In last month’s shortened version of the newsletter, I spoke to you of the blessing
God has given Lois and me to be appointed to Hope church for another year. It is a blessing
to continue to be a part of your lives. Since then you have continued to bless us through
appreciating the twenty-five years that we have served the church, acknowledging and giving
thanks for my 60th birthday, and for praying for Lois and I as we celebrate 40th year of
marriage on August 3rd. Thank you for loving care throughout the year; may we continue
to care for one another and share this wonderful love for another year; may God bless us in
all that we do.
The last Sunday of July, I preached from the word in John 2. It has become very clear
to me that the Book of John reveals the way Jesus has given powerful experiences to those
who desire to be His disciples He has done this with purpose. We are told that these experiences
are given so that their belief in Christ will be strengthened. The result of experience
is that these new students of the word go forth and share this experience with others.
My prayer is that you have experienced Christ in a powerful way and will continue to
experience His love and grace in the days ahead. I pray He will empower you to share this
experience of love and grace with everyone you encounter. We are ambassadors for Christ
as Paul writes. John finishes His gospel by telling us that he has written down what he has
seen and heard so that all will believe. Follow his example, share your experience, be a witness
for Jesus; He has transformed your life for this very purpose. Let’s not fail to carry out
our mission.
This paragraph is a postscript to this letter. As Pastor, I certainly do not want to offend
anyone who attends our church faithfully, but a tract has been attached to this newsletter
which shares scripturally how necessary and vital it is to bring our gifts to the church.
You have been so wonderful in your giving from the day we arrived. There is so much to do
yet; we are running on a very tight budget. The church depends on your generosity. I want
to thank you again for all that you are doing. Please, no one read this with an attitude that
I do not believe you are doing enough. I do want you to understand that, at the present, we
do not have enough; we need God to help us do more than we could ever think or imagine.
God bless as we continue to use the Spirit’s gift of generosity to help us in the future.
We love you and pray for you daily, your brother and sister in Christ:
Pastor Tom and Lois 
