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Thursday, December 8, 2016

Fall 2016

Baptisms 
One of the most exciting things to celebrate is new life in Christ! In October, we celebrated two baptisms.
Alma came to the Lord recently and has been bringing her 3 daughters, niece and nephew to church with her. Her baptism was only hours before she gave birth to her fourth daughter. We are now praying for her husband to join the family.
Luis also came to the Lord recently. Everyone that knows him says they didn’t think he would ever come to church…but he did and then he came out to our Family Camp. It was there where we really noticed big changes in his life. During his baptism, Luis humbly asked forgiveness of his wife, children, brother and mother, all whom he had deeply wounded in his years of rebellious and destructive behavior. Being willing to be broken like this ministered to the whole church and has brought his unbelieving mother closer to him and more willing to come out to Bible study and church on Sunday. Recently at our mid-week Bible study that he and his wife now host he said with a huge grin, "I look forward to Tuesdays and Sundays because we get to study the Bible and learn more about God. Before I never looked forward to anything. All the days were the same blah of meaninglessness.”

Youth Event
Our youth group has been solid. Thank you for your continued prayers for our leaders Hugo & Yuri. The youth memorize verses every week and have been doing a good job inviting their friends. They took a trip to play laser tag and ride on go carts this last month. Their winter youth camp is coming up soon (in February). 

Worship Team – More New Experiences
Our worship team was invited to lead worship for a special meeting led by the president of World Impact and then again for the pastor’s breakfast and staff training. These new experiences are helping these young worship leaders grow in what it means to lead worship and invite God’s presence in different settings. 

Thanksgiving
We had a great outreach on the Sunday before Thanksgiving – where we acted out the Thanksgiving story and shared the gospel creatively through an interactive ‘living history’. We had at least 4 new families come out and many hands raised for wanting to make Jesus Lord and Savior.
It is always a treat to be able to bless people with a great meal and fellowship. Many of our new families were introduced and given spots of honor at tables where they were able to make new friendships with families that are already part of our church. This outreach was also a special place for many foster kids to come and meet up and have a meal with their birth parents. 
The following few days we were busy handing out 36 thanksgiving boxes packed with groceries. The smiles on the faces of the families are always priceless.
Then…more celebrating…our whole church gathered again on Wednesday to have a family meal and share testimonies and thanks. There were a two families that we haven’t seen for a long time (years) that returned to be with us for this special occasion. 

We’ve moved!
Thank you so much for all the prayers and patience with us as we have been boxing things up, repairing the new house and moving in. It feels like it has taken 3 years, but it hasn’t even been 3 months. We would love to have you over for a visit…maybe in 2017 when we’re fully settled…just let us know if you are in the area and can stop by! 
Testimonies: As you probably read, we did a lot of work and most of the labor was donated. We had most of the glass, screen, painting, minor construction/repair work donated by people in our church or other friends/supporters. Several of these workers gave up to two weeks of their time just to bless us! The cost of materials was still enormous, but thanks to one supporting church (Cornerstone) we had most all of those costs met. There are still some outstanding costs and projects that were left partially done, but we are so blessed and happy to be in the new place. 
[Note: If you are interested in giving specifically towards helping us finish up this project you can still do so online at this link: https://my.worldimpact.org/default.aspx?page=3826&funds=7477 or by writing your check to World Impact and writing “Wolyn Home Repair” on the memo. Thanks!] 

Ministering Together
Our friends Nik & Kristy Harrang, who are pastoring up in Seattle came and ministered to our church in late November. It was refreshing having friends come and visit and minister with us for the day. Nik was one of the first people to help me grow in God and instrumental in my coming to know the Lord. He pushed me out and showed me the ropes of evangelism, led the Bible study I was a part of and then handed it off to me causing even more growth. There is something super special seeing how God is using our lives now some 20+ years later. It was fun translating for him as he and Kristy spoke life-giving words over our church. 

Coaching
We continue to connect with different pastors through the UCA (Urban Church Association), coaching meetings and other settings. It has been an honor to be a part of helping Pastor Refugio, from San Diego, go through the licensing process (to become a licensed and now ordained minister) through World Impact.

Please Pray with Us…

1. Fruitful Outreach
Please pray that our Christmas Banquet would be effective in sharing the gospel to people that desperately need the hope of Christ. We are praying for 25+ new people to attend this event.
 
2. Strong start to the New Year
  • Remodeling: To make room for more people we are doing some remodeling at the church building (it’s not that we love this…moving and fixing up our new house was enough, but this will allow us to fit double the number of people in our service on Sunday).
  • We are also launching a new evangelism/discipleship strategy to touch the neediest of people in our community through Children’s Hunger Fund food boxes.
  • January is also a strategic time to launch or vision and focus for the year,
  • install new leaders (elders) and
  • launch our Academy of Music and Worship where we will be training people in instruments, voice, dance, drama and the biblical heart and purpose of worship.
 3. Awesome Family Time for Christmas
As our children are on their vacation from school, please pray with us that we would get quality family time to connect, rest and have fun together…creating memories that will last a life time. Our three children are super troopers being the kids of missionaries and pastors…we are grateful to God (and them) that they are such a huge part of the ministry, but want to make sure we get some good time without the distractions of the constant need and pull of ministry. 

Wishing you a very merry Christmas. May Christ be at the heart of all that you do.


Chad, Fabiola, Rebecca, Justice and Beniah