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Twenty-two years ago, a
friend invited Larry Cooke to visit the Salvation Army Harbor
Light Men’s Center.
“When we got there, he stood up and announced that I was
preaching,” Cooke recalled. “That was my first service there.”
And now, 22 years later, he continues to
preach the word through In the Word Ministries, which will host
Celebrate 2009: A Time to Shine and Be Encouraged. The event
will take place Jan. 24 at 6:30 p.m. at The Shepherd’s Way
Church, 1225 Eagle Lake Road in Sealy. Admission is free, but a
love offering will be collected.
Along with testimony from Cooke, the Salvation Army Harbor Light
Choir will perform inspirational songs, with some members
sharing their own stories of how God has worked in their lives.
And that’s inspirational to Cooke, who had a hand in starting
the music ministry, which is comprised of current and former
substance abuse participants who have been successful in moving
toward recovery.
“About 20 years ago, I was in Houston and met a man that was a
drug addict,” Cooke said. “I got him down to the Salvation Army
and he got saved and gave his life to the lord. He did so well
that they wanted to put him on staff and he started the Harbor
Light Choir.”
And, after seeing the hope the choir
brings to so many, Cooke is proud of his involvement in helping
get it started.
“They’re an inspiration to others to see what God did to them,”
he said.
Now, he wants others to be inspired by their story.
“They can see these guys who say, ‘Look, I was there. I was a
drug addict or I'm just out of jail,’” Cooke said. “If they can
do it, you can do it.”
And even in what some would consider tough economic times, Cooke
wants others to know that good things can and will happen.
“We just want people that have needs to come out,” he said. “We
want them to know that they can be encouraged and that even in
the middle of a recession, God is still working.
“In the 80s, God blessed me to get me totally out of debt during
a recession, so I know what God can do,” he added.
The Harbor Light Choir has performed around the nation and
world, singing inspirational songs for people everywhere,
whether in a church or in a hospital.
Copyright © 2009 - The Sealy News |
