Overview and Summer Plans

One of my biggest fears is that no one will show up to the Dinner Church. One day around November, we got the food ready and set up the chairs, and the parking lot was empty. This was a terrifying moment, but I did not lose heart. My kids ran up to me and said, "Dad, what are we going to do? Are we going to pack up and head home?" Instead of putting everything away and calling it a night, I told my kids and wife that we will still have dinner together. We ate, and I talked about the Bible lesson that I had prepared for that night. Just around the time we were finishing, someone knocked on the door. An older lady and her 34-year-old son Mark were walking from Dollar General and got tired. They stopped in to ask if I could drop them off at home, another mile down the road. I was so happy to see them. I told them that not only will I drop them off but that I have food for them. 
They were hungry and did not refuse my invitation. As they were eating mashed potatoes and barbecue ribs, I got to know them and slowly brought Jesus into the conversation. We finished that evening with a prayer. As I took them home, I nervously asked if they would like to come again. To my surprise, they said yes. To this day, they are the most consistent duo that comes and attends our meetings. I truly believe that God was behind this encounter.  Mark has never been inside a church, but we are slowly building a good bond and introducing him to the Bible.
The growth process continued to be slow, and for over a month, we would gather with just the four of us. Then another couple joined our Dinner Church, Beaverly and her husband. Those two are a solid Christian family. They are in their 80s and they love Jesus so much they are not shy to talk about Him. It is so encouraging to have other believers in the room because they have experience and knowledge that helps us in the conversation. They go above and beyond to help those who enter our Dinner Church. When a pregnant 19-year-old joined us, she didn’t have anything for her expected baby. Beaverly gave that pregnant girl a list of resources where she could get free diapers and baby wipes. My wife Diana called all of her friends as well, and they were able to get a ton of baby clothes and supplies for that girl. When we dropped off these supplies, we made it clear that there are no strings attached and that we are helping her because we love Christ and that is what we are called to do. After her successful delivery, that young woman never came back, but we are not discouraged by that. Instead, we continue to press on.
As time went on, I received a phone call. A single mom from Lexington N.C, Keera, called. She asked if I could pick her up, along with her 8-year-old daughter. I did not deny her request. We drove to her city and brought her to our Dinner Church. She has been actively attending ever since. As we spent more time with her, we learned that her husband is from Pakistan, and they were happily married here in America. Her husband decided to visit his homeland and was going to help an American church do some missionary work. Someone informed the authorities of his actions, and when his trip finished, his exit to America was denied. For the past 10 years, Keera has been trying to bring her husband back.

These are just small testimonies about the people that are coming into our ministry. We are thankful for every one of them. Our plans for the future are as follows:

1. We are praying for multiplication. We hope to have a group of sixteen or more people by the end of summer. To help us with this goal we plan on doing a few outreaches in the summer.
A. The first week of June we will do a summer kick-off party for the kids, complete with bouncy houses and water guns. We hope to have fun, hold a Bible lesson, and at the same time connect with the parents and have them get plugged into our Bible studies.

2. In May, we plan on doing another Evangelism and Prayer booth Outreach. I believe that just praying for a city is not enough; we have to be proactive and start knocking on doors and telling people about our Lord and Savior. We cannot afford to be passive, especially seeing how much people are lonely, feeling both depressed and unwanted.
3. Finally, Baptism! At the end of the summer, we are planning on hosting a baptism where some of the people who are attending our Dinner Church will get a chance to make a public statement that they are committing themselves to Christ.