Last night we attended the Lamb Institute annual dinner on James Island, South Carolina. It was moving, inspiring and thrilling to hear one of God’s special servants, Suzie McCall, share what God has been, is and will be doing there.

“LAMB is a Christ-centered, multifaceted ministry based in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. We seek to share the hope found in Christ Jesus as we care for, educate, protect, and empower those suffering extreme poverty, abuse, and exploitation in Honduras. LAMB was founded in 1999 by lifelong missionary, Suzy McCall, as a training school for Hondurans called to world mission.

Today, LAMB operates an elementary school for children in one of the most violent and poverty stricken areas of Tegucigalpa, a large youth outreach program, a growing microcredit program with over 300 small business owners, a safe house for victims of human trafficking, multiple community programs, and a residential home outside the city for over 70 children who came from situations of abuse and neglect.”

Please visit their website and consider supporting them in the future.

Beautiful view of our children's home, which provides a sanctuary for 67 children #GodsLittlestLambs pic.twitter.com/3q3KR2ULGI

— LAMB Institute (@lambinstitute) August 5, 2014

For a storm that inflicted less damage than many had feared, Hurricane Matthew nevertheless impaired or destroyed more than 1 million structures, forced businesses from Florida to North Carolina to close and put thousands temporarily out of work.

In many affected areas, small-business owners were still assessing the damage.

“I’ve never had anything like this in 12 years of business,” said Ami Zipperer, who has two garden supply stores in the Savannah, Georgia, area.

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Jimmy Cutter wheeled his pickup through the parking lot of a roadside ice machine Monday, ready to buy a bucket for his home.

But he didn’t get any ice. Without power, the machine would not run. It was the latest challenge in recent days for Cutter, who was among thousands of eastern South Carolina residents dealing with the effects of a weekend hurricane.

“It’s not bad for a few days, but after a while it gets old,” Cutter said Monday.

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(Martha Graves)

Here are a few images that show the damage from the storm so far…Check them out.

Aerial photos over South Carolina on Oct. 9, with SCDOT staff surveying #HurricaneMatthew damage (SCDOT photos) https://t.co/JSj43hNXpr pic.twitter.com/ckby0w8K4t

— SCDOT (@SCDOTPress) October 10, 2016

Look through them all.

But Dusty Bryant, Worship and Life Groups pastor at Lighthouse, lives across the street from her house in Nelliefield Plantation.

The two had the same idea: to bring people together to break bread at a “front lawn worship service.”

“I knew that a lot of places of worship had to make that hard call to cancel services early in the week,” Bryant said. “And I thought, what a great opportunity to be able to come together with our neighbors, those we see and know and talk to each and everyday, and pray together, give thanks together, celebrate together.”

Read it all from the local paper.

Some good shots and video–check it out.

Winds here were measured at a peak of 60 mph.

To the sounds of prayers, generators and chainsaws, Lowcountry residents began to dig themselves from the rubble of Hurricane Matthew amid a battered landscape peppered with flooded roads, swollen waterways, fallen trees and downed power lines.

After brutalizing the Carolina coast for two days, the spent storm weakened to a post-tropical cyclone Sunday morning and moved out to sea, leaving behind spectacular blue skies, crisp temperatures and a trail of destruction from Florida to North Carolina.

Read it all from the local paper.

Check them all out.

Assessments underway. Some areas are inaccessible. Restoration times not available right now. Thank you for your patience #HurricaneMatthew pic.twitter.com/femELw7sVd

— SCE&G (@scegnews) October 9, 2016

County officials said water rescues were ongoing early Saturday morning in both Tranquil Estates and Summer Wood subdivisions, but no rescue operations are currently ongoing. No residents were injured in any of the incidents.

Rescue teams remain staged near the Ashley River and its tributaries, Norton said.

At least one family said they were told to evacuate their home on Donning Drive in the Ponds subdivsion and for a time, were holed up in the Ponds community room at the neighborhood entrance.

“I heard a tree crash next to me, and it nailed the house next door,” said homeowner Michael Chauvin, publisher for Summerville Communications.

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Public Works and Public Safety crews working together to clear roads. #Matthew pic.twitter.com/N3gDQ1ZykE

— Town of Summerville (@SummervilleSC) October 8, 2016

Bilo Parking lot on Dorchester Rd. #chsnews #HurricaneMatthew pic.twitter.com/wFAIQUVhlt

— Summerville Police (@SPDSC) October 8, 2016

We had and are still having tropical storm force winds. Because we are not in a flood zone or an evacuation zone, we are hanging in there. But areas of the town where we live near water are a mess, and the greater Lowcountry has much greater wind and water damage.

