Dear Church,
I usually send a letter every month, but this letter includes May through June. So much has happened and I will try to fit in as much as possible. We are doing very well and praising the Lord for a busy productive two months as well as faithful prayer and financial support from your church! Galatians 6:9 says: And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. What a great promise, but also a very big “IF!” IF we faint not! Let’s keep going!
There is no indication whatsoever that we will get a building any time soon, in fact; we were given a deadline of September to move out. With that door closed, the Lord opened an opportunity to rent a hotel conference room at a great price! I requested several things from the manager when we met, and he agreed to them all. We get 3 lighted signs, a storage closet at the hotel, we can park a trailer in the parking lot through the week, baptize in the pool, and hold our revival meeting there from July 9th – 13th. In my opinion, the location is the best we could possibly hope for in Clatsop County. God is working mightily, and we are so thankful for HIS provision!
With this new door opened, I quicky found an 8 ½ x 16-foot trailer we could store our church equipment in and park at the hotel. Trailers are in short supply and hold their value. The cost of this trailer “out the door” was $11,171. We would love to put a large sign on it which will have great visibility from the busy road. All of this is an unexpected but necessary expense which will serve both as storage and advertisement. Pray the Lord protects this large investment from theft and vandalism. Originally our plan was to be in a storefront by now, but that opportunity never materialized, and this option seems to be best. There are several more expenses involved in this move. We must reprint our material with the updated address, create a banner behind the pulpit, and get an anti-theft boot for the trailer. There will also be extra expenses with our revival services.
If you are willing to hand out material and evangelize the area, we could use the help before and during our revival this year. The special meetings will help us draw attention to our new location and help set the pace for the coming year. Pray with us for souls to be saved and Christians to be more dedicated. We are pleased to see spiritual growth in the people who have trusted Christ earlier this year. A few weeks ago in church, a man spoke up and gave a great testimony which was a blessing to all of us! Last Sunday we were visited by a young man working with the Coast Guard who moved to Astoria and comes from a Baptist Church. He shared his desire to be very involved in the church and said he will attend every chance he gets. This momentum is very encouraging, and we hope it will continue building during the revival and through this year.
Please pray for our financial support to remain strong as we work to become self-supporting at Anchor Baptist Church. I believe we will reach this milestone, but I don’t know when the plowing and sowing will give way to reaping and the church will be self-sustaining. We are very grateful for your sacrifice and financial giving to provide a place of worship to those in Astoria!