Decisions and Tent Set Up In Evansville

The tent set up Saturday morning went great. Lots of help from the church showed up and pitched in. That is the key every time and it proved true again. Lots of willing help equals a great day for me and Kelly Jo! 59 minutes after we began the tent was standing on its own and in 1 hour and 41 minutes the tent was tight, the carpet was down and the chairs were in place.

When all that is completed we hang our PA cords, lights, banners and more over the next few hours. Someone from the church was grilling at some point and we all had a picnic meal about lunchtime. It was a great day.

Later in the day, Kelly Jo moved the BoggsMobile from the far side of the parking lot where the electrical hook up is. She pulled it in next to the light pole and tan garage building in the picture below. I directly wired a 50 amp plug into the panel of that building so that we could be closer to the tent.

The last two tent revivals we have run the bus generator the whole week and it seems a little odd to be in tent revival without the sound and subtle vibration of the generator.

Some of you have noticed the discoloration of the tent. It shows up pretty good in pictures above and the two pictures below. 

The blue of the valance is the original color of the blue stripes on the tent. The top is faded badly and it gets worse every week it is in the sun.

We can trace that back to a single event in 2016 during City Reach. The tent endured a horribly strong wind storm that was whipping sand and dirt so bad that we could not even attempt to have church under the tent that night. The tent was still standing when the storm was over so we counted that as a win.

The tent was up another week there and two weeks later we washed the tent at the next location and I noticed then that the top felt different. I did not realize at the time, but the protective finish on the vinyl had been sandblasted off in the storm. There was nothing I could do at that point, but witness the deterioration in the color each time we put the tent up again.

It has now reached the point that the tent is not wearing well. The vinyl is more brittle and seems to be much more susceptible to punctures and might come apart more quickly under a strain.

We have two options. We can replace the two round parts of the tent or we can continue to use these pieces until we are forced into a decision. I would hate for that decision point to come as we are setting up for tent revival in some city and we have to cancel. I still try to live by the Cub Scout and Webelo Motto: Be Prepared.

Some of the consideration is how much longer Kelly Jo and I will be physically able to do the work of tent revival. If we have more than a year or two left in us, then we should probably replace the top.

However, even if we do not use this tent very long into the future, my plan was to pass the tent in good condition to someone else to use without problems for many years. We are waiting on pricing from the tent company and then we will move forward with a decision.

The services have been outstanding with great community and church response. We have four more nights and we are excited to see what God is going to do in lives.

Davy

The Weekend In The Rearview Mirror 8/26/19

Let's start this weekend report on Friday afternoon as we were leaving Ohio and pointing the BoggsMobile toward Evansville, Indiana. We stayed for service Friday morning and lunch afterward. We visited for a while with family and friends and then it was time to roll.

I did the work of the evangelist, unhooked the utilities and then Kelly Jo cranked the old Detroit. Soon she was backing out and onto the road.

It was 2:30 when we left Dayton and we hoped to be in Evansville in 4.5 hours at the most. However, we hit traffic in Cincinnati and in Louisville. It was 8:00 eastern and 7:00 central when we pulled into the church with only 30 minutes of daylight to spare.

Kelly Jo and I measured and marked the stake line just before dark and then Pastor John and Sis. Debbie Eaton came and he helped me move the trailer into position. Saturday morning I was up early preparing for the tent to be erected. Help came at 8:00 and all the work was completed in short order. Praise God.



The weather is terrific this week so far and Saturday evening was especially beautiful.

We had both services under the Blue and White Gospel Tent Sunday and they were both really good. We have already had several people praying in the altar that had never been inside the church next door and that is always a big goal.

With the great response on Sunday, I am very excited to see what the rest of the week holds with tent revival. I am looking for many people to be saved.

The weather guesser was calling for rain during service Sunday night, but by when it was time for service he had revised his guess. The second guess was correct, no rain. Wonderful!

We did have a few sprinkles after service was over and after the equipment was loaded. They are predicting storms overnight into Monday, but as of now (Midnight Central Time) all is calm. The temperatures are supposed to be awesome for the last week of August and we are very thankful for that.

Odie took a few pictures Sunday morning and Sunday evening.

We are right in town and there is quite of bit of pedestrian traffic all through the night. That means I need to keep a close eye on things. As of this moment, I am sitting in the passenger seat of the bus and watching the tent through the windshield. 

I am experimenting with cameras and motion detectors too. This is the third week using the motion detectors and the second week using cameras. I think I am about to work out a system that I can trust to alert me if anyone goes under the tent.

That is about it for the weekend. Thank you for dropping in to check on us today. Thank you for praying for us too. Come back again soon.

Davy

Our View Out The Front Window 8/25/19

We neglected to get a picture out the window at Dryden Rd. this week, but this is our view out the front window at Full Gospel Mission in Evansville, Indiana.

That is a beautiful sight to us! Tent revival begins this morning at 11:00, continues tonight at 6:00 and Monday through Friday at 7:30! Pray for us, please.

Have a great Sunday.

Davy