It Begins Tomorrow!

Dear Ministry Partners,

It’s been one year since our family moved to Bear Lake Valley.  Now, tomorrow we begin a brand new adventure with the official start of Hope Bible Church!  It’s been a whirlwind of activity since I wrote our last newsletter.  On October 12, we started work on the new church building that we are leasing.  Thirty-three people came on that first work day and we saw an amazing transformation right away.
Three days later we moved into our new home in Montpelier.  What a joy it is to be settled in town.  We continue to meet the neighbors around us and we’re thankful for the connections God is arranging.

On October 26, we had a team of ten students come out from Frontier School of the Bible to assist us with the preparations on the building.  They gave us an incredible push as we were quickly nearing the start date.

We have had a total of fifty-five people helping us transform the building from a steakhouse to a place of worship.  We praise God for all the volunteers.  We have also had churches and individuals donating finances to help purchase signs, furniture, audio-visual aids and Bibles.  The out-pouring of support has been remarkable.  We are particularly grateful for the support and practical help from the Village Church in Garden City, UT.  The body of believers there has been so encouraging in this new work.  Last Sunday, the Village Church held a special send-off for us and we all worshipped together around the Communion table.
Tomorrow will be our first Worship Service at 10:30 am.  I’m excited to involve my father in the opening service as well as the Director of Tentmakers Bible Mission, Chuck Mathias.  We are so blessed by the significant help from our co-workers, Amos and Emily Stott.  Their gifts and skills have been a God-send.  They will be joining us in leading the music portion of the worship.

We have set up 72 chairs in the building (that is the amount the steakhouse left us).  Pray that God will fill those seats with the people of His choosing.  People in Montpelier have been inviting their family, neighbors and co-workers and we can’t wait to see what God will do on this first Sunday and beyond.

Pray that any attempt of the enemy to discourage, distract, divide or derail this new ministry will be thwarted by our great God!  Pray that Jesus Christ will be the focal point of everything that happens in the service tomorrow.  Pray for me and that my mind will be clear and my words will be true to God’s Word.  I haven’t preached regularly for over a year and a half and I’m very nervous about this first sermon!

Our family recognizes that we wouldn’t be at this point without the prayers, support and encouragement from all of you.  We praise God for the churches and individuals who are burdened for this needy valley and the people who need to hear about God’s grace.  We will let you know what happens tomorrow but I just wanted to reach out and ask you all to pray.  We love you and we’ll keep praying for you!

Your Fellow-workers,

Bill, for the Bagleys