Ministry Update
January has always been the slowest month of ministry for us, but it serves as a wonderful running start to February which has always brought on the beginning of the long process of gearing up for the Easter holidays and summer ministry events. Preparations are in full swing for Hale Baptist Church's Passion Worship Friday on March 29th, and their sunrise Easter service on the 31st. We've held our first meeting for Vacation Bible School which is scheduled to be held toward the middle of June, youth group has been moved to weekly rather than bi-weekly, and fundraisers for the Uganda Mission team are soon to be underway.
Aside from the ministry at our sending church, we have also been able to finalize paperwork and financial details regarding our upcoming ministry trip to the Olympic Games which will be held the end of July to beginning of August. We are blessed to have a group of people from one of our supporting churches traveling with us, and it will be a huge blessing to get to know them better while working alongside them throughout this ministry.
Life/Health UpdateÂ
In January, we started our second semester at Living Faith Bible Institute. Trenton is taking two classes, one of them being systematic and dispensational theology, and both of us are taking Foundations 3. Hanna plans to take an Evangelism class toward the beginning of May to help further prepare her for the Olympic Games in July, but otherwise, classes will start back up again toward the end of summer once this semester is complete.
The end of this month was mostly spent traveling down to Kentucky to pick up Trenton's grandmother, who has decided to move back to Michigan following her husband's death this past October. The trip was very exhausting, as we drove the entire fourteen hours in two days, but otherwise went very well. She now has her own place close to relatives and says she couldn't be happier.Â
Writing Update
We are happy to announce that the second round of edits on Hanna's upcoming Christian fiction novel "What I Call Home" are complete! She has worked many late nights these past few weeks to finalize the last of them, and will be working with her editor this week to finish up some formatting before finally setting a release date. The plan is to have the release date early to mid April, but we will make sure to let you know as soon as that date is set, hopefully within the week. Â
On The Field
 It was a bit of a sad month in the Land Down Under as over 250,000 people partook in Sydney's annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, which has grown over the years to become one of the cities most popular events. The week of festivities starts with community events, dance parties, and special theatre and music productions all tailored to the specific agenda which has become a huge deal across the continent over the past decade. And it goes to further prove the dire need for the Gospel of Christ in an increasingly secular society.
In better news, however, Alan and Tara Mayhak of Catherine Hill Bay have gained ground on joining a team from a local church that is looking to start a youth group for 6th and 7th graders on Friday nights in Gwandalan, New South Wales. They plan to be involved every week, helping with games, lessons, and discussion group times. Tara has also had the opportunity to share The Story of Hope Bible Study with a single mother they've been investing in. She received a text message this month that she'd like us to share in which she states the following:
"I really love learning the Bible with you. I have tried so many times to understand what it says, always giving up. Finally someone in life is helping me understand and I'm truly interested in what's in the Bible. It's very important to me that my daughter learns also, so that when I'm not around anymore she has belief in God. I've been alone in life but never have I lost my faith in God even when I wasn't learning much. I feel we are becoming closer to God now and it's such a good feeling."
So, even though the country is continuously going a more secular route, it is so good to read things like this that remind us just how important it is that we continue to reach out to these people. Because we may never change the world, but changing one heart at a time is a good first step!
Picture #1: We've had quite a few new kids join the youth group these past few months. Trenton has started a series on the book of John which he's shown teaching here.
Picture #2: Hale Baptist Church Valentine's Banquet 2024 (Pairs themed, which seems fitting!)
Picture #3: On our way to Kentucky this past week we drove through Indiana. It was nice and sunny, but still very cold!
Registration for the Paris Olympic Ministry is still open to anyone wanting to join! For more information, check out their website at https://seeolympics.com/. You can also check out this video they shared on their Facebook page this month! https://www.facebook.com/1525334028/videos/2155664534778223/
