April News

April 2008

Greetings Friends and Family,

We can hardly believe that it has now been just over two years since our arrival in Round Mountain, NV. It has gone by so fast. We have watched our little church grow from an average Sunday attendance of about 15 to over 40. Many new faces have arrived in the community and found their “home” at Smoky Valley Community Church.

As we have experienced this growth, a new problem has risen, “How do we connect the believers to one another in the body of Christ?” Change is difficult for many, and our church family is no exception. But that is just what we are, a family. We are seeking ways to build community within our church, while being open and receptive to those who are just coming in.

Please pray with us that God will show us creative ways to do this. We are examining the ministries we offer and evaluating their effectiveness. We are experiencing a time of separation between the generations and searching for ways to bridge the gender gap.

We had an Easter Brunch and Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday. We had a great turnout. Our church is not without its pranksters. The guys hid the eggs and of course hid some in the trees. These were great for Grady and Spencer. They didn’t get as many eggs as the younger kids but had fun climbing trees!

A few weeks ago we enjoyed being with friends from our home church in Washington. Two families came down to help us put new siding on the parsonage and do some painting on the inside. Someone asked if we did some work to the church and annex as well because they looked better. Amazing what fixing up a house will do for the rest of the property. Jennifer also had two offers to help paint the ceiling in the parsonage when she is ready. Praise the Lord for that. We still need to finish the porch and then paint the outside. We will post pictures on our blog http://thehallenbecks.blogspot.com when it is completed.

We just had our Women’s Retreat this past weekend. 16 ladies traveled to beautiful Lake Tahoe and enjoyed a time of encouragement and fellowship. Jennifer saw a beginning to the gender gap issue as women became aware of the need to reach out to each other. God protected two cars full of our ladies as they sat extra long at a red light, only to discover as they went up to the lake a truck had lost its very large toolbox into their lane. Praise the Lord for red lights!

Our summer ministries are quickly approaching. Vacation Bible School is July 28 – August 1. Please pray with us that we would have the resources and people to reach 75 kids. We are trying to schedule a few days to take our youth group camping. We have been made aware of a camp facility just about an hour north of us. The camp has two cabins plus a recreation trailer, and a covered eating area. We will be checking into it a little more once the rest of the snow melts from the area.

Our family continues to do well. The kids are counting down the days until school is out. May 29 will not come soon enough for them! Becca has signed up for the local swim team. She is becoming quite the swimmer. She has also decided to play the Oboe in band next year. The music teacher is very excited about that! Grady has a couple of classes that are challenging him this quarter. The teachers for each of theses classes assign work, rather than teach and he is having to do a lot of learning on his own. Considering the circumstances, he is doing quite well. Spencer would just as soon not go to school and his grades are reflecting that. He had a bit of struggle in math recently but is taking a little more time for his work and is doing better. Pray that we stay healthy and focused on the work the Lord has for us in Round Mountain.

We thank you for supporting our ministry in prayer and financially. Without you we could not do what the Lord has called us to. We would love to hear from you. You can write to us at the address above. For more updates, check out our blog, http://thehallenbecks.blogspot.com. If you would like to support us financially, please write or e-mail us and we will send you the necessary information.

Serving Him Together,
Pastor Butch, Jennifer, Grady, Spencer, and Becca