So many things happening…

In the world of church planting, things change constantly. Sometimes in the ways we hope and other times, not. We’ve watched Pioneer Community Church experience some of the most amazing highs and heart-breaking lows, but we knew that the Lord was sovereign in all of it and we would continue to trust and follow Him regardless of the outcome. I wish we had been able to update you with blog posts more frequently so that you could’ve seen each stage as it has unfolded but life is busy and the more the church has grown, the less time there has been.

 

To that point, going forward, we will be sending out a monthly newsletter from the church with updates about what’s going on, personal updates, stories from the community, etc. We will add each of you to that list unless you ask to be removed. We are so thankful that many of you have loved on us through prayer and support over the past 7 years since we left Florida with our vehicles pointing West. We needed you more than you knew.

 

For a brief look at what’s been happening…

 

• As I sit here writing this, I can hear our youth group laughing as they play games in our backyard. After the games, they are beginning a new series, “Big Questions”. The kids that come to youth group are church kids, LDS kids, non-churched kids and a foreign exchange student. It is amazing to watch God grow this group of students!

• We have 3 separate small groups running every week out of the church. The small groups also have churched people, unchurched, ex-LDS, active LDS…all in attendance. It is exactly what we’ve been asking God to provide for years. He is so good!

• Even with COVID causing us to go to online only services for a few months, we are now back to in person services and are seeing God bring new people again. We’ve had new families coming the last 4 weeks in a row.

• The diaper and formula pantry is still serving the Utah County area. So far this year, we have given away more than $2,500 worth of diapers and formula. We generally see our biggest months of requests in the winter. As 2020 has been such a difficult year financially for so many, we anticipate our donation number doubling by the end of the year.

• We have a Celebrate Recovery group that meets every week. Barry & I were supposed to travel to Macon, GA for a training session in May & then again in September but both of those were cancelled due to COVID. We are hopeful that the training will now be offered online. Once we are certified as CR instructors, we can begin to advertise the class locally and offer it to more people that need the help it offers.

• AJ & Liz Myers have officially joined our leadership team and we couldn’t be more excited to have them. Liz helps to lead the youth group and the ladies Bible study. She is a wonderful extrovert who follows up with our members and takes care of those who need a ride to get groceries or need their medicine picked up, etc. AJ is our Associate Pastor and he is a great sounding board for Barry. He has also redone our website and works with the youth. As a team, we meet regularly to make decisions, plan events, plan next steps and all of the big and little things that go into ministry. God has truly blessed us with AJ & Liz.

• Of course, these things did not happen without catching the enemy’s attention. Spiritual warfare is real. Don’t doubt that. I don’t want to make a list of all the ways we’ve been attacked because #1 – I don’t want to give Satan the attention he craves and #2 – the Lord has done so many more and greater and amazing and wonderful things, I want to dwell on those. Just know that we still covet your prayers for protection against attack.

 

• With so much happening in the church and in the congregation, Barry needs to transition away from his full-time job. He still works a 40+ a week job that has no flexibility in it and then another 40+ hours go into preaching, leading classes, church activities, counseling, meetings, sermon prep, etc. He has been burning the candle at both ends for so long that there isn’t much left. We are going to start fundraising toward a goal of him being a full-time pastor by January 2022. There has been much prayer and discussion among our leadership put into this. Please join us in praying for continued guidance and provision.

I think that is the basic overview for now. Of course, there are more stories of God moving but there always will be. Be on the lookout for the new emails that will come from PCC as monthly newsletters. We will also be sending out our prospectus which I am really proud of. It is a digital booklet that explains who we are, why we’re here and what our goals are going forward.

 

We are so incredibly blown away for all that the Lord has accomplished here in Eagle Mountain at Pioneer Community church. We are so honored and humbled to be able to be used by Him to be a small part of it. To God be all the glory. He is worthy of all praise!

We love you guys!

Barry & Jen