COVID-19 Weekly Update #13
First Free Family,
This week our staff team welcomed our newest pastoral resident, Dirk Jasperse, and his wife Katie. We are so excited for you to have a chance to meet them and didn’t want to wait until we begin in-person services. Here’s a video we recorded right before they moved which has a brief update on the Residency Program and an interview with Dirk and Katie. We also invite you to join us in welcoming them with a gift card shower. Cards need to be addressed to them and can be mailed to the church office, dropped off during the week, or e-cards can be sent to djasperse@firstfreewichita.org. Store suggestions include Dillons, Target, and Barnes & Noble.
We’ll be sharing more about resuming services on Sunday mornings over the next three weeks; this week I want to highlight community groups. Many of our community groups are making the move from Zoom back to in-person meetings. I’ve heard over and over again how much people desire to be with their church family right now and community groups are a great place for meaningful community in a small gathering setting. We’re going to begin another session of Try-A-Group for those of you who aren’t in a community group, but would like to see what it’s all about. Sign-ups are available through June 14 and we hope to have groups ready to go the week of June 22.
Learn More>>>
Our Sunday video will be available online by 9am—we hope you’ll join us as Pastor Dominick starts us off in a series on 2 Peter!
Financial Update
We ended the month of May $47,485 short of our goal.
June Giving Goal: $233,540
General Fund Giving Last Week: $26,544
Missions Partner Highlight
Each week, we’ll be highlighting one of our missions partners in our weekly emails so you can learn more about their ministries and be praying for the gospel to go wide through their work. If you would like to send one of our missions partners a note, please email Pastor Lucas and he’ll connect you.
Dave and Sarah Harder serve with ReachGlobal Asia from Wichita producing videos, sharing stories, mobilizing a new generation for missions, and inspiring prayer through communications with churches and individuals in the US. They help develop ReachGlobal staff by facilitating online trainings, providing resources to grow and expand ongoing ministries, planning and preparing for conferences and events, and developing communications to inform, support, and encourage missionary staff within ReachGlobal Asia. The Harders share the following requests:
- This year will look different for the them. Dave typically travels throughout the US and Asia connecting with ReachGlobal missionaries and gathering content for his work. Ever-changing state and international travel bans have greatly limited the ability to plan ahead. Their organization made the difficult decision to postpone two major missionary conferences. Ask the Lord to guide ReachGlobal and Dave and Sarah as they adjust to these changes.
- Pray for Dave as he completes a project to capture and illustrate stories of past movements of God that have created momentum for current and future work for one of ReachGlobal’s rescheduled conferences.
- Ask the Lord to strengthen and encourage ReachGlobal staff throughout Asia. Pray for God to give wisdom to staff as the region reopens, for soft hearts in those they serve, and for endurance as they labor in the Lord’s harvest field.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you,
Pastor Ron
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