June 2017

Prayer Partners,

We believe God moves through the power of prayer. Thank you so much for your continued support and encouragement as we walk this road of church planting.

For the month of June, would you labor alongside of us by praying for the following?

1. Pray for clarity, direction, and guidance for those considering moving to Boston with us.

Emily and I leave in just a little over two weeks to take our team of roughly 20 people on the vision trip for Boston. The goal of this trip is to help these individuals discern if God is calling them to move to Boston for 1–2 years to labor with us in sharing the gospel and establishing our church. We are very excited for this opportunity to go back to our future home and pray with those considering moving with us. Please pray for clarity, direction, and guidance for those going on the vision trip. Our time in Boston will be used for prayer walking, evangelism, and time with our partner church plant, City on a Hill. We are praying that the Lord will give a distinct peace as to what these members need to do personally in order to best glorify Him.

2. Pray for financial partners who are willing to offer a one-time gift or multi-year giving.

We are extremely excited and humbled to say that we are fully funded for our first year in Boston! This has been a huge blessing, as you can imagine. Emily and I have been reminded of the Lord's faithfulness throughout this process. We have had to truly practice our trust and dependence in Him. It has been sanctifying for us as we have been reminded of money's place in the ministry and mission of God. While finances are important and we should always be wise and good stewards with our money, the Lord has reminded Emily and I that He is not hindered by a lack, or even an excess, of finances. His ability to do great things is not the least bit dependent on our current state of resources. What a great reassurance for all of us as believers! With that said, as it takes several years to establish a church that is financially self-sustaining, we still need funding for the next several years. We are continuing to pray that local churches and our church members will financially join with us through one time gifts or monthly giving. Will you join us in praying for more financial partners?

Thank you for praying for each of these items. We greatly depend on you and are thankful for your intercession on our behalf!

- Aaron & Emily

May 2017

Emily and I can’t thank you enough for partnering with us through prayer! We genuinely believe that the Lord works greatly through prayer and we appreciate your encouragement, love, and support in this way.

We have also had some great spiritual highlights:

1. We were able to sell my car quickly. Emily and I decided it would be best to become a one car family in preparation for Boston where we will take a lot of public transportation. My car sold within a matter of days, which was a huge answer to prayer.
    
2. Emily and I have found a great place to live. A two bedroom apartment in Brighton, MA (just a short drive from downtown) with great potential to meet neighbors in the community, close to two major college campuses (Boston College and Boston University), and near City on a Hill’s (the church I’ll partner with in Boston) offices and meeting place. We are looking forward to moving in September 1st!
    
3. Hickory Grove and I have been finalizing details for our Boston vision trip in June. Emily and I have had several conversations with church members interested and praying over being a part of our launch team and the vision trip will afford members an opportunity to visit Boston and pray about the potential of moving there.
    
4. We have reached 86% of our goal to fund our first year in Boston! We are very excited and humbled by the continued giving of the church and its people. I have also had the opportunity to speak with two churches recently that are interested in supporting the Boston church plant financially and with other resources. We are praying that these partnerships will continue to develop into strong lifelong connections with local bodies of believers.

Our biggest prayer requests right now are:

1. The Lord would call out specific members from our home church, Hickory Grove Baptist Church, to join our launch team. We are praying for five family units that are willing to plant their lives for one to two years to share the gospel, serve the church, and impact the community in Boston with us.
    
2. Financial support would continue to come in through individual partners and local churches. We still need several churches to partner with us as well as individual supporters willing to give monthly donations and/or one time gifts over the next five years.
    
3. Personally, Emily and I are in the process of condensing our belongings to make the move easier. We are praying for an eternal perspective as we get rid of a lot of our personal possessions.

We look forward to sharing how God has continued to work next month. Thank you for praying!