| | | The West Virginia Baptist Newsletter
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| | | | | | | | School of Christian Studies
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| School of Christian Studies ADVANCED
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Favorite Parchment Valley Stories and Pictures
Story #1
I Once Was Lost, But Now Am Found
by
Randal Bratka
9/16/03
While having lunch on Tuesday at Parchment Valley, during an intensive week of seminary class on church history, I decided to venture out to the Grapevine Chapel on the newly dedicated Missionary Prayer Trail. I thought that since I had an hour to spare, after finishing lunch, I would go and pray. The trail was a wonderful, although muddy, experience. I was finally able to see the wind chime I had donated to the trail. I was led by a dog that would occasionally stop and look back to see if I was able to keep up. I lost track of the count of the 11 wind chimes that were in memory of 11 Baptist missionaries who were martyred in the Philippines. I was looking forward to seeing the Grapevine Chapel which was modeled after Hopevale, an outdoor church of the hidden community of missionaries who were martyred on Panay Island. What I did not anticipate was that I was about to experience first hand how the Japanese had difficulty finding the hidden missionary community on the island. Apparently, the mountains on Panay Island were densely forested with a myriad of trails running through them. If someone was not sure of exactly where they were going, they could easily become lost or sidetracked. As I kept following the road uphill, downhill and further into the woods at Parchment Valley, I wondered what it must have been like for those missionaries to have had to hide out in the wooded hills. I kept on walking while convincing myself that I would come upon the Grapevine Chapel at any time or just around the next bend. I came across a turtle crossing the road and stopped to admire it. I felt like Francis of Assisi, greeting the animals while journeying through the countryside with the wolf of Gubbio at his side. The chapel never seemed to appear and along the way I came to some forks in the road and chose to follow what I thought to be the main road. Finally, I looked at my watch and decided I had better get going in order to return in time for class. I thought that I would just have to wait and try to find the chapel at a later time. I started to run to try to make better time returning to class. I eventually came to a fork in the road and took what I thought was the road I had come from. After walking for quite a while, I ran into some felled trees and eventually what literally seemed like the end of the road. I started to panic as I realized that I was lost in the woods. In the midst of my fear, I began to pray that God would guide me. I began to calm down as my heart stopped racing. Suddenly, the hymn Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us came to my mind and I began to sing. God revealed to me how in our times of trouble and despair, when all seems lost, that all we need to do is to call upon Him. I realized that sometimes our focus on the gravity of our current situations sometimes blinds us to our opportunity to call upon the "God who has been our help in ages past." I retraced my steps back to the fork in the road and took the original route I had followed into the woods. Suddenly things began to look familiar to me and I was relieved to know that all was going to be well. On the way back I came across a young turtle stuck upside down in the mud and I bent down and turned it over, hopefully providing it with a much needed second chance on life. I walked through many a spider web and even swallowed a gnat! On my way back, I finally found the "camouflaged" wood and stone chapel and stopped to thank God for quite literally showing me the way. I eventually made it back to class, although late, sweaty and muddy. I am thankful for the experience though, as I have come to appreciate the memorialized Baptist missionaries on the prayer trail even more and learned a valuable lesson on trust and faith.
Thanks be to God.
Story #2
Story by Pastor Don Toler
The late brother Bill Hall of the Diamond Baptist Church of the KVA, loved to sing as most people know. My fondest memories of Bill were at the men's spring retreat at PV when he would put his sound system on the deck outside his room and play his sound tracks and sing along. The music would fill the whole Parchment Valley area, what a uplifting time we would experience. You knew he wasn't singing to anyone in particular, he was singing for GOD.
Do you have a favorite Parchment Valley photo or story you would like to share with us? If so, please e-mail them to blayton@wvbc.org and your's will be published on this website as well. |
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