New Planter Spotlight: Jerry Riendeau

Jerry Riendeau

How have you seen God working in your life?

Through the church planting process, I have been learning how to rely on God in long seasons of ambiguity and uncertainty. Additionally, this transition has put me into a role in which I am not yet an expert. After 13 years in the same type of ministry before this, I had come to trust my instincts in certain matters. As a church planter, I have no instincts yet to trust, so I am forced to fully embrace my limitations and rely on God to cover my shortcomings.

How have you seen god working in your family?

Church planting has been a beautiful thing for my children (ages seven, six, and four). They have fully owned the mission. My older two took the initiative to bring fliers to school to hand out to their friends. My oldest has taken it upon herself to be my official sermon practice sounding board. She gives me feedback on what illustrations she thinks connect best with children. They have all pray regularly for our church and even for me personally in my ministry.

How have you seen god working in your church?

Our little church has become one of the most beautiful communities I have ever been a part of. Our young people (early 20s) regularly initiate spending time with and serving our older members. Our older members are faithful to pray for the church and the young people. Everyone is quick to respond when someone is sick, or a need comes up. We have had the opportunity to engage with many churched and unchurched people.

For instance, Janice, who is 83, had not been to church in 50 years and had never read the bible. She received a flier in the mail and visited us. She has come nearly every week since then. She asked for a Bible to read and I told her to begin in John. The next week she came back and told me she read it three times and did not understand it. So, I gave her a copy of the Jesus Story Book Bible. She read the first several stories that week and came back glowing about how much she loved it.

church Name

Grace Presbyterian Church Of Dearborn

CHURCH email

jerry@gracedearborn.com

church website

https://www.gracedearborn.com/

What is your church’s mission/Vision?

A church in the city of Dearborn committed to loving God through worship, loving one another through community, and loving the city through service.

The Riendeau Family

New Planter Spotlight: Ben Hewitt

Ben Hewitt

How have you seen God working in your life?

God is good! I was born in a Christian home, where my parents had a huge impact on raising me and my siblings in the faith. We had terrific soil to put down strong healthy roots in as Christians, with a love for God, for His church and for His word fostered there. At several points in my life I've thought maybe I'm better off living with our God at the centre of my life', but each I've learned that a full and flourishing life is found only in Christ. I wandered away from God as a university student, only to be brought back by good godly Christian leaders, shepherding me back to green pastures and clear waters.

I've resisted God's call to ministry three times, but each time he has 'strangely warmed my heart' for the role he's called me into. That's true, especially of the call to plant a church - I said a very clear 'no', but He used other people to encourage me. He showed me he was with me, and he gave me a deep desire and deep conviction for this ministry. God is good! Every day there are little signs of his work in my life, be that a timely line from the scriptures, or the provision of something we've needed, or the unexpected gift of something we haven't needed. As a church planter, I feel like the Lord has gone before us, He has paved the way for another church to be planted, and He has brought people, and He is nurturing and growing this plant. God is good!

How have you seen god working in your family?

I love seeing my wife Suja and our kids grow in their love for God. Suja is a testament to God's sovereignty across the globe, giving her faith and sustaining it as she has moved from the UK to Australia, to Ireland and back again. She has a deep confidence in His goodness and grace, she knows there's nowhere outside of His presence and she's such an encouragement to me.

Our kids are growing up in the Lord, taking on the faith we've shared with them for themselves. They moved with us to Ballarat, leaving grandparents and their uncle and all they'd known to start a new chapter in their lives to start a new church - and all with smiles, embracing the adventure. I love seeing my older boys serve in church: quietly, diligently, humbly serving in unseen ways week in week out - they're on this mission with us in a big way! My daughter is a delight and brings much joy to our family. God is revealing Himself to them as they read His word and as they develop their own prayerful dependence on Him. We're praying He uses them all for His glory and their good.

How have you seen god working in your church?

We started life early in 2022 as little more than an idea, a small and uncertain group praying in a living room that God would use us to plant a new church in this city. We've seen him answer that prayer far quicker than I thought He would! He has provided people, bringing the right people at just the right time in our journey. He has provided a home for us to meet: when we outgrew our living room. He provided a community center in the heart of Ballarat, just like we prayed.

