December 2002
Dear Family and Friends of Emmanuel,
Once again the goodness of God was seen throughout our year. We could never thank Him enough for His blessings. As Pastoral Staff, we are grateful for the wonderful people God has given us with which to work. Your volunteering spirit, giving attitude, care for each other and spiritual sensitivity is a blessing to us. Thank you for allowing us to serve.
Our year was filled with blessings. We purchased two buses in February and they have already served their purpose. Our Ladies Banquet was once again a blessing. We saw many saved at our Revival with the Comfort / Brubaker team. A highlight of the week was our patriotic service. Some public officials came and several made salvation professions. Our teens participated in a two week missions trip. What an encouragement they were to the churches to which they ministered. Twenty-five people made professions of faith on this trip. Our Family Camp was a blessing again as two of our own evangelists challenged us with God’s Word. Our children participated in National competition for Master Clubs and learned valuable lessons. Our teens and the whole church prepared for and carried out the Clash of Colors Youth Revival. We are in the process of following up on twenty young people. Praise the Lord! We have added missionaries this year and what a blessing they are. The music program has gone to new heights this year, especially the orchestra. What a blessing to see twenty to twenty-five instruments every Sunday.
As we approach the New Year, we look forward to the completion of our Papua project. We also look forward to growth. The Staff and Deacons understand that financially we are tight and we are doing the best we can to be wise with the money God has provided. Although God has met our every need, we want to do more to relieve this problem. How can we do that? The best way is to increase our soul-winning and reach more people. The more people we reach for God, the more families we will have to share the work load. Would you pray about your family reaching one family this year? If you are a college student, would you pray about reaching someone to replace you before you leave?
God has been good but we certainly don’t want to be complacent. We hope you have a Christ-filled Christmas and a year that brings Glory to Him!
Pastor and Mrs. Surrett