Logan, Utah - February 2019
Our first mission trip to Logan, Utah to support the church planting team there was a great success! Our goal for the trip was to encourage, hear from and pray with the team and that goal was met and more! The team consists of three families: Seth, Beth and Grayson Tarver, pastor; Steven, Emily, Sophie, and Stacy Eenigenberg; and Brian, Leslie, Elliot, and Tate Swiney. It was exciting to just listen to them tell of the work that God has done since the team arrived in July of 2018. They are adapting to and learning the culture of Utah. To those that don’t know, this sounds like an easy task since they are in the US, but they’ve found that the culture, being steeped in the teaching of the Latter Day Saints is very different from the culture of the Bible belt of Conroe, Texas.
In Utah, being a part of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) is the norm. The LDS church permeates and controls the government and most of the businesses in the state. Less than one percent of the population of Logan is considered to be Bible-believing Christians. The LDS church uses much of the same terminology of the Christian church, but their understanding of those terms is much different than ours. The history and theology of the LDS are complex and has changed over the years as they believe that their president continues to receive new revelations from God. The LDS people are wonderful, kind, moral, lovely people but are completely deceived by the church.
The team in Logan has come to understand that their job is to love the LDS people. They have made true friends and deep relationships which will one day give them the opportunity to share the truth of God’s saving grace. They’ve learned that the only way to reach them is to love them. The team meets once a week for Bible Study, prayer and worship and they are ready to begin inviting friends to join them. The church is officially named Riverwoods Fellowship and you can keep up with them through the new website: www.riverwoodsfellowship.com.
The WCBC team enjoyed our time with the team in Logan! We did prayer walks or prayer-drives in the areas of the city that the church is focused on reaching but we also had the opportunity to look at and pray over some possible venues or sites for the new church to gather for worship. Please be praying that God will lead the team in Logan to know exactly where He wants them to be.
One day on the trip was devoted to just loving on the families of the Logan Team. The adult couples were given funds to be able to enjoy the day as they wished and the activities varied from skiing to tubing to hatchet throwing! The WCBC team had the privilege of spending that day with the kids and we enjoyed every minute of it! We ended the day at “Jump Zone,” a local trampoline business. The kids were thoroughly and happily worn out by the end of the day and so were we!
Please keep the team in Logan in your prayers. They are doing well, but the job is difficult. The great thing is that we know that God will prevail and make himself known in Utah. What an honor to get to be a part of His work!
-Kay Robinson, Minister of Missions
