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Spare Change July 2018

                                                          Texas Mission Trip Report

 Our mission trip to Texas took us to what is known as the Golden Triangle, which encompasses several cities in the Beaumont and Port Arthur area.  This region was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey last year. It was amazing to see all the work that still needs to be done, so many people are still not back in their homes almost 9 months later.  Many people didn’t have flood insurance, since they were in areas that were previously not in flood plains.

We partnered with First Baptist Fannett and their Pastor, Scooter Wenner.  They have just recently completed their flood renovation on their sanctuary and began worshipping in it in early May.  They are still working on completing other areas, like a fellowship hall and   Sunday school classrooms. Pastor Scooter was able to get our teams plenty of work  projects.  We have five teams that went out for the week. Team 1 helped a small church in  Stowell, TX with their VBS. Their church was full of sweet people that loved on our volunteers.  That team was overjoyed to be able to connect with local kids and help this church. Team 2 helped a lady named Creedean whose house had been flooded last year. She needed help installing doors and trim.  Our team knocked it out in three days. Team 3 went to a lady named Vicki’s house where they hung drywall all week. Team 4 went over to Trinity Baptist Church in Vidor and helped them with painting, hanging shelves, and caulking.  They were a huge blessing to this mostly elderly congregation. The church showed their appreciation with lots and lots of good food. Team 5 was led by me and helped Pastor Scooter’s church by hanging trim, cleaning, organizing, and painting.

Our teams stayed busy all week and worked very hard.  I was so proud of all the students, they didn’t complain; they just jumped in and did whatever they needed to do.  They were willing to listen and learn from the adults, so they could learn some new skills to complete the projects.  I was also struck by how faithful and joyous all the Texans were. The joy of the Lord was present in all the people we interacted with.  Even though they had been through such a devastating tragedy they were encouraged by the Lord and by people like us helping them out. Personally, I was encouraged to see faithful churches that were reaching out to others for the sake of the gospel.  Pastor Scooter has been at his church for 18 years, faithfully preaching the word. He saw this tragedy as an opportunity for the Lord to do a great work. Not only did their entire church get updated and renovated, he has been able to send groups like us to represent them into the community.
 
I was also encouraged by the sweet spirit our group shared during the week.  Any time you get a group of people together in close quarters for a week you will have people getting tired and grumpy; however, for the most part everyone was so nice and kind to each other.  Everyone had a great attitude and was focused on helping others; I was so proud of all the students and adults that went. We were well taken care of by Rick and Cheryl Rollow, who supported our teams with lots of good food.  We also had a very gracious host at the Shepherd’s Inn. This former nursing home is a ministry that temporarily houses people that come from all over the nation to visit loved ones in one of the seven prisons in the Golden Triangle area.  They allow mission teams to stay there during the week in the summer. They were a huge blessing to us.

We loved getting to see that part of Texas and serve the local churches and people there.  As usual, they were a blessing to us as much as we were to them. Please pray for continue helped for the people in this area, there is still much to be done.  Also, pray for the churches as they reach out with the hope of the gospel.

Student Ministry July 2018

Dear Church Family,
         As many of you know, Kayla and I are expecting our first child in November, and we could not be more thrilled and excited! We have been waiting for what seems like a lifetime to learn the gender so we can know a little bit more about this person whom God is creating in the womb. She wanted a girl and I, of course, wanted a boy. But when it was time to go find out, we both had come to the place of complete contentedness about whatever gender it turned out to be. You can’t control these things, so why not be excited for a surprising adventure? So that was our determination. Either way, we were ready for what God had in store for us.

When the sonographer said, “it’s a boy!” we had insta-tears! Insta-tears are tears that basically explode from your eyes immediately due to anticipated joy. We were so thrilled! Not because we got what we were hoping for, but simply because we were getting to know our baby boy just a little bit more. We already knew his name. We’ve been thinking about baby names for several years now actually, so it was not very difficult to decide. His name is Samuel Lewis Van Doren. We did not just choose that name because it is obviously super cool. It has very important meaning and nostalgia behind it.

Samuel means “asked of God,” or “God has heard.” We named him Samuel because God has heard our prayer for a child and has answered us. We want our son to know where he came from and Who made him. He is not a random by-product of biology. He is a gift from God. Lewis means “renowned warrior.” While that sounds good, there is more to it. My grandfather on my mom’s side is named Lewis. He has been a huge influence on me in my Christian walk. He taught me that Jesus is my hero, and that there is nothing better than living my life for Him. We want our son to know that our Lord is a renowned warrior who defeated sin and death for him. We want our son to be a renowned warrior who will put his faith in Christ and live a life warring against sin and worldliness in his own life and around him.

This may sound a little intense to some of you, and that is ok. But it is our conviction that children are gifts from God that are given so we can make an impact on the world for His glory and our children’s blessing. Psalm 127:3-5 says, “Behold, children are a ^[c]gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. ⁴ Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the     children of one’s youth. ⁵ How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate.”  Arrows are designed to be shot out and to make an impact on their target. Children are also    arrows that we are to raise and send out to make an impact on the world. We must raise them in the gospel and train their hearts. Samuel is our first arrow, and we are praying that he will fly in the power of the gospel exactly where the Lord would have him fly!

Thanks for reading. I hope this encourages you to influence the younger generation to live for the Lord and make an impact for His glory.