Covington, Pennsylvania

Smile, Tim!  You're in Pennsylvania!

School buses

We had an early start Sunday. Our intention was to go into Covington and see what churches there were for us to visit. As is typical of USA, there were several to choose from. We arrived in the town just in good time to visit Covington Baptist church. The first thing we noticed was the range of age groups going in, it was great to see young and old going in together.

The welcome we received was friendly, with several people taking the time to chat with us. They were all very down to earth people. The pastor was a cross between Pastor David Hadlum from Chatham, and Pastor Mark Anderton from Rainham. The service was led musically by a husband and wife team, who were really good. It was so lovely to feel the humility of the church there, the family atmosphere and to see the place was buzzing with life.

One lady shared about MOPS, one of their ‘clubs’ in the week. At MOPS, parents spend time with other parents, whilst their children are looked after. Simple but so great. So very needed. There were stories of how people had felt a part of a community as a result and had in some cases got through very difficult circumstances.

It reminded me of ‘Coffee Cup’ back at Margate and how so many people have become friends with good people that have been an amazing help to them. Well done to all of you who are a part of something like that. We’ve all needed people to lean on at some time in our lives.  That’s just how God wants it, people being real, and sharing His love and by being  there for others.

Well, after the service we were offered some fresh sweetcorn from a couple that had picked 200 corn cobs the day before. It was the best sweet corn Tim and I had ever tasted. No kidding either!