Joy Kimbrough/The Daily Times

Pastor Keith Ross stands on the property that his church, Marble Hill Missionary Baptist, purchased recently so they can expand. The Friendsville church has teamed up with a church from Florida for some upcoming outreach projects.

Summary

On the surface, a church of 10,000 might not seem to have much in common with a church striving for 100 on Sunday morning. You might be surprised.

If you go

The Fall Family Festival will take place from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Marble Hill Missionary Baptist Church, 860 Marble Hill Road in Friendsville. There will be door prizes, free food, inflatables, horseshoes, badminton and a concert featuring Cross 4 Crowns and Life Wide Open. Everything is free and the community is invited.

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10,000 plus 100: Marble Hill teams up with mega church in Florida

Originally published: October 24. 2009 3:01AM
Last modified: October 23. 2009 10:20PM

A mega church with 10,000 members in Florida and a rural one striving for 100 in Friendsville might seem a lot further away than the 600 road miles that separate them.

But talk to Jonathan Boyette, national missions coordinator for Idlewild Baptist Church near Tampa and Keith Ross, pastor at Marble Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Friendsville, and you get a different perspective. The two have joined forces over the next three years to get to know their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and work on growing the flock at Marble Hill as they obey God's command to the mission field. In those endeavors, numbers simply don't matter.

Boyette and his team of 24 others arrived in Friendsville Wednesday, and by Thursday morning, they were at Marble Hill, mixing paint and loading into their vans for a day of canvassing. The Florida church will have painted the local church and spent hours in the community letting folks know about Marble Hill's Fall Family Fest set for Sunday by the time they leave the area Monday.

Near and far

Boyette said Idlewild was looking for different partnerships they could establish nationally. They talked with others across the country and selected three: San Diego, Miami, and right here in Friendsville. On the international level, the Florida church as 12 such partnerships.

They are all staying at Camp Tipton this week while working on the construction project and being part of the Fall Family Fest. Over the next three years, Idlewild will be teaming up with Marble Hill on other outreach projects.

Ross said the whole relationship came about because of prayer.

"We as a church have been praying for several years that God would send laborers," he said. "We read in Acts when Paul had the Macedonian prayer. We assumed this would be through local people. We never imagined how far they would be coming from."

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