Finding Purpose In Forgiveness 

 Larry (on the right in the picture) came to our church about 4 months ago. He left a difficult relationship behind in Florida and hoped to deepen his relationship with his grown daughter and her family who live in Johnson City. One of his neighbors was a member of our church and invited Larry to a service one Sunday. 

Larry was hungry for community and joined just about every small group he could! That included a Bible study I (Steve) was starting with a couple of guys from church. We began in John chapter 1 and Larry was a sponge for the truth. We talked about forgiveness and Larry called up his girl friend of 26 years and asked for her forgiveness for leaving her in a time of trouble. She said "of course I forgive you".

We talked about how everyone needs a purpose when they get up in the morning. Larry, a retired machinist, said purpose was what he'd been lacking in his life. He says the Holy Spirit revealed to him that his purpose was to return to his girlfriend, now disabled, out of work and cash strapped and take care of her. As I write this, Larry and his daughter are driving a U-haul truck to Florida. Pray for Larry as he re-establishes his relationship with his girlfriend. We plan to Zoom him into our Thursday morning Bible Studies this Thursday!

Prayer Requests:  

1. Pray Larry will find a supportive church in his new location.

2. Pray for Bethany's cross-cultural workers just finishing up a retreat in Spain. This is the second in a series of regional retreats designed to update the missionaries on Bethany's direction for the future and bring encouragement to their overseas workers (our retreat of the Americas will be in March of 2026).   

3. Pray for us as a family as we begin to plan our Christmas holidays together. Heather has booked her flight back to the US from Scotland and "its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!"

Serving Christ with You, Steve and Alberta