As you can see in our Forecast Wind Product, a better threat of Hurricane Force Winds early Sat. Morning….Be safe pic.twitter.com/NyCpCpRNKI

— Rob Fowler (@RobStormTeam2) October 7, 2016

Prayers for protection for all–KSH.

5am forecast for #HurricaneMatthew keeps storm dangerously close to the SE coast. Constantly updated info on #NBC4DC pic.twitter.com/4AbPnna0Yn

— Chuck Bell (@ChuckBell4) October 7, 2016

5 PM #Matthew update shows a bit of weakening as it moves near the Charleston Co. coast. pic.twitter.com/YM71JqsXVK

— Rob Fowler (@RobStormTeam2) October 6, 2016

O God, our heavenly Father, whose glory fills the whole creation, and whose presence we find wherever we go: Preserve those who travel, surround them with your loving care; protect them from every danger; and bring them in safety to their journey’s end. Give them rest and peace in this time of taking shelter and speed their safe delivery home through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Wunderground)

Please join us in praying for protection for all in the path of the storm.

(Dio of SC photo)

In continuity with this vision of the task of Christian preaching, the Creation Project’s John Stott Award for Pastoral Engagement was created to support pastors and congregations who are willing to venture into the intersection of science and theology with confidence in the truthfulness of Scripture and in open and earnest dialogue with the insights of modern science. Through the provision of financial resources and year-long institutional support, the Stott Award is designed to promote pastoral and ecclesial engagement with the doctrine of creation through various programs and initiatives, including the formation of a congregational focus group, a mid-term consultation with the Creation Project Fellows held on Trinity’s campus, and the development of a sermon series on the doctrine of creation in conjunction with a church-wide educational initiative.

As part of the Science and Theology Award, Snyder will be required to form a study group, made up of local parishioners, who will study what it means to be made in the image of God, based on Genesis 1 & 2, and how this informs our everyday living and ethical decision-making. The findings of this joint study group will be used to formulate a preaching and teaching series for his whole parish in the Spring of 2017.

The award also requires Snyder to travel to Chicago in January 2017 to participate in a colloquium with fellow award winners.

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Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! By the grace of God and for the glory of Christ, we have been called to serve with you at Church of the Good Shepherd, and we could not be more excited….

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Cummins Theological Seminary, Summerville, SC, is pleased to announce the election of the Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence, 14th Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina, to the Board of Trustees of the Seminary. Bishop Lawrence was unanimously elected by the 44th Annual Synod of the Reformed Episcopal Diocese of the Southeast, meeting in Charleston, SC, on Friday, September 16, 2016.

This is an historic moment in the reconciliation of these two dioceses. The Reformed Episcopal Diocese began in 1874 when former slaves, after the Civil War and Reconstruction, were not allowed to worship in the parishes of the Diocese of South Carolina. They sought refuge in the newly founded (1873) Reformed Episcopal Church (REC). These former slaves wrote to the Rt. Rev. George D. Cummins, founding bishop of the REC, and the General Council, asking for a church home in the REC.

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Culture has changed dramatically in the past century as Christendom has given way to secularism and pluralism. This new reality has now arrived in the urban south. We must ask if Christianity has anything to say in response. Join us for Listen & Speak as we discuss a Christian posture towards culture. Featuring pastor and author Scott Sauls and storyteller Andrew Peterson.

You can check out the website there and you can register here.

You can listen directly here or download it there.

(Photo: Travis Dew)

Decades before it was dismantled, renovated and placed in a prominent position on the National Mall, the house stood along a dirt road on the Point of Pines plantation near the middle of this island. Inside its walls, Isabell Meggett was born on Feb. 22, 1930, the first of her parents’ 10 children. Her parents and grandparents also lived here, and other family members came and went over the years until the last one moved out in 1981.

When she recently heard that her modest childhood home was being moved to become a main focal point in the new museum, she was both surprised and pleased.

“All kinds of things happen,” she said. “I was glad they could do that and be a part of history.”

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For some families with an Autistic child, going on vacation isn’t always easy, but now there’s a place that’s making it possible for them to enjoy their time together.

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