September Ministry Update

September Ministry Update-

Honestly some of this month may be a repeat from last month.  It is hard to remember what we have already put on "paper" and what we haven't, so my appologies if you have heard some of this already.

The biggest news from our little church plant is that we held our first official Bible study on Thursday, September 20th.  It was attended by ten people, including a family who brought their three children.  Their two sons participated in the study and contributed quite a bit, and their young daughter stayed upstairs with our children.  This family, has already committed to be a part of our church and have shared with us their desire to oversee our children's ministry! (Any other church planter jealous?)  Our second week we added one more to our number.  This is exciting for us and while we are committed to nurture this young group, of which we can expect one more spouse to come, we also are already looking forward to starting a second group by the first of the year.

Not much else has been happening on the ministry front as we have spent a lot of our energy on finding work.  Karen has been fortunate enough to be called in to work several days for the Walla Walla school district to work in the kitchen.  As a matter of fact she is working everyday this week.  She has also picked up more clients in Walla Walla for her house cleaning business then in our entire time in the Nile and this has also helped a lot.

As of this writing I have yet to work a day of regular employment.  Though I am scheduled to go in tomorrow to fill out all of the necessary paperwork for my new part-time job at Hasting's as a lower level manager. (If you are unfamiliar with Hasting's you can check out their web-site to get an idea of what I will be doing.  http://www.gohastings.com)  I have also been reffing local football games (no I was not part of the officiating crew for the Monday Night Seahawks versus Packers) and that has been fun and a good way to get into the community, as well as supplement some income.  There are also three possibilities for other part time work that I hope to hear about by the end of the week.

At this point some of you might be confused, thinking that I already had found gainful employment.  Well, you would be correct, sort of.  I was offered a full-time position at a local call center.  I won't bore you with all of the details of the job itself, I will tell you if I was a single guy just trying to pay bills, I would have jumped at the opportunity.  But, as Karen and I talked about it, we decided that the job was not very condusive for ministry and family life.  Lots of evenings, and weekends too.  Add to that that your schedule was not flexible and we made the very tough decision to turn the job down.  This decision sounds foolish to many and has allowed me to share with people who know that we have been looking for a job that we are here in Walla Walla for a greater purpose than just paying bills.

I believe the flexibility we have found in part-time employment, even though I will be working more than one job, will prove to be more fruitful for Community of Grace than if I had accepted the full-time work.  Not only that, but it will allow me to come into contact with a wider range of people, and people is why we are here.

Onto more uplifting thoughts.  On Sunday, September 23rd I was able to bring the family back "home" to Toppenish.  Pastor Greg Stamm was gone for the morning and he asked me to fill in for him.  I had been putting a lot of thought into "launch day" for Community of Grace and had been debating whether to begin preaching through one of the Gospel's or to be more intentional and preach through a series setting the tone and the DNA of what I desire our church to be.  I decided to test the waters so to speak in Toppenish and preach what would be sermon one of a series of eight on a gospel centered, mission oriented church.  My text was Revelation 2:1-7 and the title of the message was "All Head; No Heart".  I received enough feedback to decide that this will also be the first message preached at Community of Grace followed by the rest of the seven churches in Revelation and the church of Jerusalem in Acts.  Thanks to all of our family in Toppenish for your encouragement!  I guess now you don't have to come visit us on our launch day.

Lastly, I wish to share with you something that is heavy on my heart, and I know is heavy on many of yours as well.  There is a deep-seeded attitude of teritorialism among the churches in this city, and probablly some of yours.  It is a deep desire of mine to see gospel centered churches behave like they are family, because they are!  That being the foundation of part of my motivation here in Walla Walla, Karen and I have made fast friends with another lead pastor and wife of church plant in town.  Brian and Elisa Hope plan on launching Mission Church in Walla Walla close to the first of the year, a full six to eight months before our planned launch.  Because Karen and I have a longing to see the body of Christ work together, we have committed to Brian and Elisa that we will plug any hole they need plugged until the time that we launch ourselves.  They have also committed to help us get off our feet in any way that their church can too!  Isn't it great to see the family pulling on the same side of the rope instead of playing tug-o'-war?

