Update from Steve Thiel in Windsor, Connecticut
We recently received an update from one of our church planters, Steve Thiel. Steve and his wife, Linda, have been planting Proclamation Church in Windsor, Connecticut.
Dear Friends of Proclamation Church,
We are so thankful for your faithful partnership in the gospel!
Rejoicing in a Wonderful Thanksgiving - I'm writing to encourage you about a number of exciting things going on at Christ Proclamation Church. For starters, we had wonderful special Thanksgiving services on Sunday, November 22nd. Our attendance that morning was 135 as I preached on "rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in everything". We then had over 135 that night for a potluck dinner, singing, and an extended share time where we did just that... "rejoiced always, prayed without ceasing, and gave thanks in everything". It was wonderful! We also had a record high 25 ladies attend our monthly Women's Rejoicing and Requesting event. One of the many unbelieving guests is now a regular attender at our Sunday morning service and adult bible study. Please pray that she and the other unbelievers in our midst would see the glory of the gospel and come to faith in Jesus Christ!
Looking forward to a Simple Christmas - We've just finished the book of John and are moving into our special Christmas sermon series this Sunday entitled "Simple Christmas - Clarity in the Midst of Chaos". We've printed out 1,000 postcards that are being personally handed out by our congregation and sent to all the new residents in our area (banner attached). Please pray that many would come to hear the glorious message about Jesus Christ, that the gospel would go forward in power as I preach on Simple Hope (12/13), Simple Peace (12/20), Simple Joy (12/24), and Simple Faith (12/27) this Christmas season. When our eyes are fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ and our faith is grounded in His finished work on the cross, life gets very simple and we're able to have clarity in the midst of the Christmas chaos. Thank you for your prayers!
Prayer Requests
Facility Request - We are outgrowing our current school facility (capacity = 135) and trying to put the details in place to migrate to a larger school facility (capacity = 250) owned by the same company. Please pray that the CREC organization would be excited and helpful in the process. Outreach Focus - We have 1,000 postcards printed for our special Christmas sermon series entitled "Simple Christmas - Clarity in the Midst of Chaos". Please pray that our congregation would be bold to invite and that many would response and attend our Christmas services. Power of the Gospel - At the end of the day, there is only one thing that matters, that God would bless the faithful preaching of His Word that eyes might be opened and hearts might be touched to believe in Jesus. The gospel alone is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). Please pray that many would come to faith in Christ this holiday season. Thank you again for your generous and consistent support of our church planting efforts. We are so grateful for your prayers!!!
Yours in Christ, Steve
Street Evangelism in Brazil
Street Evangelism in Rio de Janeiro
In September, which is the beginning of Spring here in the Southern Hemisphere, our church and a group from Youth with a Mission, went to the street to share the gospel. We wanted to do something creative and at the same time keep the essence of the proclamation of the gospel. We set up a small stand with flowers and we started giving flowers to people and reading small poems about hope to them. That opened up the conversation and that's when we shared about The GREATEST hope, The GREATEST change - Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. It was a great experience. We were in a famous square in our neighborhood. For many of us this was the first time we did this kind of evangelism. We really enjoyed it.
Thank you for your partnership.
Felipe Telles
Igreja Presbiteriana Raizes
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Check out our video from that day!
Ron on the Road: Dublin, Ireland
I have spent the last two days in Dublin Ireland, and am impressed with this city's history and beauty. Ireland is know as the "land of saints and scholars" and yet evangelicals make up less than one percent of the population. Dublin is a city with a deep connection to Catholicism, and yet because of the scandals in recent years, and the growing liberalism very few people attend church.I was able to meet with two pastors of two new church plants who are trying to bring the Gospel into this city. Steve Vaughn (pictured here) leads Christ City Church in the Temple bar area of Dublin. They launched this church nine months ago and meet in a film studio on Sunday mornings. Steve is a bi-vocational pastor, he works at a multi-national tech firm as well as leads Christ City Church. The attenders of Christ City Church range in age of 18-25 years old, they are students and young professionals who live in the city of Dublin. Please keep Steve and his family in your prayers as the faithfully serve in this city.
I also met with Kieron Lynch, Kieron and Mark Smith are planting City Church Dublin. You can learn more about them and their church on this video.
It has been both encouraging and exciting to see what God is doing through these church planters. They both shared many stories of people coming to faith, and lives being changed.
They are also excited to see if their churches can be a catalyst for the beginnings a new church planting movement here in Dublin.
Ron on the Road - London, England
Ron is on the road again, this time his travels have taken him to the United Kingdom. Here's an update from "Ron on the road""This past weekend I was able to participate in the 25th anniversary of Dundonald Church in London England. This church is the home church for the Co-Mission church planting network. Spanish River partners with this church and network to plant churches in the London area.The senior pastor of the Dundonald Church is Richard Coekin, it is through his leadership and vision that they have been able to plant over 16 churches in London. They also have partnered to plant churches in South Africa and Belarus.On Saturday evening we attended a special dinner to celebrate what God has done, and is doing through the efforts of the Co-Mission network.
On Sunday morning we visited Hope Community Church in Sutton. This church is one of the churches that SRC supports financially. Mark Fossey leads this church and is pictured here along with his family.
On Sunday afternoon we met with Jay Mariner, who is planting a church in the Brixton community of London. Brixton is very diverse community that is dominated by an afro-carribean community. Jay's comes from an interesting background where he became a christian while serving time in prison.He and his wife have six children and plan on launching this new church in September of this year.
Please pray for Richard, Mark and Jay and their families has they serve in London"
Prayer Focus: Nathan Riley & Hub City Church, Albany
Wanted to fill you and the SRC family in on some urgent news and prayer requests. This last week has been crazy, this last 12 hours even more so. As you maybe knew, we launched Hub City Church back in January in an old grocery store that we were able to lease. It was a great spot, and after a lot of work it started to feel like home to us. Two weeks ago we were told to vacate because the owner had sold the building... Bummer. So we spent all last week packing moving, cleaning, etc. But God provided, and we were able to relocate to South Albany High School. This last Sunday was our first in this new venue and it was great! It was the most well attended gathering since our launch, and we loved it! As an added bonus, they allowed us to store all of our stuff on sight (no need to trailer anything!). I awoke to a phone call at 5am this morning informing me that a 4-alarm fire had been reported at South Albany High School. The building was leveled and declared a total loss. And 100% of all that we own as a church (sound gear, instruments, kids stuff, hospitality, decor, etc) was completely destroyed in addition to the building where we were planning to host our Easter services. We now have no gear, no venue, and no immediate plan, though we are working on all of this right now. I wanted to send this email in hopes that you and the SRC family could hold us up in prayer. It's been a trying season, and while we believe God is with us it is a rough time.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for the support and prayers.
Peace, Nathan Riley Lead Pastor, Hub City Church Albany, Oregon