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Greetings from Allen and Lisa
As we prepare this newsletter we are anticipating
another round of snow which for me means lots of hours of salting and plowing. As we long for Spring, I am reminded of some similarities between ministry and the plowing I do in my job. Ministry takes long hours of plowing to deepen relationships. We most certainly look forward to spring for the warmer weather, but not just for sunny days. The warmer weather means we will have more outdoor events to invite the residents at the multihousing complexes to. The more time we spend with the residents, the more likely some will be receptive to having their sins forgiven and enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ. We are looking forward to some warmer temperatures and new friendships that will be cultivated through the events that we will offer!
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We received a call from a young lady who had seen the church van in her parking lot and wanted to see about getting a ride to church. When I called her back she had lots of questions so my wife and I spent several hours answering all of her questions. She wanted to be baptized was not a Christian. Cheyenne shared with us some very difficult things that she had gone through and was currently going through. She was looking for peace. We used Sharing Jesus Without Fear to help her see her need for a Savior. When she prayed to receive Christ it was one of the most heart wrenching prayers we have ever heard. It was an honor to baptize Cheyenne on February 22. She is attending Sunday School and worship with us at Lakota Hills Baptist Church. We will continue to mentor her as she establishes a firm foundation on Christ.
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 Lakota Pointe
It is so cool to see God working in the lives of those in our small group Bible study. A few weeks ago our lesson was on slaying the giant of doubt. At the end of lesson one of the ladies shared how she had been struggling with doubt. Earlier that same day she reached out to her children’s pastor to seek understanding. She told us that the children’s pastor basically told her the same things that was taught in our Bible study that evening. He reaffirmed to her that He was in control. Because she was willing to share that testimony, we all were able to praise God for His faithfulness!
On February 14, we picked up 18 residents from Lakota Pointe and took them to Lakota Hills Baptist for the Children’s Ministry movie night. Another lady from our small group, Amanda, drove herself and her two children as well. It’s such a blessing to be able to bring folks from our ministry to our sending church to have fun and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Once again there has been a change in management at Lakota Pointe. We are praising God that the assistant manager was promoted because we already have a good working relationship with her! We met the new assistant manager and invited her to the small group meeting. She said she would try to attend. We would love to have them join us for the small group to hear how Christ can bring them peace. Their jobs can be very difficult. Part of our ministry is to try to ease the burden of the management. By connecting with a few of the residents it may help them be better managers. We will be looking for ways to help these ladies in their new positions.
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Heritagesprings of West Chester
We are excited to have Mike Collopy joining Abundant Life as the music director for Heritagesprings! His leadership will allow us to focus on other parts of that ministry.
Last month we mentioned a resident named Billy Mason. Billy was able to go home the week after we met with him so we didn’t have the chance to follow up with him. Please pray that God would place someone in Billy’s life to pick up where we left off.
We have been so blessed to have Ron join us from time to time. Ron was at Heritagesprings for rehab after he lost his leg. He went through a time of depression but was faithful to attend chapel service nearly every Sunday. After a few months Ron got to go home. Imagine our surprise when he came to help us wheel residents to chapel. He had enjoyed the chapel services and saw the benefit of being able to worship while he was a resident. He wanted to be sure others had that same opportunity. When we are depressed we can have a tendency to withdraw from others. Because our volunteers would go to his room each Sunday to offer to bring him down to chapel it helped him stay connected. We are thankful that God brought physical healing as well as emotional healing to Ron and now Ron is a blessing to the other residents and us!
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This Month's Specific Prayer Needs
- Spiritual growth for those attending small group Bible study
- Vicky's and Cheyenne's faith as they continue to grow in the Lord
- Killian and his family
- Denise to find a job and wisdom to handle stressful family situations
- Keawna beginning a daily quiet time to realize her need for Christ; single mom of 5 kids
- Christina’s 15 year old son in JDC facing felony charges; strength to persevere
- Location outside of Lakota Pointe for childcare during meetings
- Wisdom to help meet the needs of residents at Lakota Pointe
Ongoing Prayer Needs
- That we would look for, recognize, and create ways to get the Gospel message to the lost people in these multi-housing areas
- That Allen and Lisa's daily walk with God would never get pushed aside by the busyness of this world, including the busyness of family or even this ministry.
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