Clint and Christina @ Cedar Point

God is so very good to us! We can’t say it enough.  What we are seeing and experiencing during our church planting residency – only God can do.  Since our last church planting update we have seen God draw 3 more people into his Kingdom (giving us a total of 12 since the 1st of the year!) and we are getting ready to have another baptism service where could see 10 adults baptized.  We are truly blessed by God to be a part of what he is doing here in Centerburg and the world of church planting.

This month we have a few prayer requests that I will share right away!

1. We have decided to try and sell our home in Vandalia at 520 Buttercup Ave – by owner.  There was nothing happening with our realtor and so far we have had one person walk though our home.  We would love to have your prayers for God sell our home so that we could be free from our home mortgage and fully invested in Centerburg.
2. We are having an “interesting” time with our apartment neighbors.  They are very loud at strange hours of the night (like this morning at 4:30am!!).  Please pray that we can be Jesus to them and love them even when we are tired and frustrated.  We would love to minister to them but right now it has been difficult to say the least.
3. We just sent out about 70 prayer update / support letters.  Please pray with us that God would add to our prayer team about 100 more people.  Please pray that God would add about 6-10 more financial supporters so that we can continue to not be a burden to the church here in Centerburg.
4. Please continue to pray Luke 10:2 with us at 10:02AM that God would draw out workers from the harvest and for the harvest here in Centerburg and around the globe.
5. Lastly, the photo below shows Christina teaching a Bible lesson for our summer outreach to Centerburg called GoalKeepers. Goal Keepers is a six week soccer program that also incorporates Bible stories into each night of soccer.  We are having a great turn out (75 kids signed up to play this year!) and our 1st & 2nd grade team has been a lot of fun to work with.  In two weeks we will be sharing the gospel with each child.  We would really appreciate your prayers on August 3!

Christina and I cannot tell you how blessed we are to have you praying for us.  Thank you for the most precious gift that you all could give us!

Living the Call Together,

Clint + Christina

Christina Teaching at GoalKeepers

Christina relaxes in her hammock

Dear prayer partners and friends,

I am sorry that I am late getting our update to you this month.  We have been on the move this past month with me getting back from France and getting back in the saddle at church.  Christina has kept herself busy by getting some things ready for a garage sale and as you can tell from the above photo is enjoying her hammock and the wonderful weather! So, I finally have some time to sit and write about what God has been doing with us since April – here we go!His Grace is Sufficient!

So just as I said last month we are STILL trying to sell our home in Vandalia! Our contract with our realtor will expired last week.  We are planning to get a few ducks in a row and then list the home ourselves and go FiSBO (For Sale By Owner).  We will be able to drop the price a bit more and hopefully entice a buyer!  So a prayer request right out of the gate is that we would be able to hear God speaking to us as we continue to try and sell our home in the midst of this crazy housing market.  If you know of anyone who is looking to buy a home in the Dayton area please give them our email addresses so we can get rid of this thing!

As Christina and I have been thinking and driving and talking about our home.  We are thankful for the gifts that God is giving us in terms of our marriage relationship, the people that we are getting to know and serve along side of and the pastors of the Central District of the C&MA are outstanding.  God is good and we know that his timing and plan is perfect.  We trust him!

DGTCBTC Weekend

No my keyboard didn’t go crazy!  DGTCBTC is the short way that we talk about Don’t Go To Church Be The Church Weekend.  This past weekend Center Pointe went all over the Village of Centerburg to serve people.  This is a part of the strategy to reach people in Centerburg. We want to INVEST in people without any expectation of return.

There were many things accomplished this weekend like painting a deck, cleaning out gutters, washing windows, laying down mulch for the village of Centerburg, visiting people in the local nursing homes, helping with parking and registration at a car show, and pulling thousands of weeds!  We were blessed and excited to not “go” to church this past weekend but to “be” the church in Centerburg!

