Websites

I forgot to include that the Hills of Grace website has been revamped.  Check is out at

www.hillsofgrace.com

Also, you can look at www.bhaba.org or www.dakotabaptist.com as well for more info about our area.

New pastor for Hills of Grace coming soon!

Hi everyone,

This will be my last post of 2008.  It has been a good year for Black Hills Missions.  One of the highlights has been the starting of Hills of Grace church, and the calling of it's first pastor, Justin Dancer.  In fact, Justin and his family will be moving up here this week, and his first service as pastor will be Saturday, January 3rd.  Pray for Justin and his family as they make this move.  

Rapid Valley Baptist Church will be hosting a "get to know the Dancer's" fellowship on Sunday, January 4th at the church.  Should  be a great time!

Well, we didn't get the booth at the stock show, so that was disappointing, but Jeff Smith will be up at the end of January to help train some of our area folks on starting cowboy churches.  I am looking forward to this...Jeff does a great job and this is a much needed focus in our area of the country.

Several churches from around the country are beginning to partner with other parts of our region - notably Summerset and Spearfish.  Pray that we can start new churches in both of these communities in 2009.

Thanks to each of you for your prayers for the ministry here in 2008.  We are looking forward to a great 2009!

Until next time,

John

Saturday night update

Hi everyone,

Hope that you had a great Thanksgiving!  Now it is almost time for Christmas!

We had a good service at Hills of Grace tonight.  We are meeting one more time before Christmas, then taking a two week break due to the school vacation.  Then, the first Saturday of January, Justin Dancer and family will be here to begin their role as planter pastor.  We are excited about their arrival.

Check out the newly redesigned website for Hills of Grace.  www.hillsofgrace.com

Thank you for praying for a booth at the Black Hills Stock Show.  We did not get the booth, but we are going to be contacted next year when time to sign up comes again.  It is very tough to get a new booth at the show.  Many more applicants than there are booth spaces available.

As we look into 2009, we are excited to see the addition of several new partners working with us in the Black Hills area.  We have several churches partnering with Hills of Grace, and others beginning partnerships as we look towards Summerset and Spearfish.  Pray for these partnerships to thrive.

Thanks to all of you for your continued prayers!

Until next time,

John

Saturday night update

Hi everyone,

Well, we were unable to hold services last Saturday night due to the snow from the first blizzard of the season!  Tonight we had a good service...even though Bob and Joe tried to imitate the Jonas Brothers when we had some technical difficulties!  Next Saturday night we will be sharing in a Lord's Supper service for the very first time as a church.  We are all looking forward to this special time.  I have taken the Lord's Supper many, many times....I still remember the first time when I was seven.  This will be the first time for this church family, though.  What a privilege to be a part!

Still no word on the booth for the Black Hills Stock Show.  We may not find out until mid-December.  We are already starting to plan as if we have it!

Pray for new works to start in Spearfish.  Pray that we can find the planter pastor that God is preparing to come assist in that new work.  Spearfish is a town of close to 10,000 with no SBC church at all.  A good size university is there as well.  

Justin, Jennifer, and Josiah Dancer will be moving up to Rapid City during the first few days of January to start their ministry at Hills of Grace.  They have already found a great house to rent.  Pray for safety as they travel and for the transition they will have to this new ministry.  Pray also that Justin will be able to find a job that will help to provide for their needs.

On a personal note, pray for our vehicle situation.  The van we use to pull the Hills of Grace trailer is on the blink...has about 270,000 miles!  Pray for wisdom and finances for us in how to handle this situation.

Also, just found out that Fireproof has surpassed 6200 in attendance in Rapid City!

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support!

Until next time,

John

Saturday night update

We had a good service tonight at Hills of Grace.  Nice to see Joe and Bethany really starting to take a leadership role.

Justin and Jennifer Dancer have answered the call to move to South Dakota!  Justin will become the planter pastor for Hills of Grace.  Pray for them as they continue to prepare for this time. If all goes well, they will be moving up after the holidays.  They are a gifted family that are a great fit for Hills of Grace.  The church is excited about their coming!

In today's Rapid City Journal,  the front page announced that 900 new homes were going to be built in an area between Rapid Valley and Box Elder.  Begin praying for this new area, and how we can be involved in planting a new church in that area.   They are houses that will range from $120-200k.  

