Hello again friends, family, and followers! As it may have become apparent to those following our blogs, we seem to have moved from a monthly blog to more of a quarterly update. Life has been moving at a rapid pace lately and the extra time required for writing has become harder and harder to come by! Thank you for your patience and support. Here are some updates on what’s been going on.
Teaching
My most recent teaching assignment for the Emmaus School of Biblical Studies was a 6 hour lecture on the book of Acts. Teaching this book was a first for me and I’ll admit that it was an intimidating prospect! As a book that dives heavily into topics such as: the Holy Spirit, gifts of the Spirit, evangelism, financial giving, church dynamics, etc., it’s an extremely relevant book that engages all believers on a very personal level. Perhaps one of the most basic, yet powerful, themes that has impacted me through studying this book is the relation between prayer, obedience, and the movement of the Spirit. The amount of time that the Apostles and the early church community devoted to intentional prayer has really humbled me in light of my own prayer life, which is often lacking! And Acts presents a consistent theme of God moving powerfully in response to simple (though often bold!) acts of obedience and prayer.
In other exciting news, our Biblical Narrative Series (a more accessible and condensed version of our School offered to the general public) has exploded! Our available seats for the program filled up fast and we even have a waiting list now for the next series. Our hearts feel full, being able to see our dreams realized through the Church coming together to know their Bibles!
Life in General and Prayer Requests
A lot has transpired since the last update! In November, I had recently started a temporary job at Panera in order to help supplement what has been lacking in our support. Unfortunately, in the time since then, our level of support has not increased as hoped. Samantha and I are trying to discern what God’s will is for our family as we continue to pray for increased support while searching for a job more compatible with our work at Emmaus.
Along with this, our lease is ending soon. Unfortunately, though Samantha and I are really feeling the need to update our living space to 2 bedrooms, the possibility still seems outside of our current financial abilities.
And for those who haven’t heard us talk about it before, it was recently SCN8A awareness day, and we would really appreciate your continued prayers for our Warrior-niece Ellie, who is still in the hospital’s ICU. But her parents and the rest of us are still looking to a day when she can ween off of her meds and live at home.
Support
As we stated before, Samantha and I are trying to double our current support income. Our current support covers our rent and nothing else, so at this point a part time job is necessary. We would love to embrace what we believe God has called us to and work for Emmaus full-time. If you (or perhaps someone you know) would be interested in financially joining our mission to see the local Church engage their Bible deeply, click the link below to donate and help us reach our monthly income goal of $3000 a month. And if you’d like to talk with us more about who we are and what we do, we’d love to tell you more.
https://emmausbibleministries.org/donate#staffsupport
Benaiah
Enjoy the cuteness
The McRae Family
The McRae Family 