Praise the Lord that our nation, and the world as a whole, are at this point out of the Covid scare. We are very excited to be able to freely attend church in our building, as well as have the opportunity to reach the lost in Portland, OR with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Having said that, these past few years have not been without their challenges. In August of 2021, our church building experienced a small fire, that caused us to have to meet at the Pastor’s residence, a little ways away, for about a year and a half. We adapted to this challenge as the church was being renovated, and grew closer as a spiritual family in the process. Fortunately for us, the Holy Spirit is not picky about where we meet, but, as we found out, quite the opposite. The preaching was great, the prayer time was rich, and we were given a chance, as a church, to support one another, and fill in the gaps where there was a need.
Here are some of the highlights from 2022-23:
The Building:
We returned to a completely renovated and updated building. A new roof, carpet, flooring, paint job, new electrical service drop supply line, and many other improvements were very much welcomed. We also were able to open the church in time for our 30th anniversary meeting in May, and enjoy some great preaching and fellowship with friends and family from all over. What could have been a big discouragement, turned out to be a blessing in time. (Rom. 8:28)
Anniversary Meetings:
Pastors and evangelists from all over joined us for our 30th anniversary as a church in the Portland area. Because the fire followed closely after the end of the Covid restrictions, we haven’t had an official anniversary meeting since 2019. Many great messages were preached and taught, and as is many times the case, there was a spiritual continuity and relationship between the sermons which only God can provide. The only complaint was that the meetings weren’t long enough!
Sermons from the anniversary meetings and all others as well are available at truevine1611.com!
High School Ministry:
With the return of kids to school, the opportunity for us to start up the high school outreach again was exciting to see. While not as many schools were visited this
school year as years previous, we still managed to get around 500 high school oriented Chick tracts into the hands of young minds still open to spiritual truth. Possibly now more than ever, the younger generation are seeking for answers and a reason for living, as well as comfort and stability. It is our prayer that these high schoolers, subjected to the fruit of a spiritually deprived society, will be forever changed through the work of the Holy Spirit and the word of God in their hearts because of this effort.
Street Preaching:
Because of some of the policies passed in our little corner of the globe, Portland has gone through many demographic changes, especially in the inner city. Open drug use and violence are becoming an everyday sight, and there is little effort to enforce the laws in place. While we are undeterred from all this, it does require us to exercise more caution and be prayed up as much as possible before hand. But God is good! We have got out thousands of tracts, as well homeless packs (thanks to our women’s group,) and been able to witness for the Lord Jesus Christ to many Portlanders, from the wealthy to the homeless, and everything in between. As a church, we can say that our little section of this earth has not gone without a gospel witness!
Please join us in praying to the Lord of the harvest, for souls to get saved.
Rose Festival Parade:
True Vine has had the opportunity to once again reach thousands of people on the sides of the Rose Festival parade route with picture tracts and sandwich board signs as well as a large banner depicting Jesus Christ on the cross. The reception is largely positive, with many kids wondering why that man on the cross is being hurt so bad! There are two parades a year, providing an excellent opportunity to get out the gospel both visually, verbally, and through the written word.
Bro. Fred Dye, missionary to Mexico:
It was great to see bro. Fred at our anniversary meetings, hear him preach, and see what the Lord is doing in his part of Mexico. From Vacation Bible School, to the Juarez outreach, to getting out zillions of John/Romans (Juan/Romanos) in Nogales, Mexico, bro. Fred is always steady and consistent in helping meet the needs of his church as well as the lost down south. He is working with pastor Javier Hernandez at Garden on the Mountain Baptist Church doing whatever is needed both spiritually and physically. He provides cars/trucks for some of the people there, as well as working on the property, and doing preaching as well. Not to mention helping us out around the building and holding the banner for one of the parade days this summer when he came up! Please keep him in your prayers!
Preaching/Teaching:
Bro. Chris and b. Austin from our church have been filling in on some of the preaching & teaching duties for Sunday services, and has supplemented the preaching in a great way. Not only does this give pastor Glen a bit of a respite, but he can enjoy listening to preaching as well. Bro. Chris and b. Austin closed out the anniversary meetings this year, and have preached & taught at True Vine many times.
B. Chris has also joined us for our street preaching downtown outreach – very thankful for the additional laborer in the gospel.
B. Chris has also been hosting Men’s Prayer Breakfast which has been a great time of food, fellowship, and of course prayer. Praise the Lord and please keep him and his family in prayer!
We are also doing a Small Town Tract ministry where we pick outlying towns, Sandy, Estacada, Damascus, Molalla, Ridgefield and distribute hundreds of tracts.
Our Ladies Meetings have been a relaxing, peaceful time of fellowship, food, devotion, prayer, and putting homeless packets together for distribution downtown.
Men’s retreats at Trout Lake, Wa by Mt Adams, and Welch’s, Or were a wonderful time away from the city, in a quiet, secluded location affording the men a time of fellowship, devotional messages, prayer, and refreshing.
The ladies got to go to Lincoln City for their retreat. Enjoying time together at the beach, fellowship, prayer, devotional & some good food.
Thank God for 3 children in church who after trusting Jesus Christ as their Saviour have followed the Lord in believers baptism.
The Pastor and his wife were able to attend Pastors School in August 2022 at Treasure Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho. Much was learned, many new friendships were made and old acquaintances re-newed.
Thank you very much for your prayers!
Feeding the flock in church, & shining the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ in Portland and the surrounding area.
2Cor 4:4-7