December Update

Stukeley Update December 2006

Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,

Time has flown by so fast that we don’t remember the last up date. Here is a summary:

October: Paul , Jepye, and Bob Murff traveled to Paris for the Annual IBC Convention. It was the best one in my recent memory. The Bible Study by Ian Coffey was great, the music by Scott Sontag was very good and worshipful, the business sessions were out standing and the great thing was the spirit of partnership that we felt. We got to see a lot of old friends and we made some new ones. It makes me feel old when I realize that I own ties that are older than some of the pastors. It is great to see so many young men leading IBC Churches. Jepye and I have taken on some responsibilities in the convention. Jepye is the Missions Ministry Team Leader and I am the Church Development Ministry Team Leader. Our leadership will touch almost every aspect of convention life so pray for us.
November: We had Jepye’s sister and her husband; Ann and Calvin Cloud, from the Atlanta area come for a three week visit. We had a great time with them. It was their first visit to Europe, and we got to show them a great deal in the three weeks. Julia, Peter’s wife, started a women’s exercise class on Fridays. It has been slow but she has several ladies that are unchurched attending the class. We are hopeful that the class will grow and we will be able to reach some of the families and get them involved in the church. We are averaging about 16 on Sunday morning and the all age bible study time is still in full swing. We have a small group that meets Sunday and Thursday nights with 5 and 6 each night. Peter has been suffering with a bout of depression and had to spend a week in the hospital. He is now out of the hospital and seems to be on the mend but he still has a long way to go. Please pray for Peter and his family as they try to come to grips with Peters problem. His wife told me that there are only two men in all of England that Peter respects and would listen too, his general practice doctor and me. If you think about that too much it can get scary. Pray for me as I continue to deal with Peter and his family. One great thing about November was that on the last Sunday we had 10 visitors. The “Together We Build” offering netted about $6500. With what we have already collected and money sent by friends in the US and given to us at the convention we have enough to repair the roof.
December: We have started our advent services as we look forward to celebrating the birth of our Lord on Christmas Day. We plan to have a Christmas dinner at the church on the 17th of December, pray that it will be a success. We are planning to have a monthly outreach lunch at the Church starting some time in February. Jepye and I still plan to come to the US in January and we hope to see as many of our friends as we can. Carla Breeding, a young lady that was a member of our Giessen congregation, and her two daughters, Carissa and Caroline, are planning a trip to see us the week before Christmas. We consider her a part of the family and we are excited not only that we will see Carla but we will see Carissa and Caroline. It will be our first visit with Caroline. .

Please pray for:
· Peter and his family
· Inexpensive tickets(less than $500) for our trip in January
· The Exercise class
· Paul and Jepye as they work in the convention
· That the people visiting will decide to become a part of the church
· That we will spend the funds that we have wisely so we can begin to use the building for outreach
· Our “Stukeley Kids” who come on Sunday Morning
· The outreach lunch


Serving together,
Paul and Jepye of the Stukeleies