2015 in Review

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from this goofy bunch!

Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,
The Lord has been exceedingly faithful to us this year.  Here are some of the highlights.

Janet, Frances, and Vernie all graduated from Jobs for Life and found jobs!

Our Jobs for Life ministry helped three long-term unemployed folks develop the confidence and the skills they needed to find and maintain employment. It’s a huge blessing to see men and women find hope in Christ and have him bless their efforts to provide for themselves and their families.

Our new red doors at our downtown location.

The Storehouse moved from its location on Black Road into the lower level of the Calvary Chapel Church in downtown Greeneville!  The new location provides handicap accessible restrooms, paved parking, and climate control, not to mention being in the heart of downtown.

The Mount Moriah Baptist Church mission team!

The Denton Bible mission team, minus Pat Smith, plus Pastor Gary and a couple hard working locals!

In order to get moved into the new location, we hosted mission teams from Denton Bible Church in Denton,
TX, Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC, and First Baptist Church here in Greeneville. We also had a fantastic group of local businesses who donated their time, materials, and professional expertise to help us make the transition.  At every phase of the project, the Lord provided in incredible ways, and it was a humbling process to be a part of.

Our First Thursday Food Distribution

Since we opened at the end of August, we have had more clients coming to see us and more volunteers coming to serve alongside us, evidence that the Lord is continuing to bless this transition.  For example, at our old location our monthly food distribution served on average 50 families per month, and we usually had about twelve volunteers serving.  In November at our new location, we served 98 families and had about 25 volunteers serving, carrying boxes, and praying with those families. It’s been so good to see our volunteers realizing that this ministry is not primarily about meeting physical needs, though that’s important and we certainly do that.  Our ministry provides an opportunity to have conversations with lost and discouraged 

people, and to help them realize that the Lord cares about them personally, about their physical and their spiritual needs.

This year also saw the expansion of Seminary Extension.  Our first class in Greeneville was How to Study the Bible, which was a success, and the students are excited about continuing in the Spring with a study of James, where we will spend a significant amount of time applying the things we learned in class this Fall.

This is the church family at West Hills, plus special guest Ben Proffitt from the Baptist Association on the day of our installation service.

Our newest adventure has been taking on the pastorate at West Hills Baptist Church in Jonesborough, TN. The church is comprised of about 15 senior adults, one of whom is a deacon (elder). The church has been in decline for a very long time, and unless something changes, they will cease to exist in the next couple of years.  But they have a paid for building in a great location.  They have a core group of people who really do love Jesus, but who’ve not had the leadership (pastor) to help them develop an outreach strategy to engage the community around them with the Gospel.  As a part of our efforts to help the church be the Church, we are coming alongside them to provide that pastoral leadership and to help revitalize this local church. We covet your prayers as we seek to develop an outreach strategy that connects to the heart of the community and that senior adults can engage in.  In addition to our ministry at the Storehouse and with Seminary Extension, this will be a large part of our ministry for 2016.

Thank you so much for following along and praying with us.  Your prayers are more important that you can possibly realize in moving the hands of the Lord.  We couldn't be here without you! 

Until the Nets are Full,
Daniel, Meredith, Lily, and Hosea

We pray that you'll look to the Lord's goodness in 2016 with the delight and intensity that these two watch "The First Noel"!