Free Virginia

June Schedule

gospel2live — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 03:20:42 +0000

Here is a brief overview of our June schedule.

June 5, 9am-noon — Coates Hotel in Virginia — “Two Ways to Live” seminar.

June 12, 10am — Laurentian Divide/Lookout Mountain — Creation Camp. Hiking, learning about creation, and a family picnic. All ages welcome.

June 19, 9am — Land of the Loon Parade — Our theme: “Church – It’s not just for Chicks”

June 20, 9:30am — Coates Hotel — Community Gathering

June 25-26, time and location TBD — Church Multiplication Overview with Dan Moose.

For more information on any of these events, please call Kevin at 218-969-4554 or email to klelaw@hotmail.com.

Prayer update – June 3

gospel2live — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 03:12:24 +0000

Happy summer everyone! Summer poses both challenges and opportunities for ministries in general, and specifically for us in the planting process. On the one hand, there have been great opportunities to enjoy various activities with others and deepen relationships. However, scheduling around grad parties, vacations, and warm summer days is difficult at best. We continue to offer a variety of opportunities for teaching, training, and relationships knowing that summer in northern Minnesota simply means there is less consistency in attendance for pretty much everyone. Please continue to pray with and for us as you enjoy your summer! Here are a few specifics….

Our first community gathering was attended by 40 people and went very well. It looks like 2-3 new families made initial contact with us through the event and we look forward to getting to know them better through the summer. Our next community gathering will be on June 20, at 9:30am at the Coates Hotel. Message title will be “Church – It isn’t just for Chicks!” We plan to have a float in the Land of the Loon parade on 6/19 and pass out candy and invitations to our community gathering the next morning. Pray for God to call people to himself and to the church.

This Saturday we are doing a training seminar at the Coates from 9am-noon, using Two Ways to Live. Again, pray that God would draw those he wants to attend and that we would respond with a renewed sense of urgency for proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ to those we encounter in our daily lives.

We went through the month of May without a single showing of our house. There are MANY homes on the market in Chisholm and apparently not many interested buyers. However, we only need ONE buyer. Pray for the house to sell so that we can get moved over to Virginia. Not being able to get settled into community, home, and an office continues to be a obstacle. Pray that God would let us see the purpose in the delays and use this time to continue to shape and mold us as we wait on Him.

Pray for the families who are becoming a part of this work, that God would protect them from spiritual attacks, that they would grow in grace and in their walk with Christ, and that we would lead them well.

Thanks! We really appreciate your praying for us!

Kevin

Prayer update – 5/7

gospel2live — Fri, 07 May 2010 19:28:32 +0000

Hey everyone! We are so grateful for how God is moving in people’s lives and that He is faithful to complete the work He begins — both in us as individuals and together as the church.

Please consider joining us in fasting on Saturday, May 8. We are meeting for a time of prayer with the families from our Bible Study as we transition to the next phase of our ministry.

Upcoming events include “Fishing Opener Extravaganza” next weekend culminating with a fish fry on Sunday afternoon/evening and our first Community Gathering on May 23, at 9am, at the Coates Plaza Hotel in downtown Virginia. This will be our first public gathering to invite the community to join us in praise and worship. Tentative message title is “Believers, Unbelievers, and Make-believers.” We will only be advertising this through word of mouth, so feel free to spread the word if you or someone you know will be in the area that weekend.

We have not had any nibbles on our house lately. However, we have found a house that we believe would be perfect for both our family needs and ministry needs and could double as our home AND church offices/small group meeting place. Please pray that God would work out the details for our moving to the area. Not living in the community is by far the single biggest block to our ministry fruitfulness. Pray that we would follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as we seek the best way to deal with our housing/meeting needs.

Thanks for your prayers. God is working in the lives of many right now and I’ll share more stories as I am able.

Kevin

Prayer updates – 4/24

gospel2live — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:52:38 +0000

Whew! It’s been a crazy month! Here is the latest prayer updates:

* Please pray as I will be preaching at Riverside Chapel in Forbes tomorrow. This is one of our sister E. Free churches that is our nearest neighbor. Sermon title is “Blue Collar By God,” from Exodus 31 and Romans 12.

