Dear Fellow Servant,

I Timothy 5:17 (NIV) begins with the text: The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor. 

This week, our church was personally touched by the devastation in Haiti.  Before the horrible activities of the week, Haiti was listed as the poorest country in the Western hemisphere making it the center of need for mission work.  Elder Debbie DeWitt joined Tennessee Regional Minister, Dr. Glen Stewart, and a delegation of mission workers on a trip to Haiti.  They did not foresee the need that would be upon them during their trip.  Fortunately, according to the reports we are receiving everyone in the delegation is safe and well. Thank God for grace and mercy.  We also thank God for and honor the heart of our own Elder DeWitt who serves THE BLVD and the world touching lives of people who need to know that they are not forgotten.  This Sunday at THE BLVD we will raise a special offering for the people of Haiti and hopefully have more information from Elder DeWitt to share with you.  Please come and help us support this critical need.

Here at home the weather also presented us with an opportunity to reach out last week as the temperatures dropped to dangerous levels.  The Shelby County Office of Preparedness set up warming tents to offer shelter for the homeless in this area during the critical drop in temperature last week.  The need outgrew the facility and a second tent had to be erected.  With the second tent there was a shortage of volunteers.  Knowing that THE BLVD is a servant church, the mayor’s office contacted us and asked if we would provide six volunteers to help.  Although the request was last minute, Minister Christopher Watson was able to coordinate the effort and reported that more than 15 BLVD volunteers said “Send me.  I will go.” Thank you to all of you who volunteered.  I encourage us as a family to ready ourselves to answer the call and inspire service among the citizens of our community and our world.

In closing, we had our first broadcast on 95.7 Hallelujah FM this Wednesday from 6:00pm until 6:15pm.  Did you tune in?  Click on this link to hear the broadcast.  We will be on the air each Wednesday evening with 15 Minutes of Faith.  We hope to do some new things that you like and that will touch the hearts of people looking for hope from the heart of servants like us.  Please feel free to let me know what you think by email at pastor@theblvd.org or Facebook at www.facebook.com/DrFrankAThomas. Also on Wednesday, January 20 our Bible Study resumes at 7:00pm with a lively series called Fireproof Your Life.  This series leads us into our February series 40 Days of Love coming Valentine’s Day.  Sunday we will cover the second installment of our God’s Game Plan series: Tackling Your Fears. My fear last Sunday was that someone would assume I was a Cowboys fan since I donned the uniform of the Dallas Cowboys.  As impartial as I am, I did appreciate the greeting so I’ll be back in my gear Sunday and I encourage you to wear your favorite jersey this week.  You may find a new friend! 

Remember, great things are happening at THE BLVD!  Tell somebody.