August newsletter

Dear Friends,
As another summer draws to a close we reflect back on an exciting and eventful few months. Saiyeh finished 1st grade and her Spanish is coming along well. Melanie had a graduation ceremony as she concluded pre-kindergarten and is excited to start at Saiyeh’s school in September. Emma is trying to understand why she can’t be in charge of the house. It seems all our girls have gone through this at the same age.

We held a couple of larger events just before the summer the first being an outreach to the police officers in the districts around us. Over 50 officers including captains, inspectors and the police commissioner came out for a banquet in their honor. A good friend, Bill Paige, who was a New York police officer, came and shared the Gospel with them. The officers endure so much in our community, and though I am not a fan of their tactics, I feel for them. They rarely see anything positive and are almost never thanked. This night they arrived stony faced and cold. The change when they left was small, but noticeable. Many brought their families and proudly showed off their certificates and medals of appreciation. Pastor Lou conducts a regular Bible study for officers and also does a small devotional each week at roll call. We have a few officers and their families coming to church now also.

Next was a small training conference we put on, “Responding to Islam”. With the help of some other churches and supporters we brought in experts in the field of Muslim outreach to teach on ways to reach the Muslim community. All reported an informative and encouraging time. For me the highlight was when I heard that one of our team shared the Gospel with a Muslim friend later that evening, and the young man accepted Christ. It has been a difficult time for him since then, and we would appreciate your prayers for him (we refrain from printing names in these circumstances).

We were blessed with three outside groups coming to help. Central Wesleyan in Holland Michigan sent their youth to run a day camp which went well. Josh and Kate Cowen led the team and were so encouraging. Next we had a group from the Chinese Church in Maryland. They helped with our VBS program. These students always amaze me, giving up a part of their holidays to come and serve God in our community, loving the people we love. Finally, we had a group of men from Watermark church in Grand Haven Michigan. These men worked hard on the church building, installing new floors, and then ran a football camp in the evenings. Their fellowship alone was so valuable, not to mention the ministry they did. All in all we worked with over 100 children and youth, many accepting Christ and coming to church. One of the exciting things is seeing some of these kids come out to church and begin relationships with member of our team.

Perhaps the highlight for us over these months has come from Bobbi Jo Torres. I briefly mentioned Bobbi Jo when writing to you about the ramp we built. Bobbi Jo has been in a wheelchair for the past 11 years. She used to come to church at Bethel before falling away from the Lord. Pursued by Pastor Lou, she started coming to church at Wyoming late last year and has been a faithful servant. Bobbi Jo’s condition was permanent and untreatable. As such she had worked hard developing her skills in the chair, lifting weights and playing competitive basketball. Though many of us have prayed for Bobbi Jo in many ways, none of us can ever recall praying for healing. A few months ago Bobbi shared she had regained feeling in her legs. One morning as she was getting out of bed her feet brushed the floor and she thought how cold it felt. Then she began to wonder how she could tell the floor was cold. The doctors were equally baffled. They had never recommended any therapy and they told her that if she were to stand her bones would just break. Then came a Sunday and Bobbi Jo was asked to come up front to share her testimony. Instead of rolling up in her chair, everyone was stunned to watch her get up and walk unaided to the front. The place erupted into cheering. God has shown us many miraculous things and I ponder why I have so little faith in Him in some areas. It is a good thing that His will doesn’t depend upon me and my faith. Bobbi Jo’s healing has come at a time when we needed to bring the congregation together. Having so many new people and being so ethnically diverse, there are many reasons for us to be divided.
The groups, outreaches, events, fellowships and miracles are drawing us together.

The time has not been without its challenges. Conflict within the church often goes unresolved and people seem to not understand how to love one another through differences. There is much teaching to be done in areas like stopping gossip and especially in understanding our identity is not in what we do but in who we are. I do get frustrated at how people treat each other and avoid speaking truth into each others lives. But then I see a Bobbi Jo, an Eppy, a Maher, a Walt, a George (we have half a dozen of these, so I see them often), a Tommy or any one of many that I have been privileged to watch grow. It is an exciting place to be, where you can see God at work.

Financially we have seen answered prayers for the church and funds coming in for projects and events. Personally our support has been lower than we would like the last 3 months. We are about $1000 behind each month. Though being short on financial support gets to me at times, who can complain when we are blessed in so many ways. If you have a chance to come visit we would love to have you.