Dear Friends,

“There’s a warmth here that goes beyond the weather,” said a woman who came to House of Hope recently. It seems that every week, the temperature has dipped significantly on the weekend, so our church services—being held outdoors—have been quite chilly! To be honest, I am somewhat shocked that anyone is coming at all, let alone coming repeatedly. Yet so far, we have had eight West Bankers who have attended our services, over half of whom have come more than once; and there have been many more who have eaten with us, listened to the worship time, or just turned an ear our direction as they walked past. We have had three or four non-Christians at every service so far, including the woman quoted above, who insisted that what we are doing is “what it’s all about.” We’ve seen a non-Christian invite another non-Christian to church. We’ve been told by a visitor that he got up from sleeping all day (many West Bankers are nocturnal) so he could come to church. It continues to show me that God is the one drawing people, because there is no rational reason they should be coming. We pray that these people, hearing the Gospel as they attend a service or just hover at a distance listening to the worship music, would be transformed in their understanding of God and come into a full knowledge of him.

So, what are our services like, you might ask. In many ways, they are similar to any other evangelical church, but there are a few twists (and I’m not just talking about holding our overhead projector screen in place with sticks stuck in the ground, or sitting on benches made of buckets and planks). First, we have a meal before the service actually starts. It is a great way to invite people to come, and it gives us an opportunity to sit down and get to know new people in a casual setting. The service then starts with a time of worship, where we’ve been able to revive an old Steiger tradition of having ridiculous and goofy pictures as backgrounds for our worship songs. They may seem strange to many people, but it is just a way for us to have fun and show that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Halfway through the worship, we pause to do a “spotlight” on one of a few topics that are close to our hearts. We share a bit of information and then pray for the week’s focus. The areas we spotlight include: businesses, events, or people on the West Bank that might need our prayers; something going on in the Horn of Africa region (from which so many of our neighbors have emigrated); and organizations that will receive a donation from House of Hope, since we are tithing 10% of the money we receive to another group. On the remaining Sunday of the month, we will have a brief testimony from someone at the church.

After our worship time, we take an offering, though we do this somewhat uniquely as well. We feel that it is important to call people to give of themselves, but we also recognize that many people have associated church with greed, and we don’t want non-Christian visitors to feel like they are being pressured into giving us their money. So we have a few options. We do pass an “offering plate” (though what we pass around is different each week… so far we have had a milk jug, a boot, and a box decorated with an octopus wearing an eyepatch), and we tell people that we would like everyone to participate, but we give them the option of tearing off the bottom of their bulletin and writing on there something else they will give—like volunteering to tutor, or buying a homeless person a sandwich—and dropping that in with the offering. If people are not members of House of Hope, I would not expect them to give us their money. Yet, I think we simultaneously have the responsibility to teach the importance of giving. So that is the balance we have tried to strike. Finally, we have a separate box where people can put money, but they can also take money out if they need it for something. We tell people that if they want to give specifically to people in need, that is an option for them.

And lastly, we have a time of preaching. I have been doing a “series” on what it really means to be a Christian. Many people on the West Bank have a warped view of what it means to follow Jesus. They know “he died for your sins,” but that doesn’t mean much to them, because so many other negative things have overshadowed it. So I am hoping to give a more accurate picture of what it means to be a Christian. So far, I have talked about how following Jesus means that we have real life—life that defeats death and comes alive in us; that we are set free; that we are given a family and a place we belong; and that we have to let go of the delusion of self-sufficiency and acknowledge our dependence. At the end of each message, I invite people to give their lives to Jesus, using the framework of that night’s topic. I appreciate your prayers as we continue to press into God and see what he has in mind for these services. If you would like to visit some Sunday night, there is information on our website: www.houseofhopechurch.org.  Otherwise, the prayer requests are below as usual!

Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong!
Molly S. Waggoner
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Praise
~Praise God for having a location for our services that is so perfect. We get to meet many people simply because they are just walking by.
~We are very grateful to Chai’s Thai, a restaurant next to our meeting spot, for allowing us to use their electricity instead of firing up a noisy generator every week!
~Thank God for how he is drawing people to our services. . Our team continues to grow in unity and love; it is a joy to work with everyone. 

Prayers 
~Our challenges with the legalities of putting our trailer in place continue to grow. Please pray for God to surmount the obstacles and provide whatever money we might need for a potentially expensive process.
~Several members of our team (including myself) will be gone for three Sundays during the Rainbow Gathering. Pray for those who will be managing everything while we are away, and for God to bring the right speakers for that time. 
~Pray for Tim, one of our team members who is going to Jordan for two months.
~Pray for God to inspire our worship and speaking, and that he would teach us how to live out Isaiah 58.

Tax deductible financial support can be given to me or to the new church at http://www.steiger.org/.
Click the “Donate Now” button, and write “Molly” or “House of Hope” in the comments section.
You may also send a check to Steiger Int’l, PO Box 480, Huntington, MA 01050. Write “Molly” or “House of Hope” in the memo.