The Big Move

This past weekend, we helped son Nathan and his family move from Lancaster, PA to Fort Mill SC. They are moving as a part of a team training for missions. They packed the Budget moving van on Thursday, then came to our place to spend the night. Larry and I had worked a full busy day, and we arrived home to find our daughter Fran was there starting supper. She and and our other daughter Sarah had planned this meal so we had one last family evening together.

Friday morning, not quite as bright and early as we might have hoped, we headed for South Carolina. The trip went well. Larry drove the truck, pulling our car on a trailer. Nathan started out with him, and I drove their car, allowing Nathan's wife Terah to interact with the children. At New Market, VA, we stopped to refuel the truck and ourselves. At that point, Nathan and I switched places for the remainder of the trip. There was one traffic jam on Rt 77 north of Charlotte NC that slowed us to a crawl for a few miles, but other than that, we did well.


When we arrived at our destination, a cabin on the old Heritage USA property, Fort Mill, SC, their team and other friends from the community were there to greet us....the other two couples who are part of their team also live in cabins, all three just a few yards apart. The truck was unloaded promptly, the bedrooms were set up, and and we ate a delicious meal prepared prepared for us.


Being on the old PTL grounds which we heard so much about in years past was an interesting experience for me. Here is some of what we learned and experienced . . . this property was purchased by MorningStar Ministries about three years ago . Some of you are familiar with Rick Joyner and his ministry in the area of praise and worship. Anyway, they are in the process of restoring some of the main buildings, beginning with the Grand Hotel and the Conference center, for use as Christian retreats and conferences. If you go to the website and follow the H.I.M link, you can see some interesting pictures of the renovation process. They have the hotel and conference center up and running.


Rooms in the Grand Hotel are available just like a motel and that is where we stayed. They are very nice, much like a Comfort Inn, or Holiday Inn Express, except that it is meant now to be a retreat center, so there are barebones amenities, no TV, phones, or hairdryers in the rooms. (And no coffee either!!) Anyway, we stayed there, just across a lawn and parking area from Nathan and Terah's cabin. The huge atrium is currently used as the place of worship for MorningStar Fellowship, though they are "off" for the month of July, so it was quiet around there.


We walked around the old Heritage theme park property, sad and amazed at the decay of what must have been quite a place. The "tower", 20 or so stories, is deteriorating, the brick falling off, windows broken. We walked around the lake (with grandchildren Bella and Noah, giving Terah a chance to set up her kitchen). Buildings crumbling, grown over. Is desolation too strong a word? That's what it felt like out on the back side of the property where the water park used to be.

In addition to renovating for their own ministries MorningStar also rents space to other ministries. That is why Nathan, Terah, and the other two couples on their ministry team/community are renting cabins on this property. Their training, with World Outreach Center, will also take place here on the property.



Anyway, an interesting experience, being here, thinking about all the people who lost money, the poor widows who sent their mites, who believed in the PTL ministry. Larry commented, not only is it sad that Bakkers lived lavishly and exploited people, but we also observe how the place was poorly built and has not held up over these years. And as I was sitting in the mezzanine of the Grand Hotel, where there was wireless internet, I read online that Tammy Faye died on Friday. Another moment for contemplation of all that had happened on that site.

On another note, while planning this trip we realized that Fort Mill is only 25 miles from the JAARS center at Waxhaw, NC. When we visited Yarinacocha, Peru, back in 1978, we learned to know several dedicated people who spent their lives serving with Wycliffe Bible Translators. We have kept in touch with a few of them, most now retired. One of them, a pilot named Doug Deming, lives at Waxhaw. We called

him, met with him and took him out to dinner Saturday night. He is a very interesting man who has had a life full of jungle experience. His wife Sue is in the final stages of altzheimers. He said tonight hospice has begun providing assistance. He also mentioned that he is putting together a power point presentation of her life . . . he speaks of her with such love and tenderness.

Sunday morning, after breakfast together, we said our goodbyes and headed back to Pennsylvania.