Baptisms
A few weeks ago, Trevor had the opportunity to baptize a couple that has been a part of our Bible study. He met the couple while working at Peets and built a relationship with them. The couple attends a church in Lake Oswego and the church was having a baptism. The couple really wanted to be baptized at their church but wanted Trevor to baptize them. Coincidentally (or not), Trevor had already met the pastor of their church and shared what we are doing in NE Portland. The pastor invited Trevor to baptize the couple at our church and wanted to pray over us and our ministry in front of the congregation. What a blessing! It is so refreshing and exciting to see churches come together and unite for the Gospel. Trevor was able to baptize the couple and the pastor prayed for what we are doing in NE and that God would bless our ministry.
Thanksgiving
As the holidays approach, we knew we wanted to do something to bless people in our community and reach out to them. We decided to host a Thanksgiving dinner at our home for both of our Bible studies. The encouragement to our friends was to bring someone outside of our Bible study groups. Our apartment is VERY small (as you will see in the pictures below). We had NO clue how we would fit everyone or provide enough food and we had no clue if our friends would even bring anyone! Well, God definitely did a work that night. We fit 26 adults and 5 kids in our living room! Several people brought friends and new relationships were built. We somehow had enough food and even though it was a bit crammed, there's something so good about being cozy and close to people. One of the gals who came with a friend shared that she had never felt so much love and felt so comfortable among people she didn't even know. She said she didn't know what we "had" but she wanted it.
Please pray for the relationships built that night and that God would continue to work in the lives of the people who came.
It was also a blessing because there were people from our "east" side Bible study (in NE Portland) who had never met people from our "west" side Bible study (in Lake Oswego). It was a great opportunity for everyone to meet and come together as one church.
Sunday Church
We are excited to begin Sunday services January 12th! We will have Sunday services once per month with a meal beforehand. We are still deciding on a location. Please pray for provision and clarity for where this service should be held.
Community Groups
As I mentioned above, we have titled the Bible studies our east and west side studies. Trevor is currently teaching both of those. A new group just started in November which is a Bible study for atheists. A young man in our group had the idea from Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together." He invited 5 atheist friends over and they discuss the Bible. We are so excited to see what God does in their lives.
Prayer Requests
-A location to meet on Sundays
-Relationships being built
-That God would continue to work and use us in NE Portland and Lake Oswego
-Praise for the unity of the Church and for all He is doing!
Thanks for reading, love to all!
Julianne
