Happy (almost) Thanksgiving!! I was reading in Psalm 105 this morning, and Verse 1 says, “O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.” He truly has been good! What I love about writing letters like this is knowing that He is the One doing wonders here, and we stand amazed watching it happen! He has truly blessed us during this time, and I am excited to share with all of you a bit of what is going on.
Eight months ago, we started our COVID lockdown. Even now, we have nightly curfews and a whole host of other restrictions, but we are finally starting to see the light at the end of this tunnel. Starting this month, we are legally allowed to meet again as a church, and it has been amazing to open the doors to the public again. We had been meeting with 50-60 of our faithful people behind closed doors, but to open up and let new people in has been wonderful to see.
Thank you so much to so many of you who have helped us with our food drive. We are going on six months now of being able to welcome people through our doors every week, and the results have been incredible. Our goal was not just strictly evangelistic; we wanted to create “repeat customers.” We wanted people to come back week after week, not just to receive Christ, but also to find a home in our church and grow in Him.
We are currently up to 300-350 food packets a week given out, and we witness to every first-time visitor that comes through the door. We have been able to give out over 6,000 food packets and have likely seen well over 1,500 people saved, but my favorite part is watching the change in the people. We have many who used to come to receive food who now are here week after week, helping to give and serve others. We have seen the poorest of poor families show up with giant sacks of sugar to pass out to others. We have seen life knock our people down, and yet they show up the next week with huge smiles on their faces, ready to serve their Jesus.
This past week, we had our first public services, and we had more than 35 visitors between the three Sunday services, most of whom had been reached through food giveaways. As the COVID scare dies down, we are looking forward to watching God bring more and more of those who have been reached throughout this time.
We stand in awe at how God builds His work. We are currently up to 15 weekly virtual Bible studies, and watching the personal growth in so many humbles us. We’ve had members start virtual Bible studies with extended families, families give time and time again to those in need, and a church that has had to become fully focused on Christ, which is exactly what He wanted all along.
Thanks so much for your love and prayers. Heather and Joseph are doing great. It’s amazing watching her be a mom and getting to experience every special moment together.
God bless you all! Let us know how we can pray for you all as well. Thanks for the honor of serving side by side.
Josh Hedderman
