First Free Family,

If you’re like me, you’ve had conversations with friends or family about race and justice and “what now?” over the last few weeks. Coming face-to-face with the appalling injustice of the taking of George Floyd’s life and the resulting protests across the country have amplified these issues. There is so much being said at every turn. It’s caused me to consider what the church’s response should be. What does it look like in 2020 to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God (Mic. 6:8)? Elder Chairman Jeff S., Pastor Josh, and I have been talking and we think listening is a critical step. In the next week we’ll be sharing some resources to help us all do that, so watch for that on our blog. The Elders will also be taking time at our next couple meetings to listen and discuss how we can better pursue what our Statement of Faith says: “… to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed.”

Services Update
We are just a couple weeks away from resuming in-person services on Sunday mornings. We are so excited to gather again, and we want to do so safely. The coronavirus is still actively spreading in Sedgwick County, so two of the most effective measures we think we can take to minimize risk of virus transmission in a large gathering is to wear masks and maintain social distance while we’re together. We aren’t sure how long we’ll take these measures, but we’ll continue to watch and respond to the virus levels in our community.

Face Masks: We know no one enjoys wearing a mask (I certainly don’t), but if you are able we are asking everyone age three and up to wear a mask in the building on Sunday mornings. If you won’t do that, we’d ask that you consider joining us online or only attend the 11:15 service. We encourage you to bring your own mask, but if you don’t, we will have some available.

Social Distance: In order to keep attendance balanced so we can effectively spread out in the worship center, we will be doing an RSVP each week for the individual service times. The RSVP will be available online or by calling the church office during office hours and you’ll be able to RSVP starting Tuesday each week for the coming Sunday.

The next two Sundays, our video will be available online by 9am. Beginning June 28, we’ll be livestreaming our 9:30 service and video will be made available afterward. We hope you’ll join us this week as Pastor Mike continues our series on 2 Peter!

COVID-19 Resource Page>>>

Financial Update
June Giving Goal: $233,540
Still Needed to Meet Goal: $171,306
General Fund Giving Last Week: $62,134

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.

Anisa teaches middle school English at Sahel Academy in Niger, West Africa. Sahel is a K-12 international Christian school serving over 140 children of missionaries and non-governmental organizations from 20 different countries. If not at school, Anisa can be found at an orphanage with a box of books and games, teaching Sunday school, or teaching literacy to women. Anisa shares the following requests:

1. Praise God for low numbers of COVID-19 cases in Niger so far! Thank God for the recovery of a student’s mother at Sahel Academy’s from the virus. The country is projected to have a low number of cases, although there is some disagreement about this. Pray for the officials in Niger to have wisdom as they continue to manage the COVID situation.
2. Praise God for Sahel Academy’s successful search for a new director! Ask the Lord to guide him as he begins making decisions about the coming school year.
3. Praise God for a new believer! An air conditioning repairman recently professed faith after listening to God’s Word on an SD card. Pray for this man’s faith to be established and firm in Christ alone.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you,
Pastor Ron