THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
It has been 13 years and 6 months since our first assembled meeting in Paul and JoAnn Hauptman’s home. We met there for around 3 months and then began meeting at the Old Algonquin Grange in Bainbridge, N.Y. For three years people continued to come and our group grew to 80 people before we broke ground at our present location in Afton. Our first service in the new building at the present location totaled 130 people. Much has happened since the early days. People have come and gone. We have seen many saved, healed, delivered, and filled with the Holy Spirit since our early days in Bainbridge up until the present. The ministry of Higher Ground has touched many throughout the world and we thank The Lord Jesus and you the people for your continued faithfulness and support. Nothing could have been accomplished without you. Every single person that has come through the doors of this assembly is appreciated and thanked with all of our hearts. For those of you that have been with us from the beginning (please forgive me for not mentioning names but you know who you are) a special thanks for allowing us to grow through all these years and standing by us through the changes and growth process that has occurred. Words cannot express our gratitude to you and everyone that calls Higher Ground their home church. Now the time has come for us to say goodbye and God speed to you and your families. Our heartfelt love and thanksgiving is truly meant for everyone.
I am excited for the people of Higher Ground and the wonderful man of God, Pastor Naresh Ramdharry and his family that will be taking over the pastorate of the church. My wife and I met pastor Ramdharry in Guyana on a mission trip in 1995. Though it wasn’t until the next year that we got to know each other we have grown in our relationship and become best of friends and confidents to one another through the years. Higher Ground has been supporting Pastor Ramdharry and his ministry since the early years in Bainbridge. Around 6 or 7 years ago he brought his family to the US and has resided in New York City continuing the ministry as an evangelist and minister on staff at his local church in New York City. Pastor Ramdharry is a man of faith, a man of prayer and a man of the Word of God. He has pastoral experience of over 20 years and has worked in the most difficult of situations. His wife, Iona is also a mighty woman of God and very proficient in ministry. So as Elsa and I depart, we know that you are not in the hands of novices, but in the hands of Almighty God and a chosen, seasoned man and woman of God to lead and guide you into the next phase of growth for Higher Ground. I would ask all of you as the considerate faithful people that you are to pledge your allegiance to Pastor Ramdharry and Iona and the continuing ministry here at Higher Ground. This is God’s church. This is your church. God has put you here to be a blessing and an asset to His kingdom for His glory. I know the Lord has great things for this church and wants it to continue to grow and reach people with the love and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So with great joy and no regrets I say goodbye and God‘s blessings to continue in and through this church and each individual life here. The Best is Yet to Come!
In Him,
Pastor Joe and Elsa