Fireproof continues a successful run in Rapid City.  Last night started it's 5th week here....and the manager commented to me "I don't think Fireproof will ever end!"  It almost sold out again last night.  

During 2009, we have many areas identified in the southwest region of the Dakotas where new churches need to be planted.  Pray that we can find planter pastors and start core groups in these areas.  

One final prayer request concerns our Black Hills Stock Show.  We have applied for a booth to help start a Cowboy Church.  The prayer request is that our application will be approved and we will get the booth.  It is very difficult to get a booth due to the number of repeat vendors that come year after year.  Having this booth will allow us access and an audience to the thousands from our area that come to the stock show, and could hear about the possibilities of a new church!

Last Sunday I had the privilege of baptizing my mom in Missouri.  She had been baptized at an early age, but in her 20's realized she had not made a true commitment and became a Christian at that point.  50 years later, she was obedient to the Lord in baptism!   Together with the pastor of her church, we worked out a surprise where I got to baptize her.  It was an awesome experience.

Thanks as always for your support and prayers.

Until next time,

John

New update

Hi everyone,

It has been a month since I last updated the blog...sorry for the delay, but God has definitely been at work!

It has been a great month...we have been heavily involved with bringing the movie Fireproof to Rapid City.  Already over 3100 people in the area have seen this awesome film.  Hills of Grace went together as a church family to see it.  It is already having impact on marriages in our area.  I have a lot of great stories about how God has been at work with Fireproof in our area!

Tonight Hills of Grace had 20 in attendance!  It was a special evening as Justin, Jennifer, and Josiah Dancer were with us.  Justin is prayerfully considering becoming the planter pastor for Hills of Grace.  Pray that he follows whatever God may want in this situation.  We had a great night of worship...Joe and Bob did a fantastic job tonight.  In fact, there was a new excitement for worship tonight that we had not seen yet.  

Last weekend Connie and I were in New Orleans to be commissioned as NAMB missionaries.  We had a great time...and came home to much cooler temps.  But South Dakota definitely is home...we really missed it while we were gone.

This week several churches from Texas came up and we took them on a vision tour of the area, showing them both existing churches and places that we need to start new works.  Pray as we all consider how to partner together in getting His work accomplished.

Another prayer request - we have requested booth space at the Black Hills Stock Show in January.  This is not an easy thing to get...there are more people wanting space than space is available.  But as we look to starting Cowboy Churches in our region, being involved with the stock show is a great way to get to know people and let them know about us.  

Thanks again to all of you for your continued support and prayers.

Until next time,

John

Another Saturday night!

Hi all,

Good to be writing this again...Connie and I were gone last week taking our youngest to Union University for her Freshman year.  She is doing well so far.  Pray for her to make good friends and adjust to college life (and classes!)

We had 12 tonight at Hills of Grace.  It was a good service.  Joe did well leading worship as usual.  Bethany seems to really be having a great time leading the children's ministry.  We have started renting the school a 1/2 hour later, so we can have more time to talk to everyone before packing up.  That is working well.  Tonight I had a good discussion with one of our regular attenders on something in my sermon.  It is a praise that he discussed this with me!  He at first was coming out of duty, humoring his wife.  Now he is enjoying coming each week.  God is at work.

Two weeks from tonight we are going to see the new movie Fireproof as a congregation.  That should be alot of fun.  It is a great movie.  I am heading up the action squad bringing it to Rapid City.  We are holding our second preview screening for pastors this week.  It has brought me in contact with alot of people I might not otherwise be in contact with.    Hills of Grace is using the movie as an outreach to give tickets to couples identified through our surveys and block parties.

A neat side story from my life...today I performed a wedding ceremony for a young couple.  It was one of those weddings I at first wasn't too excited about performing, as I did not know this young couple when they first approached me.  I talked with them some, and knew they were Christians, but never could get much more than that from them.  I knew the girls family from a previous wedding I had done for another daughter.

Anyway, about 2 minutes before the ceremony was to begin, the groom comes up to me and says, "I want to ask you something....will you include the plan of salvation in the ceremony somewhere?"!!  Wow!  I most certainly did!  He knew there were unsaved family members present, and he wanted them to hear the message.  Neat how God works....

Well, that's about all for now.  Be praying for Hills of Grace, to continue to reach new people with the gospel message.  And for the right man to answer God's call to pastor it.

Until next time,

John