* Praise God for good conversations with mentors and coaches who have given me a lot of very helpful feedback. We are preparing to transition to our next phase of development in May, and we need your prayers for God’s leading as we schedule and plan our next events and topics for study.

* Please pray as I will be doing a BWCA trip Mon-Thurs. of next week with another church planter and youth pastor. Pray that God would watch over our families while we are away and that our time would be productive in helping us to be shaped by God and one another for the ministry that lies ahead.

* We have found the house we want to buy in Virginia, but need to sell this one first. Please pray that God would remove the obstacles to our being part of the community and that he would be glorified in our transition!

That’s all for now, thanks for praying!

Kevin

Prayer Update – 4/12

gospel2live — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:09:49 +0000

We are excited to see how God is moving in the region. He continues to give us opportunities to meet new people and there is a positive “buzz” in the community about hte new church. Pray that we would be faithful in proclaiming the gospel and that God would bring many to salvation!
I am so grateful for the encouragement and support of so many mentors, coaches and pastors — both near and far away. Their counsel, prayer and encouragement has been a tremendous blessing to me personally and to our family.
Please pray for wisdom as I process through the plans to transition to our next phase. I believe we will start doing more outreach events and preview services, mixed with social opportunities and training events. Pray that I would be led by the Holy Spirit and faithful in evangelism and discipleship ministries over the summer. Pray that our team would also grow in their ability to know and share the Gospel as they invite family and friends to become part of the mission.
I know the house requests get old, but this one’s a bit different. I was reminded by the bank teller last week that our mortgage has a balloon payment due in June. I have a pre-approval for a mortgage amount that would cover the balance, but re-financing would cost between $1,000 – $2,000 in closing costs. Please pray that God would A) sell our house early enough that we don’t have to re-finance; or B) that the bank would simply extend our mortgage for a few more months with the same terms so that we don’t have to squander resources on closing costs.

Thanks for praying for us! I am so grateful to all of you who have been praying and supporting us in this work!

Happy Easter!

gospel2live — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 02:56:17 +0000

Thanks to you all for praying for us. Here are a few updates:

* Praise God for the cross and the resurrection! May you all find special significance as we remember Jesus’ death and resurrection this week. Pray for the Good Friday service in Virginia at noon Friday. I will be participating along with several other pastors in bringing the message. Pray especially that those who attend who are religious, but not born again. Pray that God would being life to them.

* Pray for safe travels as we are heading to ND to spend Easter with Kim’s mom and some of her brothers and families. Since we have not yet launched public services, this may be our last chance to spend Easter or Christmas with her. We are grateful for this opportunity.

* I received our monthly giving report today and I am moved by the faithful giving so many of you are doing to help support us in this mission. It has been amazing to watch how God has been providing for our needs as a family. Please pray that the rest of our support for this year would be provided as well.

* I am wrestling with some major decisions about how to best proceed with evangelism and discipleship work in the community. Continue to pray for our house to sell and for strategic housing in the Virginia area as this would make relational disciple making much easier! We have not heard anything back after the showing last week, so we continue to wait for God to move us in His perfect timing.

Thanks! I am so grateful for all of your support and prayer!

Kevin

Prayer Updates – 3/21

gospel2live — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 03:26:05 +0000

Thanks for praying for us.

First, praise God for how He continues to provide for us. In particular, we sold our large van and were able to upgrade to a 4-wheel drive for only $500. We got full asking price for our van and bought our new vehicle for over $2,000 under its book price. We see this as a direct provision of God for our transportation needs.
“The Peacemaking Church” study is going very well. If your church has not used it, I highly recommend it. Tonight’s lesson focussed on how God uses conflicts to reveal the idols in our own lives. We have roughly 35 people involved in the study at this point and it is extremely encouraging to see them coming together and building relationships with one another. We are especially grateful to True Hope Fellowship, who graciously offered to let us use their facility to meet!
As we work with people in the study and/or community, there are issues emerging that require heavy doses of Gospel transformation. We are currently working with wide ranges of people who bring in serious hurts and anger from bad church experiences, chemical dependency issues, marriage struggles, and all sorts of other difficulties. Please pray that we would all grow in our ability to apply the Gospel to our real life challenges in a way that brings God glory and increases our joy and Christlikeness.
While God continues to provide for us, the last week or so has also seen a great deal of spiritual attack. Please pray specifically that our family and our core families would be protected from the enemies attacks. I was reminded by a friend who grew up in the area that we are “trying to plant a church over a direct portal to hell.” We know that there will be difficult days ahead, but we also know that the Lord is our strength and salvation!
No church can be planted through the efforts of man alone. To plant a church requires the supernatural work of God, for NO ONE can be born again without God’s miraculous intervention. Please pray that God would pour out his Spirit in Northeastern Minnesota to cause MANY to be born again!

