Summerlake Update

It has been an incredible couple of weeks for Summerlake. God has confirmed and reconfirmed and added hope upon hope. It truly has been a time of amazement for us to watch God work and realize that this is just the beginning.

To begin with, a number of financial needs were met right when they were needed. This includes a very generous and wonderful couple that has paid for the rent for our apartment for the next 7 months. Praise God!

We had an outreach carwash last Saturday that was staffed by professors and students from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Houston. We washed a number of cars and made about 10 contacts with residents in the complex. I want to take this opportunity to thank those from SWBTS that came to help:
Dr. J. Denny Autrey
Dr. Doug Wood
Dr. Benjamin Phillips
Dr. John Laing
Miles Mullin
Darius Mullin
Daniel Yam
Brian Horner
Margaret Horner
Caroline Horner

In advertising for the carwash, we sent out postcards to every unit at the complex. The result of that was a young lady joining us this past Sunday. We are so excited to have Kendra with us. This increases our number to 9, and we can honestly say that, since July of this year, we have more than doubled our attendance.

This past Sunday night I was able to meet with the missions committee of the church that is considering being Summerlake’s sponsor. The meeting went well and they are going to bring it before the church for a vote the first Wednesday of December. As I have said before, this will provide us with even more prayer support, more man-power, and the next to the last piece we need in order to be funded by the SBTC (The final piece is a core group of 25-30 people).

And then finally, Monday night and all day Tuesday, I attended the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention annual meeting here in Houston. It was an incredible time of worship and reflection for me. I was able to meet old seminary friends, catch up over the last two years, encourage and be encouraged. God also used former professors, sermon texts, old friends and new acquaintances to encourage me in this church planting endeavor. The convention feels like the beginning of a new chapter in the story of Summerlake. I don’t know how to describe it other than God’s peace and joy. I felt that I belonged. I felt confirmed. I told Etta about various occurrences and conversations, but the phrase that kept coming up was “this was good for me.” It was.

Thank you so much. God, through your gifts, support, and prayers, has made this mustard seed of a vision from almost two years ago into a church. We have no clue where this is going to end up, but we are excited about the journey and anxious to see what God will do next.

This is going to be an incredible ride and we are thankful you are going along with us.

Summerlake Praises

We have two pieces of great news.

The first is that I have met with a local pastor about their church’s sponsorship of Summerlake. When everything is official I will give their name. He is discussing it tonight at his church’s business meeting, will pass it off to the missions committee, and hopefully vote to sponsor us in their December meeting. This is what will ultimately open us up to convention funding. It also provides mentorship, prayer support, muscle support, and financial support. We are excited that there is a church willing to come along side of us and support us in such a strong, visible way.

The other praise is about our finances. I told you that we were $500 a month short. That shortage was going to have a tragic effect on our ability to renew our lease for our apartment. A very generous family has stepped up to help by turning a family member’s death to good. They asked what we needed and, when I told them how shaky our lease renewal was, they donated from their inheritance an amount to cover our ENTIRE 7 MONTH LEASE. We praise God for their generosity and are so thankful to be able to continue our outreach.

Speaking of outreach, we have our community carwash coming up this Saturday at 2PM. We pray that we can build a number of relationships with community residents and see our fellowship grow.

It is everyone’s faithful giving and praying that will allow us to continue to reach out and see God work. If you would like to give to Summerlake, please click here to donate online. Thank you so much for what you do.

Thank you for your sacrifice.