Dear Church Family,

Bethany's last Sunday will be March the 21st, just two week away. Gloria and our oldest son John Israel will also be leaving with her to help her get settled for the year or more she will be ministering in Japan. This is an emotional time for our family and for our church.

Bethany will be our first long-term missionary out from Last Chance Chapel, soon to be followed by Steve, Tracie, Megan and Eric as they prepare for living and ministering in Botswana. I am sure you as well as I have asked yourself why we are doing this? Why do we split up church family for what we find written in an old book many today think is

archaic and out of date? Saying goodbye to those we love brings out the hard-core reality of our faith, what we say we believe. When the call to forsake all hits home, somehow the inspirational mood of the Mission's Summit dissipates into the harsh reality of the cross. Who would normally choose to leave the comfort and compassion of family and friends and the love and fellowship of the church family, to go off to where you are unknown, unwanted, and often unwelcome? We are experiencing the cutting edge of our Master's words, "Not my will, but thine be done".

As hard as it is, this is a great new work of faith God is doing in our church and in our hearts. It awakens us to the fact that our lives, whether here or overseas, must be lived by faithÉobeying His written Word and His spoken word in our hearts. We are a people who do not follow our feelingsÉwe follow faith.

John 12:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Expecting much fruit,

Pastor John Announcement:
Bethany's send off Sunday is March the 23rd with a pot-blessed lunch after the 2nd service. Follow her news updates at www.bethanycathcart.blogspot.com.