Thanks for your prayers. I will try not to let so much time pass before the next update.

Kevin

Prayer update – 3/3

gospel2live — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:10:18 +0000

Here is an update of some things to pray about….

Praise God that our adoption agreement with the state came back approved this week! We now have permission to file the court paperwork to complete the adoption of our two youngest boys. We now enter the final stage of the adoption process!
Praise God that our large conversion van may be sold! We have had a for sale sign on it for awhile, and someone stopped by today to ask us to hold it until they get their tax return back. It may seem like a small thing, but I look forward to getting something that is more friendly to car seats!
On Sunday, we will hold our first Bible study with our potential core team! Please pray that God would continue to make his calling sure for those who are meant to be a part of the core team. We are meeting in a home this week, and pray that God would continue to provide us with meeting places that would serve the group well.
We are Praising God for a pre-qualification for a home loan once our house sells. Pray that God would take care of our housing needs, in His time, to sell our house in Chisholm and find strategic housing in Virginia.

Thanks for praying!

Kevin

Prayer requests — 2/22

gospel2live — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:41:29 +0000

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” Phil. 1:3-5 We are SO grateful for your prayers and support for the work in Virginia. Because ONLY God can regenerate human hearts and ultimately build the church, we are desperately in need of His good hand upon us to accomplish that which He has set before us. Thank you and please continue to pray. Here are a few specifics:

I have received some of the materials that were necessary for me to take the next steps in laying out our core group training materials and to begin to put things together in earnest. Please pray for wisdom for me as I seek to schedule our beginning sessions, and that God would confirm the call to each core family that is meant to help us at the start!
I thank God for Pastor Tom Starkjohn in Winsted. Not only has he personally taken Sam under his wing to disciple him while at college, he has been a very good source of encouragement to me through his transparency about the joys and trials of planting a church. We had the privilege of team teaching this weekend at Harvest Community Church in Winsted, and I pray that our time together would be fruitful for their ministry.
Praise God for how he has provided for our needs! Pray that we would be good stewards of ALL that He has provided.
Pray that God would help me to schedule several personal meetings with individuals and/or couples this week. Pray that these would help to clarify the sense of calling for these families regarding whether to be a part of our core team or not.
Pray for our core families. There is a spiritual battle that goes on in being a part of God’s call to plant a new church and pray that God would be our strength and our shield, a very present help in our troubles.

Thanks again for all your prayer. We’d love to pray for you more specifically, so feel free to comment or send me an email to let us know how to pray for you.

Kevin

Prayer Update 2/15

gospel2live — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:10:40 +0000

Thanks to all who are praying for the Range and thanks to those of you who have invited others to join us in praying! I have been encouraged by how God appears to be going before us for our good — bringing us into contact with a wide variety of people and providing for our needs.

Please pray that our house will sell soon. Particularly, pray for Kim as she juggles home-schooling, toddlers, and trying to keep the house ready to show on a moment’s notice! Although commuting to Virginia is not too big of a hassle for me, being unsettled in our housing is always more difficult of Kim and the kids. Please pray that God would enable our housing transition soon!
Praise God for some strategic contacts on the Mesabi campus! There may be a possibility of doing a chapel with members of the football team in the fall.
Pray that God would lead me as I make plans to begin core group training. Pray that God would unite our core around the beautiful Gospel, and that we would be filled with supernatural enjoyment of God! Pray that God would protect us from discouragement and from spiritual attacks.

Thanks and don’t forget to let us know how we can pray for you as well!