The church sits on a hill overlooking fields of grape vines, a small cemetery, and the volunteer fire house. I only found out that the station was volunteer when, laying in my tent ready for bed one night, the siren to alert everyone blasted for over 15 minutes. 

So, this little church is full of older folks, they have a few young families, a youth group of maybe 10-15 students - not the biggest church in the US by any stretch. Pastor Don Eggleston ministers to the people in the town - there isn't a sweet band, there are no intelligent lights, their print pieces are plain, and the choir loft seats about 20. 

There are churches in this nation that are dying. They are losing people, closing doors, and becoming ineffective. There are also churches in this nation, like First Baptist Church of Ripley, that are small, but have chosen to be content and stick to what God has called them to do, and be faithful with it.

Rick, my boss, was raised in that church for his entire life. Their farm house sits at the bottom of the hill from the church, and Rick spend many afternoons sitting with pastor Don, hanging out in the church, and plunking on the keyboard. The people of FBC Ripley were a huge part of raising Rick.

He has since gone on to finish his masters degree, and we have about 200 students in our youth group currently.

When we took these seniors back to Ripley, the church allowed us to take over the service. We had our students basically share and run everything. they showed videos, did a skit, a reading, singing, choir, photography, and also did cardboard testimonies. We had over 20 people on stage in this little church telling the short yet amazing story of how Christ has changed their lives. Pastor Don stood up at the end, and said, "our God is in the business of changing lives." 

It was an awesome moment for me. to see this man that has just been happy with the small flock that he has been entrusted with, see the fruit of his labor. His faithfulness with a few is multiplying, and there were 20 students with stories of changed lives on that stage to prove it. Below are some of the pieces that our students shared. Enjoy - and be faithful with whatever God chooses to give you. 

Cardboard Testimonies