Ada: home of Blake, Babylon and bats
ADA, OKLA. — Welcome to “God’s Country.”
No, I’m not referring to Morgan Wallen’s irksome social media post after his abrupt exit from “Saturday Night Live.” Real Okies know that “God’s Country” is a song by Ada’s own Blake Shelton.
My wife, Jeanie, and I drove to Ada after dropping off our kids at Quartz Mountain Christian Camp in Lone Wolf, the same camp Jeanie went to when she was a kid. The session our girls attended was directed by our good friend (and Christian Chronicle opinions editor) Jeremie Beller.
Jeanie, a pediatric endocrinologist, spends at least one day per month serving children at the Chickasaw Nation Medical Center in Ada. So we spent the night there. The next day, while Jeanie saw patients, I visited a couple of our congregations.
The Chickasaw Nation Medical Center in Ada is part of a large, newly develope health care complex.
I met Brian Lewis, minister for the Southwest Church of Christ, at Goodway Coffee Co. The church was relaunching its Vacation Bible School after a one-year hiatus. I got a quick tour of their “Life of Daniel” themed building, which included a fiery furnace, lion’s den and all the trappings of ancient Babylon.
Brian grew up in Mobile, Ala., and first encountered our fellowship when someone invited him to VBS at the Pleasant Valley (now Regency) Church of Christ. Later, he enrolled at Mobile Christian School. “I attended (VBS) for eight summers as a visitor before being baptized,” Brian said.
Erik Tryggestad, left, and Brian Lewis get coffee in Ada, Okla.
Another good friend of mine, “Brother Dave” Mellor immersed him. Brian said the decision was due to the influence of Brother Dave, Mobile Christian “and a whole bunch of VBS teachers and volunteers.”
Brian earned degrees from Harding University in Arkansas. At one point, he sold his old “Star Wars” toys to help fund his education — a story I found as painful as Kylo Ren lightsabering his father (Spoiler Alert). Brian recently completed a grad degree from my alma mater, Lipscomb University in Tennessee.
A classroom at the Southwest Church of Christ in Ada, Okla., is transformed into ancient Babylon to tell the story of Daniel.
I also visited the Central Church of Christ, which meets near East Central University and has a campus ministry, a Central Bible Academy for children and Compassion Clinic, a medical care ministry. The church’s senior minister, Benjamin J. Williams, was in Ukraine visiting the Ukrainian Bible Institute with my friend Brandon Price, the institute’s director.
Central was having its VBS too, using an outdoor camping theme. I got a quick tour from Marla Lobley, the church’s college and operational administrator. When she turned on the lights in the auditorium, two live bats started flapping and swooping around the A-frame.
A sign in the lobby of the Central Church of Christ welcomes VBSers to Camp Firelight.
“Wow! That’s commitment to the camping theme!” I told her.
The church’s children’s minister removed the bats — a task that I doubt was in her job description — before VBS began. Later in the week, two more appeared. The task of removing them fell to the youth minister. So there was no VBBS (Vacation Bible and Bat School) in God’s Country. I reckon that was a source of both relief and disappointment, depending on the kid.
A sign of U.S. 377 welcomes folks to “God’s Country,” Ada, Okla.
ERIK TRYGGESTAD is President and CEO of The Christian Chronicle. Contact [email protected].
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