Editors Note: Please be praying for the Bowling Green Church planting as their inaugural service was held on Sunday, September 23rd. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” – Psalm 133:1, 3 In May of this year, an article was published by Disciples Today announcing a new church planting in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Shortly after the big announcement, I received a message from a sister named Dianna Harbin-Wilson from the Denver Church of Christ. Dianna was born and raised in Bowling Green and still had many friends and relatives in the area. She then proceeded to faithfully reach out to those friends and family members informing them of the new church planting. By the grace and divine plan of God, her brother Mr. Mark Harbin quickly got in touch with me and my wife Kathryn in order to express his genuine interest about the church. A month later on June 15th, we visited Bowling Green searching for our future home and a possible meeting location for the church planting. Mr. Mark, knowing we were in town, insisted on treating us to dinner. To quote Mr. Mark verbatim during the dinner, he said, “I know I am not a disciple, but I want to study the Bible, I want to get baptized and I want to be a disciple. Would you study the Bible with me?” (Praise God!) So Mark began to study the Bible via conference calls with disciples from Nashville and Louisville. Eventually, Mark’s brother, Dwight who is also a disciple in the Staten Island region of the NYCCOC, began joining the conference call Bible studies as well. It is worth noting, that Dwight had persistently been sharing his faith with his younger brother, Mark, for over two decades. After the twenty plus years of rejection, it was quickly becoming evident that God had orchestrated this time and place for Mr. Mark to finally reach out to him. Despite the awkward phone calls and headaches technology often produces, the Holy Spirit would eventually convict Mr. Mark and lead him to repentance. Just over a month after that first dinner, on Sunday, July 22, 2018 Mr. Mark Harbin became our brother in Christ and was baptized for the forgiveness of his sins. From New York to Denver to Tennessee to Kentucky, God was working across state lines to bring Mr. Mark into his kingdom. Amazingly, God isn’t done working in the Harbin family. Since Mark’s baptism, two additional family members and another two close family friends have begun to study out the scriptures and compare their lives to the word of God, praise God! Please join us as we continue to pray for God’s kingdom to come to the city of Bowling Green just as his will is done in heaven. Special thanks to staff of Disciples Today for unifying and informing our family around the world. Truly God loves and blesses unity! We are better together!
