I want to start our March email update out by apologizing to those of you who receive our physical prayer newsletters. I aim to get those sent off in the last week of the month, but February is short and I got busy so you are probably just now receiving them. I’m sorry I didn’t get them sent out in time. Thank you so much for praying for us. If you are not receiving a physical newsletter in the mail and would like to please email me and I will get your name on the address list. With that said, here is our March edition of the Ascent prayer team newsletter. We have had a thrilling month with some exciting answers to prayer requests and also some new requests that we would love for you to join us in praying over. Answered Prayers1. We have a location!!! (...probably) The most common question I receive is “where is your church going to be?” and to be honest I really hate that question. I love everyone who asks about Ascent, but everytime someone asks me that question I am reminded that we need a place to meet! At least that’s what we think. This season has been a great reminder that as Christians we don’t go to church, we are the church. With that said, I am so pleased to tentatively announce to you that we have found our meeting place. Our first choice was the Woodward Event Center, but the price was too high for us. However, because nothing is impossible for our God, the Event Center dramatically decreased their price and it looks like we will be able to host our weekly gatherings there for under our initial budget. Praise God!! Thank you guys so much for praying. God is so good to us. We need you to keep praying though. As you might of noticed I said tentatively this is because we are initially just renting the event center for three events in April, May, and June to see if the partnership will work for both sides long term. I don’t currently see any reason why the partnership wouldn’t workout, but we ask that you continue to pray! 2. Launch team meetings We have been meeting weekly with our initial launch team members going over some of our essential beliefs. It has been a wonderful time. We are all really excited about the mission ahead of us. Our last meeting was cancelled due to weather, but the one before that was led by Garrett Olive and he did a great job explaining our heart for missions here at home and across the world. Prayer Requests1. Pray over our announcement You may have noticed that we’ve been under the radar about Ascent on social media so far. This has been intentional on our part so that we could build a solid foundation of prayer team members and an initial launch team. However, the time has come to announce Ascent. This is an exciting time for us! We are hoping to leverage this announcement period the best we can so that we can gain awareness from those in the Woodward area. Please pray that God would use this month to connect us to people who are also called to this mission and/or are completely disengaged from following Jesus. 2. Pray for the right worship leader We are prayerfully seeking someone to lead our church in music. We could put together a band if we needed to, but we are really committed to the idea of excellence. I believe excellence honors God and honors people. In rural areas people often get served with less than exceptional standards. We desperately want to change that. Whenever you see Ascent or come to our gatherings we want you to know that we put thought and effort into providing the best we could possibly be. Will you please pray that we find a worship leader with that same commitment to excellence? We are praying for someone who is talented and has an authentic relationship with the Lord. 3. Pray for our fundraising efforts Last month, I told you our fundraising efforts were going great and we praised the Lord for it. Since then it has come to a halt. This is the roller coaster we call church planting! Ha. I am not discouraged though and I know that God has all of the funds we need to launch a life-giving church in Woodward. Would you pray for renewed confidence and favor in our fundraising efforts? We need both consistent monthly givers and one time donations to make this dream a reality. |