Youth Ministry :: for Students by Students

One of the responsibilities that I have at Center Pointe is to get a fledgling youth ministry up off the ground.  Two weeks ago we began a student led youth ministry!  This is going to be one of the coolest things that I have been able to be a part of in my ministry.  The teens are going to lead the ministry and the adults who are helping out will be there to support, encourage and guide the students along the way.  I have to admit that it feels very weird to not be “in control” but on the other hand it feels so good to know that these teens will be serving each other and striving to know Jesus better together.  Please pray for the student leaders that they would have wisdom, understanding and direction beyond their years and that we adults would know when good enough is good enough!

People Connections

We are continuing to struggle in making friendships with the people who are outside of the church in Centerburg but this is to be understood since we don’t yet live in Centerburg.  Christina and I are however have found an apartment in town to act as a crash pad for me during the week to cut down on driving and as well, give us a home base for when we are in Centerburg overnight.  We have been loosely calling this little love shack a “loft” but remember – loosely! God is always good to us and He has been answering all of our prayers in his timing.  It has been a joy to watch!

Ministry + Health

Lead Pastor Josh Franks and I have been talking a lot about health lately and we both are seeking relational, emotional and spiritual health.  We then were thinking that something was missing and as you guessed we were missing physical health. So as of 26 days ago I started P90X to drop the excess weight I have picked up so that I can be a better husband and church planter.  So far, I have seen some cool results (I have lost 10 lbs) and I am looking forward to the next 64 days!!

Prayer Requests:

I have mentioned some of our prayer requests already but these are the things that are on our hearts so I will bullet them out for you real quick!

• The selling our house at 520 Buttercup Ave. Please ask God to sell this for us so that we can be more fully involved in what God is doing at Center Pointe Church.
• We desire to have more and more relationship with people in the Centerburg community.  Please ask God to help us connect with the people so that we might win them for Jesus.
• Praise God we have found an apartment in Centerburg!
• We are still actively seeking people to partner with us in the following ways:

1. Partners who will pray with us and for us.  Our goal is 300 people in the next year. (we already have 100!)
2. Partners who will support Christina and I financially.  If you are interested in how to be a part please follow this link
3. Partners who will join us in church planting in Columbus in two years.  If you would pray Luke 10:2 with us at 10:02 AM each day – that God would send out laborers from the harvest, for the harvest.

While we are still longing to have our home sell in Dayton so we can be fully invested in Centerburg we are astounded by how God is providing for us.  We are still seeing people come to know Christ.  This past weekend God saw fit to draw a 60 year old lady to himself (we are now praying for her husband to know Jesus as well!)  We are so blessed to be a part of this church and we thank you for praying for us.

We would love to pray for you as well.  Please let us know how we can serve you in prayer.  You can give us a call of you have our numbers or you can reply to this email and give us a few so we can partner with you!

We are learning that life and church planting are all about prayer.

Living The Call Together,

Clint + Christina Bieri

Clint @ Claud Monet's Home

Clint on Roman Road

Prayer Partners and Friends,

Thank you for praying for me as I was in France.  Our group of 6 pastors had a wonderful time seeing what God is doing in this historic nation.  The experiences that we were able to enjoy were truly once in a lifetime.  There are so many things that God was teaching me that I could never do it justice in an email but here are a few thoughts from the trip.

1. For believers to share the gospel there must be a bridge built that will support the weight of truth. This sentence was used by a French Pastor that we met on our trip and has really hit home for me.  The French are into deep, lasting, meaningful, personal relationships with one another and when someone wants to start a friendship they have to work at it so that a bridge for the gospel can be built to sustain the weight of truth.

2. Understand how to speak the cultural language so that the gospel can be communicated. I had 3 years of Spanish in high school and have been in Costa Rica, The Dominican Republic, and Honduras – so I understand most of what is happening in Spanish.  On our trip this did not come in handy at all! We had to learn a few words in French and we had to learn about the 2000 year history of France for things to make sense.  This is the same way here in the states.  We have to learn the cultural language that people speak so as to rightly communicate people’s need for the Savior in their context.

