November Update

Dear friends and supporters,

 As I look back on the last several months, my heart is filled with gratitude and joy, mixed with immense sorrow and heartache. They have been some of the hardest in our short ministry. Just a few weeks after our home church discovered deep sin in one of its staff, we loaded up our trailers and trucks and headed out for the 2 month Cottage Cove trip we were preparing for in our last letter. Our hearts were torn between the church family and the pain they were enduring and the clear call that we received to assist the dear ministers at Cottage Cove. As we look back, we can testify of our God’s faithfully strong hand providing for, healing, and guiding each step of the way! The weeks were filled with one team after another bringing the force needed to complete the task. As we uncovered extensive termite damage, the initial plans of a more simple renovation turned into a complete demolition and rebuilding of 1/3 of the Cove facility! However GOD PROVIDED. He allowed this all to be finished in the original amount of time along with His abundantly providing $15,000 extra funds needed! Only by God’s hand could this mountain of hindrances be moved showing His glory to all who entered that building! And did I mention that all the while we still had all of the children and the ministry of Cottage Cove functioning every day? The boys were able to jump in with the programming while Meg served in the kitchen making meals for the 30 children, as well as all the volunteers, all of this with Elsie playing at her feet and Faith as her constant helper. Even in the kitchen we saw God provide beautiful sisters in Christ eager to ease the load each week as it was needed. He also provided a part time church family, Faith Church, where God refreshed, challenged, and blessed us beyond measure in our time away from Alpine. We often say that it is our desire as a ministry to join God where He is already working and Cottage Cove Urban Ministries is one of such place.

One of the many teams this summer...for more pics find Steppin-Out Missions on Facebook!

As our time in Nashville drew to a close we knew that the Lord was leading us to return home and do our best to refresh the saints and be refreshed as our hearts were still heavy. We and our church family were reeling from the effects of the sin that was uncovered and all of the ramifications that accompany such a devastation. So over the last few months we have stayed close to home and serve our local church. We have done several projects including the siding of our own home which was in desperate need of repair, and several projects in the Alpine family. We have been meeting with families and individuals from the church, preaching on occasion, and initiating a new Domestic Disaster Response initiative for SOM that includes a mobile trailer to provide a headquarters and equipment storage so that we can quickly respond to future needs. 

On November 14th I will be taking a team of 25 people down to Casa Bernabe Orphanage in Guatemala again where we will be assisting the staff and ministry with a myriad of projects and needs as we have done now for the last 6 years. It is always a blessing to return to a familiar location but this year has an added blessing, I will have the privilege of taking my 8 year old son Jonathan! I am so blessed as a dad to have this chance to lead my son in service to our Heavenly Father. Please pray with us the Lord might continue His great work in Jonathan’s life as well as our own and all families in covenant with God that we would love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and souls, and minds, and strength! As the U.S. approaches a heated election we realize that those words put into practice are the ONLY hope for this nation or the world!

Now we ask that you join us in prayer as we seek clear direction from the Lord for 2013!  Here are some of the projects asking for our assistance: 

• Building of jungle churches in Liberia, West Africa; 

• A possible return to a work started several years ago in Bolivia at Monte Blanco; 

• a major project in New Jersey with a Hatian church plant; 

• A final phase of renovation at Cottage Cove;

• Deployment if and when another national disaster occurs here in the USA or abroad.

Finally, we can never thank you enough for your sensitivity to God’s leading in partnering with us. We do not report all of this to prove how busy we are. We pray that we would never be consumed by looking busy! We report in hopes that our mighty God might be praised and that your faith would be strengthened in the miraculous works He continues even in this age.  If you would like to give to the orphanage project or be involved in any way in future projects please let us hear from you!  We also pray for YOU that you will persevere and that you will see how vital you are in the body of Christ whether with us or in your hometown! Thank you for your love and the way you strengthen us. We cherish you our dear brothers and sisters!