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CONGRATULATIONS
to Rich Bukowski of Temple Baptist Church in Fort Myers, Florida!
It was a difficult process of prayerfully determining who we would
send to CPC, but the final choice has been made. Much thanks to the
many who nominated their children's pastor or applied themselves to
go. While we could not send everyone, it was a delight to learn about
so many awesome servants of God out there who are working hard and
selflessly to Build His Kingdom by Reaching His Kids!
I am looking forward to meeting Rich at CPC in Atlanta.
Here's a write-up of Rich's marvelous
story (written by Dawn Baker):
I am the Music Director at Temple Baptist Church and the K-5/1st
Grade Teacher at Temple Christian School. I would love to be the
hero and send our Children’s Pastor to CPC in 2004. God has
blessed our church with him and his wife, and no one can possibly
deserve this honor more than he does. Pastor Rich Bukowski (a.k.a.
Pastor Rich) came to Temple Baptist Church about 3 months ago, and
has been the most tremendous asset.
Pastor Rich was pastor of a small area church as well as running
a small, but successful roofing company (This was how he supported
his family). About 1 year ago, we had to replace a leaky roof. Our
small church found it could not afford to replace the roof at these
prices, but desperately needed to have the work done. After receiving
many very high quotes, Pastor Rich, a long time friend of our Pastor,
agreed to do the work at cost (saving us literally tens of thousands
of dollars).
Shortly following the repairs, Pastor Rich felt and followed God’s
leading to our church to become our Associate/Children’s Pastor.
He took over Children’s Church with puppets, Gospel Magic
Shows, and so much more. When the church could not afford to purchase
the necessary supplies to start our Children’s Ministry well,
Pastor Rich and his wife spent at least $3,000.00 out of their own
pocket to make the purchases. The number of children in attendance
has doubled and continues to grow.
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| Shortly after his arrival at our church,
he took over several roles in our Christian School. We were lacking
in staff members so he willingly offered to take our Chapel Services,
and come in for half of the day in order to help make up for our
staff shortage. The children beg daily to have Chapel with Pastor
Rich.
After working in our church and school for about 2 months, he again
followed God’s leading, and on a huge leap of faith, closed
his roofing company, and came to work for us full time. Temple cannot
afford to pay him what he made, but he simply trusts God to meet
his family’s needs. He is now at the school all day long Monday
– Friday, and comes in on Saturday in order to prepare for
Sunday. He also now teaches our Adult Sunday School class in order
to give our Pastor a break (and does a marvelous job). It is important
to note that he always works with the most willing spirit and the
nicest smile on his face. He is indeed a cheerful giver!
The most important fact to mention is the way God is using Pastor
Rich to bring souls to Christ. Many of the children in my class
at school have begun attending church for the first time because
of him, and several of the 8-12 graders are beginning to open up
to Pastor Rich and are asking questions about Christ. He is always
looking for Children’s Conferences and workshops to attend
in order to improve his ministry, but now that he is on such a much
more limited budget, he often cannot afford to attend. Please select
our dear Pastor Rich for CPC!
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