Thumb Tracks

Lifesong

I was born in the "thumb" area of Michigan.  My mom's family were pioneers in Sanilac County and all five of her brothers were farmers.  "Thumb" people are the salt of the earth.  They are hard working, straight thinking, God fearing folk.  I returned "home" this past week to preach a Revival in Gagetown, Michigan right smack dab in the middle of the thumb.  A town of about 400 people with a four way stop holding you just long enough to know there's a town there.  Their claim to fame is the "Octagon" Barn and the Thumb's Agricultural Museum.  Nearly 100 years ago a sturdy group of holiness people started the Gagetown Church of the Nazarene.  It sits there today alive and growing.  It's located on Lincoln street about a quarter mile off the main (only) road through town. Just beyond the church Lincoln turns into a dirt road.  A beautiful farm lined road that looks much like the one on which my brother, Gary, and I were born.

The services are filled with expectant worshippers; longing to sense the presence of the Lord.  Lifesong, a traveling group from Olivet Nazarene University leads the praise time and the bass player is a home grown young man named, Josh, who is preparing to be a pastor.  God is all over the place.

Pastor Kyle Boils

Gagetown, MI Church of the Nazarene

How does a church exist for 100 years in such a small community?  Faithfulness!  Commitment!  Dedication!  I was told about Lawrence who for many years was the church treasurer.  He was a big likeable farmer who loved his church and when times got tough and the offerings didn't cover expenses he'd dig in his pockets and cover the short-fall!  When things got really tough and the short-fall was more than just a few dollars he'd take out a second mortgage on the farm!  He did that, to my understanding, three times!  Lawrence was never elected to the District Advisory Board and probably never even knew his name was listed in the District Journal as Church Treasurer but he, with a heart for his church, did what he could to keep the church alive.  Lawrance represents well a congregation of Nazarenes who love the Lord and His church.   Now they have a new young parsonage family and  they have young people preparing for ministry.  They are poised for the next 100 years or until Jesus comes.

A New Generation

As I walked through the piny woods this week, I could see the tracks of the deer as they had wondered across the trail from place to place.  Never saw the deer, just the tracks.  There were fresh tracks and there were old tracks.  They were evidence that the herd was healthy and on the move.  So it is with the Gagetown Church of the Nazarene; healthy and on the move with the tracks of people like Lawrence all over the place and new tracks being laid down by a new generation of faithful servants.       

Thumb Tracks