I heard the sonic boom of the space shuttle returning to Earth yesterday morning and it shook my home. It reminded me of a photo taken by Jon M. Fletcher during a shuttle launch last year. It is one cool photo!
A "real, live" leprechaun will again make an appearance at Baker County Pre-k/Kindergarten Center in Macclenny, Florida for St. Patrick's Day. He will be reading a cool leprechaun story to the children.
Florida Times-Union photojournalist Jon M. Fletcher "captured" an interview with the Leprechaun last year and you can view it below.
The video provides a brief overview of the JCEA Christmas JOY Box ministry for nursing home residents. This video will also be available for download from our video blog and on iTunes by this weekend.
A special "God bless you" to Jon Fletcher for this production. God has certainly used Jon to enhance the JCEA ministries in so many areas.
My good friend Jon Fletcher now has a redesigned website. Jon is a photojournalist for the Florida Times-Union newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida. He also made two mission trips with James Croft Evangelistic Association to Ghana, West Africa (2003 & 2004). In 2008 he received a prestigious award voted by his peers, the National Press Photographers Association's (NPPA) 2007 Region Six Still Photographer of the Year. He has won many other awards during his career.
Visit his redesigned website at http://www.jonmfletcher.com.
NOTE: This article is on the front page of the March 26, 2009 edition of the Florida Baptist Witness, the state newspaper of the Florida Baptist Convention.
Churches come together to redo evangelist's home
By JON M. FLETCHER
Special to the Florida Baptist Witness
OLUSTEE (FBW)—Coming together to help a brother in need, folks from several local churches joined forces to make repairs and improvements on the home of Olustee-resident and Southern Baptist evangelist James Croft.
Around 50 men from Raiford Road Church, First Baptist Church in Lake Butler (Croft’s home church), New Oak Grove Baptist Church, First Baptist Church in Cuyler and Cedar Creek Church labored together for five days, using about $4,000 in material donated by churches.
Read the entire story and view photos at the Florida Baptist Witness.
Additional info about this story:
I have created a new video outlet for the video ministry of James Croft Evangelistic Association. It is a group on Vimeo.com. At this point only six of our videos have been uploaded. I'll add more in the next few days.
I was first introduced to this site by Jon Fletcher when he presented the Working On A Building video. So far, I like the interface and the service. Let me know what you think by clicking "comments" below.
Don't forget, our videos are also available on the following:
Around 50 men from Raiford Road Church, First Baptist Church of Lake Butler (Mr. Croft’s home church), New Oak Grove Baptist Church, First Baptist of Cuyler and Cedar Creek Church worked over a period of five days.
They cleared overgrown trees from the property, painted and repaired a utility building, pressure-washed and painted the home, repaired the front and rear porch, installed a shower, and sealed an unused chimney among various other repairs on the 1920s-era home.
Read more of this story on the Baker County Press.
View a video about the project: Working On A Building.
Read a related post: Churches Lend Helping Hands
Around 50 men from Raiford Road Church in Macclenny, First Baptist Church of Lake Butler (my home church), New Oak Grove Baptist Church in Alachua, First Baptist Church of Cuyler and Cedar Creek Church in Sanderson (all in Florida) worked to repair and remodel my home in Olustee over a 5 day period. Jon Fletcher has produced a video of the project featuring "before" and "after" photos.
Read a related story in the Baker County Press.
Read a related post: Churches Lend Helping Hands
Working on a Building from Jon Fletcher on Vimeo.
A few weeks ago I received a visit from Raiford Road Church Senior Pastor Johnny Raulerson and Missions Pastor Gene Graves following my return home from hip surgery. They expressed a desire to offer help with some home projects that, to be honest, I could not afford or was physically unable to do. I must admit, I was reluctant because I felt there are much greater needs than mine. I was told this would be a joint effort between my home church, First Baptist of Lake Butler, and Raiford Road Church in Macclenny, Florida.
The "home improvement" will continue later this month with the house being painted and given a new roof. Praise the Lord!
Photojournalist Jon Fletcher was on-hand taking pictures and picking up limbs too, Raiford Road is his home church. A few of his photos can be viewed in this "Home Improvement Day 1" photo gallery.
In offering me the ministry opportunity, Pastor Johnny Raulerson of Raiford Road Church in Macclenny, Florida said it would provide a "tune-up" for my first revival engagement to begin next Sunday. He was right. I preached services at 8:15am, 11am and 6:30pm.
I had prayed and prepared two messages for the day. As the first service got underway it became clear to me that I was about to preach the wrong message. All of the music went perfectly with the sermon I had prepared for that evening. I prayed and prayed during the song service and realized I had to reorder my plans to the plan God was laying before me. I'm glad that I did, because the Lord gave me a wonderful liberty to preach and then He worked mightily during the Time of Decision!
Physically I felt very good during both of the morning services. I attended a birthday celebration at 2pm in at a Lake City nursing home for a great-aunt and then it was back to Macclenny for the night service. I was rather tired by the time I approached the pulpit to begin the sermon that was originally scheduled for that morning. I think God used the message, but I was very tired by the end of the service. My muscles in my hip really ached. It really was a test of my stamina and a good "tune-up". I can tell that I'm still not 100%, but I'll be there soon!
My good friend and photojournalist, Jon Fletcher, attends Raiford Road Church with his family and was present for the services. He took several photos from the morning service and you can view them in this photo gallery.
