October 2008 Rhodes Family Church Planting Update

Dear Family and Friends,

Here we are in month 4 of fundraising and it has been the most challenging and faith building 4 months of our lives. We have grown so much in our faith these last few months and can say with confidence that we are very full of joy! We have seen people come out of the woodwork to support us and we are overwhelmed to say the least. We are steadily moving closer to our goal and closer to the day we can plant our roots in Chico.

We have finally adjusted to life with the mom and work at the Dad at home. The first few weeks were hard, but now Gabriella happily says goodbye to mommy in the morning knowing that she will have her all afternoon to play. Jeremy is bonding very closely with both Gabriella and Josiah and learning so much from the experience. It is amazing that in this “holding” pattern we are in, God is still teaching us things daily and preparing us for the work he has ahead.

We recently attended a Pastors Conference at Hume Lake Christian Camps. It was very uplifting and rejuvenating. We were able to meet a lot of other Pastors in Converge PacWest, which will be our district when we plant. Jeremy shared with them a little about what we are doing and asked them to walk in faith with us and support us.

Many prayers have been answered for us this month. First of all we have pushed past our half waypoint and have under $1,000 left to raise!! In one week we raised $400 more a month!! Another praise is that Gabriella is starting to come out of that “terrible 2 (and 3)” stage. She is learning to listen and obey. She has always been a sweet girl, but she is really starting to take a great turn. All of this just in time for Josiah to enter into it! We also praise God for his financial provision during this time of transition. Our savings has lasted us far longer than we ever thought it would, but that is just how God works!

Our prayer requests are that we raise the additional funds needed. We pray that the churches we met at the conference will commit support to us and that more individuals will as well. We also pray for the people of Chico. We ask that you pray over underground occult activities going on there. We ask that God would continue to prepare us for the journey ahead. And lastly we ask that we use all of this time in Fremont to it’s fullest. We don’t want to waist any of it.

Thank you all. We appreciate you so much. If you have committed support to us please send in your monthly support for October. Remember you can set up automatic bill pay online at www.sunergeo.com/donate and you can also make first time
commitments there. If you have felt God tug at your heart to support us we pray you would take the leap us faith with us and join our team.

Blessings,
Jeremy and Elizabeth Rhodes

Email: pastor.jdr@gmail.com
Total amount to Raise: $2300 /month
Amount Left to Raise: $975/ month

support

We are still in the process of raising support. We are just about half way to the amount at which we can move on the field. I ask that you pray for us as we continue...

Redding and beyond

It has been quite some time since my last post and I do plan on leaving more information concerning vision and values soon.

We spent last Sunday September 7th in Redding @ Bridge Community Church. We were given a few moments to share our vision and then there was a cookout afterward to celebrate their second anniversary as a church. We are thankful to Joel and Leslie Smith for having us up to talk about our vision and passion to plant a church in Chico CA.

Windborn

I will be speaking at Windborn Church on Sunday in Rio Vista CA in both services. After The second service I will be doing a vision presentation for our church plant. I hope to see you there, continue to pray for us as we raise support.

Blessings

InRoads

This past Sunday I was at InRoads Christian Church in Fremont CA. My family and I went to do some fund raising where it all began.
InRoads was the first full-time job I had after college I was the Assistant Pastor for about a year and a half. It was during my time at InRoads that God put a passion for church planting in my heart. It seemed natural that the first Church I would speak at would be in essence my home church. InRoads is so near and dear to my heart because I was an attender before I came on staff. I accualy was a volunteer in a couple of ministries. So I still really think of them with fond memories.
We had some time set aside to talk about the adventure that we have been on and to invite people to come to a reception to hear our vision. Also commitment cards and a flyer were availible at the church as well. Just a handful of people came to the reception but a large number of people just took cards with them. After the service a few people wanted to donate without hearing the vision at all. Paul, my sending agent at Sunergeo, told us that there are a few different types of supporters. People who will support the vision , people who will jump in after the church is up and running to partner once thay see some results and people who will just support you because they believe in you. We met all of those people this weekened and we are blessed by their generosity. Some give prayer, some give equipment and some give monetarily but they all give in service of God and that is the most important thing.

So thank you again to everyone who has committed support but more is needed so continue to lift us up in prayer.

Blessings!

blessed

I am blessed. I know how annoying. Another person blaming dumb luck on God's blessing, no really I am.
You see this time it doesn't make any sense outside of my mental break from reality.
On Sunday August 3rd I preached at a Church in Richmond CA. It was an urban rebirth project within the organization I am apart of Sunergeo. I came in to this church with my family, Josiah was in rare form trying to tear the place down and Gabriella floated in like the princess she is and will always be. I did not think that this morning would change me but it did.
I spoke on love but the message did not move me, the people did. There was not a lot of people, I have spoken to bigger crowds, it was just different.
There are things that cannot be explained. This was one of those times. I left feeling like God had blessed me. It was a feeling, not a moment or an experience, just a feeling that has been with me ever since. I am blessed, enjoying life, smiling as I write this entry. I do not worry about what comes next because God will supply my needs I just walk the road. If I mess up and fail, I start again. No shame, no anger because I am no longer my own. I have finally lost my mind. I am not cool, I am not collected but I have never had greater focus... focus is a powerful thing.

Some people at the church asked me what I am currently doing. Shared that I was a church planter. Most people when they find out they just say wow that is interesting (which means "you are crazy") or how does that work (which means "you are crazy"). The people here said that is quite an adventure (which means "you are crazy") but it is a better way of saying it.

loose ends

Well among our many prayer requests in the current journey one was the need to rent our property in Lodi CA. This was one of the areas that we have said alright God you called us, we need renters.
Once again as always God has provided, we have renters as of September 1st. So on that date we become homeless. Depending on where we are at in our fund raising we will either be moving for a short time to Fremont CA with my wives parents or to Chico CA.

Continue to pray for our fund raising.
Philippians 4:9 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Blessings