Misión Montana Vista

Montgomery Family Newsletter, July, August, September 2005

            Indeed I hope that God is blessing you richly in His service.  The previous months have been like other parts of life . . . a bit of a roller-coaster (I’m sure no one can identify with that idea). It is comforting to know, however, that God is in control and can use any situation for his further glory and honor!

            One such occasion that at the onset looked like a low point but actually turned out for the good of the gospel took place in July. A group from central Texas had been making plans since September 2004 to come for 10 days to work with our youth here. A week before their arrival, I received a call from the minister apologetically informing me that they would not be coming after all.  At this point, I had already put an announcement in the newspaper. So, as they say in Hollywood, “the show must go on!” I went forth with an abbreviated version of what they had been planning. We had 5 young people come. More importantly, I was able to reconnect with some kids that had come before but had not been with us in quite some time. Also, God opened some doors to hopefully reach the parents of one of the girls that came. So, even though it wasn’t as well attended as it could have been, God turned the situation around and will hopefully use it for something greater than we originally planned!

            During September God was also doing great things.  On the 25^th of September the church here gathered after worship for a fellowship meal and meeting. During the meeting we discussed how everyone could be more directly involved in the day-to-day activities of the congregation. Up to this point much of the responsibility for the work here fell upon the Tapscott family and us. We are finally learning the valuable lesson that Moses learned from his father-in-law Jethro in Exodus 18 – Share responsibility for the work, silly! (One has to really know Hebrew to understand that particular translation, ha ha). During the meeting we discussed everything from cleaning and decorating the building to potlucks and picking up folks. Individuals decided what area they wanted to become responsible for. Since then we have already seen individuals stepping up to fulfill their respective responsibilities. In addition to service projects we also wanted to encourage everyone regarding spiritual responsibilities as well. One area that we touched on was children’s bible class. Currently the Tapscotts, Alicia and I are teaching, and so we hoped to recruit some help.  To encourage this, we are having each member visit one of the classes over the next couple of months to see what goes into preparing and delivering lessons to children. We hope that some of the other members will soon realize that they too can participate in teaching these classes. Please keep these things in your prayers.

            We continue to have a few new individual studies and new visitors coming to services for which we are thankful and excited. Unfortunately some previous studies have been unfruitful to this point. Hopefully God will at least use the seeds that have been planted over the last few months some time in the future. Please ask the Father to continue opening more and more doors for the gospel!

            As always, your support—financial and otherwise—is appreciated more than words can express. "Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.” (3 John 2, NASB95)

In Him,

Kevin, Alicia and Bethany Montgomery