The World's LONGEST Living Room

When we first looked at the home we live in now, one of the things that stuck out to me the most was the living room. Our living room is extremely long, especially for the size home we have. In comparison, our kitchen is tiny. I remember thinking, "Why did they build this house to have such a long living room and such a tiny kitchen? Did the builder make a mistake?" I didn't know how on earth we would make the furniture we have look normal or where we would keep all our kitchen stuff that didn't fit in the kitchen. And then....we started hosting our student ministry gathering in our living room. You know what fits really well in a long living room?  20-30 students. Lots of pillows. Folding chairs.  I feel like God absolutely, positively knew that we would be able to use this living room to reach and disciple students. How awesome is that?! Our furniture looks fine, and we keep all of our extra kitchen stuff in the playroom closet.

However, Bara Church is now ready to take the next step. We have had many students and families join us and feel that God is calling our church to ARISE and BUILD. We are looking towards the possibility of a permanent building in the future....maybe one with a space for youth?!?! Two Sundays ago our church got to watch this video sharing our vision and hopes for the future. It is exciting!!!

Arise and Build Video

The church in the Bible always refers to the people gathering together. It isn't specific to a building. We are the church. But having a physical place to allow for more opportunities would be amazing. Part of Ryan's job is to oversee the weekly set up and tear down for our church, and the other day he calculated how many 100's of Sundays he has done this while at Bara and our former church....it is a lot! He will happily, joyfully continue setting up, but wow, what a blessing it would be if that time could be further directed towards other areas of ministry.

Also this Sunday we had three people get baptized after our service. Ryan got to baptize one of our youth and was so encouraged to get to partake in his first baptism as a pastor. Our pastor Joel joked about how the baptism trough looked a bit unsteady and cold this Sunday, and that maybe one day we could have a more permanent baptism tub. Haha, we shall see!

We are looking forward to seeing where God will lead Bara....how He will accomplish such a seemingly gigantic mission....who He will use.....who He will bring to Bara! Please pray for our church in the coming months!