March 30th

Ed Winegar is an elder at our sister church, Current, and one of our Trustees at C3, which means he has poured himself into a lot of the decisions that have we have made so far in this planting adventure. I just received word that Ed's father passed away last night- I hope you'll join me in praying for this family as they deal with the pain that comes from loss and separation.

Thank you so much,

Jeff

Hey there!

I know- it's been a LONG time! The gang at C3 have been keeping busy over the past few months with new stuff for Kids Crossing, our very first family camp, and 3 new small groups!

But elaborating on those things will have to wait for another post. My reason for writing today is to ask you to pray for the co-worker of one of our great volunteers, Judi. This is her request:

My colleague, Jack Parker, was rushed to the hospital this morning and was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. He is in very critical condition. Jack is one of those guys that you just can't help but love. He is near and dear to everyone at Legacy. Please pray for his recovery. The next 24-48 hours are critical. Also pray for all of us who have been in contact with him over the past week.

I will update when I get news. In the meantime, thank you for praying!

In Him,

Jeff

March 9th

Thank you all so much for praying for our friends who are adopting four beautiful children from Haiti. Rose, Wally, Steve and Lily are all at home in Findlay, OH with Mark and Kim now! Even more amazing, all the children who were waiting to be processed at the embassy have been cleared and are with their adoptive families. What an amazing praise!

On a different note, I hope you will join us in praying for some of our good friends from Grace Christian Church- Danny and Betty Reed. Danny's health has been deteriorating and Betty is his primary care giver. Please pray with us that strength and peace will continue to flood the Reed house.

And finally, we are rejoicing that as Easter Sunday approaches, C3 will be celebrating our first birthday since we held our "public launch"! We are all very excited about this milestone in our young church's history, and look forward to where our great God is taking us from here. We would be honored if you would join us in praising Him for bringing us this far, and pray with us that Convergence Christian Church will continue to follow in His steps.

Thank you so very much for partnering with us in prayer!

In Him We Live,

Jeff

Feb. 1st

Hey there!

Just a quick note to update you on the progress of our friends, Mark and Kim Kintner.

I mentioned in our Jan. 20th post that for the last three years, they have been in the process of adopting four children from Haiti. Not long after the earthquake, Kim was able to get into the country to help at the orphanage where the children are. This was welcomed assistance, as many of the regular workers are Haitian, and left after the quake to search for their families.

In the midst of the multiple aftershocks, many of the buildings in the orphanage and at the Lashbrook mission were damaged beyond repair. They have been forced to demolish both the school and the church building, so continued prayer is needed as they seek to rebuild. The damage to dwellings also meant that the children were living outside under tarps.

At the time of the earthquake, there were 41 children who were in various stages of the adoption process at the orphanage. These children, along with the adoptive parents like Kim who were able to make the trip, traveled 150 miles by bus on Jan. 30th to the embassy in Haiti to have all their paperwork processed for the trip to the U.S. The trip was very long, but they arrived and were able to set up camp inside the embassy grounds, which is a much safer environment than the rest of Port Au Prince is currently experiencing.

At this point, I know that five of the children have been processed and released to be reunited with there adoptive parents in the states. Mark, who has been working tirelessly stateside filing papers and fighting for their release, traveled to Miami today to await what he is praying will be a timely reunion with Kim, Steve, Lily, Wally, and Rose.

Please join us in praying that the prime minister will be moved to expedience in signing the papers that will officially allow all 36 children who remain at the embassy permission to come home. And please join us in praying for the Lashbrook family, who remain in Haiti, ministering with the people there, and for the other children. The 41 kids who may be united with new families soon represent just a part of the group who live at the orphanage- they all need families.

Thank you for partnering with us in prayer- God is faithful, and can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine!

In Him we live,

Jeff

Jan. 20th

Prayer partners,

Thanks for stopping in! As we begin this week, Haiti is a central focus of prayer for everyone who believes that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

I'd also like to ask you to join us in praying for the sale of Randy's house. It has been empty for a while, which has attracted the attention of some vandals. Thus far, all damage has been repairable, but he would really like to see it become a home again to someone.

