We Are Here

The old Chinese saying is “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” This week has begun a long and beautiful journey for Amber, Dusty and me. Amber drove the U-haul which contained 95% of our belongings, the most difficult part of the trip to Sioux City was maneuvering into the mighty storm that hit the Mid-South last week; the truck swayed and shook but Amber got us through Memphis, the states of Arkansas and Missouri and at about 1:30pm on Friday afternoon she triumphantly drove the into our apartment lot, in frigid Western Iowa with an intact PT Cruiser towed behind. The task of unpacking that huge truck and two vehicles remained but we were jubilant.

Even in spite of 95 degree heat, we were blessed to have friends in Hernando help pack our U-haul back in Mississippi, but we were unsure if we would have people in Sioux City to do the same. One of the churches in the Baptist Convention of Iowa, Southern Hills Baptist Church said it would ask its congregation to come to our apartment between 2:00 and 3:00 pm to help move us. By 3:00, however, no one was there, we still had a truck full of belongings and I had twisted my back- Amber was seriously considering tossing everything in a dumpster.

At 3:15, a van pulls up with a Nebraska tag, and a lady named Tess got out and said, “Richard? We are here to help!” Another van and car drove in minutes later. Thirteen people came. Our clothes, bed, nightstands, mirrors, kitchen goods and TWENTY NINE boxes of books were in our apartment within 45 minutes. An hour later, Jamie from the church even brought us sloppy joe’s and watermelon for supper. 

Church planting is hard work; we are in the fight of our lives, but we don’t fight alone.

Volunteers from Southern Hills Baptist Church. 

In Christ,

Richard Crowson