3. Let go of the dreams that I have in order to grab on to the dreams that God has. For a while now I have been dreaming about what the church that I plant will look like.  How the service will be and the small groups and the music.  After being in France I have learned that it is good to dream about what could be but only if I am taking cues from Jesus and seeing his dreams for the church in the future. God really worked on my heart over and over in this area and I am hoping to put what I have learned into practice now that I am home. I am learning that prayer for the church planter is the life-blood of his ministry.  Being in touch with Jesus through prayer will yield obedience to his dreams and not my own.

France was a great place to learn, grow, think, and pray.  I am ready to be led by Jesus into this future of church planting. If you would like to to know more about what God is doing in France through the Christian and Missionary Alliance, I would love to get together by phone or over lunch.  Thank you for all of your prayers for Christina and me!

I would like to give you a few things to thank God for in prayer.

Prayer requests from my trip:

1. That the gospel would be heard and understood by the French people.
2. Perseverance for the pastors, church planters and missionaries in France as this field is very difficult!
3. That churches here in the US would partner with the churches in France to advance the gospel in both nations.

Prayer requests from Christina and myself:

1. Please continue to ask the Lord to sell our home in Vandalia.
2. Ask the Lord to give Christina and I contacts with people in Centerburg even though we are not living there yet.
3. Pray Luke 10:2 with us each day at 10:02 am that God would draw out workers from the harvest for the harvest in France and in Ohio.

Clint at the Palace of Versailles

Baptizing them in the name of...

Dear prayer partners and friends,

Could it be that Spring is finally here? The weather has been very nice over the last week (81 degrees last week!) and the April showers will hopefully bring some very nice May flowers! The month of March flew by and we have been witnesses to God’s goodness in our own lives as well as the lives of the people of Center Pointe Church.

What is God up to?

Our home is still on the market and we haven’t had any bites or nibbles. Actually our bobber is in the same place it has been since November! We are confident that God will sell our home in exactly the right time but for now we drive!

Driving continues to go well. Christina is listening to the Beth Moore study called Inheritance and her selection of radio stations as she drives. I have listened to an audio book called The Cost of Discipleship by theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer as well as 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die by John Piper. We have been blessed by the the wisdom of these speakers and authors and are challenged to continue on as followers of Jesus and to serve him well.

As a part of my residency at Center Pointe I have been tasked with creating the student ministry. This is going to be a big task because it means taking people with varying leadership experience and creating a unified team to work with teenagers. It also means taking a group of students who are very anti-authority and teaching them that God honoring authority is to be welcomed. Much prayer is needed to find people who will care for these teens and point them to Jesus.

We have also been blessed by the people of Center Pointe Church as they have been so very generous to allow Christina and I to stay in their homes over night, inviting us to lunch or dinner and just making us feel welcome and a part of the church family. We really could not afford both from a financial or a physical stamina standpoint to maintain all of the travel we are doing and staying over night if the people from Center Pointe were not so generous.  We are so very thankful to our God for his provision.

Easter at Center Pointe

The REAL LIVE Easter Party is an outreach event that Center Pointe has put on for the community for the last two years. This year we had about 130 kids come through plus their parents. We are thankful for all of the contacts that the people of Center Pointe were able to make with the people of Centerburg. I was honored to be able to share the gospel with the parents and children during this Easter party and tell them about the real Jesus who loved them, died for them and raised to life for them. We saw the Lord move in six of the kids hearts and we had good conversations with parents about the gospel as well. We are thankful for what God did!

I was given the opportunity to speak at the Palm Sunday worship gathering. We presented the Easter story in a series we titled Enter the City. Exit the Tomb. In this series we spoke about the love that Jesus has for people as he entered Jerusalem knowing he was going to his death. As well, we spoke about how he exited the tomb in power, now holding the keys to sin and death. Easter is such a cool time and we are blessed to share this season of the year with Center Pointe.

