First of all, let me say I am so glad we moved away from the harsh winters of southwest Missouri to balmy Indianapolis! Well, balmy may be an exaggeration. But the fact of the matter is that we have received several inches less snow than you folks in the Ozarks, and our kids have missed zero days of school! Everyone warned us about how much worse the winters would be here. God has a wonderful sense of humor. :)
Overall, things are going pretty well. We have had three preview services in the firehouse, and our last one for 2013 will be this Saturday night. (We are going to have a Christmas candlelight service.) We have had an average of 42 present, with a total of four "unchurched" families in attendance at the three services. We are very thankful for the First Baptist Church of Mooresville and The Church at Avon who have sent people to help seed our services! While we haven't had as much snow as Missouri, we have had plenty and it seems like it always comes on the weekend. This has probably hurt our attendance a little bit, but it's okay. God is good.
Our next step after the holidays is to hold an informational meeting at our home for anyone who would be interested in joining our "launch team" to help HFC continue to progress to the point we are ready to start holding regular services. We are praying some folks that have attended our preview services will be impressed by God to take this next step with us. Please make this your prayer as well!
Looking ahead to 2014, we have scheduled preview services for the third Saturday of January, February, and March. For these services we are going to meet at the Heartland Crossing community clubhouse. We believe this is our ideal meeting place at this point and time, but has previously been unavailable to us due to scheduling conflicts. This building is a well known venue in the heart of our target community, and so we are excited to see what God does with this!
On a personal note, it has been a very busy season for our family. As some of you know, Rachel's grandmother passed away unexpectedly on Thanksgiving weekend. She was a tremendous Christian lady, and will be missed, but we rejoice for we know she is with the Lord. Also, Hannah and Sophie have been in a production of "Narnia the Musical" with Christian Youth Theater in Indy. This required several weeks of practice followed by a total of six shows in four days over the weekend! But it was a neat experience for them. The play was at a local university, and was a high quality production, complete with a live orchestra. As for me, I have begun coaching Levi's Upward basketball team of 5-6 year-old boys. This is going to be a lot of fun!
Rachel and I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! To those in Missouri, we love and miss you. Keep us in your prayers, as we continue to build relationships and spread the gospel. Pray that God will do what only HE can do, and build HIS church!
All for Jesus,
JPH
