We have been in Spokane 11
months. It is crazy to see how life has changed for us. God has been up to some
amazing things so I am going to do my best to share what has been going on the
past couple of months.
One of the things that I
asked you to be praying about was my job situation. The last update I shared
with you that I got a part time job that paid just under what we needed to
survive. Well, that part time job has turned into a full time job that is super
flexible when it comes to my schedule. I am so blessed and thankful to have the
position that I do. Just as a reminder, I am a right of way agent for the
Department of Energy here in the Pacific NorthWest. One of the biggest tensions
I have wrestled with has been the fact that I am pretty much doing the same job
I did for Caltrans. I thought that with this leap to plant a church in a new
place God would have opened up the door to impact college students by blessing
me with a job that would align with the very reason I moved here. For all those
needing a reminder, God can and will use you to build his kingdom no matter
what your employment status is. So, it appears that we will be staying in
Spokane since I now have a job that pays the bills. I have heard of the 11th
hour but seriously, the 11th month. C’mon Jesus. I guess God isn’t
through with us here J
Which leads me to the
biggest thank you I have ever written. Thank you to all our financial
supporters and prayer warriors over this past year. If it wasn’t for your
financial generosity and praying for God’s provision we would not still be
here. It is because of you that my family survived and we were able to bless
many people here in Spokane. Many of you will never know how much you have
touched the lives of those we spend time with but God does. He knows how you
have been the body during this season of Vineyard 509. Because of this I write,
“Thank You” from the depths of my soul. I cannot ever repay you for your
generosity. I can only press on towards the visions that God has established in
my heart.
Now, to share with you
what the next season of Vineyard 509 and what God has in store for our church.
As many of you have either finished or you are finishing up the yearlong
commitment of supporting us, we bless you and say you are released to be free
to bless others as God puts them on your heart. You fulfilled your commitment!
We are still a long ways from the vision God has put in our hearts for this
church and we still need partners for the next leg of the journey.
The people that have
gathered and call Vineyard 509 their church are excited for what is in store. I
have shared with you in past updates how Spokane is a very event centered
culture. People here like to go to a place and have the event. When it comes to
the religious culture, church happens at a building. While we all know this is
not reality, the reality is that we have to meet the culture where they are at
and bring them along on the journey. So, we have found an amazing deal in an
amazing area. It is a 2000 sf building in and around differing neighborhoods in
an area of the city we spend a lot of time. Two of our college gals just moved
into an apartment complex 2 blocks from this building. We put an offer in and
we got the building for $0.50 a sf. That is unheard of in the city, on a main
frontage road. The only problem is, we don’t currently have $1,000 a month
right now for a building. We have the tithes to do the outreaches and bless the
community but not the money to give the community a house of worship.
This is where we still
need partners. We need 10 people to commit to $100/month or 20 people to commit
to $50/month. If you have been a financial supporter previously, you are not
obligated to give. This building fundraiser would allow us to pay the rent on
this property for a year and give us the opportunity to become a beacon of hope
in this area of the city of Spokane. Everyone in Vineyard 509 is asking for all
of our friends and family to help us in this crazy and wild adventure. Also, if
you know of any construction people, we could use your help doing a little
remodel on the bathrooms and building some children’s Sunday school classrooms.
The people of Vineyard 509
continue to build many relationships. I have attached some photos of different
events we have had over the past couple of months. The best of which was our
Cinco De Mayo party. It was tons of fun with great food. Good Mexican food is
hard to come by in Spokane. We recently went to the air show that was at the
local Air Force base. Tons of fun! Oh and did I mention, Spokane is having a
terrible heat wave. It actually hit the low 80’s here a few times this past
week. While it might be cold here in the winter, the spring and summer times
are absolutely beautiful.
Well, there is definitely
more to come. We really are just getting started. Establishing a church takes
much time, energy, and patience. We are overwhelmed that God would use us in
this place at this time. We miss you all dearly and hope that your lives are
full in everyway!
Blessings,
Pastor Jason and Amber and
Vineyard 509
Prayer
Requests
10 partners @ $100/month
or 20 partners @ $50/month for a total of $1,000/month
The remodel of the
bathrooms and children’s classrooms
Vineyard 509 would become
a beautiful church in the community
A worship leader would
arise and lead us as we worship Jesus in music
We would bring glory to
god in everything we do
People in and around our
new building would come to know Jesus and they would be set free from all that
binds them in their lives
Cinco De Mayo Party. Great Food. Greater People!
Amber had a free night for a hotel. This is where we got to stay. Its only a couple hours from our house. Needless to say, we are going back soon!
We had a coupon for a chinese buffet. We went to check it out and the owner thought we looked cute and wanted to take a photo.
This is us and some friends CrossFitting in our box.
Pictures of the building!
Just a couple photos of the kids at the air show. Most of it was video :)
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