Dear Church Family and Friends,

Summertime is a season when most folks break with the regular routines of life and do
something different, new, and exciting. One of the exciting things that happened this summer was
the new emphasis on missions that I see growing within our congregation. The new theme for this
fall to be placed on the weekly bulletin is God’s People on God’s Mission. It has been my
experience that missional churches are healthy and growing churches. They are looking to reach
persons outside the walls of the church. It has been exciting to see the zeal of Tom Kumpel for
Children of Promise Ministries. Our church responded by praying for Tom as he traveled with Dr.
Maxfield and by stepping out individually to sponsor children through the Children of Promise
program. In the 2009 calendar year our congregation gave over $15,000 to Children of Promise
through sponsorship, the Sunday School offering, and the mosquito net donations at VBS. Through
your generosity, lives are being blessed, and the love of Christ is being made visible for the world to
see. This year we continued to donate the Sunday School Collection and sponsor children. We
also donated over $900 toward mosquito nets for sponsored children in Tanzania. The guys from
Bancroft —Ernie, Gilley, and Richard— raised over $70 at Birch House to share in our effort to get
nets for all sponsored children. That is exciting stuff!
The Church of God Movement will be having its first Children of Promise Sunday on
September 19th. In honor of that emphasis, our morning message will be coming from Tom Kumpel.
He will also be sharing a special slide show the following Wednesday (9/22) as he tells us about how
the Lord was at work during his last trip to Egypt and Lebanon. There will be time for some
questions as well.
By the time you read this, Don and Mike will have gone to Haiti to help build homes for
families that have lost everything due to the tragic earthquake on the island. Through your
generosity, and three weeks of love offering envelopes, you contributed $1,354.00 to share in the
costs of this mission trip. In October we will be hearing from Don and Mike on a Wednesday
evening as they share their experiences and the blessings that the Lord brought to pass as a result
of your prayers and support.
I hope this adds to your excitement this summer. It has certainly been a source of blessing to
me. We cannot all go on a mission trip overseas, but we can undertake a very important missionary
effort in our own corner of the world. We can do this by sharing the love of Jesus with our neighbors
and co-workers. The claiming of our identity as missionaries for Jesus is a vital part of being all that
God wants His People to be.

In His Steps,

Pastor Bill Dilks