Without prayer, ministering for 60 years in rural North America would have been impossible.

Now, as we celebrate sixty years of serving rural communities, we are asking for renewed prayer.   We believe it is vitally important we put an increasing emphasis on intercessory prayer on behalf of…

1. The people who live in each community Village Missions serves
2. Each Village Missionary and their families
3. The nations in which we serve – Canada and the United States
4. The board and leaders of Village Missions

Please join us in prayer.  You can sign up today to receive regular prayer updates.

Seabeck was originally a mill town – the mill closed years ago and the town has become a bedroom community for Silverdale/Bremerton/Seattle areas. We have beautiful views of the Olympic Mountains and Hood Canal.

We appreciate prayers for wisdom in reaching our community with the love of Christ. We praise the Lord for new members joining the church, and for young people getting involved in serving. We are thankful for a wonderful sense of unity in our church and pray for the working of God to continue to grow.

Thank you for the prayers, encouragement, and financial gifts that have come our way in the midst of the Mission’s recent challenges.

Praise the Lord for a wonderful spirit of unity among the Board. Their meeting last week was a time of prayerful and sober deliberation of issues the Mission is facing. Please continue to pray as we seek the Lord in these matters.

Please pray for our Benefit Dinner this Friday evening in Dallas, Oregon. Mac and Julie McCallum from Helix, Oregon, will be featured as we celebrate “Building Together the Kingdom of God.”

Thank you for praying!

Pray for us as we continue to build trust and establish relationships here in Lind. Pray for opportunities to share the gospel and that we would open our mouths to speak lovingly and boldly. We are thankful for new families and people that have begun to attend services and contribute to the life of the church. Pray that the Word of God would run swiftly and that Jesus would be lifted up in all we do. Pray for our involvement in the school as we are able to volunteer quite a bit. Pray that our lights would shine there and bring glory to our Father in heaven. Pray that God will strengthen His church here spiritually and that we will be ready for every good work. Pray that our love would abound still more and more towards each other in the church and towards those outside the church.

Please be in prayer as the U.S. Board begins meeting this morning. Several challenging topics are scheduled to be addressed.

The financial difficulties of our self-funded health plan and its effect on operations. The Board will be meeting with the Benefit Board and a consultant via conference call to discuss what to do with our plan, which is currently $643,773 in deficit for the fiscal year due to several serious health problems that our missionaries have experienced. We self-insure our missionaries-thus we must cover any losses in the plan.

As part of our commitment to accountability, Village Missions is being reviewed in its practices and policies by the Association of North American Missions. Recently, three of our Village Missionary couples received recognition at the ANAM Leadership Forum. Pictures can be found here and here.

Budget approval for 2012-2013 fiscal year (July-June).

Leadership training: Board member Dr. B. Wayne Hopkins and his committee will be presenting a proposal for encouraging leadership training and developing Bible schools at churches served by Village Missions.
Strategic Planning-friend of Village Missions Art Lorenzini has been studying Village Missions for about a year since he and I met at the East Bay Barnabas Group meeting. He will be presenting his findings at this meeting.

As you can see, it is a full agenda. Please pray for great wisdom and for board chair Glen Hanson as he directs the meeting.

Thank you for praying!

If you would like to see pictures of Snug Harbour, ON, click on this link. Brian and Carole and several Canada board members recently visited this field April 15 after the semi-annual board meeting for Village Missions Canada.

Please be in prayer for the upcoming U.S. board meeting. Several important areas will be covered during this meeting:

1. The Budget. The Village Missions’ fiscal year runs from July-June. Our operating fund, as well as our self-funded health plan, has been in a significant deficit, so the board will have to make several difficult decisions regarding the budget. Please pray for wisdom! Because the vast majority of our spending is directed toward the benefit of Village Missionaries, almost any change we make will directly effect Village Missionaries.
2. The Association of North American Missions is conducting its first five-year review of Village Missions as part of its accountability function. Missionaries and office staff have been surveyed and we had to answer a comprehensive questionnaire about our policies and practices. Findings will be reviewed during our meeting.
3. A proposal on promoting leadership development and training of future Village Missionaries in our churches will be brought before the board.
4. A consultant who has been working with Village Missions regarding strategic planning will be presenting his findings.
As you can see, it is a full agenda. Again, please pray for great wisdom.

Thank you for praying!

Coming here just over 8 months ago, we are grateful for the faithful leadership and very supportive congregation. They are all gracious, giving people who are eager to have sound Bible teaching continue. Please pray for: wisdom for the leadership as members start a new ministry at the Union Gospel Mission, our Women’s Bible Study continues its second study; as decisions are made to enhance our music ministry, and as we look at the re-start of our youth ministry.

Please pray for several Village Missionaries who are battling cancer. They are undergoing surgery and facing rounds of chemo and radiation. Please pray for strength to undergo treatments, a good witness to doctors and nurses, and complete healing.

Please pray for Brian Wechsler as he is sharing at the RHMA 2012 Small-Town Pastors’ Conference in Morton, Illinois. Brian will be teaching two seminars at this conference: “Preaching the Word and loving the People” and “The Expectation Trap: Dealing with Legitimate and Not-So-Legitimate Expectations.”

Thank you for praying for the Leadership Forum of ANAM (Association of North American Missions) which met last week in Branson, MO. ANAM honored three of our couples. J.Q. and Carolyn Hunter received the Lifetime Commitment Award, Larry and Kathy Shetenhelm received the Missionary of the Year Award, and Phil and Valorie Rownd received the New Horizons Award. The awards were a testimony to the wonderful ways that the Lord Jesus Christ can work in and through His available servants. The testimonies were a blessing to all in attendance. More pictures coming soon!

Larry and Kathy Shetenhelm receive the Missionary of The Year award from Doug Clark, Executive Director of ANAM, as Brian Wechsler looks on.

Our church is small and mostly older people, but they are people who love each other and love the Lord. We praise the Lord for the faithful older people in our congregation and for the example they set in following the Lord. Pray that God will lead us to the people He would have us speak to about the Lord, and that we will be faithful in following His leading. Pray that our little church will grow and be a beacon of hope in our community.