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Cardwells moving after 23 years of local ministry
"I was sitting there last September or October, and the Lord said 'Oh, you're moving. You're moving and you'll be gone the first of the year.' I tried out for the church in Enterprise the first Sunday in January and they asked me if I wanted the job. You can't get any closer than that," Rev. Cardwell laughed. "The Lord tells you to go and you go. Our denomination depends on the spirit of God to talk to us through meditation, prayer and, of course, His word. Our pastors rely on God to tell them which direction to go," Mrs. Cardwell added. The Cardwells have been in the ministry nearly 45 years. They say leaving the church in Grove Hill will be like leaving family. "We've watched a generation be born, grow up, marry and have children of their own," Mrs. Cardwell said. They have seen a good many changes over the years. In 1985 a fellowship hall and Sunday School rooms were built. The entire church was remodeled in 1991. The year the fellowship hall was built the electrical wiring had not been completed by Christmas, but the church membership chose to have the holiday meal there anyway. "We ran lights in there, but there was no way to heat the building. It was so cold. We all ate in a hurry. I probably wouldn't have done it now. Of course we're a lot older now," Rev. Cardwell laughed. The church has also expanded its role in the missions fields, supporting 30 missionaries and other ministries. "Of course, our main reason for being here was to help the people here grow spiritually," Rev. Cardwell said. In addition to serving as pastor at Magnolia Assembly of God, Rev. Cardwell serves as the chaplain for Grove Hill Memorial Hospital, visits nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Jackson and Thomasville and holds devotion at three of them each week. He also wrote a pastor's column for The Democrat. Rev. Cardwell and the Magnolia Assembly of God has been active in interdenominational services with other faiths in the Grove Hill area- such as the annual Christmas and Easter community services- and many who are not members of Magonlia Assembly of God will miss him, too. The move to Enterprise will take the Cardwells closer to his family and close to one of their three daughters. They also have land in the area and plan to build a home there. "We have lived in parsonages for all but two years of his ministry. This will be our home," Mrs. Cardwell said of the home they plan to build. "God worked out a lot of things. I'm 60-years-old and I don't know when the Lord will turn me loose. I want to finish up there. I thought I'd be here the remainder, but I'm not. God has the final say," Rev. Cardwell explained.
"This will be a big change. We're leaving our church family, our community, hunting buddies, friends, colleagues. But I'm excited about the challenges and the opportunity," he added.
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