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Letters Archive: October 2003 Back to our Homepage Dear Loving Church Family, We want to say “thank you” to the Church Family for bringing in extra food items for our Total Life Center and Clothed With Love Outreach ministries. Every year, over one thousand people receive Christ as their Savior through these two outreach ministries of First Assembly. Our Total Life Center has had more people coming for help during the last two weeks than any other two week period during our 20 years of operation. One of the newer counselors at Total Life Center led seven people to Christ last Friday. It was an exciting day for her and she was richly rewarded for her obedience in stepping out into this new area of ministry. The Clothed With Love Trailer went out on Tuesday and the Team returned to the church overflowing with excitement because of the great harvest of souls on the streets that day. School has started and once again we are teaming up to pray for the students in our Church Family. You can still volunteer to be a Prayer Partner by picking up a Student Prayer Card at the Information Center. Also, scholarships have been given to eight of our students who are attending Christian schools this year. It was exciting to have almost 30 couples participate in the Wedding Vow Renewal Service on September 21st. Our daughter, Shari and son-in-law, Steve, had been married the shortest time (3 weeks) and Rein and Florence Braun had been married the longest (57 years and 8 months). The Saginaw News featured these couples on the front page of the newspaper on the Saturday prior to the service. In addition, Chanel 5 News asked if they could bring their camera into the sanctuary and they covered the Vow Renewal service on several of their news broadcasts. We were pleased that the community showed such interest in honoring Christian marriages. Kristi Hanson wrote a note to express appreciation for the Vow Renewal Service. I wanted to share part of her letter with you. She said, “Thank you for the Marriage Vow Renewal Ceremony on Sunday. I hadn’t realized what was missing from my wedding day until Sunday. It was the knowledge that God was there. Even though Dan and I were married in a beautiful church surrounded with our friends and family, we never invited God to our wedding. We didn’t know the Lord then and didn’t believe we needed Him. How wrong we were. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to rectify our mistake.”. God is using the 40 Days of Purpose and the “Purpose Class” to bring breakthroughs in the lives of those taking this spiritual journey with us. People have asked us to repeat the class because they want to bring friends and workmates with them. For this reason, we are offering the Purpose Class again beginning on October 15th along with the rest of the Christian Living Classes. We want to encourage you to enroll in one of the classes. We highly recommend all of the classes. Mark and Jaime Redburn have helped many people get out of debt and find financial freedom through the class “How To Handle Your Finances”. This is the first time we’ve offered the class on “Anger” and it comes highly recommended by Bill and Diane Singer who will be leading the class. Pastor Marialke is an outstanding Bible teacher and everyone enjoys hearing him teach. If you haven’t taken the Cleansing Class, this is a priority. God is using Randal’s teaching to bring believers into a new level of freedom. Just last weekend Randal and the Ministry Team went to Muskegon to lead a Retreat in a church where over 50% of the people had taken the Cleansing Class. The Pastor said the Cleansing Ministry was the best thing they had ever brought into their church. He is so excited to see the growth and maturity in his flock. The reports of healing continue to be shared. Gail Carrol drives almost an hour to attend First Assembly. She told us how God healed her back. She had hurt her back while caring for her ailing mother. This complicated things since her mother depends on her each day. Gail came to church that Sunday suffering with pain. As she sat in the service, we shared that God was bringing a healing wave over the congregation. Gail said at that moment she sensed God touching her. The pain left and she has been able to care for her mother without any interruption. Jetta was “surprised” by God’s healing touch. Last Saturday she had the “flu” and was unable to come to Saturday Night Prayer Meeting. She had asked me to make arrangements for her places of responsibility to be filled because she was sure she wouldn’t be well enough to come to church on Sunday. Meanwhile, at Saturday Night Prayer Meeting, one lady was experiencing fervent intercession for “someone” in the Church Family who was ill. She didn’t know it was the Pastor’s wife. When Jetta awoke at 6 a.m. on Sunday, she was surprised to discover that all of the flu symptoms were gone. On Saturday she had been so weak she couldn’t get out of bed. On Sunday, she was completely well and her full strength was restored. The Harvest Carnival will take place at the church on Friday, October 31st, from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. It’s going to be an exciting time for children and the whole Church Family as we join together to celebrate Jesus. Everyone will meet together at 6 p.m. in the sanctuary for a time of praise and worship with Worship Leaders Kevin and Trish Sullivan. The youth will be performing a “Human Video” to the Carmen song, “No Monsters in This House.” The Children’s Choir will be singing, “Jesus Is The Rock” and everyone will join in singing the kids praise songs from SCUBA and Bug Safari VBS. Julie Morrison will be giving a presentation with her miniature horse named “Joy”. Following this, we will go to the Multi-Purpose building for games, food and fellowship. Game booths will be set up around the parameter of the building. Each child will have an opportunity to have their picture taken with “Joy”, the miniature horse. Joyfully Serving the Master and His People, Pastor Fred and Jetta Smolchuck |
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• July 2007 •
Meet Pastor Fred Words to Live By • Daily Bible Reading Guide • Better Life Course by Randal Smolchuck |
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