Tenth Article in 90 Days of Praise Series

God has provided strong pastoral leadership throughout the history of this church, and each one of them have been men which God prepared for a special moment in our growth.   This has been remarkably obvious from the first organizational meeting in 1952 through our 50 years of ministry.   Reverend Dwayne Amburn was the man for that hour in those early days, for God knew that He needed a special kind of man to begin this church against all odds.   Brother Dwayne was that man, even though he was serving as pastor of Smyrna First Baptist, a position that had much more to offer than a fledgling church, he didn't hesitate to give up that comfortable position to serve as pastor of Stones River Baptist.

From the outset, Satan did his best to discourage him and disrupt the establishment of this congregation.   Yet, Brother Dwayne never blinked but kept his eyes firmly fixed on Jesus and his heart devoted to 'mission impossible'---according to some local folk.   There was very little money to pay the preacher, yet he stayed with the mission.   There were times when his family went without to the point that good friends brought food to the Amburns for months.   Even some of his former churches sent money to meet the expenses of the Stones River mission for the first two years of our ministry.   Still, Brother Dwayne never gave in, and because of his inexhaustible devotion to God's mission and the people of Stones River Baptist, we are today ministering strongly and effectively for Jesus.

I am grateful that I had the joy of meeting this special man of God in 1990, at our Homecoming service.   His eyes sparkled as he saw what God had done through the faithfulness of those early handfuls of devoted members.   Brother Dwayne went home to be with Jesus in 1993, and his wife wrote to say, 'the greatest moment of Dwayne's ministry was the joy of coming back to witness how God had blessed and enlarged the ministry of Stones River Baptist'.   Enclosed was a sizeable gift which said 'from the final estate of Reverend Dwayne Amburn', earmarked for the construction of our new educational building and sanctuary renovation project.

Praise God for God-called pastors like Rev. Dwayne Amburn.  The last letter Mrs. Janene Amburn wrote me before joining her dear husband in heaven, encouraged my heart greatly as she said, 'Dwayne and I thank God every day for leading you to Stones River as pastor for we know that you are carrying on the vision that was first given in 1952.'   On September 12, 2001, Mrs. Janene Amburn joined her dear husband at the feet of Jesus.
~ Brother Ross ~