Twenty-six years ago the Rev. Mr. George R. Loar was asked by Superintendent Bill Mayo if he would go to the Bethel Holiness Church in Lonaconing, Maryland, to "help out" for six weeks. In September 2009, Pastor Loar retired from the pastorate at Lonaconing with many accomplishments for the Kingdom of God. When he went there the church was down in attendance to approximately 20-25 people, mostly relatives of Pastor Loar.
Attendance soon began to grow and more people from the community became involved in helping to grow the church. For much of the 26 years, George worked full-time in the local coal mines and witnessed to his co-workers and won many of them to the Lord and to the church. He has a tremendous ministry in the area and is frequently called on to conduct weddings and funerals for people in the area, many of whom don't belong to the church.
In 1994 his ministry took on a new dimension when he became involved in the IPHC overseas church planting program in Russia, Ukraine and Romania. As Conference Missions Director at the time, I told George about the church planting program and encouraged him to go to Russia with me to plant a church. George's first response was, "Oh, no, I couldn't do that, brother," but he promised to pray about it. Some days later he called and told me the "check is in the mail." I wasn't sure what check he was talking about, so he explained, "The check for the trip to Russia." The church board had voted to take some of the money from their building fund to sponsor George's trip.
As it turned out the Missions Department had assigned George to go to Ukraine instead of Russia, but that did not upset him. He had been studying Ukraine and found that most of the people in the area of Kiev were coal miners and he felt he could identify with those folks. Not only did he go in 1994, but he and a team from his church continued to go every year until 2007. When the local paper wrote a full-page article with pictures from his trips, many Ukrainian families in the area whom he did not know would come to him and give him money for his trips. A lot of the money for his trips came from people outside Bethel church.
To make a long story short, since 1994 the Lonaconing church has given over ONE MILLION DOLLARS to missions and working with Pastor Valery Reshetinsky has helped to plant over 70 churches in Ukraine and 2 in Romania.
The Lonaconing church has continued to grow and finances also grew to support not only the local church but many missions projects. They have been the leader in the GO offering for many years and continue giving $2,-$3,000 monthly to support missionaries and overseas projects. Sunday morning attendance now averages 150-175 in a community where many people have had to relocate to find work.
I call this story "The Lonaconing Miracle." God took one man who said, "Oh, no, I couldn't do that, brother," and turned his life into a new and productive ministry that he never imagined.
God can do anything and we can too, as He gives us the power to do it. Needless to say, the church is very sad to see their pastor retire, but they know that he has certainly earned it. At 72, Pastor George is still very much involved in witnessing to and helping people he has known all his life in the Frostburg/ Lonaconing area where he lives. I believe that God will continue to use him even though his full-time work as pastor has ended.
On Sunday, January 31, 2010, the church honored Pastor Loar and Shirley, his wife, with a special service and dinner to thank them for their many years of faithful service.
[Editor's Note: I went with George Loar to Ukraine in 1994. I was the senior pastor of Tarkenton Memorial Church in Athens, Georgia. I took Harold Taylor with me from our church. What a blessing he was in ministering the the Ukrainian people. Harold is the grandson of the late G. F. Taylor, founder of Emmanuel College ninety-one years ago. George Loar and Shirley have been dear friends ever since. I stand to attention and salute George and Shirley Loar, as well as my good friend Bishop Wesley Russ. Thank God Wesley asked George to go. God touched George's heart, and after saying, No, he was then able to say Yes!]
Posted on
Thu, February 18, 2010
by Bishop Wesley Russ, Superintendent, Mid-Atlantic Conference