Brian is a seasoned church planter, and I have already taken the opportunity to sit in on some of his vision casting meetings that he has held.  I have learned a lot from Brian just by his example.  His love of the Lord and my family has been a great blessing to me.  (He actually helped us unload the U-Haul when we got to town too).  One hope and prayer I have through the interaction between Mission Church and Community of Grace is that we could show the unbelieving world what Christ honoring, sacrifical love looks like in a community of people who have real needs and struggles just like they do.

Thank you to all who have been praying and giving to our mission here in Walla Walla.  Believe me when I say that we could not do what we do without you who are faithful to give!


All donations are tax deductible and can be sent to:
District Missions
C/O Dwight Cover
1631 Woodworth Road
Grandview, WA 98930

Please earmark “COG Church Plant” on any donated funds sent in to District Missions.

PS...Check out two very important websites.

http://www.communityofgraceww.com

http://www.grounds4good.com/communityofgrace

August Update

It is hard to believe that only a month has passed since last I wrote an update.  So much has happened, some of it a little discouraging, but much of it a reminder that God is busy building His church and we are fortunate enough to be a vessel in which He has chosen to carry out His great mission.

First, the bad stuff.  Many of you are aware that since moving to Walla Walla in June I was employed at a local custom cabinet shop.  Well, due to circumstances beyond my control two weeks ago the owner had to let me go.  This was a difficult pill to swallow and because I believe in being as transparent as possible I will admit that I did not process this very well.  I spent about three days in a pretty deep funk, but my wife being ever patient and understanding helped me to process everything that was happening internally as well as assure me that we will be okay financially.  (She is a wonderful helpmate!)  We have spent considerable energy looking for work and at the time of this writing am fairly certain I will be employed by the end of next week!  Praise Jesus for that!

However, there was a silver lining in my unemployment.  I have had a lot more free time to be busy with church stuff and there is a lot of news to share there.  If you follow our church (Community of Grace) on Facebook you perhaps saw the news regarding our partnership with Grounds4Good.  We are really excited about this opportunity to help support our ministry here in Walla Walla.  I won't bore you will all of the gritty details of what exactly Grounds4Good does or how they operate (though if you want to know more you can go here...http://www.grounds4good.com/about-us), I will tell you though for all of the coffee purchased on our Grounds4Good partner page Community of Grace will receive 50% of the net.

If any of you churches or individuals are interested in ordering and helping support our church plant  you can go here to order...http://www.grounds4good.com/communityofgrace.  I have had some of their coffee and to be completely honest, I love it and their prices are competitive with the major brands.  I would be happy to speak to any of you who have more questions.  You can simply email me at my new email address Chris@CommunityofGraceWW.com or feel free to call me at 509-654-8772.

More exciting news!  Community of Grace will have its first official regular meeting on Thursday September 20th beginning at 7:00pm.  We plan on using a Bible study that many church plants in our fellowship have used with great success.  It is called "That Man Called Jesus" and it is a study through the book of John.  I want to personally thank Phil and Nathan Bryant as well as Bartley Sawatsky for allowing us to use material that they worked so hard to produce.

Those who are committed to join us for our Bible study include a neighbor couple across the street, the husband of which came to me in a crisis yesterday.  We also have my parents who are committed to come.  Also there are four others who have shared some interest in joining us.  With a group this large we may actually meet on two separate nights.  But, the most exciting part of starting our study for me is the inclusion of Edgar and his wife.

Some of you in the Yakima area may already know Edgar he is currently a student of the Bible Institute being hosted by the Sunnyside Grace Brethren Church.  Edgar and I shared a coffee for the first time, last night actually.  More than coffee we also shared a common vision.  A vision of more gospel preaching churches in the city of Walla Walla.  Edgar has a desire to perhaps plant a Hispanic GBC church in Walla Walla after he is finished with his time at the Bible Institute.  Edgar and his family would like to help launch our church, help in our children's program, shadow us with the plans of launching his own church perhaps a year after we launch.

All of this is new and fresh in our minds so we would ask for prayer as we continue to grow and develop this new relationship in Walla Walla.  It is exciting news and once again a reminder that God is way ahead of us and that His plans are greater than ours.  In no way did I plan on daughtering a church plant, and a hispanic church plant to boot, so close to the launch of our own church, but perhaps God once again is reminding us that His plans are not our own.

