Dear Prayer Partners,
I was recently reflecting upon the vast number of people in God's local churches who pray for us faithfully. That thought moved me deeply and brought great peace in my heart amidst the fast-paced "world" our family is living in currently. On Sunday we sang to the Lord the hymn I Love the Church, a declaration of our love for one another because Christ loves us. I've included the first three verses and chorus for your encouragement and edification:
Verse 1: I love the church, the flock bought with Christ’s blood—
Sheep gone astray He found and brought to God.
Guarded and fed by shepherds He provides,
We follow Christ, secure and satisfied.
Chorus: May Christ be praised: "Preeminent! Adored!" I love the church because I love her Lord!
Verse 2: I love the church, the bride whom Christ pursued—
Poor and unchaste, yet chosen, loved, and wooed.
Our Groom and Head in love laid down His life
To sanctify the church, His cherished wife.
Verse 3: I love the church, my fam’ly o’er the earth—
Sinners estranged, made one through second birth.
In selfless love Christ claimed us as His own,
And that same love from each to each is shown.
We praise God that he graciously chose us, not because of any merit of our own, but because of His great love, He claimed us as His own (Phil 3:9). As we approach the one-year mark of the beginning of our pre-field ministry, I am mindful of the fact that that same love has been shown toward us by you all this past year. Undeserved as it is, we praise the Lord!
The last week of July was our church's Vacation Bible School. It was a joy to see many of our teens involved in the ministry this year. The Lord granted immediate fruit from the ministry when a family who brought their kids to VBS and is without a church, recently attended on a Sunday morning.
August has flown by quickly. A week and half were spent traveling to and ministering in a church in Winter Garden, Florida. We used this trip as an opportunity to visit the Ark Encounter. Immediately after our trip we received our co-workers, David & Kristi Flinck, into our home for a few days. The time together was enjoyable and profitable. Their report to us about the opportunities and needs in Arica reminded us of the great need there is for more Gospel laborers, not only Chile, but in the States and across the globe.
I am writing this update from Kalee's parent's home in Delevan, New York, after visiting a church in Burlington, Massachusetts this past weekend. We will stay until Saturday and then travel to Ohio to visit two other churches before returning home to Michigan. We thank the Lord for his grace to give us safety in travel and places to stay along the way.
Grace & Peace,
Jansen & Kalee Lorch, Adarae, Clara, & Gabby
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1 John 4:7-8
|
|
|