1. Many of you have been praying for little Tommy Swift who was struggling with a lung infection that almost took his life. Today he is doing very well and after a few more weeks in rehab recovering the doctors expect that he will be back to his normal self! Continue to pray for him and his family.

2. 7.22.12 was an historical day for the FRBC family and my family! Dr. Robert Oliver flew in from Texas to preach at my installation service. It was great to see so many faces, new and old worshipping at Lacey Township High School. After that many went back to the church for a luncheon hosted by the Deaconess Committee. The day was perfect and I want to thank all who made it happen. It is so nice to feel the love this community of believers has for one another and the Lord. I believe that the Lord is going to do great things here.

3. “Extreme Church Makeover” that was expected to take close to 6 weeks is 90% finished in 2 weeks! We had 25 volunteers working at all different hours of the day and night to transform the inside of the sanctuary from 1981 with a little 1999 thrown in to 2012! It was so encouraging to see and work alongside so many people that love the Lord and want to make the building we worship in look good for His glory. The last 10% should be finished in the coming weeks.

4. Vacation Bible School was amazing! The Lord brought the children (121 of them), the workers (56 of them) and salvation (to 10 of the children)!!! It was so great to see so many people here at the church each night serving the Lord and the children enjoying their service. Special thanks to Karen and Vince Coletta for heading up VBS.

5. New church van! Well after 12 years with the blue van, 6 years with the white van, 3 years with the mini van we realized that maybe if we put them all together we would have one van that ran (and stopped). The Lord had a better plan and gave us a nice new (to us) 2011 Ford 15 passenger van with 14k miles. The money used was a surplus from 2011/2012 fiscal year. Pastor Steve wasted no time getting to the dealership the first week of July to pick up this gift from the Lord. Although there are many memories attached to the other vans we are blessed to have something safe for the the youth ministries and any other ministry that makes use of this new vehicle.

6. Summer attendance has been the best it has ever been! It seems that the change in the Sunday schedule has been positive for consistency and growth in our church. And as I was praying it has also helped children’s Sunday School. Last years July average was 12 children, this year is 30 students! Not only that… a few Sundays ago we had 36 students which is the highest children’s Sunday School attendance in 18 months!! (possibly longer but i got tired of looking back)

7. Our staff is doing great!! Pastor Steve has been working hard and seeing many students remain consistent through the summer months. Our Administrative Assistant Ryan is doing great with all the tasks we have him juggle on a daily basis. He has also kept us all up to date with the technological advances to keep us more effective for ministry.

I am thankful that the Lord Jesus has been blessing us but with that being said I do not want us to become complacent. There are many people in our fellowship that are hurting and need prayer and care. There are people in this community that need Jesus. They also need loving and compassionate people to help them with their problems.

Some general prayer needs…

1. Lacey Day is August 11th and we will have a booth there (noon to 5pm). Pray that through this opportunity we would make connections with people who need Jesus. If you can come and help please contact the office.

2. Pray for me as I map out the Fall and Christmas preaching schedule.

3. Pray for all the ministries that will kick off in the Fall.

4. Pray for the new membership material I am preparing to be released in Fall.

5. Pray for the start of new Community Groups in the Fall. We need hosts and people that are willing to attend. (More info coming soon on this)