Interests:MUSIC, FISHING, GOLF, FOOTBALL (PLAYING) LIFTING WEIGHTS (BACK WHEN I HAD TIME) SOCCER, RACING (ACTUALLY DOING IT NOT WATCHING IT...YUK!) MOTORCYCLES, AMERICAN CHOPPER YESSS! Expertise:PEOPLE. Occupation:MUSICIAN / MISSIONARY
Youth Church “TRANSFORMERS” is still going. We meet every Sunday morning just after worship and we have messages that are geared towards the teens life situations and questions. Were are planning “Transformers Roll Out” for future Thursday nights... The hope is to get the kids from the Sunday morning service to go out once a month on the first Thursday nights of every month starting in January or March... The night is simply going to start out as a fun night for the kids with messages of hope, love, and encouragement using movies or other forms of media...
“Love Cedar Valley” A great way to do ministry. Also a great time for our church to, as a whole, get out and fellowship with other churches as we do Random Acts of Kindness... Another great way to worship and sing to God and combine music and other forms of worship to give a greater view of what a total worshipping environment looks like... 4 years of co-leading the worship this year & it was great... I believe God was allowing me this year to really help pull the community together for a greater worship experience. We were able to have many different elements of praise present for that day. Everything from praise dancers to banner dancers, worship musicians from different churches bringing their own experiences and flair to the musical worship and this year I was able to add one more element to the experience, a young lady that dressed the stage and enhanced the “visual” part of worship from those looking at the stage. She and the Banner ministry folks dressed the stag in an array of color and sashes. They made it as pleasing to the eye as the songs hopefully were to God’s heart. I pray that our fellow Christ followers were as pleased as I was but even more so that God Found pleasure in it.
“Family News” The Floyd Family is doing well... The little ones are not so “Little” anymore and it is a joy and a blessing to be able to look at my kids and see what “could be” with regards to the young adult versions of my Kids! My Darling wife is disappearing before my very eyes... and Looking Awesome!!! More so than the look that is new is the “Rachel” I love her drive and the ambition she has!!!
Outreach “Servant Evangelism Team” The Team was designed to change leadership after 2 years of service. The purpose was to allow more people to use their gifting and get a chance to serve in Leadership in a formatted way after we set up the templates... Well unfortunately things didn’t pan out that way. We made plans for a transition and I personally evaluated people from the church (secretly) and approached them one at a time and asked them a series of questions to determine where they were and gave them the ask... took about 3-4 weeks After the first meeting and appointment into their positions NOT ONE of them are able to fill their positions So it’s back to FuZz, Rachel, Shari & Bridget... More on that later...
Worship Team News Well we are growing as a church and God is growing the Worship teams... We have “Saved By Grace”, Team “A”, Team “B”, and the “Gospel Team”. It feels good to have a “FuZz-Less” Praise team. Also I am looking forward to the Love Cedar Valley event! Every year for the past 3 years I have co-lead the praise team and this year is my fourth... We have have a blast leading and doing the worship for the day. This year I had a few new plans that I wanted to incorporate and I really liked it. They were a hit and I am jazzed about next year already!
Every year I am asked if the team would play more events outside of that one and I have had to say no... but now I have a team of musicians and singers that can so we have a team of musicians and singers that travel & will do events and outings and whatever else God has in store for us.. We are: Pastor FuZz & “A New Rejoice”....
Prayer requests: God strengthens and keeps me for His sake. God keeps my Family and ministry safe from evil That those lives we touch will be changed forever for the sake & glory of God.
Thanks for your Continued Support! May God Richly bless your Giving and your living. As we start our Year off we were as I told your in the last letter desperately awaiting God’s blessings and answers to prayer for the replacement of mission supporters... MAN OH MAN DOES GOD KNOW HOW TO COME THROUGH!!!!
Our God is an awesome God and he provides our every need according to His riches in His kingdom. What was potentially the worst month of the year for us one that we started off in the RED and looked bleak, turned out to be a month that God made his presence known and His blessings flow.
Two weeks before Christmas we were in financial duress that left us high and dry and there was not even money to buy a Christmas tree let alone presents or decorations. I felt like it was my duty to inform the kids (who already know the true meaning) what our situation was. I felt as though God wanted me to share with them where we were so that they would see how He blesses us... Thinking that this would be a great opportunity, but not knowing what God was planning on doing I took the time to tell them this:
Children... We are not going to be able to buy a Christmas tree this year as we cannot afford it.. they’re reply was sad but okay dad and then we prayed that God would give us a chance to tell someone about your story. God not only did that but He gave us a bunch more to tell about... Starting with someone buying a tree for us after we prayed. The most awesome part is that we told NO ONE that we needed one!
