Ministry Update #4

Happy November everyone! We have been so grateful for the support we’ve received both financially and in prayer. September and October have been a whirlwind of ministry events as we continue to settle into our new roles.

One of the new roles we’ve been settling into is “soon to be parents.” We announced last time that we are expecting our first child in early March, 2022. We are so excited at the thought of being parents. We both know that it’ll be a steep learning curve, but we are excited to take on the roles of mom and dad.

Chrissy is continuing to do great with the pregnancy. We’ve been super thankful that she has experienced no morning sickness at all. She is also starting to develop a baby-bump, which means this new reality is starting to sink in a little more each day. Please pray that our baby will continue to grow healthily and that all of our upcoming appointments would go smoothly.

We have been at Community Covenant Church for 4 months now, and we have each had the opportunity to preach a couple different times. It has been such an incredible blessing to be able to preach at this church, and we have been encouraged by our Lead Pastor, Mike, to continue preaching on a semi-regular basis.

Something else that we are super encouraged by is our various ministries are starting to gain some traction. Chrissy has begun to host a Kid’s Gathering (PreK-6th Grade) every 2nd and 4th Sunday, which has been a lot of fun! Additionally, the Youth (Grades 7-12) & Wildfire (Grades 5-6) Groups are starting to see some consistency. One of the difficult things we have encountered has been relationally starting from scratch. But, we have been able to spend some good quality time with our students, which has led to some pretty good relational connections.

When we first started, one of Jeff’s goals for the youth group was to have at least one youth night with a total 15 students by the end of the school year. After lots of persistence and prayer, we reached that goal in mid-October! It’s been such an incredible sight to see all the students running around having a good time. We are slowly but surely gaining some momentum.

As we look to November we are so excited to be taking students on Fall Retreat! We will be joining a group of other Covenant churches at Mission Springs in the Santa Cruz Mountains. We are so grateful for the PSWC (our denomination’s regional conference) who has worked super hard to plan these retreats for groups like ours to enjoy. Please pray (especially for Jeff) as these retreats will take place on back-to-back weekends (Jr. High: Nov. 5-7, High School: Nov. 12-14). It is going to be an exhausting couple of weeks, but we are excited to get the opportunity to continue building on the momentum we’ve seen in our groups.

While we have several more Prayer Requests below, we ask that you especially keep those weekends in your prayers (Jr. High: Nov. 5-7, High School: Nov. 12-14). Retreats are exhausting, but they are also golden opportunities to bond closely with the students. Pray for rest, good relational time, and that our students would experience and hear from God in new ways.

That’s about it for this ministry update! As always, we appreciate your prayers, encouragement, and support.

Prayers/Needs

• Pray that Chrissy’s pregnancy will continue to go smoothly.

• Pray for significant moments of connection with students, especially on the upcoming retreats.

• Pray for our spiritual well-being. We are the types to throw ourselves into our work, but we also need to remain connected to the True Vine. Please pray as we continue to sort out our schedules and seek to carve out the intentional time and space we need to be with Jesus.

• We are so grateful for all of the encouragement and support we’ve received over the past few months. That being said, we are still about $750 under our monthly fundraising goals. Please pray that we would continue to trust in God’s abundance and provision, especially as our family begins to grow. Pray that we reach new supporters who will step up and help us reach our goal.

Youth Group fun! (Oct)

Young Adults Retreat (Sept)

It's finally Fall! (Oct)