By Charles Peterson
O.K., I admit it. I love where I pastor. I love both the people and the place. I am what the natives call a “come here,” having only arrived at our church nine months ago.
I can remember well the call to come and the haunting words of my wife many years ago as we were on our way to a Bible conference, having to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge: “I know that the Lord would never lead us over here.”
To make matters worse when we shared with some of our friends that we were heading to the Eastern Shore, you would think that we were being sent away with John to the Isle of Patmos.
I am so thrilled to be able to tell you that God is doing a mighty work in a lot of our Southern Baptist churches on the Eastern Shore, and many people are being exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our section of the “Shore” is still in the growing stages, but growing it is. There are so many wonderful opportunities to share Christ and to grow churches. We are seeing people moving to this section of paradise by countless numbers and even though there is much development going on, there is still the quaint beauty of the place.
It has been our experience that people are hungry for the Word of God. Our Bible studies have been richly blessed by a good attendance. Our church has grown by 200 percent this year while others are growing at a much quicker rate.
We are indeed grateful to Virginia Baptists, who have been both supportive in their prayers and resources. It is refreshing to see pastors here recognizing each other for their strengths and working together to further the cause of missions both at home and around the world.
So, my dear pastor brother, if God would ever be kind enough to you to call you to such a beautiful place, we would welcome you with open arms. The harvest is plenty but the laborers are few.
Special to the Herald
Charles Peterson is pastor of Cheriton Baptist Church in Cheriton.