Christmas in Corio

Vital Statistics for December

Outreach in our garden

- Total attendance per week: 5, 6, 4, 50
- Miracles reported per week: 1, 6, 3, 7
- Christmas outreach
- Planning for next year
- Update on trees
- Unity of the North
- A minor setback

Corio Christmas Miracles Night

Each kid got one

What an amazing night! With the outstanding financial and practical support from over 20 Christians from Bethel Church, we made pizzas with 19 local non-Christian kids and 7 adults. Then we had a "Christmas show" to teach them the real Christmas story through role play, pictures and song. 

Making Pizzas

Then we shared God's desire to do miracles and prayed for about 10 kids and gave them a book of scripture about Christmas. We prayed for a few adults and felt the night was a real success in building positive community in Jesus' name.

Next Year - We need God's Strategies
Making pizzas, like tree-planting, is a useful, practical skill. We will continue to use useful, practical activities within the community to develop trusting relationships which we can then use to bring in the kingdom of God, a bit like 'boys brigade', but with prayer for supernatural encounter. 

The next event is planned.

I'm also in favour of running 'events' instead of trying to create a 'church'. This gives us agility and the ability to focus on seeking and saving the lost and building up traction with those who are being saved. It also gives us the freedom to stop and listen to God for Heaven's Strategies. Please pray for us to fully embrace Heaven's Strategies for Corio in 2020.

Tree update

We've got 50 trees to keep alive through summer then next year we need to plant more to keep up with all the miracles God is doing! Each miracle requires a tree as a living testimony. To the end of December, we have a total of 88 miracles which God has done. So next year the kids are keen to plant more trees to keep up with God's loving action!

Unity of the North

Smashed on Christmas Day

Last month I mentioned a leadership prayer meeting is being transferred to our home. We're sensing God wants us to focus on creating and supporting unity of the church leaders in the north of Geelong. Please support us in prayer as we seek God's strategies for unity in the North. I also feel God's call to help more Christians in Geelong reach out in Jesus' name.

How to be involved?
- Please pray we'll fulfil God's best plans for Corio in the years ahead.
- You could contribute financially if you would like as this is my main job now excepting handyman work 2 days per week: 
BSB: 013259 Acc: 248826009
- Celebrate with us God's breakthrough power in our ministry here in God's Corio :)
- Come and get involved with us on the ground if that's on your heart.

Opposition
Someone jumped our fence and smashed our back window on Christmas Day while we were away. Praise God nothing was stolen from the house. All is fixed now, but it is a reminder of the 'violent' area we live in, perhaps a demonically inspired attack as we're gaining traction.

"Are you doing this tomorrow, as well?"

Who wants to see a miracle?

Vital Statistics for November
- Total attendance per week: 2, 0, 0, 3
- Miracles reported per week: 6, 1, 0, 4
- Third Tree Planting about 25 kids
- Christmas Outreach!
- Corio Leaders Prayer Team

Third Tree Planting
More and more local kids and families came out to care for our 50 trees and hear of the miracles of our loving heavenly Father.  The Lord showed me to explain that each tree represents a miracle and that God, our creator does miracles when we pray in faith in Jesus' name. I asked the children, 'who wants to see a miracle?' and they shot up their hands. 'What do you want God to do for you?', I asked. They told me, 'get a billion dollars'. 'That's not in your best interests', I replied, 'so I won't pray for that'. 'I want to stay out of trouble with the law and have a good life', said a young teenager. 'That's a good prayer', I said and we prayed.

'Are you doing this again tomorrow?', they asked us. 'No but here is a flyer for our Christmas event'.

Christmas Outreach
Thank you prayer team! The local church here is helping us run our "Corio Christmas Miracles Night". We're making a pizza oven so the community can make pizzas and we'll have live music and even a jumpy castle! 1000 flyers are going out to advertise and I'll be engaging our Tree Planting friends to help plan and run the event.

Corio Leaders Prayer Team 
Several local leaders have asked Christine and I to host a fortnightly intercessory prayer group. We confirmed this was from God through two of our close prayer warrior friends and so this started last week. This is a further responsibility but I've sensed from the beginning that God wants us to focus on creating unity in the church here in the North of Geelong, so here goes!

Prayer and Fasting for Outreach
Please spend a day fasting for the outreach here and pray. We are seeing great opportunities for prayer and prayers being answered. Two neighbours have jobs since we've prayed for them!

Home Group still small
Our weekly home group still usually only has one person, but we'll still press on and keep inviting others to join us. It's great that the outreach is so strong!