Blog

By: Joe Saweikis

Speaking of moving forward, we're hoping to finally move into our church building on November 21! There are two things to keep in mind, though. First, we need to pass the inspection, which will likely take place early next week. Please pray that all goes smoothly. Also, we may need to vacate the building for a few weeks this winter in order to complete some key structural renovations. Please pray that vacating the building is not necessary.

By: Steffan Carr

It’s hard to believe that we are now heading into November - WOW!! We hope this letter finds everybody well. Leslie and I are so grateful for each one of you and your continued prayers, friendship, encouragement, and financial support!! God truly does use each of you to bless us and we are grateful for His provision and your partnership!!

By: Joe Saweikis

One of our prayers for several years now has been that God would provide more opportunities for us to engage youth in a more meaningful way. Occasionally, we would have a family with teenagers attend our church for a few months only to leave because they desired more for the youth. This happened about four or five times. We noted that if we just had several families with youth attend at the same time, instead of separately, we'd be able to get something going!

By: Joe Saweikis

This past month, we were blessed to be helped by a mission team from Clayton Baptist Church in Clayton, GA. As the teams before them, these men generously gave their time to serve us as we continue the lengthy process of renovating our new building. They were also a tremendous encouragement to us during their time here!

By: Steffan Carr

It’s a joy to sit down and “count our blessings” this month - of course, the cornerstone of those blessings is our salvation in Christ Jesus, then followed by the Lord’s provision of such wonderful partners like yourselves, who make all we do here in the Mountains possible - THANK YOU!! Leslie and I hope this letter finds you well. Please never hesitate to let us know now we may be praying for you and your family - it would be an honor to come alongside of y’all in prayer!!

By: Joe Saweikis

If there's one thing we've learned during our time in Pittsburgh, it's that God is faithful. The story both of our lives and of our fledgling church plant is one of the faithfulness and abundant goodness of God.

By: Steffan Carr

What a great time we had this past month as we had our second largest outreach ministry since coming back from Covid. We were blessed to host a community Easter celebration party, including the sharing of the Gospel, food, egg hunt, prizes, etc., 90 percent of which was all outside!! We had about 300 people participate and many seeds were sown for the sake of the Kingdom!!

By: Joe Saweikis

One of the blessings we enjoyed this past month is pictured above. It may not seem like much, but what you're looking at is actually the first time we've had an organized music team in our church that wasn't visiting from out of town! We also have 2-3 more people lined up to add to the team in the next few weeks. Until now, it has just been our music leader playing his guitar on stage. We praise God for the way he's allowed us to build out this ministry!

By: Steffan Carr

Leslie and I hope that this letter finds all of our partners well and blessed!! It’s been an active month here in our Mountains and we are grateful for your prayers and support!!

By: Steffan Carr

Leslie and I are so grateful for all of our partners, contributors, and prayer warriors!! Let’s start by sharing a couple of praise reports from our requests back in January.

By: Joe Saweikis

This past month we were blessed to bring six new people (pictured above) into membership in our church. Don't worry...the baby you see isn't one of them. We're saving infant baptisms and non-communicant membership for next year :) Just joking of course.

By: Joe Saweikis

Work continues to progress on the renovations we are making to the church building. We have had a total of three church workdays and have now removed almost everything from the building

By: Steffan Carr

Well, Covid-19 has finally hit Bruce Outreach Center in January 2021!! It is making its rounds, but praise God, as of the writing of this letter, there have been no hospitalizations or deaths!! Also, Leslie and I are praising God that as far as we know (unless we were asymptomatic), our family has not yet been impacted by it. Please pray for us as we navigate through these choppy waters, and as always, we will be praying for you and your family and church through these challenging times!!

By: Joe Saweikis

Psalm 100:4 tells us to "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; praise his name!" What a wonderful way to "enter" a New Year

By: Steffan Carr

It’s been a little while since we last wrote to you. Please don’t mistake our lack of correspondence (the last letter was in September) for a sense of complacency or taking our support team for granted. That is not the case at all. Things have just been crazy here, as y’all know, with this whole Covid-19 issue. Our plan is to get back to regular letters every month starting in January!! So, please accept this letter as a “Quarterly Report” on your investment in the Kingdom of God out here in our Mountains. We are so grateful for your partnership and friendship and I believe you will be blessed by the “dividends” your investments are producing!! So, in that vein, let me highlight each of the last three months!!

By: Joe Saweikis

The month of November has reminded us that we have so much to be thankful for. God's blessings abound, and his work advances.

Lynette and Simeon have been healthy throughout the pregnancy. Our friends, Matt and Michelle got married! God has opened up an opportunity (because of COVID) to reach all incoming freshmen! (Over 1,200 students) I (Daniel) have been able to preach at Gospel Life and Mountain City Church!

By: Joe Saweikis

This past Saturday, our church gathered at the new church building to have a prayer meeting. Although we don't yet own the building (we're hoping to close on the property in a few weeks), we wanted to make sure we are proceeding in a prayerful manner from the very beginning of this significant undertaking. In fact, we as a church have designated the entire month of November as a month of prayer and fasting.

