Former Mission Burns Note and Praises God

By Hershel Conley, Pastor • The Bridge Baptist Church, Mountain Home

      We had a wonderful morning service on Sunday, Feb. 4. It was set aside to praise the Lord for His wonderful mercy and help. We burned our mortgage note in front of our members and guests. Tears of joy swept over the congregation as it burned.

      We went over our past, from the time we first started in April 2007 until now. The Lord put this church here, and we could see His hand in everything from the start. From starting in a Hospitality Room up 13 steps, then the strip mall until we bought our present location, God has blessed us. We have seen days where we didn’t know if we could make payments, and now we are able to pay off our mortgage. We did not miss one payment, and for years, the payment was $2,800 a month.

      Many have helped us along the way. The Jonesboro Association helped us tremendously with financial support, along with other churches. Jerry Clements and Pleasant Grove Baptist Church gave us a baptistry, a modesty wall and financial support every month. Milligan Ridge Baptist Church also gave us financial support along the way. So many have helped, but I don’t have space to mention them all.

      Had it not been for IV Hight and the State Missions office helping me as a missionary, this place would not exist. As it happened, Paul White was my pastor at Highland Hills Baptist Church, our mother church, and then later became the executive director of State Missions.

      All along, it was the Lord God to whom we gave all the credit. It was Jesus who stirred the hearts of all who had a part in the work. We have had many souls come to Jesus, and God is still blessing us in His work. People are in place doing the work of the Lord, and I am a truly blessed pastor to be able to pastor a church like this. Everyone who preaches here for me says the same thing.

      Whenever I write about the Bridge, I still feel like your missionary. In a way, we are all missionaries in the place God puts us. “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it…” (Psalm 127:1).

      All of us here at the Bridge are thankful to the BMA for all the support and prayers you have generously given for us. As I used to say when serving as your missionary, “I love you all, your servant in Jesus, Hershel Conley.”