Wow, I did not think so much could happen in one year, but it can. We have been clearly called to First Baptist Columbia for Charlie to be the children’s pastor there. It is not something we sought out, but rather it was God definitely calling us there. It is extremely hard to leave here, but it is even harder because we did have the fire, and people at Crosswell carried that burden with us. The people at Crosswell are unbelievably giving, and wonderful people. I have really become close with many of the girls here, and so needless to say last Sunday was very emotional, and I am going to miss every single person here a lot! Carol held my hand through it all, again carrying the burdens with me. We are really excited about serving at First Baptist and it is a tremendous responsibility. They have I think 450 children enrolled and the church itself has about 5,500 members. Charlie will have a full time ass. children pastor and 2 part time workers to assist him
Pray that:
- We find a house soon. We were apart a lot this summer and I will be living in
- That
- That God will supply Crosswell all its needs and that people will step up even more than they already have.
- That I stay stress free and stay joyful in my God who has blessed us with everything
Here is Charlie’s resignation letter it is so well written I just had to post it:
A few months ago I received a phone call from the First Baptist Church of Columbia. The purpose of the phone call was to find out if I was interested in talking about the possibility of joining their staff as children’s minister. The phone call came as a surprise to me and my wife as we were not particularly interested in the idea of leaving Crosswell.
After many lengthy discussions with different people at First Baptist, it started to become clear that First Baptist had some unique needs and the type of man that they were looking for seemed to fit my personality, leadership style, and overall skills. It also started to become clear that God seemed to be at work in the process. In the end, after much discussion and prayer and with the blessing of Pastor Charles, my wife and I have decided to accept the distinct call of God and to accept the position of children’s pastor at First Baptist Columbia.
My last Sunday at Crosswell will be next week, September 2 and my last day is Thursday September 6. I have been and will continue to keep putting things in place for my departure.
Despite the new challenge ahead, we are not leaving Crosswell easily. We count every single one of you as dear friends. I consider each and every one of you as a brother, a sister, a father, a mother, a grandfather and a grandmother in Christ.
We will always have many fond memories of our rewarding time at Crosswell. First and foremost, your generosity has not gone unnoticed. A house-warming party, a baby shower and a love offering were just a few of the many ways that you as a church reached out to us.
We also experienced a lot of monumental occasions – my ordination, my first baptisms, my first full-time ministry position, and our first child. Most importantly, we will have a lot of memories that we can laugh at and fondly recall for the rest of our lives.
It is going to be hard to leave. But we will always thank God for the time that we have had together and we pray that you will invite us back in the future for special occasions. Please hold us, Crosswell, and First Baptist in your prayers as we all undergo this transition while trying to reach people with the Gospel of Christ.
With Much Love in Christ,
Charlie, Emily, and Jackson Wallace
2 comments:
Wow! how exciting!! Keep us posted on everything na dlet us know how we can pray for the specifics of moving, etc.
Thank you so much. We have found 2 houses we liked but someone else got to them before us both times. We are going again to look at houses today, just pray we get a house soon. Thank you so much!
Post a Comment