A joyful heart is a good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”  Proverbs 17:22

When Vern Dalstein, pastor of Venturia Baptist, asked the Saturday morning Bible study men what they could do to bring some encouragement during Covid-19, they began to brainstorm.

Some would think letting a group of men brainstorm is a risky endeavor, but one idea spurred another and resulted in a community outreach in the town of Venturia, ND. Population – 19.

I didn’t have to do a thing, commented Vern. They planned the whole thing.

Saturday, August 19, Mylo Hatzenbuhler, a.k.a. “The Strasburg Superstar”, shared one of his comedy concerts on the lawn outside Venturia Baptist Church. The men organized all the things necessary for the event, including two food trucks to provide for the crowd.

People were invited back to a gospel concert the following Sunday afternoon, August 20. Mylo, whose real name is Clyde Baumann, shared about his faith in Jesus Christ as he gave praise to God with his tenor voice.

Attendance at the Saturday event – 150; the Sunday concert – 99. Vern explained, Clyde gave us a break on his fee because of Covid. With the offering received, the men paid him his usual amount. Not only that, but they gave a special gift to each of the food vendors. They couldn’t believe that the church would give them a gift, because they made money from the food.

Not bad for a church of two dozen in a community even smaller. But this isn’t the end of things. Since that time several in the church volunteered to serve in a fundraiser to help toward medical expenses for a person in the neighboring community. She isn’t from our church, but we just thought we wanted to begin to engage more with our community, says Pastor Vern.

Good medicine, indeed.

Randy Jaspers

Northern Plains Regional Minister