Rachel and I were sitting in the dining room talking about the fact that we had no bread, meat, milk or money for gas... I went to the store & used our last money for gas... when I returned there was a person in my living room that told us that she was praying and she felt that God was telling her to bring by a few things... A ham, some milk, some bread and $50.00 and she didn’t know why...
I told her the story of how Rachel and I had a talk with the kids and the prayer and she said wow that was great... after that another person randomly gave us $100.00. Then we told her the story and then another person... well... you get the picture... it seemed that every time one of us told the story of God’s blessings and how good he was He blessed us again and again. I tell you Christmas was awesome we couldn’t buy a tree or gifts or even lights but every time we told the story someone gave us presents or lights for the tree or gift cards for food or money for the light bill...
Our supporters had dwindled due to the recession and we were blessed by also getting one new supporter... GOD IS GOOD! There are soooo many other stories to tell down to supplying us a car when ours was in need of repair that we didn’t have money... And God doesn’t just give you trash...
Ministry as many of you know that are in it with us, is always going on and at times it gets “thick” and even though it gets that way and there are lots of pressures or complications I / we are glad to be in it & thankful for our purpose!
Let us rejoice and sing praises to the name of the ALMIGHTY GOD!!!!
Please find a reason to celebrate the goodness of God & tell the world about His Goodness and grace!!!!
Prayer requests: God strengthens and keeps me for His sake. God keeps my Family and ministry safe from evil That those lives we touch will be changed forever for the sake & glory of God.
God is Good & His Mercies endure forever!!! Well folks I celebrate my 44th Birthday this month and I am glad to be where I am and feeling fairly good... I am doing well with my Hypertension and even though my sugar levels are a little high I do not have diabetes. My ministry is meaningful and full, my children are beautiful and my wife is a woman of honor and my precious beloved! what more could I ask for!!! That’s the way I want to start this letter!!!
Ministry Times: As I said in the paragraph above it is constant & fulfilling... as well as hectic and annoying. I would be lying if I said that there were not times that I really feel like taking a VERY LONG NAP and forgetting about people and duties for a while!.. Trying to do ministry for the church is quite a work load! There’s music ministry and all that it requires with regards to leading supporting and planning for 2-3 teams as well as BEING IN ALL OF THEM, there’s mentoring the teens and planning their messages and resolving their issues. There is the young adults guiding and leading, and there is giving advise to the adults, visiting sick, vision planning for the church, searching for a building, meeting with the city officials, helping write the grant for the building, meeting with the realtor and looking at buildings, meeting with other youth pastors & outreach teams from other churches advising them on how we do ministry and finally leading, organizing, planning and execution of the Servant Event Teams events for Bridge of Hope.
That was for Bridge of Hope... For Young Community, I formed the Youth Ministry Team (Y.M.T.) that does youth ministry in 2 of the apartment complexes here in Waterloo and I am training up leaders to do youth ministry as well... We have an outreach plan that brings the kids from these complexes out of the complexes to other places like camps other neighborhoods and communities to give them a more rounded view of what God can do in & out of their community. This also offers them the opportunity to go to laces that they never knew existed and this broadens their horizons.
YouthChurch : Our “TRANSFORMERS” youth church is going on, but I am very disappointed in the numbers that are attending however with all that is going on with regards to the rest of what I do I am thankful as well... Here are the message titles from November & December 2010. November: “Empty Your Cup”, “The Truth YOU know may be a LIE”, “In The Beginning”, “The Fallen”. December: “Where it all began”, “The Creation of Mankind”, “The Great Dragon-The Serpent & The Snake”, “Revenge Of The Fallen”, “The Serpent Under Foot”... If you would like a copy of any of these or even for me to do them for your youth group or young adults at your church please contact me on Facebook http//:www.facebook.com/pastorfuzz
Outreach: Servant Event team and Outreach Team for Bridge of Hope have plans to reach the community through events that serve the physical, mental and spiritual needs of our surrounding community. Our upcoming events will be posted in the letters that follow...
Special News: OUR FIRST WEDDING IN THE THEATER WILL BE THIS MONTH (December). Kim Lewis & Tim Kemp will be tying the knot During the Sunday morning service. Kim’s immediate family has 25 people and Tim’s has 10-15 or so... They will be doing it during the ”Featured Family” sharing times during the advent season. We are having the families of the church come forth & share 1-2 family moments and tell us what is special about their family Christmas rituals. This is an attempt to allow people to get to know each other and their families in order to feel more like a family unit as a whole.
Exciting things: We have baptized quite a few people at Bridge from babies to 40 plus year olds!!! We have done them in the theater (quite creatively) and in the surrounding hotel swimming pools. Along with that there have been conversions to Christ there and discipling to leadership going on!!! Praise God!!! There could & should be SO MUCH MORE discipleship going on and I ask you to pray for people to come on board the “GET OFF YOUR BUTT AND DO KINGDOM WORK TRAIN!!!”
