January News from Orchard Group - A Letter from Brent

Dear Friends and Partners,

How many things in your life were disrupted in 2020?

Maybe you had to stop going into the office for work. Maybe you lost your job. If you have kids in school, your routines were certainly interrupted. Maybe political strife unsettled your city or your relationships. You probably stopped going to the gym and worshipping in person at church.

It’s hard to think of very many aspects of normal life that haven’t been disrupted, at least partially or temporarily, in the past year.

Yet one thing has never been disrupted, and never will be: God is still at work in our world!

When the pandemic broke out and shutdowns started occurring, it was instinctive for me to worry about what this would mean for the new churches we are starting and serving. But the church planting leaders we are backing demonstrated amazing adaptability, resiliency, and creativity.

God is still at work through new churches!

New church planters are saying “yes” to God’s call to start churches in Manhattan, Oakland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Greater Miami, and more. Partner churches are making new commitments to fund and support church plants. Families are showing up in person after finding and worshipping with a new church online. New believers are saying, “I’ve never been to church in person, but I want to follow Jesus and be baptized.”

I wouldn’t have guessed this months ago, but I now believe that many new churches will emerge from these disruptions stronger than ever before.

Jesus is building His Church and a global pandemic will not overcome it!

Thank you so much for continuing to invest in church planting through Orchard Group!

With gratitude,

Brent Storms, President/CEO