Published September 27, 2016
Community Bible Chapel, Cooperstown, New York
Noah
Ministry Highlights
This past month we kicked off youth group for this school year, and we have had a good group each week so far in September. We have tried a teacher rotation for the first time (in my five years here), and it started out a little bit bumpy but seems to be working well now.
The annual golf tournament that is done in our area to support Child Evangelism Fellowship was this past month and we had two foursomes go, and it was a great time of fellowship and learning about what CEF is doing in our area and how we can pray and get involved.
I started teaching a series in the adult Sunday school class this past month, and the feedback on how it is going is very encouraging.
Key Prayer Requests
AWANA begins this coming month, so pray for people in new ministry positions and for kids to come out to have fun and be impacted by the gospel.
Pray for the training and preparations for the missions trip that I am leading to Costa Rica in February 2017.
As I continue to teach in our Adult Sunday school class, please pray for time to prepare and effectiveness to help make the concepts of Scripture practically connect to where the people of our church are at.
Continual adjustments to going from one child to two at home.
Prominent Lessons
Sometimes you need to close your door, disconnect the phone and just get some work done that needs to be done. It always seems like this month is the busiest because of all the ministry starting up again for the school year but this month there were several days where I needed to shut the door and focus until I got a specific task done.
As I seek to help parents disciple their children to be more Christ-like I need to make sure that I am keeping all lines of communication open to allow the parents to let me know what they are thinking. This means that sometimes when a parent isn’t sure what to do I need to help them see the options and even pray through it with them to help them make the choice that they think is best for their child.
Key Goals for the Next Month
I would like to wrap up the series in the adult Sunday school class in the month of October, but I also don’t want to skip anything that might be important for the class to discuss and think through.
Skype this month with the missionary that we are going to be going down to Costa Rica to help out on our missions trip in February.
I would like to finish up writing the curriculum (for the adult Sunday school class and youth group) this month so that way I can prepare for my ordination next month.
Marlie
Ministry Highlights
Start up of youth group.
Training and meeting with the AWANA leaders.
Key Prayer Requests
Continued adjustment to being a family of four and communication between Noah and I.
Prominent Lessons
I think that I am continuing to learn that ministry has many different facets. Though sometimes I feel like I’m missing out on doing “ministry” with a new baby, I’ve been challenged to remember that being a mom is the main ministry that God has placed me in at this time. And even though it is different than the ministry I was involved in before kids, it is just as important.
Key Goals for the Next Month
More consistency in devotions.
Endurance for the “newborn”/less sleep phase.
