It is officially summer! We hope you are doing well and enjoying the warm weather and maybe even a family vacation. At ETM, summer brings additional responsibilities for me with weed eating, mowing, and other maintenance needs around the property. This season has proven especially challenging as we have had 2 well pumps go out - please pray for a speedy resolution! In addition to the property work, I have continued to tweak ETM's new website. You can view it here. On the new site, you'll find an explanation of ETM's ministry, a description of the tools we offer, info on our team members, and a way to give online to ETM and the individual ministries that make up ETM. Check it out - I would be grateful for any of your suggestions/feedback as we continue to make improvements to the site.
At the beginning of June, we hosted the board of ETM for our annual board meeting. It was a joy to catch up with our board members, hear how we can pray for them and share what has been going on in the day to day ministry work here in Robbinsville. The board meeting served as a fresh reminder of just how vast our mission is - to minister to local churches around the world.
The Father has blessed us with many opportunities for ministry work over the past two months, and this season was highlighted by watching our friend and fellow ministry worker Frank Cline become ordained at Robbinsville First Baptist Church (the ordination council is pictured above; you can watch the sermon here). It was a blessing to play a role in his ordination training and his ordinatoin council, and to celebrate the faithfulness of the Lord with Frank and his wife Jasmine.
In addition to Frank's ordination, I have been given the opportunity to train a brother in Christ in Romania for ordination using ETM's ordination training material. We meet over FaceTime each week and will study the entire Scripture to equip him with a firm Biblical foundation as he pursues a life of service in ministry.
At RFBC, the CRAGS youth group has transitioned to the summer schedule, when families travel and we scale our meetings down to one time a week. The teens remain active and I am praying the Lord would lead me in wisdom for how to disciple the teens over the next school year. Sarah has been able to return to some youth meetings as a volunteer leader, thanks to some VERY eager grandparents who babysit Jane for us.
My preaching schedule remains the same at RFBC (you can watch my latest sermon, on marriage, here), and so does our commitment to The Rock Community Church in Ducktown, Tennessee. The church has recently moved to a new location, freeing them debt and positioning them for what could be a fresh start after a difficult year.
Lastly, Sarah and I want to thank you, our supporters, for enabling this ministry to happen. Your support is vital to our ability to serve at ETM, train leaders, and minister to local churches. We thank you for your sacrifice, your prayers, and your intentionality with us. If there are specific ways we can be praying for you, please reach out to me or Sarah. We would love to hear from you!
P.S. - Jane continues to grow - almost 12 weeks old now!
