Sunday, November 29, 2015

A Normal Kind of Weird

Today I heard my husband preach for the first time since we moved. He is serving as a short-term interim preaching pastor at a relatively nearby church, and today he preached his first sermon there. I sat on the front row with one girl on each side. DeLaynie and Ella behaved well, but of course Ella needed to go to the bathroom half-way through the service. It felt very normal.

It also felt pretty weird. It was our first time in the church, and we didn't know anyone yet. The church members were extremely welcoming and kind, but it was our first time to speak with any of them.

Tonight we were finally able to join with a small group with the local church here. The associate pastor who leads the group is masterful with creating a comfortable, familial atmosphere. We have started getting to know him, but he was the only person in the room we knew- again, it was a normal kind of weird. Biblical discussion (normal) with people we don't really know (weird).

That's not a complaint. We're grateful for the level of normality that we were able to experience, and I'm grateful that we're getting to experience church through the eyes of a new church-attender. We've never walked into a church as strangers. We're usually introduced as "the pastor and his family," which lends a strange sort of instant familiarity. It's a good thing to get to know the experience that a nervous, new family would have as we really are a nervous, new family. It's a good experience to take with us into planting a church that will likely serve nervous, new families.

We have gotten more done on the paperwork and bookkeeping for the new church this week. Our sponsor church, Amherst Baptist Church near Buffalo, officially took over the financials for the church plant. They sent a few people down to winterize the building to save money on the church building this winter. They will be handling income and expenses for the church plant. We are extremely grateful for their partnership.

But as for the first Bible study for the church plant, we still have a way to go. We need your prayers that we would meet the right people at the right time that would be open to being a part of our first Bible study here. If it is God's will, we still want to start the Bible study by the end of the year or sometime in January of 2016 at the latest. We are also praying that God may lead a family or two that we already know from outside of Jamestown to move here and help us with this Kingdom work. Pray that God would direct the hearts of those that He wants here. We are starting to get a tiny glimpse of the massive spiritual need here and the joyous challenge of starting this church.

I'll send out our first prayer partner newsletter this week. Make sure that you sign up using the form in the right side bar. Again, Edwin and I can't thank you enough for your prayer support!

2 comments:

  1. Hannah, thanks for letting us be an active part of your lives as you serve God in establishing His body. I am praying as He begins this new work that He will uphold you with His mighty hand and fill your hearts with the joy of His promise. As you wait for Li, may God establish your new home and provide workers for the harvest there and friends to help carry the load.

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  2. Hannah, view it as a blessed opportunity to start fresh.....it's a good experience for your family to enter a church as strangers. You're right.....it allows you to feel "the other side." It's always an experience to walk in someone else's shoes. My prayers continue for your family & ministry. God Bless You

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