Hello friends and family!
I am excited to give you all an update for this quarter! God has been doing some wonderful things. It is such a blessing to serve here and see Him show Himself faithful time and time again. I am excited to share reports of answered prayers and Kingdom building!!
The Link Coffee House
Janene and Bethany, who started working in The Link, at the Grand Opening event with the town Mayor.
Since we opened The Link Coffee House back in November 2022, I have been running it on my own and praying that the Lord would help open the door for us to hire someone to work with me. Well, as of this May, we officially hired a wonderful lady from our church here in Bridgend to help work here! She has been a blessing to our church community for years and is an absolute answer to prayer here in The Link as well! With her help, we have been able to expand what we do as a business. With her creativity and connections in the area, we have also been able to grow our presence with other businesses and individuals in the city. I am so excited to see what is in store for this place in the coming months!
Youth Group
Unfortunately, we lost our youth director this past December, and, honestly, we have struggled to maintain the group since then. We couldn’t find anyone to head it up, and we were all spread too thin to take it on by ourselves. However, together, we have been able to bring this group back to life. Our pastors Lem and Tobey, myself, and a few others from the church have partnered together and have been able to take on the challenge as a team! Seeing these kids have a safe place to be themselves, grow, and laugh is such a beautiful thing! We are excited to take them to a youth gathering in a nearby city at the end of the month. Right now, they are fundraising for the trip!
If you or your youth group would like to give and help send them, please let me know!!!
Poland
Groups of ministers from all over Europe gathered in Poland to meet and bless ministers in Krakow.
I was blessed to go to Krakow, Poland in April to see how God is building His kingdom there through the work of a couple who have made a life of saying yes to the Lord. God sent Roman and Kristina from Ukraine to Poland to establish a ministry and business before the war in Ukraine started. They had no idea God was sending them to prepare the way for the work they would do among the refugees who soon began flooding the country. They have spent the past year or more providing shelter, legal support, and financial help to those fleeing the war. It was an incredible honor to gather with other missionaries to learn from them and pray over their family and their church!
Looking Forward
Compassion Church Bridgend Sunrise Service outing.
Moving here and getting things established really took over my focus and all my brain capacity. Running the coffee shop full time, as well as the roles I’ve taken within our church ministries, honestly had my plate feeling pretty full. But, in the past few weeks, I have felt the Lord stirring in my spirit that there is more He wants to do. As I got ready to tell Him I was too busy, He reminded me that He answered the prayers for help and support in areas I felt overwhelmed by, and He was also preparing the way for me to say yes to Him.
I have just finished doing a study in Acts, and let me tell you, it is hard to read that book and feel any space to not partner in what God is asking! Chapter after chapter is full of believers who said yes, loudly, and repeatedly, over and over again! What would it look like if we lived like that? How would our lives change? How would His Kingdom grow?
I said yes when He asked me to come here, but it doesn’t stop there. I want to keep saying yes to Him! I am in a season of saying yes and seeking His wisdom and guidance for what is to come. And I am so ready for the unexpected, those things only He knows right now, to take place all around us!
As I close, let me say I am sorry that this newsletter is coming to you later than I intended. These past several months have been incredibly busy, and then we had a family emergency that took over. I do want to take time to say thank you for all the prayers and thank you to each of you who reached out over the past few weeks! I cannot tell you how comforting it was to know that so many of you were standing with us.
I pray the Lord is reaching each of you in your churches, communities, and homes! It is an honor and a joy to be on this journey with all of you!!!
Janene Wooten
