We want to take just a few seconds out of your busy holiday season to say thanks to you for all that you are doing in partnership with us to see that churches are planted, disciples are made, and leaders are raised up in urban communities of poverty. Because of your faithful prayers and gifts to our ministry, we are able to continue to pursue this God-sized vision in front of us.
As we wrap up another year, we want to share a couple brief examples of how we continue to see God’s hand at work as we expand into new cities here in the Midwest because of your generosity!
In Cleveland, Ohio we have come alongside an urban ministry that effectively reaches out to those in poverty. Their leaders have decided that they would like to start an Evangel School of Urban Church Planting and so they attended our Evangel Dean Training and were certified to be deans of their own school. They recently had their first school and two of our mobilization staff members were able to attend and support them as they coached three church plant teams starting up in Cleveland!
This October Tina (who oversees all of our women’s and men’s leadership retreats nationally) was able to speak at the first-ever women’s retreat in the Bay Area, California! The leader of this retreat is the wife of one of our pastors in Oakland. She helped start our first West Coast retreat that serves LA, Fresno, San Diego and Oakland. However, the drive was too far for many of the Oakland women so she started a Bay Area retreat and we anticipate this will grow and continue to reach more women in this area and likely beyond. This past year, World Impact hosted a total of five women’s retreats (English and Spanish) and four men’s retreats. These are just two of the many examples and amazing stories we could share with you.
Thank you for your prayers for our ministry and our family. Our boys are growing and doing well. Jackson is in fourth grade and enjoys both basketball and soccer and is an avid reader. Justus is in first grade and loves to draw, read and will play on a basketball team for the first time this winter. Caden is 17 months and loves to be read to, wrestle with his brothers and play outside.
Again, you make our ministry possible and we are so thankful for your support!