Lastly, Karen and I have committed to community nights on Monday night.  We will build them around gathering for watching a football game, but of course we want deeper relationships simply gathering for football and food, but for many you must start with the smallest steps possible.  So if you feel like taking a drive come join us on September 10th and every Monday following at our house for some Football, Food and Fellowship.  Or you can simply pray that the contacts we make on these evenings will grow into something deeper than cheering for our favorite teams.

Let me take just a little time to catch you up on what is happening with the kids.  School still hasn't started yet, but it is just around the corner.  Karen took the oldest three shopping for school supplies this morning.  Taylor will be in 7th grade this year.  He has joined the cross country team and is also joining the middle school band.  It is fun to watch him excel at what he does and he already has a reputation with the staff at the school of being a well grounded and polite young man (my teachers would say he must get that from his mother).

Jacob has been dying for school to start ever since we got here.  He is a social and busy boy and cannot wait to get tied into the local sports leagues.  Joli is a little nervous for school to start.  Walla Walla has all day kindergarten and it will be taxing for her to be away from Mom for so long at first.  Pray for courage and understanding on her part.  Karen and I are excited to see how Olivia will blossom being the oldest in the house while her brothers and sister are in school.  She is a helper and very friendly to her youngest brother.  Lastly, Alexander!  Any of you who have been around him, knows he is a smiler.  He is growing like a weed and eating all the watermelon he can get his hands on.

Let me end this update with a big thank you.  Thank you for the prayers.  Thank you for the encouragement.  Thank you for the notes on Facebook and the letters sent.  Those are the small things that pick us up when we need a little prodding.  Karen, our kids and I appreciate all that you have done for our ministry here in Walla Walla.  Blessings!

Coming Soon...The Great Walla Walla Adventure?

Friends and family-Many of you know that I spent sometime earlier this month in the "Gas City" Medicine Hat, Alberta.  What is in Medicine Hat?  Well for starters we have good friends there; but even better than that we have good friends there who planted a church not that long ago.  The purpose of the long miserable, muggy train ride was to come up and help Grasslands church with their week long community outreach project.  I do not know the eventual outcome of all of our activity, you'd have to (and I'd encourage you to) keep up-to date with Shane and Cheryl here...http://www.plantingonfaith.com but what I do know is Medicine Hat and Walla Walla have quite a few cultural similarities, and I do know that I would like to pull off a week or weeks next summer like this in order to build up some momentum before our planned official launch next September.

That's right folks you heard it here first...Community of Grace plans to officially launch and hold their very first Sunday morning service on September 8th!  (Of course plans change, as Shane and Cheryl can attest, right guys?)

For now, there is a lot of ground work that still needs to be done to pull off our vision of launching next fall.  For instance we need to find a space to rent.  The plan at this point is to contact some of the Seventh-Day Adventist churches around the first of the year to see who would be willing to let us use their space.  But even before all of those details for pulling off a full "regular" service are figured out we need to get our name out there.  We need to begin to serve the community.  And that is where all of you come in, more on that in a bit, but first...

If there is one thing I was even more convinced of in my time serving the community of Medicine Hat with my brothers and sisters, it would be this.  We live in a day and age where all people, particularly the younger generations are in desperate need for genuine relationship; and those of us who are disciples of Christ are in a unique position, I would say too, we are in the only real position in which we can offer them genuine relationship with no strings attached.

Because of the love of Christ, because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, we can sacrificially give of ourselves in order to pour out sincere love and sincere compassion on our neighbors, co-workers, classmates, friends and family who are aching for what the Spirit has already given you and I.  Because of the Spirit inside of us we already have genuine relationship.  It's built in, we can't avoid it, that is an amazing truth!  We have someone who meets our every need, and part of that blessing is a responsibility, a calling, to fill that need for other people.

So what am I getting at?  We need you.  We the small band down here in Walla Walla need teams to start coming now!  We need to gauge the spiritual temperature of the city.  We need to find places to serve and get our name out in the public's consciousness.

We also need your prayers.  We need you to pray that our small touches in the lives around us would be full of impact; that they would be memorable, that they would be lasting.  That we would remain diligent and intentional in all that we do.  That we would remember when we do the simple things like picking up a coffee that we would look for opportunities and avenue's in which to build relationships that are real.

