New Philly Itaewon - Our 1st Service (April 4, 2010)

The whole day I felt like I was on a mission trip in that we had prepared as much as we could but we knew we still had to be prepared for the unexpected. We would simply have to "roll with the punches."

The maintenance man opened the bar for us at 1pm and we went in to discover a brand new unmovable pool table had been set up right in the middle of the bar. This was quite a surprise for us but we quickly worked around it and agreed that rather than to focus on the unexpected loss of space that we would instead be thankful for the cool look the table gave the place. Setting up in the bar took a long time but the team kept positive, focused and prayerful. Dyanne and Lisa even managed to reach out to two people from Sri Lanka as they set up the church sign outside.

After setting up we had a blessed time of prayer together as a team and closed with time to pray for each other in pairs. I felt relaxed and we all gathered happily on a long couch in the bar for a team picture taken by our photographer Allen. Just after the picture visitors began to come in.

Service began with Brian and Diana leading us right into praise. Only a few people had arrived before 4, but as praise progressed I glanced back to discover the room was nearly full. In a room that can hold 48 people, we had 40 for our first service! I had instructed Brian to lead praise as long as he felt the Spirit leading him so he continued on past the usual 4 song set. It was such a blessing to feel the Holy Spirit's presence, much as we do at New Philly's Hillside campus.

The service progressed with a welcoming, an extended time of fellowship and refreshments, and then Pastor Christian's sermon, announcements, and closing prayer. There were so many new faces... some came because of our evangelism efforts, others who were encouraged by friends, and others simply because they heard about a church in a bar and they were curious to see what it was all about. We ended the evening by inviting the visitors to join us for dinner at a local Middle Eastern restaurant.

God's grace could be felt all throughout the day. I knew the prayers of all those supporting us were delivering us from every attack of the enemy and enabling us to go deeper into God's presence. Thank you for all who have been praying and cheering us on. Great things are on the horizon for Itaewon!

God bless!

John-Michael Becker
Itaewon Lay Pastor

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