Plant Utah News – January 2015
Christmas/New Year
Over Christmas we were blessed with the presence of Chandra’s parents (Ken and Carolyn Vogel) and our oldest “adopted” son who was home from the Army. Despite seasonal illnesses, we had a really blessed time. We are especially grateful for this time together since Ken and Carolyn will be leaving for Liberia soon and we’re not sure how soon we’ll see our military son again. It was definitely a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Transitional Housing Update
The transitional housing unit will be an apartment for people fleeing polygamist cult communities. Those leaving these abusive cults generally have no family or connections outside the cult community. They leave with only the clothes on their backs, little education and nowhere to live. They need housing, rehabilitation, job training and education. Our part in this process is to provide transitional housing, mentoring and an opportunity to set and achieve goals. Here is a link to a news story that gives a little insight into a current situation within one of these polygamist communities.
God has sent a sizable gift through the hands of generous ministry partner to be used toward building materials for the transitional housing project. This gift will purchase a little more than half of the needed materials. The remaining materials cost is only about $3,500. You can make a contribution to this fund on our support page.
We will soon be planning mission trip opportunities to build this housing unit. If you are interested in this mission trip, fill out this form today, so we can begin coordinating possible dates. Remember to check your email to confirm your request.
Utah Valley Church
The Lord continues to place people in our path to begin the discipleship process with. Some are Christians, some are FLDS and others are LDS who are beginning the journey from religion to relationship with Christ. We will soon begin another LDS Transitions Class for people leaving the Mormon church who are exploring biblical Christianity. Remember, this region is still one of the most unreached parts of the world with less than 1% who claim evangelical Christianity. It’s a long hard process for those leaving the cultural religion and turning to biblical Christianity. For most, it’s a 5-7 year journey from the time they begin to explore to the time they embrace the biblical Jesus and receive His grace. This makes it a mission field like nowhere else in the US. It requires extra patience and a lot of persistence.
Plant Utah’s 2015 Budget
You are receiving this email because you are either a Plant Utah financial supporter or you have an interest in this ministry. Either way, we wanted to make our 2015 budget available for those who have an interest in the financial aspect of this ministry. It is definitely a budget based faith since current recurring contributions reflect about 23% what is needed, but God will provide! We’ve also included our personal family budget that is based on guidelines for families in high cost of housing areas provided by Crown Financial Ministries. The cost of living in Utah is much higher than we expected. In fact, it’s more than double that of Missouri (where we moved from). The average home listing price in Missouri is $196,300 versus $459,130 in Utah. Click this link to see a copy of this year’s budget.
For the sake of the Gospel,
