Missionary Update                February 2005 Newsletter

 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,

"plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." - Jer. 29:11

 

"God's voice thunders in marvelous ways;

He does great things beyond our understanding." - Job 37:5

 

Dear Friends,

 

Thank you so much for your faithful support of us in our ministry here in the NW mountains of Colorado. As we have said many times before..."we could not carry on this ministry at South Routt Bible Church without your involvement through prayer, support, and encouragement!"

 

We rejoice that things are going well at SRBC. In January, our "Growing Kid's God's Way" Class and Youth Croup got into full swing. We have 10 couples attending the the "Growing Kids" class. The class is really meeting the needs of our people and drawing them together in friendship. Most of the couples involved have not been Christians very long and grew up in broken or dysfunctional homes. They know that they want to raise their kids "differently" and are enjoying being taught how to apply Christian principles to child raising. One lady was able to see her unsaved husband attend 1 class. We are praying for his salvation. Another couple and unmarried mom come to the class but do not attend our church (and may not be Christians). The class is reaching out to our community as well.

 

The enthusiasm in our young Youth Group is contagious! We have 8 kids that attend regularly. All are mostly young teens ...so we have many more years to work with them. We meet on Sunday nights in our home and the kids enjoy just being together, having fun, and learning principles from God's Word. Tom has enjoyed getting out his youth group material from years back and morphing into a Youth Pastor once again.

 

As you pray for us and our ministry this month, we would ask you to pray for the following things:

  • Salvation & growth of several husbands (Gary, Jason, Chuck & Travis) of wives who attend our church.

  • Reaching more from the community in our Growing Kids Class, AWANA, and Youth Group.

  • For continued growth and training of potential leaders in the Church.

  • For the congregation as we seek to reach new neighborhoods being built in Stagecoach & Oak Creek.

  • For Tom as he continues to handle the estate of his parents, works a part-time job & takes on the role of Youth Pastor.

  • For Kim as she recently started babysitting 3 children full-time (for a family in our church).

  • For HOUSING: Two weeks ago we opted out of the government program called "Hands On Housing" because they were not able to offer what they promised. Their new offer consisted of a small home on a very small lot with all electric heat, no garage, and no driveway. It would have been more like "Condo" living for $150,000. We felt that this was not the right direction for us. One week later, we received a phone call from our current landlord and she told us that she would like to place our house back on the market. (She wants $227,000), This has put us in limbo once again. Please pray for us to have wisdom and that God would show us what He wants us to do. We are heading in the direction of finding land to build on.

The above verses have encouraged us and given us peace during this exciting but uncertain time. We hope they encourage you, too. We rest in the fact that God does 'great things beyond our understanding' .

 

                                                                        In His Service,

 

                                                                        Tom and Kim Harves