A quick update on what’s going on in Uganda…with your help we were able to put windows and some finishing touches on a small school near the medical clinic. Our friend, Martin Odi, has been helping this little school and we wanted to pitch in and help out these kids. Above is the same school a few months ago when Hudson and Keller Hufham went with Jeff to do some filming.
Things are progressing with the medical clinic. We just sent the money to put the roof on it, so we should be getting some updates from Martin soon. Here’s a picture of the clinic so far.
As most of you know, TREC has been apart of international church planting since our beginnings in 2004. During those 19 years, we have been privileged to experience many different types of churches throughout the world. Cathedrals.Traditional churches. Modern churches. Bamboo huts with mud floor churches.Churches behind dumpsters. Churches around a fire barrel. You name it, we’ve seen it TRECing. Being in this somewhat unique position of having observed churches of all sorts, we believe that some of the most Christ-centered andSpirit-filled churches are those that stick to the simple model laid out in Acts2:42-43.
“…and they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
By operating under this simple model, God has not only grown these churches in numbers, but He has revealed Himself to these churches in ways that has left them speechless and in awe. When you compare the simplistic model laid out inActs to the other church models in the world today, it is easy to see that we, myself included, have overcomplicated what church is to be. In India, Nepal,Uganda, and Cuba the small churches we work with do not have music ministries, children’s ministries, or youth ministries. They don’t have pews, hymnals, and red-velvet coated offering plates. They don’t have stained glass windows, or sweet-smelling incenses. As a matter of fact, they don’t have air conditioning, running water, or sometimes even electricity. You will probably hear out-of-tuned guitars and monotoned singers worshipping God with all that’s in them and praying like their lives depend on it. They don’t have anything to offer people other than Jesus. Just Jesus. But, when you really think about it, do we really need anything more? With this simplistic model we have seen God move and lives change. They are devoted to the word, devoted to prayer, devoted to being in community with each other as the body of Christ, and devoted to the breaking of bread. It is impossible to walk away from a church like this without feeling like Isaiah and being on your face before God saying, “I am undone.”
We have prayed for and wanted to be a part of this simple, missional model herein Alabama for years, but have been frustrated not to find it. As we have seen time and time again, God answers prayers in His own way and definitely in His own timing. After much prayer and fasting the Lord has lead us along with two other families to replant a church in Pike Road, Alabama. Our church mission is:
Jesus First
Freedom for All
Devoted to His Mission
There is no paid ministerial staff and no senior pastor, merely a group of pastors that will lead the body at Pike Road Church together. With no building debt and salaries to pay, our tithes and offerings will go to missions and helping hurting people. When we out grow our building, we will plant another church as He leads. Our aim is to be devoted to the same things that the early church was devoted to, and our prayer is that He leaves us with Isaiah moments of our own on a daily basis.
Please pray for us. Pray as we continue to TREC around the world and in our own town. Now more than ever, we covet your prayers and financial support as times grow more and more critical and people grow more and more hopeless.They need Jesus, and they need to see a devoted Church. I’m thankful that God continues to call TREC and you, our TREC family, to reach the lost around the world. If you are in the Pike Road, Alabama area, please visit or join us. It’s different, but God has never really led us to be in the box. God’s running a freak show, y’all! Go, Fight, Win BIG!
COME GROW WITH US
WORSHIP SUNDAYS @ 10 AM
4790 Pike Road, Pike Road, AL 36064
JESUS FIRST
FREEDOM FOR ALL
DEVOTED to HIS MISSION
