South Dakota Recap July 18, 2012

The rolling land of lakes and farms scattered with small towns seemed an unlikely place to start our major step into church planting.  God seemed to have opened some obvious doors for us to spend 5 weeks in South Dakota but as we loaded up the vehicles and trekked to the tiny towns surrounding Sioux Falls I honestly had some doubts.  We departed the busy city life where fast food and grocery stores were minutes away and traveled to a little town that had one gas station that closed at 8pm.  The closest grocery store was a 30 minute drive.  For Stefanie and I this was a dramatic change but for a brief time in our lives this crew of 5 was in need of change.  I needed to slow down, needed to rest, and needed to spend more time and evenings with Stefanie and the kids.

The constant demands and needs, the many nights gone at meetings, and the never-ending feeling there was more to be done…it  just stopped.

And guess what?

The Kingdom continued to grow, people’s needs were met, and life went on without a pause and without me.  This is a good thing!  As we began to slow down and enjoy the evening sunsets  I found myself in a season of abiding in the Vine.  I would spend the next five weeks hanging out with four different church plants, spending a lot of time with Chris Gorman (pastor, spiritual coach, and friend), and focusing my reading and study on Biblical doctrine and the book of Romans.  The load was light and highly relational and God knew it was what I needed at the onset of a new journey.

The first few weeks in South Dakota were especially difficult for Stefanie because all the kids battled multiple sicknesses.  I don’t think I heard one real complaint out of her the entire time.  I often thought of her as one of those poor pioneer wives slowly enduring the long trip out west over the prairies.  Those first few weeks I kept seeing Satan attack Stefanie rather than me, but little did he know he had staged his greatest attack against our strongest unit.  The sicknesses faded and Stefanie and the kids really enjoyed the last three weeks in South Dakota in our cool little lake house basement apartment.   We have made some true friends in South Dakota and no doubt will look back on this time in the future and once again see God’s continued hand of provision as well as His never ending faithfulness.

Pray with us:

1.  Pray this week for the work God is doing in South Dakota and that He would continue to use these churches to glorify Himself. (Central Valley Community Church, Christ Fellowship, River Community Church, and Zao Community Church)

2.   We will be focusing our prayer efforts on the city of Gladstone so please pray God would open doors for the gospel in Gladstone!

3. Financial Support and a vehicle

Aiming to please God,

Chris Borkert

Back Home! July 4, 2012

Wow, we have been away from home for 8 1/2 weeks and it is great to be back.  Over the next few weeks I will help recap what we have been up to the past month but I will do it in little chunks in order to save you from one huge post.

Happy Fourth of July!

It is a great day to think of how blessed we are to live in a country with freedom and independence.  God has and is using brave men and women to bring this freedom to each of us.  May we each be grateful for our independence and may we use our freedom to advance the gospel for the glory of God.

Partner with us in Prayer

1. Residency at Cedar Ridge: Yesterday  I started on staff (unpaid) at Cedar Ridge for further training and equipping as we prepare to plant.  This will last around 7-9 months.

2. Financial Support:  Please pray that we would have our financial needs met.  Very soon we will have a more accurate look at where we stand and will share those specific needs in a clearer way.

3. A vehicle: We have been so blessed the last 3 years with my brother’s truck.  He has loaned it out to us while he was serving the Army in Germany.  He will be back next week and will need his truck back. For the time being we will manage with one vehicle but we are asking God to provide us with a safe, reliable vehicle so Stefanie and the kids are not stuck at home everyday.  Cedar Ridge is a 30 minute commute so dropping me off and picking me up everyday is not a very appealing option.

4. God would begin opening doors for the gospel: Would you pray with us Colossians 4:3-4:  “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.  At the same time, pray also fo us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison- that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.”  Obviously we are not in prison but pray with us that God would be opening a door within our community for the gospel to be heard and received.

May this all be for His name’s sake.

– Chris