Tuesday, July 23, 2024
We left Letchworth State Park Saturday morning, July 19, after a wonderful visit. Beautiful park, as was Watkins Glen. We never knew the state of New York was so pretty. Lots of woods, trees, and trails. Outside of the big city traffic and crowds it’s a great, restful place to visit.
Just a few miles from Letchworth, is the little town of Mount Morris. One of the town’s claims to fame is that it is the birthplace of Francis Bellamy, the author of the original Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. His childhood home is located on Main Street as is a mural commemorating the Pledge of Allegiance. So, we decided to check out the mural and town. While walking around downtown, we spotted a nice-looking steeple a few blocks away and decided to take a look.
We found what was previously a beautiful gothic Episcopal church but the sign outside said, Lamplighter Ministries. While we were outside admiring the church a gentleman walked up and asked if we would like to see inside. Of course, we said yes since we like to tour old churches. When we entered the church, we were surprised to see in addition to all the usual accoutrements the walls of the sanctuary were lined with bookcases full of books – all hard cover. We were taken into a room behind the sanctuary that was full of book publishing equipment. A side room was a radio/pod casting studio. The gentleman asked us if we were born again (YES) and told us his name is Mark. We went next door to meet some of the people who work with him. He had to leave to attend a funeral and we stayed and visited with one of the employees. We learned that the gentleman was Dr. Mark Hamby. Dr. Hamby is the founder and president of Lamplighter Ministries International. There were many more books lining shelves in this building. The books are for all age groups from children through 99 years old. Lamplighter Ministries, according to their catalog publishes a family collection of Christ-like, character-building books. From the Lamplighter website – “Dr. Hamby has given new life to these 17th – 19th century rare stories which inspire readers of all ages to adopt the godly virtues that have now been etched into their awakened conscience.” We were gifted one of their audio theater recordings for us to listen to while driving. We were told they are used in a number of states’ home-schooling programs. Everyone we met there seemed to believe in the ministry of “Building Christlike Character One Story at a Time.” Click on the link above and check it out – and let us know what you think. So, a beautiful church, a “chance” encounter with a very interesting gentleman – another God Wink?
After leaving Mount Morris, we headed to Erie, PA for the night. However, as we love to do when we travel in BB, in the small town of Randolph, we stopped at a very nice produce market. We bought fresh cherries, blueberries, corn and a tomato. We have been enjoying it all. Love fresh produce!! We headed on to the same Cracker Barrel we visited on the way to Bath. Another quiet night with another enjoyable breakfast after a good night of sleep.
RVing With a Purpose 