By: Joe Saweikis

You may remember that last month I shared with you the exciting news that our offer of $300K to purchase a church building had been accepted. I then requested prayer that the process of purchasing and renovating the building would go smoothly and that God would provide all that we needed both financially and with extra hands to help us.

By: Steffan Carr

Leslie and I hope that this update to all of our support team finds you healthy, strong, and hopefully transitioning back to as normal of a life as possible - hasn’t 2020 been a crazy year?? As always, we want to thank you for your continued prayers, financial support, encouragement, and friendship - it would be absolutely impossible to do what we do here in these mountains without EACH of you!!

By: Joe Saweikis

Pray for the purchase of a permanent home!

By: Steffan Carr

It’s so hard to believe that we are now wrapping up August and heading into September!! What a year 2020 has been. We are so grateful for each of you who pray for, encourage, give, and support our ministry here in these wonderful mountains!! Without your generous hearts and God’s provisions through those hearts, we would not be able to do what we do. THANK YOU!!!

By: Joe Saweikis

This is a “combo” newsletter of all that is going on here at Bruce Outreach Center these past two months.

By: Joe Saweikis

This past month, we've been very encouraged not only that we've had the opportunity to continue our Sunday gatherings but also that we welcomed five new people into membership at our church.

Hello from Maryhill!

By: Joe Saweikis

The past few months have certainly been interesting, to say the least! Yet what a comfort to know that God is behind it all, working all things according to the counsel of his will (Ephesians 1:11). He hasn't left his throne for a single instant through these past few months!

By: Joe Saweikis

Time with Family!

By: Steffan Carr

What a FULL month this has been - ups, downs, ins, and outs - like a proverbial roller coaster!! Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us and supporting the work here in the Mountains!!

By: Joe Saweikis

We are gathering, please watch this video so that you know what to expect and the safety precautions which are in place.

By: Joe Saweikis

Porter Family Update

By: Joe Saweikis

In all likelihood, our church is in a situation very similar to yours right now

By: Steffan Carr

I want to use this platform to simply do two things - give a praise report from the prayer requests presented in the March Newsletter as a testimony to our God’s goodness in the midst of the storm. I will then give you some of our prayer requests that lie ahead for us. THANK YOU!!!

By: Steffan Carr

It’s really hard to sit down and write this letter knowing that so many of our brothers and sisters are going through difficult times just like Leslie and I are. But, I also know that we are family and that we are invested in each others’ lives.

By: Joe Saweikis

This past month, we had the privilege of baptizing three people.

By: Joe Saweikis

The grandson was eager to hear this life lesson from his grandmother, and what she said caught my attention today as we navigate these unsettling times. The life lesson that she gave was this: “At the end of the game it all goes back in the box.”

By: Joe Saweikis

I am writing to inform you that this morning the Mountain City Church elders, Matt, Chris and I, decided to cancel all services for at least the next two Sundays.

Joy and Peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! We know this season of sickness may have many of you worn down and ready for spring to fully arrive! We hope that whatever situation you find yourself in, that you be resting in and filled with joy in His presence! Sickness has a way of drawing out deep longings in our souls for healing and redemption from this broken world. May He be the solution to all of our longings!

First of all, we are safe and healthy, Praise the Lord!

This past month has been filled with examples of God's goodness and grace in our lives.

By: Steffan Carr

Update from Pastor Carr at Bruce Outreach Center

Calling sin “making poor choices” is true, but it is also a euphemism that can discount the severity of the action. The decision to sin is indeed a poor one, but once again, it is more than a mistake. It is an act of moral transgression.

By: Joe Saweikis

By: Joe Saweikis

Every believer should have a daily time and place for prayer and Bible reading. That does not mean that is the only place and time you pray, but if we do not set aside time specifically, we’ll likely find no time most days.

As members of a local church, we covenant together to serve the church body, to serve each other, and together to serve our community.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.

By: Michael Roach

If we only replenished our body with physical water as much as we replenished our souls with the spiritual sort, what kind of shape would our body be in?

At Welsh Baptist church, we covenant together to “submit to the authority of the Scriptures as the final arbiter on all issues.” This first requires us to acknowledge the authority of Scripture.

By: Derek McCauley

Music is designed not only to shine from our hearts, but also to imprint itself on and shape our hearts.

By: Rebeccah McCauley

Ministry to college students should not be safe; it should not be a separate place for the conservative, churched young adult to be shielded from the world. Radical idea? It should be safe in the sense that no one should feel physically threatened. It should dangerously say that Jesus came to seek and to save the hickish, snobby, spoiled, broken, hidden, polished, silly, brilliant, and everything in between.

Attendance on Sunday morning should be a top priority of any covenant member. Being a regular part of such a gathering should be a priority for every Christian, but it shouldn't stop there.

We've been repurposed by the One who created us. We still enjoy life and family. We still work and play. But now we do everything with an overarching purpose that is as old as creation itself...reflecting the image of God to the world as we make disciples of Jesus.