He has drawn de-churched people back into His church - using us to help them reconnect with the body of Christ after many years away for some people. God has provided some key leaders just when we've needed them, and we pray he will continue to raise up more. We're seeing His hand at work over and over again, and we shouldn't be surprised! He's building His church.

Just last year, there were moments when I'd walk through the city praying but wondering, how will this ever come together? How will we, a small and insignificant group of people, see a new church planted and thriving?' The answer is we couldn't, but God could. We've seen him take us this far, so I can't wait to see what he'll do with and through us in 5 years or 50 years!

church Name

City on a Hill: Ballarat

CHURCH WEBSITE

https://cityonahill.com.au/ballarat/

church Email

ballarat@cityonahill.com.au

What is your church’s mission/Vision?

Vision: We're part of a movement of churches committed to reaching 10 cities with the beauty, truth and relevance of Jesus, by planting 50 churches.

Mission: We exist to know Jesus and make Jesus known.

The Hewitt Family

New Planter Spotlight: David Williams

David WIlliams

How have you seen God work in your life?

I had been raised in church but never gave it much consideration. I was not unfamiliar with Jesus, salvation and condemnation, but figured I was safe, as I had walked the aisle, repeated a prayer, shook the pastor’s hand and got baptized. As I got older, I was attracted to the fast life and suffered the consequences. One night, after a five-day binge, I prayed and asked God if He were real; he would have to take me by the hand and walk with me because I was clueless about life. That was not my first binge, but it was my last. That was 14 years ago, and ever since, I’ve been telling people about this God who rescues sinners - like me.

How have you seen god working in your family?

My father is a founding Ruling Elder of a large church in Texas, and up until I came to faith, our relationship was extremely strained. Not anymore. I also got married five years after my conversion, and the Lord has used marriage to mature me in ways I never could as a single man - even walking closely with the Lord. At the time, my wife was a nominal believer, and her daughter was very bruised emotionally by a verbally abusive father. The Lord has had to use me as a conduit of His grace for both of them to be made whole, and He has used them as a conduit of grace to mature me. My wife has really sunk her teeth in this new work, and our daughter is a teacher at a private Lutheran school in Houston, Texas.

How have you seen god working in your church?

I was called to a dying Church of Christ congregation in Lake Park, just north of West Palm Beach. What was at one time a thriving congregation of 400 had dwindled to a regular attendance of about eight. But my wife and I knew this is where God wanted us. We were simply going to love the aging congregation, reach out to the community, and preach the Bible. We have been there since August 17th, 2023, and we have seen God do marvelous things! An 82 year old who has been attending that church for 70 years came to faith in Christ about three months after we arrived, and in January of 2024, we received nine new members to the church - I later found out those nine were the first new members the church had received in decades! We should have a website up by the end of February, and we are looking to become a Mission Church of SRC this summer.

church Name

Lake Park Community Church

CHURCH email

lakeparkcc@gmail.com

What is your church’s mission/Vision?

Habakkuk 2:14 | Ephesians 4: 11- 13.

The vision of Lake Park Community Church is to gather, equip, and bring to maturity the people of God; to reach the lost in our area with the good news of Jesus Christ; to take the good news of our Lord to the world; to make disciples of all peoples; to train and equip future church leaders - at home and abroad - for faithful ministry; for our church to be a safe place for the lost and hurting, where they will be nurtured in the Word and in the faith to wholeness, and to be an example of unity to the Body of Christ.

New Planter Spotlight: Peter Steven

Peter Steven

How have you seen God working in your life?

God continues to work in my life by drawing me to himself as my Father and my Friend. I know that he is Lord of all creation. I know that he is mighty to save. I can choose to believe those things without a relationship, though. God is leading me to love him more deeply, long for him more dearly, and desire him more than anything else. I continually pray to lead a life reflecting Psalm 63.

How have you seen god working in your family?

