding more and more in 2005. When it came time to make the arrangements for this year's Spring Break trip to Venezuela it turned out that only our family could get away during that week. So, off we went.

It was a very different trip in many ways. Without others along to introduce to the new culture, language and food, we pretty much arrived and got right to work. That also served to make it a more special trip, since it felt like we were back home, visitng our family and friends. For the first time we got to be a part of a baptismal service and share the Lord's Supper with the Miranda congregation. We also got to be there for the Easter Sunday services. The result was a great time of fellowship, worship, and service!