NEW MINISTRIES

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Jeff and I are OVERWHELMED BY THE NEEDS of our town (and church). Our church doesn’t have a youth group, but we have tons of youth that come Sunday morning. The elders meet weekly, but the elder’s wives don’t have a sense of purpose (yet). Teenaged pregnancy in our town, unfortunately, is more the norm than not; sexual purity needs to be addressed. Teenaged girls enjoy coming to our house and we really need to provide something more structured.

We desire so much to fix it all…..but we realize that we can’t.

Last term and this past year, we focused on forming bible studies, writing materials for those studies, training elders and deacons, forming relationships, learning the language (those last 2 things being VERY important), homeschooling and keeping up with our growing family. Jeff and I both feel it is the time to address some of these other needs and help the believers begin new ministries. Here’s a sneak preview as to what is coming….

I have been talking with the ladies of our church about beginning a WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY. We have never met together like this and I was delighted that they were eager to start. Today we had a meeting to flesh out the details. The church ladies will meet once a month and once a month we’ll invite our neighbors. What a great opportunity for the ladies to mentor, prepare and teach. How wonderful, too, that we have a new incentive to reach out to our neighbors. Please pray as we begin our studies in September.

I have been talking with a couple of the ladies about starting a once a month KIDS’ CLUB. Often we find that adults are stuck in their traditions, but kids’ hearts are very open for the gospel. We are hoping that this gives more children an opportunity to hear the Good News. We’re looking to have our first meeting September 10th.

Jeff and I have decided to open our house for YOUTH MEETINGS. We’re not sure how often, what form they will take or what the balance of bible study and games will be, but we’re excited to explore some ideas. Last week we had a fun time playing games with about 15 youth.

Jeff continues to teach David (one of our deacons) the piano. He’s also helping to teach guitar to another church member. We’re hoping to have a CHURCH BAND and work Jeff out of a (musical) job.

I continue to have a heart for teen girls and enjoy having them over to the house for GIRL TIME. I would like to incorporate purity talks with them and I have a few ideas as to how I want to do that. One idea is to have monthly slumber parties where I’d invite just 6 girls at a time. We’d make dinner, play games, watch a movie, do a craft and in between we’d have purity talks. Maybe in the morning Jeff would share with the young ladies from a father’s heart. I am thinking of beginning in October.