New Faces And Friends

 

Our First Time Canvasing The Town

We spent the first few days this week canvasing the town with door hangers inviting people to our Friday Family Night.  In the two days that we canvased the town we were able to talk to several people and received a positive response. I even talked to one man who had helped with part of the construction on our church building. Another Man, Steve, stood and talked to me for almost thirty minutes and I was able to share the Gospel with him. We just wanted a chance to meet some of the people in our community in an informal way and we were able to do so around some snacks and board games. We had only had one visitor come to our activity but we had four new people in church on Sunday. Please pray that the Lord would continue to open up doors of opportunity in our community.

Our Sunday service was down a bit this week. We had 12 adults and 4 children and it was very encouraging to see four new faces. As I’m writing this update John Castle, the visitor at our Friday Family Night, is tuning our church piano as a favor for the church. The Lord has truly blessed our efforts and we trust that as we seek to do His will the work here will move forward.

A Little Camping Before Saying Good By

This Week’s Adventure VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Because Becca’s cousin Christina was planning on leaving Friday night we decided that we had better spend a night camping at the Guernsey State Park before she left. So, on Thursday we did some hiking at the park and then spent the night there. It was a bit chilly that night but we slept just fine. There is so much natural beauty that is simply breath taking right in our back yard.

Please Pray

Here are some specific prayer requests that we have…

• Please pray that we would be able to be a strong witness for Christ
• Please pray for the spiritual growth of our people
• Please pray for those who we have recently met
  • Steve – Salvation
  • Jamie – Salvation
  • Heidi – Salvation
  • John Castle – Spiritual Growth
  • Helene – Spiritual Growth
• Please pray for wisdom concerning our Mortgage

A Pleasant Surprise

 

Home Sweet Home With A Pleasant Surprise

Visit From The Tuckers VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

It finally is getting to feel like this is our new home. There are still things that are in boxes that we can’t find but the progress we have made has been wonderful. Becca’s cousin Cristina has been a huge blessing and encouragement as we settle into our new home. This Week we were pleasantly surprised to have Ron and Betty Tucker visit us for the weekend. It was so exciting to see those who have invested their lives in me come and rejoice of the ministry that God has given us here. We took them to the state park and showed them some of the historical sites around the area. Elizabeth, Andrew, Annie, and Joshua all enjoyed having a substitute Grandpa and Grandma around.

Moving Forward And Reaching Out

Church services went well and the Lord increased our numbers again. This Sunday we had 9 children and 18 adults for a total of 27. Please pray for opportunities for us to reach into our community. We will be canvasing our little town this week inviting Families to come to the church this Friday evening for a time of games and fellowship. We are praying that God opens up some doors and gives us an opportunity to get to know some people in our community.

Answered Prayer

I have been praying about our financial situation and the mortgage on our building. We have a balloon payment of $10,000 due May 4th on our building and by the end of next year we need to pay the remaining balance off. I was asking the Lord to work on the heart of the man selling the building to us and give us favor in his sight. This week I also was able to meet Clifford Thompson, the man selling the building, and he offered to drop around $6,000 off of what we owe and lower the interest rate for the last year. We still will owe a quite a lot by May 4th 2013, but it is a step in the right direction and it would give us some time to look into refinancing our building. Please pray for wisdom and direction as we move forward.

Pictures From This Last Week Of Moving In

Moving In and Looking around VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

A Week Of Blessings

A Host Of Blessings

Since last Sunday a lot has happened and we can only praise the Lord. Many things have happened that we can give praise for but I will only mention two here. First, I needed to move the plug for the electric dryer and found that there was enough existing wire in the wall to put the outlet exactly where we needed it about 5-7 feet away. Second, we were able to attend a home missions conference at First Baptist Church of Englewood, CO this week. It was a wonderful conference with good preaching as well as we were sent home with around $2,000 for the needs of our church.

A New Family

On Friday we were invited to a Lee and Cindy’s home to roast some marshmallows with the kids. They live about thirty minutes from the church and are just moving back from the Denver area. They heard about our church through some of the pastors in the area and are excited about joining. Cindy attended Maranatha and play’s piano. She jumped right in and it was a blessing to have her play for us on Today.

Please also pray for Bob and Anastasia. They are a young family that we have had contact with. They are interested in coming to church so please pray that God will draw them to Himself and that He would give us the ability to reach out to them.

A Good Service

I was a little worried about time change Sunday so I planned on calling around to remind people. I discovered that there are no records of phone numbers or address here a the church. Services went like normal and no one was thrown for a loop by the time change. Our attendance today was 26 and with 17 adults and 9 children the auditorium was getting a little crowed. From our perspective that is a good problem to have.

A Test Of Faith

This week I was able to sit down and read through the mortgage that the church is currently paying on. Needless to say, we need the Lord’s leadership of what to do. I am praying that God uses our financial test of faith to grow our church spiritually.

A Word Of Thanks

We have received several letters and emails that have been a great encouragement. Thank you so much to those who are upholding us in their thoughts and prayers.

Western Update (Moving In)

Settling In

Friday we arrived at Oregon Trail Baptist Church around noon. We unloaded our belongings and set to work setting things in order. It was a bit chilly and with a strong wind it felt very cold. Everything got moved in and we were surprised how much progress we were able to make. Christina, Rebecca's cousin, was a big help. Even Christina's daughter Annie helped out with the unpacking and keeping the kids happy. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the washing machine that was left in the shed worked and we were able to was some laundry. 

First Sunday

Today the church members were excited about having us here. Twenty people attended the church service and I felt liberty preaching from Pilate's question in Matthew 27:22, " What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?" After church we went to Pioneer Baptist Church for their 2:00 afternoon service and then to Douglas Baptist Church for the evening service. Many people were excited to see us and gave us groceries and supplies to help us get started. I have been so thrilled as I meet pastors in the area how many people are aware of the needs of our church and praying for it.

1 Thessalonians 5:25 -  Brethren, pray for us.

I echo the words of Paul when he told the Thessalonians to pray for his group. We need the Lord's power, wisdom, and enabling as we begin our ministry here. Please remember to pray for us.

And don't forget to visit our church website at www.otbchurch.com.