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GervaisNews October 2011>
Newsletter December 2007
December 1, 2007
Dear friends, family and/or co-laborers in His Kingdom,
I find it hard to believe the holidays are almost on top
of us. I must be over the hill because life is coming and
going so fast that I can hardly keep up. Last month the
four of us were camping out with friends over the
Thanksgiving weekend.
Mikala invited the teen group from church to go with us and
asked me to organize the food and help by cooking for the
21 plus teens camping with us. It was a challenge but it
was fun. I almost forgot how much fun it is to have a bunch
of energetic teens around. We all had a blast. It was
refreshing to see Mikala in action corralling and leading
those teens. She had their respect as well as their
attention and that is hard to do. That’s my girl. My only
fear is that for next year we might end up with over fifty
teems once they all tell their friends how much fun it is
to go camping.
Barb enjoyed sitting around the campfire and staying warm.
She has it easy when we go camping. She doesn’t have to
cook, wash the dishes or anything. She gets to sit and
relax. Well, she desires that break, she earned it.
Micah drove up from Miami and he joined us on Saturday
afternoon then left the next morning for home. Camping as a
family brings back many good memories for me. I am winding
down my commitment as Zion’s recovery pastor. That is one
chapter that God is closing to make room for the next
chapter in my life. I will share more on that in January. I
have included a testimony of one of the people who was
court ordered to attend one of our parenting classes. The
names have been changed to protect the innocent but the
story is real.
“My name is Alice Smith, I have attended the parenting
class here at Zion Christian Church in Palm Bay for the
past 12 weeks, and it has completely changed my life. My
daughter Amy attends Confident Kids and Larry attends the
Nursery while I am in class. We have made new friends,
learned how to get along better as a family, and I have
found the Lord. My daughter Amy, her father Lee, and myself
were in a custody battle for over two years. Amy’s father
Lee and I have reconciled our relationship. We decided to
get back together and plan on getting married on Sunday
March 30th. Lee also has decided to attend these classes
with me so we both could become better parents, and learn
new ideas for parenting in which we both agree
our children desire. So thank you to Dawn, Pastor Lew, and
Zion Christian Church because you have changed my and my
family’s lives.”
That is what it is all about. I get so excited when
people, who would never think of setting foot in a church,
are forced to attend our classes and end up coming to
Christ as a result of it. The person that Amy mentioned at
the end of her testimony (Dawn) is the facilitator of that
particular class. About 3 years ago she and her boyfriend
Bob came and took that class in order to prove to the
courts that they are fit parents as they were in a custody
battle for her boyfriend’s 9 year old daughter. Dawn and
Bob made it clear when they first came to attend our
parenting class that they were not interested in God. They
were only interested in the certificate for the courts. At
that time their lives were a mess and Bob was still
struggling with a crack addiction. Both Dawn and Bob met
the Lord, were baptized and became active in the life of
the church. I had the honor of performing the ceremony as
they exchanged marriage vows, and today they are both
facilitators who are having an impact on others who are
coming to our classes.
I thank you for praying, I thank you for giving, and I
thank you for your ongoing friendship. It is your prayers
and encouragement that helps me to serve on this mission
field year after year. I am honored, humbled and excited to
be here.
Because of Christ
Lew Gervais
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