The Keelings

Hi Friends,

I trust all is well with you and your family and that you are enjoying what remains of old man winter. Ok, now on with the latest news.

2009 A Year of Change

2009 was an unbelievable year of change for the Keeling family. It all started on March 1, 2009 when I officially accepted the position of interim pastor of Reash Church. All of a sudden, it was preparing for sermons, visiting the sick, pastoral calling, business meetings, board meetings, lots of prayer meetings, counseling, pulling my hair out, and lots more counseling. In addition to all of that, it was singing at least one, and sometimes two concerts every weekend, and traveling on a few bus tours, not to mention preparing for two weddings.

If you read our last e-news letter, you know that Jeff & Hannah were married on August 8, 2009. They are both doing great! No grandkids as of yet, only a grandcat named Max. Here is a photo of where Hannah found Max the other day. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

In September I officially accepted the position of Senior Pastor at Reash Church and have made the commitment to serve there until God releases me from this new post. Things at the church have been going well and we are excited to see God at work in the lives of our people.

During the fall of 2009, our focus again changed as we were busy planning and preparing for wedding # 2 in January. Wow! I am glad that I only have one daughter, stressful! The wedding was beautiful, and Pat and Lynn are now happily married as of January 8, 2010. Below is a photo of Pat and Lynn on their wedding day. Trish is very happy that the wedding is over as well, as she did much of the preparing of the food for the reception, which was delightful. Pulled Pork, BBQ Beef and Chocolate Fondue. We had a great evening and I have finally decided to be nice to my new son-in-law (Pat) from now on. Again, we appreciate your understanding regarding who was and was not invited to attend. Due to the amount of people we know, and with very limited space at the church, we had to limit our inviting to only family and very close friends. I'm sure you all can understand our situation.

Christmas Concerts 2009

The 2009 Christmas concert series and food drives were a great success. A special thank you to everyone who attended and brought food for the needy, and a special thank you to all three host churches. During the three nights combined, as near as we can figure, 2000 of you were in attendance. The Lord willing, we will be planning another series for 2010. Keep watching the website for more information.

March for Life Rally in Washington DC

On January 22, 2010, 18 people from Reash Church along with several hundred others from Crawford County Citizens for Life joined hundreds of thousands of other marchers in Washington, DC to let our voices be heard and take a stand for life. The Lord willing, we are planning to go again next year. As Christians, we must take a stand for life. Rarely do I get political on my e-news letters but I thought you might like to know this sickening statistic. Since the new administration took office just a little over one year ago, nearly 1,000,000 babies have been killed, right here in America. Come on christians, it's way past time. We need to get involved now, and stop this madness. The photo below is a picture of the stage at the rally before the march. The entire mall and Constitution Ave. was filled with people all the way from 7th Street to the Washington Monument, and you never saw anything on the evening news. The national media did what they always do and ignored it as usual.

New 2010 Winter/Spring Concert Itinerary

Many of you have been asking for a new concert itinerary and I'm happy to say that you can now find it here and download a copy of our new schedule.

A few other very important dates that are coming up are as follows:

A Night of Praise & Worship with The Keelings, Saturday evening, March 27, 2010, Emmanuel Christian Church, Stoneboro, PA at 7:00 p.m. You will need a free ticket for this event and two or more non-perishable food items which will be donated to Helping Hands of Stoneboro, PA. Most of the evening will be an old fashioned hymn sing, so come prepared to sing along. It's going to be a great evening. For tickets, please send a SASE along with your request to The Keelings, P.O. Box 62, Hadley, PA 16130
Oil City Church of the Nazarene 100th Anniversary Celebration Concert, Christian Life Academy Auditorium, Seneca, PA. (Old Cranberry H.S.) Saturday evening, May 15, 2010. A free ticket will be required for admission. No food items will be collected for this concert. For tickets, please send a SASE along with your request to The Keelings, P.O. Box 62, Hadley, PA 16130
2010 Gospel Music Fest at Chaparral Family Camp, Salem, OH on Saturday evening, July 10, 2010 from 6 to 10 p.m. The groups scheduled for this event are The Pine Ridge Boys Quartet, Restoration and The Keelings. A free ticket and two or more non-perishable food items will be required for this event. Tickets will be available after May 1, 2010.

Please understand that our schedule is tentative and is always subject to change so please keep watching our website for corrections and or additions.

In Closing

Well, I guess that just about wraps it up for now. There are many other things that I could tell you about but, I'll save the details for another time. Everyone here is doing well and we are looking forward to another great year. The Lord willing, we will have one if not two new CD's that will be coming out this year. We are excited at the opportunities God continues to bring our way. Please keep us in your prayers and we hope to see you all soon at a concert or traveling with us on Christian Fellowship Tours.

Until next time, God Bless

Randy Keeling