Prayer requests: God strengthens and keeps me for His sake. God keeps my Family and ministry safe from evil That those lives we touch will do SO MUCH MORE .
Folks... the Newsletters are done... Just had a little technical and time limiting difficulties... I wrote letters... No pictures... and b the time I was ready to upload... three months would pass by. so I have all of the letters and I will be loading them monthly by 2 months at a time...
Sorry for the confusion but I also had to figure out 2-3 different web based blog sites not including my Face book updates and the increase in ministry duties and projects the I can't wait for you to see!!! Stay tuned and keep your eyes opened!!! They are on their way!!!!!
It’s no secret that during the summer months, church attendance can wane.Summertime is probably the hardest time for BOH in that respect. This often means that tithing and giving are also down for those months too, which makes it a bit scary for us at times.But our summer was full of activities and events in spite of the low attendance at our gatherings on Sunday mornings.
We have been doing KFC (Kids For Christ) at Cedar Crest (an apartment complex) for two years. This summer we added another location at the Pine view apartments. We just show up on Saturday afternoons with games and sports equipment and play with the kids that happen to be out in the yard area. Last Saturday we brought a bunch of hot dogs and chips and soda and had a cookout. The result of these Saturday events is building relationships with kids and eventually their parents and sharing Christ’s love with them.
“Back to school” can be an expensive time of year for families. And this year the added mandatory uniforms made it necessary to buy almost whole new wardrobes for each child. Last week we gathered
Ministry is not always fun and games. We had a tragedy this summer that shook us up a good deal. Jade, one of the teens that Armond had poured countless number of hours and time and love into, committed suicide. It rocked us to the core. Why didn’t he reach out to us in that dark hour? Why didn’t we call him that week? Why would he take such a complete and final step when we know he had given his heart to Christ? There are just so many unanswered questions. And, to be honest, it made us question what on earth we are doing here! But God is faithful and while Jade is going to have to answer to Him for his choices, we know he was saved by the blood and mercy of Jesus Christ and nothing can separate him from the love of Christ. We know in our hearts that Jade is in heaven.At the funeral, Armond told this truth.He gave an altar call (something I have never heard of at a funeral!) and suddenly the isles were full of people who made the decision to accept Christ as their savior. Many of these people were unlikely to ever set foot in a church and so this was an opportunity for God to reach out in this terrible time and bring them to Him. What Satan had meant for evil, God used to reach the children that He loves so much.
I saved the best story of this summer for last. This is also about a teen that was also in the youth group several years ago. This young man had, through a series of events and poor choices, found himself living in New York, dealing and illegally running drugs across the boarder, strung outon drugs and in deep trouble. He had reached his low point after being stabbed five times and shot once while running away from a deal gone bad which broke his leg. He had gone to New York State Penitentiary and in and out of rehab 3times. On DECEMBER 13th 2010 he fell into a DRUG INDUCED sleep where he had a dream. In the dream he was standing outside of Bridge of Hope watching people go in. Suddenly Armond was standing in the doorway and he yelled,“Sam, GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE BEFORE I PUT MY FOOT IN YOUR PANTS AGAIN!”Sam woke up immediately sober, out of that dream, grabbed whatever he had around him got into a car he had paid $40.00 cash for and drove the entire trip back from NY to Waterloo, IA without stopping except for gas.He is 19 years old, has given his heart to Christ and has been glued to Armond’s side ever since!(He calls him Dad! LOL) Armond is mentoring him and last month Sam traveled with Armond to several youth camps, and different churches, coffee houses and even a few impromptu outdoor concerts and shared his testimony about how God reached through his stupor and pulled him back to Him and saved his life.What a blessing it is to see this young man striving to make the right choices, learn all that he can about God and turn his life around. Not only did God save Sam, he gave our hearts some much-needed encouragement. We are not here in vain. Bridge of Hope is making a difference in people’s lives for eternity! We are so thankful that God is using us for His glory.
Please pray for us. Pray that God will continue to use us to reach His lost children. Pray for Jade’s family and friends as they mourn his loss, and pray for those who gave their hearts to Christ that day. While they made their decision in the moment of high emotion, they now need to learn all they can about their savior and what living for Him really entails. Pray also for Sam. Pray that he will continue to grow in knowledge and wisdom as he begins to chew on solid meat of the Gospel. Pray, as he needs to learn to make good decisions for his life.And please also pray for BOH as we come off of some very lean months financially and head into a productive and busy fall.Our attendance has practically tripled the last few weeks and that has been so exciting to see!
God bless you and thank you so much for your continued prayers and support.Rachel Floyd
My Darling wife is disappearing before my very eyes... and Looking Awesome!!! More so than the look that is new is the “Rachel” I love her drive and the ambition she has!!!
So it’s back to FuZz, Rachel, Shari & Bridget... More on that later...