In the short time that we've been here, Karen and I have both seen that God has been laying the ground work long before we got here.  The way we found our house, the job's that found us (we hadn't even had the opportunity to look for jobs), the neighbors in our area, and the friendships we have quickly made; God has been way ahead of us.  And we those who are so unworthy of Him saving us, has called us, has given us the privilege of partnering with Him in order to build relationships and share the gospel.

So what can you do?  You can come.  You can serve.  You can make a difference for the kingdom.  If you so choose, the small touches you make here in Walla Walla can make an incredible difference, not just to our budding church plant in the here and now, but more importantly your touches can make a difference for someone eternally in the life yet to come.

If you are interested in making such a difference, please leave a comment or email me at carlilefamilyministries@live.com

Stepping out on faith...finding solid footing!

Many of you have been following to some degree our crazy idea of transplanting our entire family on faith.  I will admit there have been times where the thought of leaving an established church in order to move all seven of us to a new city (although one we know quite well) without a job, without a house, armed only with the confidence that we were indeed answering a call greater than many could understand, was indeed paralyzing.

Well we are here...and both the friends we left behind and the church where we have served for the past two years that I will always feel indebted to for allowing me to cut my teeth, preaching, teaching, and leading, will be surely and sorely missed.

But with every chapter ended in life another one begins and the story of our family has certainly been interesting this past week.  On Friday the 15th the movers arrived and after 8 hours or loading we were off to Walla Walla to spend the evening at my parents house (they have lived in town for the past year or so); and Saturday the real chaos began.

But I almost forgot, we stopped by the house on Friday evening to drop off a couple of quick things only to find some treats and a gift card from our landlords welcoming us to town!  How many landlords do that?

When unloading a new friend, who also moved his family to Walla Walla to begin a church plant stopped by to lend a hand.  Gotta love friends like that right?

Most of the rest of the week has been getting to know the neighbors and we have quite the assortment.  Karen has made quick friends with the single mom next door.  Our boys are the same age and they have all spent every night playing ball in the yard together.  I will not share all of the details of her story, but she certainly has an understanding of the Christian faith.  And while she has been hurt and has the emotional scars to show it, and none of us would say she is walking a life of a testimony fitting for a brother or sister in Christ, I believe there has already been a seed that has been planted and worked, and Lord willing there is real fruit there that is close to the harvest.  When thinking about us, pray for Mel (not her real name).

Across the street I have made friends with a son of a preacher, who knows the Bible well, but who also has a past that has caused a chasm between he and the rest of his family.  He is a recovering substance abuse victim and the damage that this particular life has caused is far-reaching to say the least.  The exciting news is that he has already said that he wants to be involved with our first Bible study when we get one started. When thinking about us, pray for Steve (again, not his real name).

To top it off, I went golfing with my Dad and brother and a friend on Father's Day.  During our round our friend began asking about the church plant and our plans for the future.  In particular he was asking about how I was planning on providing for my family.  I told him that we were depending on financial support from churches and individuals who saw our vision, but until we could raise enough support that I would need a job and that I was currently looking, and he offered me a job.  We haven't worked out all of the details just yet, but it sounds like I will be working as a jack of all trades carpenter.  My friend own his own cabinet shop (I hope you see this Caleb Schlegel) and is working on getting his general contractors licence.  He understands our plans in Walla Walla and also knows that I at times will need my schedule to be flexible and even be out of town for several days in July and is not only understanding of but also encouraging of those things.  The best part is not only is he a Christian, but he has a kingdom mindset and doesn't just want to see his business succeed, but to see people come to the Lord.

There is a lot of news there packed into just a weeks worth of time, but I want to leave you with more than just news...I want to leave you with substance; if you are reading this and have the desire to share the gospel, if you have an understanding of the Great Commission and have a desire to make disciples right where you are but don't know where to start, let me encourage you by starting to build relationships.  Build relationships with your neighbors, build relationships with your co-workers, build relationships with your schoolmates or family members and once those relationships are formed, depend on the Holy Spirit to tell you what to say and when to say it, after all, your words do not bring life, but His do and He will give you the words to say.  Spend the time developing relationships and by His grace you will have the opportunity to share those life giving words with the single mom next door and the drug addict across the street.

