February 08, 1998

CHURCH ENCOUNTER

By the time that I got to the First Presbyterian Church in Murrell's Inlet, SC, I was pretty chilled from riding in a light fog and drizzle. I got a great welcome. I found out that the church was a major sponsor of the Horry County Habitat for Humanity affiliate.

Before Sunday school, several of the ladies fussed over me. One of the ladies found a towel so that I could dry off and I had to get a change of dry clothes off the bike. It was fortunate for me that the church had a dryer installed for the pre-school. Another lady made sure that I was warm inside because she made a meal of a couple hot-dogs, cake, and tea for me.

The Sunday school that I attended was pretty good even though I was pretty well the youngest person there. I was given the chance to give a short testimony and talk about what I'm doing. Afterwards, one of the class members slipped me $20.

During the service, I sat with the Sunday school class teacher, Jean Strickland. Jean introduced me to the congregation. After the service, I got another $55 in "green-handshakes". Jean invited me over to her house in Brookgreen Gardens for the afternoon. Her husband is the main caretaker of the Gardens. He wasn't around much because he had to take care of several sump pumps in a few of the buildings.

Before I headed out to amotel in Surfside Beach, which Jean got me a room at,Jean gave me some cough drops, vitamins, and threepair of socks. It was around 5 p.m. when I headed out to the motel.