Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.
Ephesians 2:7-10 The Message

Friday, July 8, 2011

July Update


July 2011


Greetings Family and friends


It is hard to believe that our summer is nearly half over. Time has been flying by for us here in Glenwood. 2011 has been a year of milestones for us with Grady graduating this past June, Becca moving up to high school, and Spencer getting ready to begin his Senior year. Grady will attend George Fox University in Newberg, OR this fall.


As the school year ended, we were preparing for Vacation Bible School. God brought 41 kids to VBS this year, about 80 % of those were from Glenwood! God is good. The week after Vacation Bible School we had a group from Lake Tapps Community Church near Tacoma, WA, come and do some work projects. They remodeled the bathrooms in the church and built a patio in our backyard. They also picked up garbage along the highway and did some work for some members of the community. Many of the youth who came were among the last of those whom we worked with while at Lake Tapps. It's great to see how God is working in their lives.


We get a short breather in July and plan to do some camping next week. Then it's full-on for camp which will be the first week of August. Every year we take several kids from Glenwood to Columbia River Bible Camp, held at Camp Morrow near Wamac, OR. It is our prayer that we would be able to invest in the lives of the kids who come and that God would draw them to Himself.


Praises & Prayers:



  • Praise that the Lord allowed us the opportunity to purchase a more economical vehicle, allowing us to save a bundle on gas!

  • Pray for our finances as we send Grady off to college. This will put a strain on our budget, however we are trusting in God's faithfulness as He continues to provide for us.

  • Pray that God would move in the hearts of the kids we take to camp and that we would be able to continue to build relationships with them after camp.

  • Pray for the 41 kids who came to VBS, that they would want to know more about Jesus and that we would be able to connect with them through the school year.

  • Pray for our family, that we would find time for rest and togetherness in the midst of the busyness of ministry.

  • Praise the Lord for bringing us to Glenwood. We are so blessed to be able to serve our great God in this beautiful place.



Serving Him together,


Pastor Butch & Jennifer Hallenbeck, Grady, Spencer, & Becca

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