September 10th-17th
Faith Baptist Bible College
Community Baptist Church
Ankeny, IA

We had a unique schedule this week as we were serving at both Community Baptist Church (in Ankeny, IA)  and Faith Baptist Bible College. While it was quite the busy week, we had a wonderful time being on a college campus and serving there in many ways, as well as serving at Community Baptist in the evenings. 

Tuesday through Friday, we were thrilled to lead worship in chapel for the college students and faculty at Faith. Aaron preached on several of those days as well, and both he and Stephanie had the opportunity to speak in different classes throughout the week. The student body at Faith was so loving and engaging, and we thoroughly enjoyed every interaction with them.

Tuesday night, we attended an Iowa Cubs baseball game to listen to the choir at FBBC sing the National Anthem. It was beautifully done, and we enjoyed a relaxing evening of baseball and fellowship. Jobe and Liam even got to participate in some activities on the baseball field between innings!

Wednesday evening, we had our first Family Fun Night at Community Baptist Church! We had such an energetic group of friends and families come out for a fun time of games, music, and hearing God’s Word. We were so encouraged by the church’s willingness to participate and be involved, and they made us feel so incredibly welcomed.

Thursday, we held our second Irish Concert of the semester. We had friends from both the church and the college, as well as members of the Ankeny community come out to our concert, and we had a wonderful time sharing our music.

Friday evening, Aaron and the boys hosted a “Spread the Word” internship webinar. They had a great turnout of college-aged boys, eager to learn more about the opportunities Spread the Word has to offer. Please pray that God would lead the right men to this internship for the summer of 2023. Check out Spread the Word on Instagram (@stwintercity) and Facebook (Spread the Word).

Saturday was a very busy day! FBBC held their Faith Fest rally for teenagers across the Midwest to visit and get to know the school, as well as hearing God’s Word preached. We were humbled and excited to be a key part of this day. It was a blessing to lead worship before the two sessions, and Aaron had the opportunity to preach in both sessions as well.

Even though it was a busy week, we were so thankful for every ministry opportunity and interaction with sweet people throughout that week.

September 3rd-10th
Calvary Baptist Church
Burlington, IA

Our first church we ministered in this semester was Calvary Baptist Church in Burlington, IA, right along the Mississippi River! We loved meeting Pastor Simeon and his family and enjoying dinner & fellowship.

We jumped right into our music ministry at Calvary as we had our first Irish Concert on Sunday night. God was gracious in allowing the church to have a great turnout of both church members and friends from the community, as well as good weather as we were able to perform the concert outside!

Throughout the week before services, we met with the teens for pre-sessions. During this time, we played a short game with the teens, and Hudson gave a challenge to encourage them in their relationship with God. We all enjoyed getting to know the teens through the course of the week, and even though many of them had scheduling conflicts for the Cola Wars on Friday night, we still had a good turnout and we had a good time playing games and connecting with all the teens. 

Please pray for the teens that we talked to that the Spirit would continue to work in their hearts and help them realize their need for a Savior. 

In the evenings, while Aaron preached, the rest of the team helped out in our kids program! It is such a special time and opportunity for us to be able to have conversations about Jesus with children. We had such enthusiastic kiddos with a willingness to listen and participate! We started a new program this year called Holiday Extravaganza, where we use a different holiday each night to explain the Gospel, such as July 4th and our freedom in Christ, or our birthday and being born again. We’ve really enjoyed the program and putting it together for the kids. 

​We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Calvary Baptist, and loved ministering through music and other various ways throughout the week. Definitely a fun first week for us on the road!