The Hauser Story
In 1959 Bob Rush, a Village Missionary, drove down from a
neighboring town to a rural community called Hauser. He was asked to conduct
worship services for a small group of people, meeting for Sunday School in the
Sunny Hill Community building. After a couple of months of Sunday afternoon
meetings, the people asked Village Missions to send them their own Missionary.
In the fall of 1959, the Alton Williams family came. Under their leadership the
The first project in 1959 was to construct a house for a
parsonage and then a basement facility for worship and Sunday School. This was
all accomplished by the missionaries and volunteer labor in less than four
years.
The J. Q. Hunter family with their six children followed
the Williams. For two years they worked hard visiting every home in the
community. In this, the lowest-churched county in the nation, the work was
difficult and discouraging. There was minimal response and growth.
In 1965, Village Missions sent
A new sanctuary was begun by two of the men, both of whom
moved a few months later! With neither men nor money, the Wiggers faced the
challenge of their life. With faith in God and a vision to reach the Community,
they prayed a lot for God's plan and strength. Evangelistic Bible studies and
Friendship Bible Coffees were started to reach people in their homes.
At the same time, mostly with the help of one man (a retired,
converted logger), Pastor Wiggers worked on the new sanctuary 35 to 40 hours a
week plus all the full duties of a minister. Each month they trusted God to
supply money for materials. And He always sent in the amount needed each month.
During the construction process the Lord began to build
His church. Men, women and families came to Christ through the Home Bible
Studies. Faith and excitement began to build in the congregation as they saw
what God was doing. New Christians were trained to guide Bible studies. Those
who were reached through the Bible studies came into the church. Within two
years, the new sanctuary was dedicated, debt-free, and the church began
to support itself.
A couple of years later, another facility was built to
provide room for the growing church. Two services were begun each Sunday
morning to accommodate the people. It became clear that God was performing a
miracle.
In 1975, by faith, a 13,500 sq. foot complex was designed
to meet the envisioned future needs of the
Within a year the church was dealt a staggering blow. The
economy took a turn for the worse. People moved away in droves. Almost every
week a family or two moved away to find employment. Within two years, more than
200 families left the church and the area.
During this discouraging time, we put a strong emphasis on
our small home-Bible-study groups to provide support, meet personal needs and
knit the church together. New people continued to come in, though not quite as
fast as they moved out.
In the late 1990’s, as the church body began to regain
some of it’s former size and health.
With three weekend celebrations, including Saturday evening, attendance
again averaged around 800-900.
With a growing need for a place where the church could
gather to eat and fellowship together, a remodel of the foyer and the addition
of the Family Room was begun in the year 2000 and completed in 2003. Again, this project was built by-faith, and
dedicated debt-free.
At the end of 2003 Pastor Mel announced his retirement
when he reached 70 years of age. A
search was begun for a successor. Having
been a part of the Village Missions family since the beginning, the elders
asked Village Missions to appoint the next senior pastor. After much prayer,
For many reasons, the church demographics began to shift,
with more young families and many more young children. While the overall attendance has remained
stable, the church is made up of more young families, and is being stretched in
healthy ways as we seek to minister to those the Lord is sending. Our faith is
being challenged more each day to trust our great God to supply all our needs
and to provide vision, people and finances to reach thousands on the Southern
Oregon Coast for Christ.
