ARKANSAS—Thirteen Philadelphia Church of God members of the Northwest Arkansas congregation, joined by Local Church Elder Darren Verbout, took a nature walk at Osage Park in Bentonville on December 3. In the brisk cold of the morning, some filled up on hot cider while they waited for the others to arrive.

Many of those attending hadn’t visited the park before and were pleasantly surprised by the beauty and stunning nature of the park, with its large wetland habitat featuring beaver lodges and lake views, as well as small planes flying overhead from the nearby local airport. It is among 14 other very well developed parks in the city of Bentonville, a rapidly growing area due to the contributions of the Walton family (of Walmart fame). It is ranked number eight among the top 10 best places for families to live in the United States according to Livability.com. It was recently unofficially named as the mountain bike capital of the world, with nearly 400 miles of interconnected biking trails in the local Northwest Arkansas area.