Prayer Mail 9-26-08

Dear Friends,

"So you must be brave. Don't give up! God will honor you for obeying him."
2 Chronicles 15:7 (CEV)

My wife has this verse pasted on her computer screen. It's one of several verses that she leaves there most of the time. She is great at finding encouragement from God's Word. This verse is particularly powerful for us as we have taken a risk and stepped out in faith, uprooting our lives and moving to Eagle to plant a new church. We gave up everything we had, moved from our children and their husbands and our grand kids, with no security or guarantee of the future, just trusting and believing that we are being obedient to God's call. We have been here for a couple of months, working quietly but diligently while looking forward to what God is going to do with us here at The River. Finally, last Wednesday night we had our first information meeting; a meeting to gather people we have been talking to about starting a new church. Let me put this in perspective; when I started Desert Horizons Church, after 5 months we had our first meeting and we had two people show up. This week after 2 1/2 months we had 12! God is awesome!

God brought several different people with different backgrounds to come and check us out. I shared my testimony and the journey that led us to Idaho. Then I shared two key values and our mission statement. All 12 people indicated great interest and excitement about being a part of something new for the Lord.

One man I invited from my gym talked to me after the meeting. He said that when I invited him, he wasn't sure if he was going to come or not, but when he looked at our brochure he read on the front cover one of our key values, "No perfect people allowed". After reading that he said he had to come and find out what we were all about. He said he is a Catholic, who loves God but not the church! (Another key value for us: "We are a church for those who gave up on the traditional church but not on God"). He was very excited about finding a church that emphasized grace and forgiveness. I heard a very similar comment from another man who attended; he was one of the men who helped move us into our home back on July 1.

Cathy and I are so blessed that God is working like He is. We have had a quiet confidence and faith that God would provide, and He did. Now we are looking forward to October 8 when we begin our weekly bible Study and begin to develop our core group.

This Sunday I will be speaking at both services at Eastwind Community Church and meeting with their board to share my vision so they may consider providing financial support for the next year. The following week their pastor will meet with people who live in or around Eagle (about a 30-40 minute drive to their church) and he will be encouraging them to come and help us get started. The following Sunday I will be at a meeting at First Baptist Church where their pastor has invited people to come to an information meeting and he will challenge them to consider being a part of our church plant and I will share the vision God has given me for The River. Honestly, I have never been around pastors who were so kingdom minded that they were willing to give away their people for the sake of build the kingdom of God! It is refreshing and an absolute blessing! May God bless them!

Our next step is beginning our Bible study on October 8th. We are praying for a good turnout.

I will attend a Regional Pastors Conference next Monday through Wednesday. I am looking forward to meeting other ABC-NW pastors and sharing the vision of The River with them.

Our Crown Small Group study has begun and I am very excited about the truths we are encountering and learning. It's a real blessing to attend a group and not lead it! I am praying that we can begin crown small groups at least three times a year. The truths, if practiced, are absolutely life changing!

Prayer requests:
Pray for me as I speak on Sunday and a positive response from the people at Eastwind Community Church and from their board.
Pray for a positive response from the people at First Baptist.
Pray that God would send a solid core of committed believers from both churches providing the core group that will provide a spiritual and financial foundation for The River.
Pray for wisdom for me as I seek God concerning putting together the right team of pastoral leaders for The River. I am hoping to make some significant decisions in the next two weeks. God has led me to two excellent and Godly men who may form the core of ministry leadership for The River.
Pray for God to lead us to someone who is qualified and trained to start and run a children's ministry and another person to lead a youth ministry.
Pray for God to provide His person that can lead our worship ministry and band.
A note on Cathy:
This has been a much better week for Cathy. Last week was one of the worst, and this week has been one of the best! It seems that she is not in as much pain, the physical therapy seems to be working! We know there will be good days and bad days, we are praying that her good days begin to out number the bad ones and that she will be totally healthy soon. One of our big concerns has been she is struggling with speech and memory issues. Cathy has always had a near photographic memory but that seems to be affected. We had renewed a prescription her OB gave her after her hysterectomy and I read all the possible side effects and it seems that everything she is struggling with could be related to the medication she has been taking! It did not create her nerve and soft tissue damage but it may be hindering her healing and creating other issues (speech, memory, and unusual body pain). So Sunday she stopped taking it and we are waiting from her Dr. Please keep praying for her healing. Even if the medication has caused problems she needs for her nerves and soft tissue in her neck to be "regenerated" according to the PT, or what we call HEALED.


