Pumpville, TX
This past month I have been close to home. I preached for Bro. Mike Marcellus in S. Austin the first week, then at my home church the next week. The third week I was in Pflugerville (the "P" is silent for those of you who do not know) then this last week I went to Pumpville, TX.
You may ask - "Where is Pumpville?"
Good question! Pumpville is down my Del Rio. It is about 15 miles for Langtry. Now for you history buffs, you may remember the name "Langtry." The town of Langtry was named after a fair maiden, actually an actress. Yes indeed. For years, she was sent letters by the man know as "The Law West of the Pecos" - That's right, Judge Roy Bean. The "Jersey Lily" was aware she was supposedly the town's namesake - for Judge Roy Bean had been sending her fan letters for years. She couldn't find room in her schedule to visit the town. When her train finally did pull into Langtry - Roy Bean was dead.
But what about Pumpville? Well Pumpville is a ghost town today - literally. There is a church, abandoned school house (complete with the small house the school teacher lived in), the grocery store that is about to literally fall apart and one other house, recently relocated on the property for the purpose of the "traveling pastor" to sleep in on the weekends. THAT'S IT!
Yet on Sunday morning at ten o'clock AM, this ghost town comes to life when anywhere from 10-20 people gather for church. Ranchers from all around begin to make their way to the little church in the ghost town. They will bring enough "viddles" for lunch after church, then when church is over - Pumpville returns to its natural state - a ghost town.
Their pastor travels over three hours one way each week and has for over three years now. Some may think this a bit foolish, yet the nearest church is over fifty miles away. So this gives the ranchers around Pumpville and great place to come to church in a much shorter time. You never know the lasting impact that is going to be made on one life as a result of this. The median age in this church is probably in the late 30's to early 40's, being that they have membership ranging from in the 80's to 2-years-old.
So that has been my month. Tomorrow I head East to Alabama for two weeks then to Kansas for Sat. thru Monday, arriving home on Tuesday just in time for Thanksgiving. I will post more later - but don't look before Thanksgiving as it will probably not be here. :-)
You may ask - "Where is Pumpville?"
Good question! Pumpville is down my Del Rio. It is about 15 miles for Langtry. Now for you history buffs, you may remember the name "Langtry." The town of Langtry was named after a fair maiden, actually an actress. Yes indeed. For years, she was sent letters by the man know as "The Law West of the Pecos" - That's right, Judge Roy Bean. The "Jersey Lily" was aware she was supposedly the town's namesake - for Judge Roy Bean had been sending her fan letters for years. She couldn't find room in her schedule to visit the town. When her train finally did pull into Langtry - Roy Bean was dead.
But what about Pumpville? Well Pumpville is a ghost town today - literally. There is a church, abandoned school house (complete with the small house the school teacher lived in), the grocery store that is about to literally fall apart and one other house, recently relocated on the property for the purpose of the "traveling pastor" to sleep in on the weekends. THAT'S IT!
Yet on Sunday morning at ten o'clock AM, this ghost town comes to life when anywhere from 10-20 people gather for church. Ranchers from all around begin to make their way to the little church in the ghost town. They will bring enough "viddles" for lunch after church, then when church is over - Pumpville returns to its natural state - a ghost town.
Their pastor travels over three hours one way each week and has for over three years now. Some may think this a bit foolish, yet the nearest church is over fifty miles away. So this gives the ranchers around Pumpville and great place to come to church in a much shorter time. You never know the lasting impact that is going to be made on one life as a result of this. The median age in this church is probably in the late 30's to early 40's, being that they have membership ranging from in the 80's to 2-years-old.
So that has been my month. Tomorrow I head East to Alabama for two weeks then to Kansas for Sat. thru Monday, arriving home on Tuesday just in time for Thanksgiving. I will post more later - but don't look before Thanksgiving as it will probably not be here. :-)
posted by Brad at 8:55 PM
1 Comments:
Hey - I know where Pumpville is! My aunt Ruth ran that grocery store when I was a little girl. My grandfather was the caretaker of The Jersey Lily too - many many years ago!
Small world.
See ya,
Nikki Tracy
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