It's Been A While
Hey Everyone!
It's been an extremely long time since I have written, so I thought I should give everyone an update.
WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON AT MY CHURCH:
A church plant can be an adventure--to say the least. At times you are exploring and discovering new things, new methods and ways of doing things. At other times you feel bogged down and weary. But the past two Sundays have been uplifting and encouraging. We broke all attendance records these past Sundays. On mother's day we had 59 people in the service and 26 in childcare which is infant to 5th grade (there were a LOT of kids). That totaled to 85 people. This past Sunday, we had four new families and those in the service totaled to 74 people. That is 15 more than our previous record, in one week! It was amazing to see what God has been doing in our church.
Even though at times the adventure can slow you down, it is definitely worth the way to hang in there. We have some AMAZING people attending our church. All who bring their unique talents and ideas. We are so blessed that God has provided the types of people he has for our church. I am extremely excited and love these people that have been committed to our church.
WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON IN MY LIFE:
It has been a hard move for me, but I slowly been adjusting realizing that the Lord has moved my family and I down for a reason. This was a major change for me, taking into account I have never moved more than a couple miles since I was born. But the Lord has really shown me that no matter where I am He can still use me for his purposes. At many times I have doubted this truth, but someone I deeply respected pointed out to me His love and understanding as the Everlasting God and Creator of the earth. This friend of mind told me to read this passage in Isaiah 40:27-31 no more than a couple of weeks ago. As soon as I read it I felt ashamed for feeling that God would ever leave me or not pay attention to my troubles. It says, "O Israel, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? How can you say God refuses to hear your case?...Even youths will become exhausted and young me will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not grow faint."
School has been difficult this year for me, making new friends and getting used to a new culture in general. But it is also neat, because I live in a culture with many cultures. I live in what is called the Research Triangle Park (RTP), which is full of people from literally every nation (or just about). When we go out to shop or whatever, we hear people with British and Australian accents and other speaking what sounds like German or Russian. Still other speaking Spanish and French, Italian and Portuguese. Not that I understand all these languages or any of them for that matter. But, being a cashier at Target I have the opportunity to ask people where they are from. Wouldn't that be awesome, that with our church we could see many people from "every tongue, tribe and nation" worshiping the Lord at Northwest Community Chucrh?
EXCITING NEWS:
I am going back home to IL for a week this summer and I can't wait to see everyone again!
It's been an extremely long time since I have written, so I thought I should give everyone an update.
WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON AT MY CHURCH:
A church plant can be an adventure--to say the least. At times you are exploring and discovering new things, new methods and ways of doing things. At other times you feel bogged down and weary. But the past two Sundays have been uplifting and encouraging. We broke all attendance records these past Sundays. On mother's day we had 59 people in the service and 26 in childcare which is infant to 5th grade (there were a LOT of kids). That totaled to 85 people. This past Sunday, we had four new families and those in the service totaled to 74 people. That is 15 more than our previous record, in one week! It was amazing to see what God has been doing in our church.
Even though at times the adventure can slow you down, it is definitely worth the way to hang in there. We have some AMAZING people attending our church. All who bring their unique talents and ideas. We are so blessed that God has provided the types of people he has for our church. I am extremely excited and love these people that have been committed to our church.
WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON IN MY LIFE:
It has been a hard move for me, but I slowly been adjusting realizing that the Lord has moved my family and I down for a reason. This was a major change for me, taking into account I have never moved more than a couple miles since I was born. But the Lord has really shown me that no matter where I am He can still use me for his purposes. At many times I have doubted this truth, but someone I deeply respected pointed out to me His love and understanding as the Everlasting God and Creator of the earth. This friend of mind told me to read this passage in Isaiah 40:27-31 no more than a couple of weeks ago. As soon as I read it I felt ashamed for feeling that God would ever leave me or not pay attention to my troubles. It says, "O Israel, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? How can you say God refuses to hear your case?...Even youths will become exhausted and young me will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not grow faint."
School has been difficult this year for me, making new friends and getting used to a new culture in general. But it is also neat, because I live in a culture with many cultures. I live in what is called the Research Triangle Park (RTP), which is full of people from literally every nation (or just about). When we go out to shop or whatever, we hear people with British and Australian accents and other speaking what sounds like German or Russian. Still other speaking Spanish and French, Italian and Portuguese. Not that I understand all these languages or any of them for that matter. But, being a cashier at Target I have the opportunity to ask people where they are from. Wouldn't that be awesome, that with our church we could see many people from "every tongue, tribe and nation" worshiping the Lord at Northwest Community Chucrh?
EXCITING NEWS:
I am going back home to IL for a week this summer and I can't wait to see everyone again!
posted by Ryan Vet at
2:59 PM
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