Thank you for your prayers. We couldn't make it with you! Keep on praying!
God bless,

Dave

Prayer Mail 9-12-08

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1

Thank you so much for your prayers, I really needed them this week! Last week I shared how it seemed like God was putting together a team of ministry leaders that would lead the River into it's start up and Grand Opening. This week, I am less sure. God continues to remind me that this is a faith venture, not in my abilities, but in His ability to provide for His children!

First let me share where God has established a solid and committed team: The River start up Advisory Board. I am excited about the Godly men with different gifts and skills that form the board. Since last week I finalized the board one finial member to round out our board. That means the Advisory Board of The River is Bruce Young (Pastor of First Baptist Boise), Mark Traylor (Pastor of Eastwind Community Church. He is our newest member who rounds out the board with his experience in church planting and his kingdom minded heart.). Phil Eastman (founder of Leadership Advisors Group and my personal coach), Randy McKinney (Crown Ministry Trainer and The River financial secretary), and of course me. Please pray for these men as they seek God's will to help give direction and leadership to The River.

Another answer to prayer is Cathy getting physical therapy for the problems that came from her surgery back in June. She is in a lot of pain and struggling physically. She is in physical therapy three times a week and is sore and hurting more than ever due to the fact that she is doing exercises to open up the nerves in her shoulders and neck as well as trying to strengthen her arm and hand which has lost considerable strength, control, and dexterity. We thank God for Galen Danielson, owner of RehabAuthority Physical Therapy who offered to treat Cathy for free. Now she is heading toward better health, but she is hurting more than before. The therapist said that is to be expected but she will begin to feel better. The pain is also causing her to not sleep well. Pray for her to work hard at her therapy and for God to heal her quickly.

Please continue to pray for God to put together His team of ministry leaders/pastors to work with me to minister at The River:
WORSHIP - God has something in store for us in worship, I'm just not sure what! The young man who I talked about last week will most likely be a part of our ministry, but does not feel led to lead the worship team at this time. Having a great worship team is absolutely vital to getting started. I met with the worship leader at FBCB who is doing what she can to help us find a qualified worship leader that can lead worship and put a worship band together. Please pray for God to lead His choice to us as soon as possible.
YOUTH - I am waiting to hear back from the young man I mentioned last week as a possible youth leader for the River.
ADMINISTRATION - I am still in conversation and prayer with someone to fill this important role.
CONNECTIONS/DISCIPLESHIP, SMALL GROUPS - Yesterday I met with a man who is in between ministries right now to discuss his joining our staff. I believe he could be a great asset to our team. He is praying about the opportunity. There are some significant road blocks to hurdle if God calls this man to serve at The River, but hey, God is God and he can make whatever He wants to happen... happen! Pray for God to be clear to both this man and to me if he is to join our staff. And if this is not God's man for this position, pray for God to show me who it will be!
CHILDREN - Again, no candidates for this ministry right now.
The kicker for each of these positions is that they are volunteer or support raising positions. Each person must evaluate not only their skills, gifts, and call, but their personal support as well. I know from experience that if God wants you to do it, He provides a way. Let's pray for His will to be done in each of these key roles for The River.
Leadership is vitally important to The River starting well and being a prevailing church. Pray for God to assemble His team of Godly people to lead at The River.

Additional prayer requests:

Crown Financial small group meeting is this Wednesday evening.
The River information meeting is still set for September 24th
Our first Bible study is set for October 8th
Our first Preview service is set for November 23rd.
Our home still needs to be sold in Las Vegas, new lower price $229,000; it's a steal!
Pray for God to send the right people from First Baptist Boise and Eastwind Community Church to help us launch The River.
Praise for our financial support but we need to see that increase to meet the needs as we are going public. Support for August was just under $4,000 and that does not meet the needs. Hopefully some churches will begin to support us as well as the ABC-NW. Also we will begin to take an offering at our bible study in October. We are praying that some committed Christians will join us from FBCB or Eastwind and begin supporting The River right away.
Thank you for being prayer partners and supporters. God bless you!

