Fields Ready for Harvest

by David Randlett, Area Representative for New Hampshire

For many years now, New Hampshire has consistently ranked among the five least-churched states in the nation. Ministering in the Granite State calls for having faith in Christ’s promise that “the harvest is plentiful.” (Luke 10:2)

Willing to labor in the fields of New Hampshire, and trusting in the promises of God’s Word, Ben Henshaw accepted the call to be the new pastor at Rand Memorial Congregational Church in Seabrook. With his wife Jill and daughter Haven, Ben moved to Seabrook from Pennsylvania and began his ministry over Labor Day weekend last year. Since that time he has seen God working in Seabrook in very exciting ways.

Ben testifies, “We have seen the church growing significantly and people getting interested in God and wanting to enter into a deeper level of commitment to Christ.” Prior to the Henshaws’ coming to Seabrook, attendance for Sunday morning worship had dwindled to as few as fifteen people. Now there are forty to sixty gathering each week for fellowship and the preaching of the Word.

The church has long had a strong Sunday school program. In the past, however, parents would drop their kids off for Sunday school, but not stay for worship. This is changing, and Ben looks forward to expanding the youth program. He shares, “This summer we will be doing construction to join two of the Sunday School classrooms into a bigger room where we can have children’s church during the worship service. We believe this will allow for families to more easily remain and check out the service while their children are in children’s church. We really want this to be a family-friendly place where both parents and their children can have the opportunity to hear from God.”

Emphasizing this desire for the church to be a family-friendly place, the church promoted and sponsored a “Trunk or Treat” event last October to provide a safe environment for children to receive treats, and to hear a presentation of the Gospel using the carving of a pumpkin. This drew nearly 200 children to the church parking lot.

Children and parents are also getting together to pray for others, making prayer bracelets for those they are lifting up in prayer.

As more people are coming to worship on Sunday mornings, and enjoying the joys of Christian fellowship, Ben has been delighted to see people new to the church make professions of faith and dedicate their lives to Christ. A service of baptism is being planned this summer, and nine people just completed a membership class, affirming their desire to unite with the church. So yes, here in the stony Granite State, God is changing hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. The fields indeed are white for harvest!