by Wayne Guinn
Here is a portion of a report from one of our NCPO partners, Pastor Jeff Coffman of Calvary Baptist Church in Muleshoe, Texas:
The dictionary says a dream is “…a vision of something possible or desirable.” On November 1, 2009, a dream was fulfilled when Calvary Baptist Church stepped into a new worship center to celebrate our first service. After years of planning and cooperation with the NCPO office, our dream became a reality.
We began years ago. We worked on plan after plan, and nothing seemed to happen. We bought land and paid for it, and a call to the National Church Planting Office brought us the start we were looking for. Wayne Guinn and Jack Reed (Jack is with BBF Builders) came down to Muleshoe to look at our place. We had a productive meeting with these men and from then on the project really moved forward.
Plans were drawn, prayed about, and then re-drawn to accommodate all our needs. Our local bank agreed to a sit-down meeting on March 11, 2009, to gauge their interest. Things started happening quickly after that. On March 20, an appraisal was ordered. March 30, Calvary Baptist Church closed on its loan and we were ready to begin construction. April 1, the first dirt work began, and the next day the slab was formed up and footings dug for the concrete. April 13, the slab for our new Worship Center was poured.
BBF Builders (Gary and Linda Banks, Ron and Judy Ellis, Craig and Leslie Miller, George and Phyllis Tiner, Bill and Pat Vandever, and Jack and Sharon Reed) came April 14 to start erecting our new building. By April 17 all walls were up and framed out! Then April 18 was our big day — our church family with others in the community set the trusses on the building. All metal was finished on the building on April 29. The BBF Builders had the building up and all the metal on in 12 days! The BBF Builders pulled out of our city on April 30. We hated to see these dedicated servants of the Lord leave. We gained new friends and God truly blessed us while they were here.
Through the summer, the men of the church faithfully worked on the building, often meeting after work and staying late. Our ladies furnished the meals and kept us going. All through the fall the work continued. Progress was slow some days, but God was keeping us motivated to see this through.
November 1 drew closer, much work had to be completed, but that day we celebrated our first service in our beautiful new building. All of this would not have been possible without the aid of NCPO and BBF Builders.
Spring Church Planting Candidate School April 19-23, 2010
Hosted by: Canyon Creek Baptist Church, Richardson, TX, Pastor: Rick Carter
For more information, contact us at (417) 889-1017 or office@bbfincpo.com