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 PRAY
4
US!
November
Update
We're a month old. Well, not really, but as a
church launch, we are a month old. All those
months of praying, seeking God's direction, planning and
hoping have culminated, in my opinion, into a beautiful
thing. It is exciting to see people come to our
church, be fed, ministered to, and blessed. There
is this air of expectation on Sunday mornings. One
woman spoke to me before church last week. She
said "I have been looking and praying for a church
for a long time now, that teaches the Bible and not just
parts of it that make them feel good. I have gone
to many churches over the past few years and for the
first time I feel like I have found a place that is
Biblically solid and teaches the Word. If it
weren't for Bridge of Hope, I don't know where I'd be
right now. " She went on to explain that her
family isn't saved and they make fun of her and
discourage her from going to church. She
desperately wanted to find a place that would minister
to her and give her some encouragement in her
faith. I hope and pray we can be that for her and
many others to come.
Two weeks ago we had the privilege to baptize a new
Christian into the family. "Mick" was
baptized by immersion in the pool at a nearby
hotel. He had been heavily involved in drugs and
was in prison just 2 months ago. Shortly before he got
out someone shared the Gospel with him and he accepted
Jesus as his Lord and Savior. When he got out he
reconnected with Clete and Teresa, who brought him to
us! It is exciting to see this man so on fire
for God. We covet your prayers for him as he grows
in his new found faith in God.
There are other exciting things going on at the
Bridge...a 1989 Ford E-350 Club Wagon van was donated to us from another
church here in town. It needed work to get it running and one
of the great things about being in the body of Christ is
that there are members who have the God-given skills for
all sorts of things. Clete has been
working on the van to get it up and running. I
believe it is mainly going to be used to transport youth
to and from events and probably for our community
outreach events to come. It will also be used
to tow the trailer to the theater and back each week.
Speaking of youth, they had their official launch just
yesterday.  November 1st. They had a great time
playing games, smashing pumpkins (the ones they had
carved the week before) and then getting fed physically
and in the Word. Some of them came in costume.....
Mainly I think it was the adult sponsors
that dressed up. Please pray for these
teens. I won't go into detail here but just know
that they face hardships, struggles and temptations in
their lives that are hard core. We need to have
prayer warriors who will bring these youth before the
throne every day, to place a hedge of protection around
them. We need to pray for our youth!
Let's see, what other prayer concerns do we have?
We still need workers to fill in where their strengths
lie. We need people passionate about children to
help in the children's ministries. The organizer
of the children's ministries has a vision for a separate
program for the older, elementary school aged
kids. Right now there is no one to fill that
need. We have the equipment and the materials
.....now we need the people with the vision and
passion. We also need nursery helpers.
 Please continue
to pray that we will reach people that need to know the
Lord and have His saving grace poured out in their
lives. Pray that those who have begun to come
regularly will find BOH to be a place that they can find
relevance, hope, truth and a deeper understanding of God
in their lives...that we will truly be a bridge for them
to meet God and find salvation through Christ.
Pray that the launch team will not tire of the
tremendous amount of work and effort that goes into each
worship experience. It takes teamwork to get us up
and running smoothly each week. I know that even
though our service starts at 10:00am, many of the team
are at the theater at 6:30am to do the unloading and
setup and then have to do all of the breakdown and
putting away of all of the equipment for the children's
ministry, the nursery, the foyer ministry, the music
ministry and the worship experience.
There is no
question that it is worth the effort, though, and the
following is a quote that points that out so clearly:
"I really love what is happening at Bridge of Hope
and look forward to worshiping with you folks long into
the future... You guys have lit a fire
under me and it's been a while since I have been this
excited about the Lord. Thank You Thank You." (a
guest)
Thanks
for praying!!! You are vital to Bridge of
Hope. We covet and lean on your diligent prayers
on our behalf. Thanks again.
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