I really enjoyed my time ministering and fellowshipping with everyone at Raiford Road Church. This church has held a special place in my heart since I entered the ministry. I'll share some exciting news with you in the days to come about a joint venture between this church, my home chuch - First Baptist of Lake Butler, and some others.
Yesterday was certainly a great day! It felt great to be back doing what the Lord called me to do - Preach the Word!
Oh, one more exciting thing happened this past weekend, on Saturday, I drove my car for the first time since my surgery. Look-out world, here I come!!! 8-)
My very good friend, Jon M. Fletcher, a photojournalist for the Florida Times-Union newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, has received a prestigious award voted by his peers. The National Press Photographers Association's (NPPA) 2007 Region Six Still Photographer of the Year award was recently announced on the organization's website.
NPPA Region Six includes the southeastern states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. In addition to these seven states, Region Six also includes Antarctica, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bouvet Island, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Guatamala, French Guiana, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, British Virgin Islands, and the US Virgin Islands.
The annual contest involves clippings of photos being submitted each month. These photos are then sent to other NPPA members to judge and assign a numeric value. Scores from each month for each photographer are totaled at the end of the year to determine the region's winner.
Jon said this award means a lot to him because it is judged by his peers, other photographers.
This is not Jon's first award, he has won several. I have written posts on this site about a couple of them: Award Winning Illustration and Ministry Now On YouTube.
I first met Jon in 2003 when he "shadowed me" for about three months for a story for the Florida Times-Union. We became great friends and since that time he has made two trips to
Ghana to document our ministry in the West Africa nation. He was a hit everywhere we went especially with the children, as you can see in this rare photo of Jon in Ghana.
During his first trip Evangelist Ralph, our ministry coordinator in Ghana, would often say, "Jon is taking pictures for Jesus!" Ralph also called him "Iya deen" (I know that is surely misspelled) which means "He is quiet." Jon would rarely speak and when he did, it was quietly. He prefers to allow his photos to speak the story, as I'm sure you have noticed if you have seen his work. A professional photographer that is well acquainted with Jon and his work once told me that many photographers capture great images in photos, but Jon is able to capture the spiritual side of a scene in a photo. I agree.
Jon has served the Lord by working behind the scenes and the camera too. He has been an invaluable assistance to my ministry providing photos, illustrations, logos, technical advice and trying to teach me a few things about photography. Most importantly, he, and his family, has been a friend to me during good and bad times alike. God must surely have a special reward for him for putting up with me and my "big" ideas.
Congratulations on a well-deserved award, Jon Fletcher!
If you would like to see and read more about Jon's work with our ministry check out the following links:
A brochure providing an overview of the ministries of James Croft Evangelistic Association is now available for pastors and other ministry leaders. The full-color pamphlet was produced by my good friend Jon Fletcher.
I will promptly send pastors and ministry leaders that are interested in this ministry one of the brochures after receipt of theit mailing address. If you would like to provide your pastor with a copy for consideration, please send me their name, church, mailing address and e-mail address if available.
A ministry DVD providing a more in depth look at the JCEA is also available upon request.
A brochure providing an overview of the ministries of James Croft Evangelistic Association is now available for pastors and other ministry leaders. The full-color pamphlet was produced by my good friend Jon Fletcher.
I will promptly send pastors and ministry leaders that are interested in this ministry one of the brochures after receipt of theit mailing address. If you would like to provide your pastor with a copy for consideration, please send me their name, church, mailing address and e-mail address if available.
A ministry DVD providing a more in depth look at the JCEA is also available upon request.
I had the honor of preaching at Circle J last night. The congregation of approximately 50 consisted of a variety of ages. Church Planter Carl Christiansen said the crowd would have been larger had it not been for the bad weather, which was rain, rain, rain.
The church's praise band featured singers, guitars and a mandolin. The band did a great job in leading the congregational music. Hymnals were passed-0ut as the song service got underway and Bibles were provided to those that didn't have one for the sermon.
The Lord really moved during the service (in spite of the preaching). We saw two people give their lives to Christ! Praise the Lord!
Brother Carl told us that a water trough is used for baptisms and is scheduled for March.
I want to thank Jon Fletcher, his wife Kristie, and their children Klara and Isaac for accompanying me to the service. Jon shot some great photos during the service and you can view them in this photo gallery.
If you live in the area and you're searching for a church, the cowboys and cowgirls at Circle J Cowboy Church would love to have you stop by and visit a spell on Tuesday nights. A supper is held at 6pm and the worship service begins at 7pm. The Horsemen's Club is located at 181 Horsemen Club Road in Palatka, Florida. For more information call Pastor Carl Christiansen at (386) 546-1943.
Cowboy Church Photo Gallery
To view previous video, photos and info about the JOY Box Ministry click here.
A description of how some portraits of athletes were created using photo montage. This is from my friend, Jon Fletcher's YouTube Channel.
Jon, a photojournalist with the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Florida, has made two mission trips to Ghana, West Africa with the James Croft Evangelistic Association. He has also written a couple of stories for the newspaper about this ministry.
To view even more of Jon's outstanding work or to learn more about his work with this ministry click on the Jon Fletcher category in the left column of this website. This will allow you to view previous posts on this site about Jon's work and ministry projects with James Croft Evangelistic Association.
Also see:
Residents of Frank Wells Nursing Home in Macclenny, Florida receive JOY Boxes from James Croft Evangelistic Association.
Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? For more information visit Do You Know?
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This video was produced as part of a story for the Florida Times-Union by Jon M. Fletcher.
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