February 2013

Decisions Ahead...

            I love church planting. I love hearing about a church opening their doors for the first time. The anticipation of a first service and the excitement as people begin to come back week after week. I remember when our church had its first baptism and the excitement that we all felt. Just recently, we had our first communion service. After teaching on the Lord’s Supper for two weeks, we saw our church celebrate the union we have with Christ and with each other as believers! These are all exciting milestones and precious memories for any new work.

            However, before all of that, there was the time when we were able to rent our first meeting place. It was amazing to have our own place to teach and preach the Gospel, hold activities, and see people enter every week. We rented that small house two years ago next month. In just a few weeks, the rent will expire on this little house. Craig and I have been praying that God would continue to give us wisdom as to our current location. On many Sundays, the children’s ministry is packed out leaving little room. We have opened up the double doors on the back of the main room and added a tent for our gathering time on Sunday mornings.

            Recently, we spent time looking at other locations in the area that might provide more room for whatever future growth God chooses to bring. Many houses were slightly bigger, but not exactly what we need. However, we have found one house that we believe would be perfect for our next step of growth. It is a large piece of property around four times bigger than our current location.  We began talking with the owner and are praying for God to open and close doors as He sees fit. Please pray that we will have wisdom in the next few weeks as we watch God continue His work in Ethiopia!

 Tickets!

            This year our family will be traveling to the United States for a furlough. As always, tickets for an entire family can be expensive. We have managed to save most of the funds for this purchase since our last furlough. However, we are still trying to raise $1,000 toward these flights. We appreciate your consideration in giving toward this amount.

            We are looking forward to sharing with many churches and individuals the work that God is accomplishing in Ethiopia. This will also be an opportunity for us to present the field of Ethiopia to several new churches. We ask you to pray that others might consider helping to spread the Gospel here in Ethiopia.