I praise God that all 7 of my children love and serve Jesus. We have 3 teenagers at home, so they are still figuring what that means as they grow into themselves and establish their own lives and priorities, but I cannot praise him enough that they are all committed followers of Jesus. That's all we've ever cared about. I've never prayed for happy kids! Not most importantly, anyway. We've only ever prayed that whatever they do, whoever they are with, they are obedient lovers of Christ.

How have you seen god working in your church?

God continues to challenge us, with many people from the community coming through the doors. This is hard work, as many come with addictions/behavioral issues/mental health struggles, etc, but this is exciting, too, as this is who we are here for!

As hinted at above, God has been leading me to be a Psalm 63 believer, so I have been calling our church to a Psalm 63 church. We are passionate believers in the great commission- to go and make disciples- but sometimes we get so focused on that, that we forget the great commandment- to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. This is the church I want to be a part of, and this is what we are seeing happen!!

church Name

City on a Hill - Whittington

CHURCH WEBSITE

http://cityonahill.com.au

church Email

whittington@cityonahill.com.au

What is your church’s mission/Vision?

We exist as a church to know Jesus and to make him known. In our specific context, though, we are reaching into Whittington because it is a hard place. A ‘hard place’ is a community that has higher than average unemployment and crime rates, prevalent drug use and issues surrounding addictions, family and domestic violence, low education attainment, and poverty. Whittington fits all of these criteria.

Historically, churches seeking to reach these types of communities have focussed their efforts on practical ‘mercy ministries’- ministries that seek to alleviate a specific and immediate need. These efforts are not wrong. They serve their purpose in providing respite from practical suffering. However, we are convinced that the most critical and essential mercy ministry we can offer to any community, including these ‘hard places’, is the gospel of Jesus Christ taught faithfully and biblically from a local church. Put simply, Whittington needs Jesus! We want the people of Whittington to know the Jesus who offers eternal life, abundant joy, the gift of the Holy Spirit,and reconciliation with God to anyone who would entrust themselves to him. We want the people of Whittington to know freedom from sin, guilt, and shame. To be invited into God’s family, freely given a living hope and a glorious inheritance that will never perish, spoil or fade. We want the people of Whittington to join in on His mission throughout the world, telling others about Jesus and inviting them to follow him. Regardless of background or skill set, to be used by Jesus in building his church.

Our vision, therefore, is to grow a thriving local church community in Whittington that is full of people going deep in their relationship with Jesus, and then reaching the lost with the good news of Jesus, calling them to experience the life and hope and relationship that they have personally known. We want the people of Whittington to know Jesus and make Jesus known.

The Steven Family

New Planter Spotlight: Mauricio Salas

How have you seen God working in your life?

I see His Grace every day, knowing that despite my errors, He continues to love me through His Son, and for me that is the Gospel. God gives me the opportunity to redeem my life every day in all areas and that gives me strength and hope.

How have you seen god working in your family?

Knowing that the same Grace that the Father provides for me is available for my family, leads me to encourage them to stay faithful to the Gospel and find comfort in knowing that Christ has promised to never leave us. My prayer is that as a family, we can be faithful witness of Christ love for the lost.

How have you seen god working in your church?

In these moments of our project we can see the gospel is moving in the lives not only of the members of our Church but also in the neighbors. The Gospel has lead us to serve those around us, even if they have not decided to surrender their lives to Jesus yet. We want to find new ways to serve and love our community so that people can know that Casa de Gracia Church is there for them.

church Name

Casa de Gracia

CHURCH WEBSITE

https://www.facebook.com/19casadegracia?mibextid=ZbWKwL

church Email

mauriciocruz.casadegracia@gmail.com

What is your church’s mission/Vision?

Vision: We want to see disciples that grow in grace by sharing life in an intentional way and forming them through a deep understanding of the Gospel. As a Church, we believe that the Gospel has many implications in our daily lives that lead us to find ways of Collaboration with other Churches and organizations with the purpose of loving, disciplining, and serving our community.

Mission: The Mission is to Plant Churches in the short term in order to bring the Kingdom of God to many communities that are in need, not only because they are poor financially but because they are filled with lots of personal and social problems. We expect to see 3 new churches in the territory of Tultitlan in the next 10 years, so that Tultitlan start changing for good.

The Salas Family