Serving Him,

Dave Griewe

Prayer Mail Sept. 5, 2008

We are getting closer to things getting started for The River. I have been meeting with many people to set up the right team of people to launch The River. As you know the biggest thing I have asked you to pray about is leadership and it seems that God is assembling a great team of servants. Here are some things you can specifically pray for in this area.
WORSHIP - God has been working on the heart and mind of a very talented young man who is a deeply committed Christian. He comes from a solid Christian family and has been effectively trained in ministry as well as music and worship. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you his name yet, but He will lead our worship team in a very contemporary style of worship and he will assist in our youth ministry. Pray for him as he makes the plans to transition his ministry to The River. Pray for him to assemble a group of qualified musicians who understand worship and are committed believers.
YOUTH - I am talking to another young man who is also a deeply committed Christian and has received excellent training in youth ministry. He and his wife are praying through the opportunity to take a leap of faith and start a youth ministry for The River. He would also be a part of our worship team.
ADMINISTRATION - I am meeting with a highly qualified man who has served in full time in vocational ministry in many aspects including a senior pastorate. His gifts and skills would be an excellent match for handling the administration for The River. He is praying through the opportunity. My prayer is that God would call this man to The River and provide the needed income and resources to meet he and his wife's needs.
CONNECTIONS/SMALL GROUPS/DISCIPLESHIP - I am meeting with a man next week who might just be God's answer to a discipleship pastor for The River. Pray for God to make clear to both of us if he is to be a part of The River Leadership Team.
CHILDREN - There are currently no candidates for this area. Pray for God to lead the right person to us that can step in and develop a dynamic Children's ministry.
ADVISORY BOARD - God has put together a select group of highly qualified men to be the first board of The River. This board will work to get the River off the ground with the plan to hand it off within a year or so. The board consists of Bruce Young, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Boise; Phil, Eastman II, advisor, consultant, coach, and founder of Leadership Advisors Group; Randy McKinney, Owner of Agency Insurance - He is a qualified Crown Ministry Trainer and he will set up and run The River financial's; and of course ME! Pray for these men as they seek God's will and direction for The River.
Additional Prayer requests
We are starting a Crown Financial small group on September 18th to teach God's financial principles to set people free to serve God and fund His ministries. Pray for the leadership at The River to be able and willing to participate in this 10 week small group.
The River information meeting on is set for September 24th at Rembrandt's Coffee Shop. Pray for a great turnout of people who are interested in starting a new church.
We need to be set free from our house in Las Vegas. Pray that something happens soon!
We truly appreciate your prayers for Cathy. God is doing something with her, we are just not sure exactly what it is yet. As a incredible answer to prayer one of our prayer partners met with a local Dr. who owns several physical therapy offices in the Treasure Valley. He mentioned Cathy's problems to him along with our lack of insurance and he volunteered to evaluate and treat her for FREE! That is how God works! That's a miracle! She will go in on Monday for evaluation and begin physical therapy. Praise the Lord! Her job is another issue all together: The Childcare facility she works at is doing all they can to keep her working there. Even with her physical limitations, they really like her. Starting Monday she is going to become part time working only in the afternoons with grade school children and then at the end of October she will go back to full time and take over the infants area. But there are some huge issues with this facility. They have some very new age philosophies on childcare and raising children that we strongly disagree with. The facility is very poorly managed leading to a an average staff stay of 2 MONTHS! Needless to say it is lacking in leadership and that is very frustrating to her. We are praying that she can make it until the end of October and take over the infants area where their weird ideas of building self esteem and character will not affect her. She will be able to just love babies and care for their needs. Please pray for her, she is struggling with their philosophies of childcare and with a total lack of leadership from management. Pray for her to find her niche there or to feel free to resign and pursue other employment that would meet our financial needs, allow her to use her gifts and abilities to the fullest and be gratifying to her as well.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Serving Him,

Dave Griewe

Giving Grace

"It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah." Ephesians 2:1-6 The Message Translation

I constantly praise God for His GRACE! God in His incredible mercy does not give us what we deserve, and in His grace He gives us what we do not deserve, forgiveness, freedom, and a future home in heaven! Thank you LORD!

The grace of God is a key driving factor for my desire to reach people with the Good News of Jesus Christ. I want everybody to know what God has done for every one of us if we just accept His gift. That's why The River will be a church where Grace is not just given but experienced. We will love everybody, just as God does. We will accept anyone from any background, just as God does. But we will not be satisfied to let them stay far from God and His will, we will do all we can to be used by God to lead others into a life of transformation. That is why at the Rive we say, "No Perfect People Allowed!" Our mission is simple, "COME AS YOU ARE, LOVE JESUS, SERVE OTHERS, AND TELL THE STORY". Obviously that is a power packed statement, but we will do all we can to help people far from God to discover God, grow in their relationship to God and others, and then turn around and tell others about what He has done for them.

Serving Him,

Dave Griewe