May Support Letter

Brothers and sisters, friends and family-

                This is an exciting time, as you can imagine, in the life of the Carlile 7.  The move is coming closer and closer every day.  Our official weekend to move is June 15^th and 16^th, just five short weeks away.  Not only is moving to a new place, with a new calling exciting, but it is even more exciting and rewarding for us personally to see how God is providing for us even now in the midst of the chaos of moving.  And so, I wish to communicate those blessings with you in hopes that you can rejoice too that our God is still God and He is still in control of our destinies, but also in control of some of life’s more minute details.

                Many of you have been praying that we would find the right housing, big enough for our large family, but also comfortable enough that we would be able to house Bible studies, and dinners with people we are meeting and would like to see a part of Community of Grace.  Well, it was not that long ago that we signed the lease on our new house.  It is a cozy split level three bedroom home, with a park down the street and it is close enough for Jacob and Joli to walk to school.  The biggest answer to our prayer is that Karen and I both believe that while we are paying the exact amount the landlord asked for, we believe it is considerably less than anything else we could have found in Walla Walla that would have given us the same amount of space (and with five kids, space is important).

                Karen and I both already feel blessed beyond measure by the support we have already received.  The notes, the encouragement have all been wonderful and very much appreciated.  Many of you have expressed a desire to support us in prayer and/or financially and so, in part, I am writing to remind you where you can send your financial gifts. 

                Even if you are not in a place to give financially we would encourage you to pray for our family, and for the hearts of the people in Walla Walla.  We realize that we can do nothing apart from Him and that He will open doors (such as finding the right house) completely apart from what we can provide.  We are simply trying to be as obedient to His call as we possibly can and we look forward to sharing with all of you our stories of “success” in the future.

                In closing I wish to share with you my big inspirational thought of the week.  For some of you this will be old hat, and truth be told it is for me too, but it was refreshing to meditate upon this particular truth once again.  As I have been intentionally trying to open my pray time with God with thanksgiving and not just to hurry through a list of needs, I had an epiphany this week.  I was praising God for the gift of salvation, and I found these words coming out of my mouth as if they we put there by someone else, and of course they were.  They Holy Spirit had tremendous influence of my admission that even without the gift of salvation, even without Christ coming to rescue us from sin, God is still worthy of our glory and praise, simply because of who He is.

                Have you stopped to praise Him today?  Have you stopped to bask in the glory that is God our creator?  I would encourage you to add these sentiments to your daily prayer life and see in what ways God may reveal His glory in your life.

               

Prayer Requests:

                -Now that I will be working outside of the home, and my office will not be a short walk away, we could use a small reliable vehicle.

                -As you may be aware, I will be working outside of my responsibilities of church planting.  Pray that we could find the right job with flexible hours that will meet our family’s needs.

                -Any church plant is looking for two things, to reach the lost and to find mature believers to come alongside and help.  We are praying for leaders that fall in love with the vision we have for Walla Walla.

If you like to give to the mission please send your monies to:

District Missions 

C/O Dwight Cover

1631 Woodworth Road

Grandview, WA 98930

Please earmark “COG Church Plant” on any donated funds sent in to District Missions.

Amazing answer to prayer!

This past month has been a whirlwind. I won't bore you with all of the nitty-gritty details, but suffice it to say it has been a season of tremendous blessing for me and my family. On our hearts and becoming a pressing burden for me as the husband, father and provider is the need to find just the right house and the right job to provide for the needs of my family. (I am not willing to have a "successful" church plant and neglect my first ministry, which of course is my family).

With those pressing needs in mind we traveled to Walla Walla this past weekend in order to look at the one and only rental we had any leads on. It is a three bedroom, two bath split level home, with a fairly large family room down stairs and a cozy living room upstairs.

Upon our arrival and looking through the place, Karen and I feel in love with it. It is located in a quiet neighborhood with plenty of neighbors. I saw a ton of ministry opportunities just in our corner of town. To top it off upon hearing of my profession the landlord informed us of a single mom living right next door and he encouraged us to do what we can to meet and help her.

In our conversation with the landlord we asked if we could perhaps start storing our belongings in the garage when we make a trip down to town. He did one better he gave us the keys on the spot. This was a tremendous blessing for us and we are extremely excited to have a "home" waiting for us in Walla Walla.

We want to thank all of you for your prayers on this matter and ask that you would continue to pray for the right job opportunities for Karen and I. We are committed (always have been) to having one of us at home for the children all of the time. We realize our schedules may overlap and we might need to farm out the kids, but we are committed to keeping these times at a minimum, and are very fortunate enough to have family in town to help watch the kids when we are "stuck".

