forestburg_60903

Posted: 6/06/03

Builders roll in to Forestburg
with witness on wheels

By Jo Gray

Special to the Standard

FORESTBURG–When 23 motor homes and travel trailers pulled in to Forestburg recently, the locals took notice. In a community of about 400 residents, the arrival of so many strangers immediately became the topic of discussion at the post office and general store.

Shortly after a sign was erected on Highway 455–the main street through this small Montague County town–smiles were seen and answers revealed. The visitors were members of the Texas Baptist Men Builders. They had come to help construct an addition to the local Baptist church.

Setting up camp on a large dirt parking lot directly across the street from First Baptist Church, the men and women said they had come to serve God.

“We're all called to serve, and this is lots better than sitting home in the rocking chair,” said Wayne Simpkins, state coordinator of Texas Baptist Men Builders.

He and his wife, Rena, live in Byrn but are on the road about half the year.

The retired teacher said he got involved with the group about 13 years ago and has helped build 145 to 150 churches–churches that would not be able to have adequate facilities without the free labor provided by Texas Baptist Men.

“I never know how many will show up,” Simpkins said of the builders. “I don't always have as many as I think we need, but apparently the Lord thinks we have enough. We get it done.”

This is the third time some of these volunteers have set up camp in Forestburg to help the small Baptist congregation. The first time was after the church building burned in 1989. The second time was in 1998, when a new education building was constructed and the fellowship hall was expanded.

The average age of the worker is the mid-70s, Simpkins said.

Pointing to an elderly man working an electric saw, he added, “Ed Adolfson is our head carpenter. He's 81.”

Adolfson, like a few of the other regulars, is called on when Simpkins schedules the work to be done in any Texas community that deals directly with church construction.

Rena Simpkins and Peggy Rast check for prayer requests on Simpkins' hand-held computer prior to the women's Bible study and prayer meeting.

“I send five men out,” Simpkins said, listing the assignments given to each: “I send a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter, a spiritual leader and someone to set up the camp.”

By the time the other rigs roll into town, electrical outlets and water connections have been prepared at each campsite. And a washer and dryer have been placed near the center of the campsite.

Before each day's work, the men and women gather for a morning devotional. Then the walls start to go up, electricity and plumbing are installed, and the 6,700-square-foot space begins to take shape.

In two weeks of work, the volunteers transformed a metal shell into a building 70 percent finished.

Large rectangular cut-outs in the back wall of the interior marked the place for a new pipe organ to be installed. The 700-pipe Wickes organ has been donated by a former member, John David Dill of Denton, in memory of his late grandfather, Lewis Eldridge.

The new and larger worship space will help prepare the congregation for more growth, said Dale Hudspeth, building chairman. “A lot of people are moving in here from the Metroplex.”