Jan. 2021 - Celebration & Praise Report

 The Psalmist knew of God’s goodness as evidenced by the words he penned in Psalm 145:6-7, “Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, And I will declare Your greatness. They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, And shall sing of Your righteousness.” As we look back over the month of January and the start of a brand new year, we want to take a moment to remember God’s goodness to the various ministries of Grace Church.

Celebrations & Praises during January in the Church:

• We celebrate a person who came to salvation through a Gospel tract and various other stories of people whose lives are being changed by the Gospel.
• Many guests worshipped with us in January, and we have a good number of people expressing interest in baptism and church membership.
• We emphasized “Sanctity of Life” Sunday on Jan. 17 and hosted a baby shower for the moms who choose life through Hope Women’s Centers. A special “thanks” to our Grace family for responding with such generosity!
• We recognized School Choice Sunday and reminded folks that Highlands Christian Academy is a GREAT choice, helps students develop a Christian world-view, and is more affordable than most people think.
• Our Grace family experienced a wonderful time of corporate worship in our recent “Night of Worship."
• Pastor Craig continued teaching through the Book of John and laying foundations for personal discipleship in our youth ministry.
• The Spanish ministry started the renovations to the Upper Room, which will double their meeting space, add an office for Pastor Samuel and create storage space. Almost all of the work is being done by volunteers, and they hope to finish in the next couple of weeks!
• The Haitian ministry has now reopened all of their meeting times and returned to their normal pre-COVID schedule. This is a true blessing and folks continue to return to the campus.
• The Brazilian ministry hosted a yard sale to benefit missions on Saturday, Jan. 30 and it was followed by a time of fellowship.

There are also many things to celebrate in our school ministry: 

• Martha Canott recently told of a student who shared a Gospel tract resulting in a parent being saved.
• Monica Colon shared about a student who came to her stating that she wanted to be “born again.” The young lady prayed the sinners prayer and invited Jesus to be her Savior.
• Ruth Pirrie just launched a HUGE marketing campaign for the school, which includes a new website design and much, much more. You will begin seeing a whole new look in the weeks ahead.
• HCA has also entered the membership process with ACSI - Association of Christian Schools International. Our team continues to move HCA to new heights and we are already well-underway with enrollment for 2021-2022.
• Mr. Larry Smith has been chosen to serve as our new Head of School in the 2021-2022 school year, as Dr. Lawrence will be leaving us to serve as the Executive Vice-President at Louisiana Baptist University. We wish both of these men great success in the roles for which God has called them to and prepared them for.

Other January Blessings:

• Our missionary to Haiti, Kevin Falde, broke ground on a new church building this month.
• The Falde’s ministry also saw 600 people at their medical clinic, and 50 came to know Christ in the first 2 days!
• And get this… a dear friend of the Falde's, Bro. Samuel and his family, have started attending Grace and he has already jumped into serving with our band and worship team! Welcome Jacques family!
• We were also blessed through our Christmas offering that not only helped us “catch up” on missions giving, but even propelled us ahead of budget! Thank you for your faithfulness in supporting our missionary partners.

God continues to shower His blessings on our Grace & Highlands family! We just wanted to provide you with a brief report of “some” of the things HE is doing through you and your faithful support of this ministry.