December 2024 Prayer Letter

December 12th, 2024

Prayerletters

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“Praying always…that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel…”

~ Ephesians 6:19 ~

Snow has come and winter has set in here in Corner Brook, and we have seen the Lord work in tremendous ways as we have closed out fall and entered into the Christmas season.

Closing out the fall, our church, once again participated in the Colours of Corner Brook festival where we welcomed almost 8000 visitors from two cruise lines with hot chocolate, treats, and Gospel postcards. Throughout the day, we had great involvement from all of our church members and we had many good interactions with both visitors and locals alike.

We kicked off the Christmas season outreaches with our annual Ladies’ Wreath-making Workshop. This is a free event hosted by our church and we had thirty-two ladies total in attendance with the vast majority of them being first-time attenders from the community! Katie gave a short Christmas-themed Gospel devotional and she did a wonderful job planning and hosting this outreach.

Our biggest outreach of the Christmas season is always the Corner Brook Santa Claus Parade. This year we had a new float design and our goal was to distribute 3700 Gospel along the parade route. Due to snow squalls all week, and even the morning of the parade, the crowds were smaller this year, but our church was still able to pass out around 3000 packets! We are so thankful for the O’Briens coming up from Stephenville to help with the parade and for all of our church people who took part in it!

Another outreach strategy that we are trying this year is “prayer ads” on Facebook that invite people in our area to submit prayer requests directly to the church and we pray for them by name. That submission is followed by a personal invitation to visit our church. We have just launched the ads, but already have had a several good responses.

We continue to be amazed at what God allows our small church to do in our community. We have done more outreach this year than any other year to date, and we are praying that the Lord will use our efforts to open doors of ministry to individuals in our community and see people saved.

Family Updates

Elliot and Kara continue to be involved with the Sea Cadets and have enjoyed some new experiences with the cadets program. Elliot is now considered a senior cadet and has been given opportunities to teach and lead some of the drills.

They both participated in the biathlon competition for western Newfoundland, and Kara placed third in her age group! A highlight of their training opportunities came early in December when they were able to pilot a research vessel in the harbour on a weekend learning trip.

We are so thankful for the children that God has given us. They continue to be a huge asset to us and the ministry here in Corner Brook and much of what we report in our letters is made possible because they jump right in and help with whatever is needed. They both will hit milestone birthdays in the next couple of months (Elliot 16; Kara 13), and we ask you to pray for them that they would prioritize their relationship with God and His will for their lives.

In the middle of December, we will all be flying to Toronto to be with a family in our church whose son will be undergoing a very serious and complicated heart surgery. After the surgery, we will drive down to Ohio to visit my (Matt’s) grandparents and sister for Christmas. Lord willing, we will be back home on December 31. We would covet your prayers for the Locke family at this time, and for safety in our travels. Also, please pray for safety for the O’Briens as they will travel up from Stephenville to cover services for the two Sundays we will be gone.

One other note of interest — our mail service, Canada Post, has been on strike for almost a month now. If you have sent anything by regular USPS, be aware that we will not receive it until this is resolved. If you are planning to mail anything to us, I would advise you to wait or use a different carrier.

Prayer Praises

Many outreach events and opportunities this year, and much Gospel literature distributed

Many ladies attended our wreath-making workshop and were attentive to the Gospel

3000 Gospel packets given out at the Corner Brook Christmas Parade

Prayer Requests

Fruit from the outreaches we have done this fall and winter

For God to open doors of ministry through the Facebook prayer ads

For the Locke family — son’s heart surgery

For safety in our travels

For safety for the O’Briens as they drive to & from Stephenville to cover services in our absence

Thank you to all who continue to uphold us in faithful prayer and financial support. We are truly blessed to be His servants and your representatives to the people of Newfoundland.