These are very busy and exciting times for us. While we spent much of this month trying to get settled into our new home, the Lord has continued to open doors that we never imagined we'd be walking through.
Ministry
Since moving into our home the beginning to middle of July, we have seen a huge change in the amount of ministry opportunities open to us. While we continue to work hard at contacting churches to potentially raise our support levels, we are also very active in our home church and are seeing a lot of exciting growth, not just in ourselves but also in other people. Following discipleship graduation on the 20th of this month, we along with six other members of our congregation, have officially started on our academic journey through Living Faith Bible Institute. Trenton is working toward a pastoral degree and Hanna is yet to be determined, but our first two classes include basic orientation and Foundations 2, which is the second part or continuation of our original discipleship. Many of these same people are currently involved in new ministries including the outreach committee which held their very first meeting this past week and that of missions, both of which Hanna has become actively involved in. The church is also currently en route to planning its very first international missions trip to Uganda to help Cassie and Denny Nuwagaba's ministry with Tendo Bible Camp, and it is tentatively scheduled for January of 2025.
Life and Health
Hanna has dealt with a lot of health-related issues this past month. She is still attending physical therapy for neck issues related to our recent car accident, and has not seen much progress. They plan to try another month, but if no progress is seen by the end of September, they plan to possibly send her to a neurologist for further testing. In the meantime, she is actively preparing for the start of her first phase of elimination diet starting on September 11th. She will be off of all allergens for eight weeks, go in for a medical procedure in November, and then be placed back on one thing every eight weeks thereafter. Despite having a pretty bad flare-up this month, she is remaining hopeful. Trenton's health remains relatively stable aside from a change in medication that kept him out of work for a few days due to side effects.
Writing Update
The first edited draft of Hanna's upcoming Christian fiction novel "What I Call Home" is officially complete. They have started working on the second round of edits where they will hopefully add in a few more scenes and finish up some loose ends. She is hoping to have a release date set by the end of the year.
On The Field
The ministry in Australia continues to flourish. Alan and Tara Mayhak of Belmont, New South Wales continue to minister to unsaved people through connections made in the car and motorcycle clubs they regularly attend. They are also seeing great growth in the religious surveys they conduct throughout Catherine Hill Bay and surrounding regions. To date, they have visited around 250 homes with about 130 people participating in the seven question survey. And though many are apathetic, they are finally seeing some fruitful responses come of their endeavors. Back in Sydney, Russ Matthews along with City Bible Forum are looking forward to launching the Dive Deeper campaign which encourages people to participate in a three-week challenge where they have spiritual conversations with three friends, digging deeper together in their conversations about God. The program runs from September 1st through 22nd, and you can find out more at divedeeper.org.au.
Prayers:
We have a lot of exciting dates coming our way these next few months! Pray specifically for travel this month as we will be traveling with one of our supporting churches down to Kentucky to visit the creation museum and ark encounter.
Pray for Hanna as she begins the elimination diet on the 11th of September. It will be a very difficult eight weeks for her, so pray for strength and healing.
Pray for everything going on at our church. It is truly an exciting time of growth and we are excited to see the doors that God continues to open.
Pray for Bible Institute. We are now on our second week, and have a long road ahead of us.
Pray for Trenton as he seeks direction for his current job. Since moving, he has transferred to a new store, so pray for his transition there.
Pray for Australia. While there are a lot of ministries taking place, the country continues to grow colder to the Gospel. Pray for hearts to change for the better. Pray for healing.
Pray for our monthly support. We are currently at 20% and hope to be to 50% by the middle of next year. We will need about $2000 monthly increase in order to see that happen.
Praises:
Praise God for our home. It has been so nice to have a place to come home to after a long day and it has been incredibly beneficial to our ministry. Praise God for the two couples we were able to have over for a good meal these past two Sunday afternoons.
Praise God for the opportunities we have for ministry. It goes without saying that they are vital to preparing us for the ministry in Australia.
Praise God for good friends! We were able to spend some much needed time off with our best friends this month, and we had a great time.
Upcoming Events:
September 18-21, 2023- Ark Encounter and Creation Museum Retreat
September 22, 2023- Fall Festival at Hale Baptist Church
October 1-4, 2023- Certainty Conference
October 7, 2023- Impact Music Festival
October 8, 2023- E-free Church of Gaylord, Michigan
November 5, 2023- Union Baptist Church of Ohio
Our very first day of Living Faith Bible Institute. We have some pretty cool classmates!
Our church praise and worship team, including both of us, will be singing and/or playing at this years' Impact Music Festival on October 8th.
We were given certificates at our discipleship graduation on the 20th of this month.
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