University of Montevallo Outreach

We had a great time participating in the University of Montevallo Information Fair and Back to School Bash! We met a lot of students and gave away a lots of goodies (customized cups, soda can toppers, and pens). We drew names and gave away 25 USB thumb drives also. I hope that we generated some interest in the church and started some relationships that we can build upon. This campus is a tremendous mission field and I pray that we can reach it for Jesus Christ. It was great to meet Bryan Fulton who is the College Minister at the Church at Shelby Crossings. He was extremely friendly and I look forward to partnering with him in the future.  I have to give a shout out to Melvin with the University Program Council for allowing us to participate and for being so helpful.

We had front row seats for the dancing because the DJ set up right in front of us! Patsy had a hard time staying still 🙂 Bob did a great job as always getting everything ready to go and helping to tear it all down again. I think Lance met everyone on the Quad! He has such an outgoing personality and I enjoy watching him build relationships. April and Candyce were a great help organizing all of the contacts that we made. I think that Candyce knows EVERYONE on campus!

We invited the students to a Welcome Party at Mountain Valley on Sunday, September 9th. We’ll feed them lunch right after our morning worship service. I hope we get to meet a lot of students on Sunday.

I am so thankful that I have such wonderful people to serve with at Mountain Valley! I’ve never felt such a fire to reach people for Christ and to serve them in practical ways. I’m inspired every week by people who tirelessly serve this community with a smile. Until next time…

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From the City of Montevallo web site…

Orr Park Has Gone to the Dogs
8/20/2007 Critters by the Creek Was a HUGE Sucess
August 4, 2007 was the first ever “Critters by the Creek” held at Orr Park in Montevallo by the Parks and Recreation Board. This event was designed after the ever so popular “Do Dah Day” held in Birmingham for the last 27 years. We wanted to combine the love people have for their pets along with a purpose: to help those pets who need it the most from the Shelby Humane Society located in Columbiana.

Throughout the event we had Steve Gilbert from CGS Events running our sound system and keeping the mood light with great music. In addition, Jordan Barrios entertained the crowd with fantastic live music. The day was sponsored by “Furtastic Pets,” Montevallo’s premier pet grooming and pet supply center which is owned by John and Emily Hall. We had several contests which included the following: Ugliest Pet, Cutest Pet, Best Dressed Pet, Owner / Dog Look A-Like, Most Talented and a Photo Contest. In all thirteen (13) prizes were awarded and donated by “Furtastic Pets” and “The Royal Duchess” a boutique also located in Montevallo.

We had several vendors at the event: Furtastic Pets-gave away free pet supplies, had a cooling tent and plenty of water for the dogs, Montevallo High School Band-sold cold drinks and t-shirts to raise money, The Cool Spot-sold shaved ice and hot dogs, Mt. Valley Church volunteers cleaned car windshields, painted faces, gave away water, made balloon dogs and kept the event area clean and free of pet “poop” all with a smile on each and every one of their faces. Last but not least, Montevallo’s Lil’ Red Fire Truck was on hand for photos.

In addition to the contests we had three (3) local K-9 units on hand at the park from the the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, the Montevallo Police Department and the Calera Police Department to give demonstrations and answer any questions the event goers might have for the officers regarding their partners, how they are trained and how they protect and serve the community. We would like to thank the officers for being a part of our event.

Our special guests were from the Shelby Humane Society. Erin, the Public Relations and Marketing Representative for the Columbiana office and a Shelby Humane Society volunteer brought four dogs for adoption and one dog was adopted almost immediately that day. We had a very successful day for the animals at the shelter due to the overwhelming support of the people and their pets at our critters day. We had about 100 -150 people, about 90 dogs, 1 miniature horse, 1 parrot and 1 bunny. We received about $200 in supplies, $493 in cash donations, $20 for t-shirts, 6 dogs were micro chipped and 1 dog was adopted.

Thank you to all the people who came to “Critters by the Creek” and brought your pets big and small. Thank you to the vendors and volunteers without all of you this day would not have been as successful as it was. Look forward to seeing you all at next years’ event.

Baptism

I am so pumped I can’t stand it!! We baptized three people today including my daughter, Sarah. We don’t have a baptistry, so we used a large water trough to do the dunking 🙂 We set up the baptistry on the library’s back veranda. It was a beautiful scene with the park in the background. The atmosphere was casual and celebratory rather than stiff and formal. I loved having everyone gather around as I asked each candidate to repeat their confession, “I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, my Lord and Savior!” I don’t think it gets much better than that. I pray that we will have many more in the future.

Community Kindness Day

Hi everyone!  We held our Community Kindness Day on Saturday and had a blast helping the Montevallo community!  We plugged in to the Critters by the Creek event at Orr Park.  This was a fun time for pet lovers to come out and show off their animals.

We set up at the park and got to work handing out cold water, making baloon animals, face painting, washing windshields, and giving away pet treats.  We were also the official “pet waste disposal team” if you know what I mean!  Lance and I had a friendly competition to see who could dispose of the most “stuff”!  We had fun and met a lot of great people!  Myra even came home with a new roomate – Velma the dog 🙂

We also had a team that went to the laundry mat to pay for loads of laundry and give away detergent and fabric softener.  Another team stopped by the local beauty shop to give some suprised ladies a gift bag and Bible.

I was so proud of our church!  They really caught the vision of being servants in our community.  I believe that we will see lives changed through simple acts of kindness.  Please continue to pray for us as we reach Montevallo for Jesus Christ.