First, let me apologize for such a long time between blogs. Admittedly, the blog thing is still relatively new to me and I am yet trying to catch a rhythm for blogging on a regular basis.
Secondly, let me thank you for your continued prayers and support as continue to follow God's calling in our move to Hilo.
Many things have happened since last I wrote. We continue at BCM to hold our weekly worship times, free lunch and coffee house ministry. All of these are going very well. We have fed over 70 students at free lunch for the last three weeks and are seeing about 25-30 students each week for worship and Bible study. Currently, I am preaching through 1 John. We've been at it for about eight weeks and we're only in chapter 2. This week I am preaching on verses 15-17 of chapter 2, and my time studying God's word for this week has been rich and also convicting. God's word is sharper than any two edged sword and I feel like my soul bears the marks of an encounter with such an instrument. While it sounds as though I have been wounded, the truth of the matter is that I have been operated on by a skillful surgeon, delicately removing latent areas of blindness and disobedience that would otherwise cause great damage down the road.
But beyond this, we have had other great things happening at BCM. Last Tuesday we held our annual BCM Thanksgiving dinner. While I failed to get an exact count, I know we fed at least 70 students with the great help of many local churches. Pastors and church members alike brought turkeys, hams, potatoes, yams and more pies than any of our waistlines deserved.
Then, this past Saturday, we had a work day at the BCM to paint the interior of the building and clear out some overgrown grass in a field we have across from our parking lot. We had six men from local churches and over fifteen students show up to help that day, and what a great difference it has made!
As we near the end of this semester, and our families first semester in this position, I would like to ask for your prayers in the following areas:
- Wisdom from God in how to move forward in moving our weekly worship service on-campus.
- Ways for us to begin to more intentionally reach out to international and national exchange students.
- Better management of time so that Nikkie and I can be with more students in one-on-one discipling relationships.
- More opportunity to share Christ with non-believers.
- I will be preaching at a local church this Sunday, December 5th. Pray that God will speak through me and that His Word will challenge the members there in the area of "being on mission".
Thank you all for your love and support. I hope to do a better job of keeping you all in the loop more regularly.
Aloha,
Stephen, Nikkie, and Abigail
