After sitting vacant for 14 years, the church building was in bad shape, with broken windows and doors rotting from their hinges. In addition, it has received donations of an another acre of land, three mobile homes, pews and other interior furnishings, plus a piano and an organ. Cedar Grove Church, Warsaw, has continued as the mission's sponsoring church. Vann and his wife, Donna, live in Lincoln but spend weekends in one of the mobile homes next to Locust Mission, so he can visit people who live nearby. The other two trailers are available for Sunday School.
Church attendance varies.
Member Floyd Karr said the church has been a blessing, and it is needed. When everybody's here, it's really a joy. Vann admitted to some frustration about people's failure to commit, but he pointed out that many nearby residents are struggling to survive. This really opened my eyes. Not too far from Locust Mission, Lake View Mission at Ivy Bend represents another success story for Lamine Association in the Lake of the Ozarks area.