Area Fellowship News: Boone
by Tandy Coatney

…and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.–Heb. 10:24, 25

With the Boone-Blowing Rock area being the hub of Zerubbabel’s ministries, there is a lot of "ministry work" that goes on here, but we don’t let that work become a substitute for our own fellowship time together. We jealously guard our regular times of "assembling together," and those times form the backbone of our "official" ministry work. At present, we meet twice a week–Sunday morning and Wednesday night–at the Prewitt home on Goshen Drive. Page designed the house for just such meetings, with a large living/dining area and an open kitchen so the cooks can still he a part of things.

On Sunday mornings, the children and youth meet at a home down the street for their Sunday school. They gather for a time of singing together and then Vicki and Dacia, two of our young adults, divide them up for the teaching time. The younger children usually have a Bible story demonstrated on the flannel hoard or sometimes even acted out! One morning, Vicki heard a terrible commotion and raced downstairs to help Dacia with her "unruly" charges, only to find that they were fighting the Battle of Jericho! The older group is currently studying gospel tracts that present the plan of salvation–both to deepen their appreciation for their own salvation and to be able to lead others to Christ.

We adults follow a less predictable format. If you were to visit with us on any given Sunday, you might enjoy singing, or studying a chapter from the Bible, or listening to a tape. Since we don’t have paid ministers, the men in our fellowship take on the responsibility of teaching the Bible. It has been exciting to see each one bring his own unique slant and style, but with the unifying "thumbprint" of the One Person who is doing the teaching. It is the fleshing out of what we believe–that Jesus Christ truly does walk and talk by us as we trust Him to.

We also make time each week for the practical application of what we have studied. As we honestly share struggles, difficulties, or heartaches, the truths we have studied in the Scriptures can be applied to our specific circumstances. We might encourage each other to trust God as the All-in-all, to believe that Christ is living His life by us, to confess sin and he healed, or to speak a word of faith into a situation. Or sometimes just some sound practical advice is needed. The body knows when a member is in need and rushes to meet that need.

It is also during these regular meeting times that a lot of the planning for larger functions such as the business meeting or camp goes on. As we divide up tasks and delegate responsibilities, each person has the sense that he is an essential part of a bigger picture.

At the conclusion of our Sunday meeting time, the children come up from down the street, and we all have a meal together. We also begin our Wednesday evening Bible study with a meal, though usually not as elaborate as our Sunday noon meal. We recently established a food committee to plan meals and delegate food responsibilities. They do a superb job! There is such a sense of family as we bustle around in the kitchen together, cooking or cleaning up after the meal. We really are an extended family.

If I were to stop here, I would have given a misleading picture of our fellowship. We have established a true biblical community here-more than just meeting together regularly on Sundays and Wednesdays. We are daily involved in each other’s lives. We are sensitive to each other’s needs and we truly "bear one another’s burdens" (Gal. 6:2). Whether the need be for tutoring, furniture, clothes, make-up tips, childcare, preparing a resume, practicing soccer, jumping a dead battery, decorating a home, getting to the airport, reorganizing closets, or just some-body to run a decision by-someone is there to meet that need.

And I must mention the "goings on" at the Alpen Acres motel. Although our ministry office is located there, it also functions as one of our informal fellowship hubs. On a given night, you might find anywhere from two to twelve folks sitting around the dining room table for dinner. Pat Mace always seems to be able to make a meal stretch for one more. And people are forever coming and going–it is a great place to pop in for an hour or two and catch up on what has been going on in people’s lives. In the summer we can enjoy the pool and in the winter we all pack up and move into the motel to ride out snowstorms. And then there is the teleconferencing. With so many of our long-distance friends keeping in touch by phone, we decided to invest in a nice speakerphone so that now you can talk to a whole room-full of us at once. It’s the next best thing to being here.

Speaking for myself, I want to say that being a part of this fellowship feels very safe. I feel very cared for–spiritually, physically, and emotionally. I have true friends who care enough about me to "speak the truth in love" when I am not believing right, to encourage me when I’m feeling overwhelmed, and to remind me of who I really am in Christ. And they care enough about my children to tangibly be involved in their lives, with everything from helping them with their wardrobes, to providing them jobs, to taking them out for pizza. It is certainly a blessing and a privilege to be a part of things here and to be a witness to the life of Christ being lived out in all His unique forms here in the Boone-Blowing Rock fellowship.