Many of you have asked when we will be moving and our decision to move has always been based upon the kids school schedule. School ends on June 14th. We plan on moving between then and the end of June. The exact date is still to be determined.

We appreciate all of the support you have already given us and look forward to greater opportunities for your support.

Just around the corner!

Brothers and Sisters in Christ-

Many of you may remember that over two years ago God pressed upon me and subsequently my family, a calling to begin a new church plant in my hometown of Walla Walla, WA. While I was eager to jump at this opportunity and honestly would have moved my family immediately to begin this endeavor God had better plans for me. While the church plant was always the call, the journey from there until now has been serendipitous and sovereign every step of the way.

At the time I felt this burden by God to begin a new church plant, my family and I were serving as full time missionaries (supported by many of you) at the Flying H Youth Ranch in Naches, WA; a ranch designed to rehabilitate troubled teenage boys. While serving at the Flying H I was able to return to school and work towards completing Bible College and seminary. During this time I also began the process of becoming a licensed pastor in the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, something I completed in October of 2010.

While working on my continued training and pursuing avenues in which to begin the church plant, I was also able to, on a fairly regularly basis, meet with my mentor and pastor Greg Stamm of Toppenish Grace Brethren Church. Greg was excited for and encouraged me to pursue the opportunity in Walla Walla, however, he and I both felt that before beginning the church plant it would be advantageous for me to work in a church to get some practical experience. We agreed to pray for this opportunity, not knowing where this experience would come from.

God, who is always faithful, answered our prayer. The church my family and I had been attending while working at the Flying H Youth Ranch was in need of an interim senior pastor. They knew of my desire to begin a church plant in Walla Walla in the future and thought that perhaps we could each fill needs for one another; they needed a pastor, I needed experience in a healthy community who would be patient with me and help me hone my preaching and shepherding skills. And so with all plans on the table the elders of the church offered and my family and I accepted the interim position in the summer of 2010 with full intentions of moving my family in the summer of 2011 to answer God’s call to plant a church in Walla Walla.

Why, you may ask am I writing this letter in March of 2012 and not March of 2011 if I intended to move in the summer of 2011? Several factors came into play to extend our time at Nile Valley Community Church. First, Karen became pregnant with our fifth child, Alexander Ray Carlile (named after a dear friend to many of us in the Pacific Northwest), and was due to deliver right in the middle of our planned moving window. Secondly, the church in which I was serving, I felt needed more time building unity and moving toward a common vision before another big transition. We had gone through tremendous turmoil which led to my calling to serve at the church, and we were just beginning to heal. I felt, as did many on the board at the church that another big transition would be counter intuitive to the progress that we had made.

I must admit, that staying another year was not my plan. But, it was a better plan than I originally had in mind. I believe I have grown considerably in how I pastor and shepherd in these two years and I would not change this time for anything. But now, the time is at hand. We are moving this summer and the time seems to be flying by.

 So why this letter? We need support. As a new church plant, we really are starting with nothing, other than the confidence that this is God’s calling,

and the needs are great. We are placing our faith and

our trust in what God will provide, through His

people for us, for our church, and for His mission.

We first and most importantly need prayer

partners. We fully realize that the enemy does not

want healthy communities of Christ in Walla Walla.

He will do all he can to make sure we do not succeed

in what God has called us to do. We also attest that

the best and perhaps only way to truly counter the

enemy is through the many prayers of the saints, and

so we are asking you to pray for our mission, but also

for our family.

We also need financial support. If being a

pastor is a full commitment; being a church planter is

even more so. Balancing family time, visitation, the

gathering and maintain of resources, and

intentionally growing and harvesting leadership, and

networking and evangelizing, all the while starting

with nothing, is a full time endeavor to say the least.

I fully realize that in the beginning I will

work outside of the church to help support my

family, much like Paul built tents to help provide for

his needs and the needs of the ministry. Like Paul, I

also hope and pray for the support of like-minded

believers who understand the call God has placed on

my heart for the people of Walla Walla.

My prayer is that God’s people will see a

need to help partner with us, both prayerfully and

financially to reach the lost people of Walla Walla.

Thank you for your support and trust in us as we continue to spread the gospel.

-Pastor Chris