Ministry Update
Brent and Michele Howard
ChurchCare Construction, Lincoln, NE
October 2024
Dear Family and Friends,
Things are looking up here in Lincoln, Nebraska. The long-awaited stairwell and elevator shaft project was begun a couple months ago and has continued to progress at a good rate. We literally are looking up from the bottom now and we praise God for the safety, strength , and progress that has been made at this point. Thanks for continuing to pray over the next several weeks as we add the stairs between each of the four levels.
The Children’s classrooms in II Timothy and the second set of bathrooms in I Timothy have been completed since our last prayer letter. They are looking very nice. We were thankful to have them ready in time for a ladies event here at Temple. We will be working on the third set of bathrooms over the next month, in between pouring sections of the stairwell.
While working on grinding a steel beam the beginning of August, Brent got a spark in his eye. He thought it just burned his eye, and when I was looking in his eye, I could see the small spot. The same day we travelled to Orlando, Florida to check on my dad. By the time we arrived, his eye was looking very irritated. The next morning, we had to have an eye doctor remove a small particle of metal. Praise the Lord, where it embedded itself in the eye was not in his field of vision. It has mostly healed up with only some residual dryness at times and a sensitivity to light.
We were thankful for the opportunity to be in Ohio for the Baptist Church Planters council meetings. It is 3 days of lots of discussions and planning for the ChurchCare Board and BCP Council, but we are thankful for unity and clear direction.
Of course we have to share some pictures of Marcus and the kids. He is looking cuter all the time! He is really a good toddler. The Mains have added another member to the family; a black lab named, Luna. 🙂 Each of our adult kids continue to steadily work for which we thank the Lord. He provides for all our needs. We are looking forward to our working sabbatical starting in January. If you follow our page on Facebook – Howards at ChurchCare Construction, you can find the group we created called Planning our Western United States Trip Beginning January 2025. We are looking for your input about points of interest that we should be sure not to miss. Just find the post about the state for which you have information to share and make a comment for us. We will appreciate your help and suggestions.
Prayer and Praise:
Praise the Lord for continued safety and good progress on the difficult elevator shaft and stairwell portion of the church here at Temple Baptist in Lincoln, NE.
Pray for the workers to finish strong as we are nearing 1 year of working on the building here and everyone is tired of the mess and busy days of work.
Pray for our coworkers, The Stevensons, as their almost 2 year old son, Leroy, has to have surgery to remove the cyst on the top of his head in November.
Praise God for His faithful provision. He abundantly meets our needs over and over. Pray with us for the finances for our working sabbatical. We will be traveling thousands of miles and having to stay at campgrounds in some locations. All special gifts from now until the time we leave will be designated to go toward the trip. I have been creatively looking for ways to earn extra money donating plasma, making food for friends, cleaning and easy home repairs, and of course my Norwex business.
Some verses that have meant a lot since we learned them in Junior High School: Hebrews 12:1-2 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Let us each keep our eyes on Jesus giving Him the rightful place on our lives until He comes again!
