Our church planters have been busy getting to know their new neighbors, doing outreach in their city, and meeting with potential members. Check out this story from Jon Ashley, who is planting a church in Goodyear Heights. As always, please remember to keep Jon, his family, and Orchard NEO’s ministry in your prayers!
“Back in September, on the night before my wife and I were set to move in, our new home in Goodyear Heights caught fire. Thankfully we caught it quickly and the fire department was able to put it out, but it led to several months of clean up, repairs, and renovations. Our house would become the staging ground for our church planting efforts in our neighborhood, so this setback felt frustrating!
But because of that unfortunate circumstance, I was able to meet Dave. Dave is a contractor we connected with through the cleanup company we hired. We struck up a friendship as he worked on our house, telling him about our church plant and talking about God and life. One night a few weeks into his work on our house, he texted me asking for prayer because his van and all his tools had been stolen. I prayed for him then and the following morning when I saw him in person. We were able to care for him along the way with a Home Depot gift card and by sharing dinner with him a few times that week. As his work came to a close on our house, he thanked me and told me he would be there the first day our church opened!
One of the things I am learning in the process of church planting is that God is always working, often in the middle of the difficult or trying circumstances. It’s in those moments that we see God move in big ways to change people’s lives. It’s worth all of the difficulty and uncomfortable conversations if it means that someone new finds Jesus for the very first time.”
Want to learn more about Jon’s church Goodyear Heights? Email him at [email protected].
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- Jon speaking at a football event in Goodyear Heights.
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- The first Goodyear Heights community group- 24 people strong!
