I am so overwhelmed at how blessed we have been by all of you over these years that we have been living here in England. Tammy and I were young in our marriage, and Caleb was just nine months and now he turns 10 in three weeks, how time flys. We have learned so much, made so many mistakes, and still have so much to learn, but our lives have been totally changed by being here. I know from the perspective of doing missionary work the emphasis is normally on how were effecting the lives of people here, but I am over-whelmed with God’s Grace in our lives and how much He has changed us by being here.

Tammy and I have had our ups and downs over the years learning, growing, working to the point of exhaustion, enjoying life together, and sometimes struggling together, but it seems like we have reached a much healthier stage in our life, ministry, and faith in God. I believe a lot of this is due to the loving guidance many of you have given us, and the support needed to enable us to be here as God has worked in our hearts.

I know these are tough economic times for many, and especially for missionaries all over the world, and while we’re not “rolling in it” financially, we are stable enough in our budgeting every month that we don’t have to constantly worry about money and are able to just get on with church planting work. I know it has been a challenge for some of you to continue supporting us and we pray that in your sacrifice the Lord would supply all your need as well!

Regarding the church: A couple of months ago we prayerfully decided to change the name of the church to be more reflective of the biblical values that we sensed God was cementing into the heart of our church community. The new name is “The House” which we believe reflects our desire to be a spiritual family that is laboring together for the faith of the gospel. The good news is that not only has the name changed but the church has as well, reflecting a much healthier and more mature body of believers. In the past the church just seemed to be more of a youth group where people were very new and immature in their faith and Tammy and I did most of the work. But now people have really grown and matured, started getting jobs (yea!!!), started getting married, and a few with kids so that were no longer the only family, but there are about 6 families now. We have a ministry house where people live and we pay them peanuts to work in the coffee shop and church. Yesterday, a guy named James Orchard took over as the fulltime youth pastor, and while we have always done a lot of work with the youth, now there is a solid core of youth really on fire for God and ready to start a “revolution” as they say. Perhaps some of you met Sarah who came to the States with us on one of our visits; she has been helping out a lot in the church, but is “sacking in” her occupational therapy job and will be working full time as the church administrator starting next month. There is a whole group of deacons as well who take care of most of the practical necessities on our Sunday morning gathering. And on the 16th of September we will be having our first church members meeting to pray and discuss how to more effectively bring the gospel to our city. So all in all things are really looking up!

Regarding the Family: Awhile ago we mentioned the need for prayer regarding our foster daughter Jasmine as our relationship with her was taking a wrong direction. Well God truly answered those prayers and our relationship is better than ever. Joy, just had her 8th birthday and has just started playing the piano and cornet, hmmm let’s just say the house is much nosier than before. Caleb is starting 5th grade and is growing into a godly little man. Both of them are doing well in school but Caleb has been diagnosed with “ ADD”, and while I don’t like putting labels on my kids without some apprehension, it does seem to explain a lot of the difficulties we have regarding his attention span and how hard it can be for him to stay on task. This has also made me aware of similar struggles in my own life (Drew) which I see is keeping me from being a more effective leader and Pastor. I can work for really long hours but feel like I really do struggle with attention deficit issues which hinder me from being more effective in what I do. Please pray that the Lord will give my buddy and I wisdom in how to grow in this area of our lives. One thing I am looking into doing is seeing how to set up a video update blog as I find it hard to put words to paper, I always feel anxious, and find it so hard to stay focused when writing (I know it sounds lame but it has taken me a whole day to write this update). It might sound like a weird prayer request but please do pray for growth in this area as I see it keeps me back from being more effective in the ministry, communicating to you guys, and Caleb from feeling stupid in his writing class. Tammy, still does a lot within the church (mainly managing the coffee shop, graphics stuff, and worship), but way less than she used to and is able to be much more focused with the kids now. It has been great to see her enjoying being mom and a baking machine!

I know I’ve probably said this before, but I believe this is going to be one of the most important years in our ministry hear in England. Both our family and our church family are doing well, and we are motivated and moved by the Spirit more than ever to see God do a great work in this city. Thanks, for supporting us all these years, putting up with us all these years, and praying with us that this is going to be the biggest of years yet!

Love,
Drew , Tammy, Caleb and Joy

For prayer requests, updates, and donations please visit our blog

Prayer Requests

• For Sam, Beth, and Ellie young teenagers who have just become Christians and will be getting baptized in the next couple of weeks.

• For Ron who is in his seventies and has just recently started attending our church regularly and has become a Christian. Ever since he became a Christian his health has been very poor and has been in and out of the hospital with pneumonia 5 times.

• Please pray for Caleb and Joy as they start their second year in school, that they will get the proper support they need, make great friends and get on well with their teachers.

• For Caleb and Drew Reg: ADD

• We desperately need someone who feels called to manage the practical day to day running of our coffee shop. We had some guys here helping out over the summer months but they have all now moved back to the States. They were a huge help and will be deeply missed, but this now put’s more on Tammy as she has stepped back a lot from the practical running of the coffee shop to the more administrative managerial needs of the coffee shop, though now she will have to take on many of those duties until we find a replacement.

• Sarahs Brother Alan is still fighting for life. His muscle wasting disease will eventually take his life. She just recently lost her grandmother to a brain tumor. Her family is going through a hard time, so prayer is greatly appreciated!