Nelson Newsletter - October

Greetings dear Friends!

Fall is a beautiful season of change. It’s the time of the year again when the temperatures drop, the leaves change into an array of eye-catching colors, and football fans get excited about cheering for their team. It is also a season of opportunity to bring change (new life) to those who don’t know Christ yet. What an honor for us to be ambassadors for Christ!

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Here’s how we have brought new life to unbelievers and growth to those who belong to Christ.

Clemson University Outreach I met with campus minister, Brian Bridgeman, a day before our Southeast regional. We had some quality time together discussing the current needs of the student ministry, as well as his personal prayer requests. Then we shared the gospel with Clemson students. William, pictured in the middle, is a freshman who is excited about learning how to tell his story and God’s story with fellow classmates. The young man seated is Zander, who is the coach of the men’s hockey team. Please pray for him, and many others we met with that day, to want to begin a personal relationship with God. Pray for their retreat this weekend, October 28^th, to inspire the students with God’s vision for their lives.

During the regional meeting we spoke about our current church status, shared our personal highs and lows and prayed for each other. We also discussed how to allow God to help us be more fruitful in disciple making and church planting. I stayed with our dear friends, Fred and Christine Custer, who are always a tremendous blessing to my faith. All the families in the Clemson church are an inspiration!

Atlanta House Church

Here are Julia and Danelle studying the Bible in our home using the Life Now Bible studies. Julia is a new Christ-follower who is eager to learn, and it’s a joy to watch her faith grow. Please pray with her for her family in Malaysia to come to know the Lord too.

Our Regional House Church Conference will be this weekend (Oct 28-30) in Charleston, SC. The churches in Raleigh, Gainesville, and Atlanta will attend and Todd Watkins is coming to speak. Please pray for us to encourage one another, love one another, and build one another’s faith in Christ while there.

Prayer Requests

1. Clemson Student Ministry Pray for the students we spoke with to come to Christ.  Pray for Brian as he makes disciples. Pray for their conference this Saturday to challenge and inspire all. Pray for many students to attend the Faithwalkers conference Dec. 29 - Jan 1 in Asheville.

2. Regional House Church Conference (October 28-30) Please pray for the saints in these churches to seek God and apply truth to their lives. Pray for Todd to be filled with the Holy Spirit and discernment to meet needs as he teaches. Pray for all to return with a renewed devotion to Christ, each other, and those who don’t have new life yet in our cities.

Thank you for partnering with us to bring new life to others!                                

         

Steve and Danelle 

Hunting

Everything that lives and moves will be food for you.  – Genesis 9:3 NIV

I was once asked by a young man in a class of Russian students how I could hunt and be a Christian. I had just shown them some pictures of our family and some of me with a deer I had shot with my son that fall. “Good question,” I said.

The Bible teaches that God has given us all the animals for our food. If it is a cow that ends up as a Big Mac at McDonald’s or on your grill, or a wild deer that you bring home, these are some of the ways that God said He would provide food for us.

My good friend Richard with a buck he harvested with me.

It is not a sin to hunt or fish. I told the young Russian man that it is not right to waste animals or to kill just to kill. My family enjoys eating the venison and the fish that I bring home. They are both healthy foods. I told them that I am also conservationist and a firm believer in protecting our environment and managing our resources now and for our grandchildren.

I think it is wise to teach our children these principles. “The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, men who... advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:1‑5).

God has “richly supplied us with all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17). Therefore, enjoy!