I often have prayer requests shared with me that are of a more private nature. This week, I have two such requests, and I hope you will join me in praying for God's will to be done in the lives of these people. One of the amazing and wonderful aspects of prayer is that we don't need to have details in order to bring something to our Creator- He knows already!

Finally, please join us in praying for Mark and Kim. They are good friends from Ohio who have been in the process of adopting 4 beautiful children from Haiti for the past three years. In the aftermath of the recent earthquake, governments have made some decisions that may very well allow Mark and Kim to finally bring their kids home. Kim works with a university campus house in Ohio that is sending herself and a team to Haiti to bring supplies and support to the mission/orphanage while Mark continues to fight state-side to secure all the appropriate approvals to bring the children into the U.S. Please pray for safety and for open doors!

Thank you for partnering with us in prayer!

In Him we live,

Jeff

Jan. 12th

Hey there!

Thanks for stopping by! Things at C3 have been pretty busy for the past month or so, and I would like to catch you up on some of the "love, live, serve" news:

Memorial Parkway Jr. High has turned out to be a fantastic place to meet- the school district has been extremely gracious hosts and having a space like their "mini" auditorium has allowed us room to grow while still being able to maintain a more cozy atmosphere than a typical school "cafetorium" setup allows. I am always hesitant to throw out numbers, because they don't give the whole story, but I will say that Convergence has experienced what I think would be considered healthy numerical growth since our move into the school. Our Christmas Eve gathering was the most folks we've so far assembled together for corporate worship, and it was a wonderful time! I hope you'll join us in praising God for this blessing, because it's all about what He's done!

But growth happens in more ways than numbers, and one of the most exciting things we've gotten to see this Fall has been the beginning of Taste of Community groups for both our adults and our high schoolers. The goal is to provide more opportunities for people to get to know each other, grow and live in community. Our format is a twist on the traditional idea of home groups, and frankly I wasn't sure how folks would respond to this "experiment," but so far the response has been very positive. Currently we have about 60% of our adults participating in a T.O.C. group, and hope to introduce new options by Spring.

The most consistently unexpected and amazing part of C3 has been our children's ministry, Kids Crossing. Keeping up with the needs of this group on Sunday mornings has been a challenge, because we consistently have almost as many kiddos as adults! But what a reason to praise God! He has taken care of us and has provided some great organizational leadership in Kerri, and a crew of amazing servant-volunteers.

I hope you will join us in praising God for what He's already done, and praying with us that we will be attentive and open to His leading for Convergence Christian Church in 2010.

Thank you, thank you, for partnering in prayer with us!

In Him we live,

Jeff

December 1st

Halloooo! Glad you stopped by!

First, many thanks for your prayers for me as I preached at Memorial C.C. a few weeks ago- we had a great time together unpacking God's Word!

This past week, C3 had our first "Family Sunday," and it was a blast! Our kiddos stayed with us the whole time as we sang, read a great story (thanks Kerri!) partnered up for a group activity and looked at why Isaiah called Jesus "Wonderful Counselor." It was a treat to see what can happen when we are together all morning as a multi-generational community. Our next Family Sunday will be the on December 27th- Please join us in praying about it!

One of our other big praises this past month was the completion of another fence project. This one was for a single mom who has two younger children. Her home backs up to a "greenbelt," which is essentially a long, open strip of undeveloped land that often facilitates utilities or drainage for a neighborhood. Although the majority of her far back fence was missing, there were new posts already set. This made it possible for us to finish the entire fencing repair in a just a couple of hours.

Jobs like this aren't complicated, but they are labor-intensive and can seem overwhelming if you are facing them by yourself. There are many people in our communities that feel like they don't have anyone to turn to for help. As His people, we all have amazing opportunities to show the love of Christ in practical ways. I hope you will pray with us for new openings to serve the world!

Finally, please pray for our friend, Kim P. She is in the hospital as the doctors try to deal with excessive fluid around her heart. These terrific doctors need the wisdom of the Great Physician.

In Him we live,

Jeff