Salvation belongs to our God

Last month I specifically asked you to be in prayer for two men who had recently come to Center Pointe. Both of these men were not Christians and both men were learning what it would take to give their lives to Jesus. I AM SO PUMPED to tell you that they have BOTH prayed to receive Christ!!! These guys are TOTALLY CHANGED!  Pastor Josh and I have been all smiles for the last two weeks when we think about them! Actually, one of them was baptized on Easter Sunday! (See picture of Justin and I below.) This is stuff only God gets the credit for!  Thank you for praying for them!

People Connections

There are several divine appointments that we have seen God make and we are hoping to continue to walk along side people that God puts in our path. Two people that you can begin to pray for are the janitor at the school where Center Pointe holds their worship gatherings and his girlfriend. They have been invited to experience the worship gathering several times but we are excited that they are interested in coming to a worship gathering soon.

We are also noticing many people are coming to Center Pointe who are de-churched or are thinking about being re-churched (they have had a bad experience and are giving the church a second shot). There are many hurts and needs with these folks. Please pray that we will be given wisdom in helping them process through the pain to find the place where they can be vulnerable with a group of people again.

Europe + Fundraising

April 11th will be a busy weekend as Christina and I will be at Clear Fork Alliance Church on Sunday morning to talk to the body there about supporting Christina and I in prayer and financial partnership.  This is my “home” church where I was called to pastoral ministry so this will be a very neat time to share what God has done over the last 12 years since I left home.

Also on April 11th, I will begin the journey to Europe for a 14 day field trip!  I am really getting excited and Christina and I have been so blessed to have the money for me to go.  We are thankful to our supporters who have made this trip possible.  Please pray for safety in travel as I and the other five pastors will be flying and driving a lot.  Also, pray that the Holy Spirit would make those of us going on the trip great learners.

Prayer Requests:

• The selling of our house at 520 Buttercup Ave. Please ask God to sell this for us so that we can be more fully involved in what God is doing at Center Pointe Church.
• We desire to have more and more relationship with people in the Centerburg community. Please ask God to help us connect with the people so that we might win them for Jesus.
• As I have said above we are on the road a lot. Please thank God with us that He has kept us safe through this point and ask that he would continue to do so.
• We are still actively seeking people to partner with us in the following ways:

1. Partners who will pray with us and for us. Our goal is 300 people in the next year.
2. Partners who will support Christina and I financially. If you are interested in how to be a part please follow this link.
3. Partners who will join us in church planting in Columbus in two years. If you would pray Luke 10:2 with us at 10:02 AM each day – that God would send out laborers from the harvest, for the harvest.

We are having a great time with the people in Centerburg! We are having a great time sharing Christ with those far from God and encouraging those who are growing in their walk with Christ. It is exciting to worship with all who He is drawing to the worship gatherings. We bear witness that God is on the move in our lives and in the village of Centerburg. We are praying that God would continue to move mightily in our hearts, in the heart of Ohio and in your heart as well!

Clint + Christina Bieri

"I thank God for second chances" - Justin Noland

The map above is the travel plan for a group of pastors from the C&MA Central District. We are going to France and Kosovo in Europe to learn about Post-Modernism’s grip on a culture. We will be talking at length with missionaries from both countries to learn from them over 14 days. God is very cool in letting me have this adventure.

living the call together

Dear Prayer Partners and Friends,

The first month of the church planting residency has been wonderful.  I have been learning a ton and I have many things to tell you that are very cool. Christina’s job continues to go well and she is enjoying her jigsaw puzzles and cross-stitching very much! So far, I would say that lead pastor Josh Franks and I are a good fit in ministry and I am taking a lot away from our staff meetings and prayer times.  Christina and I are truly blessed to have you praying for us and we are praying for you – that you would see God do mighty and wonderful things in the days to come.

Preaching at Center Pointe

I had the honor of preaching my first message at Center Pointe Church on Valentine’s Day.  I would say that speaking there was very encouraging and yet I definitely felt that I didn’t hit my rhythm as a communicator (Christina would say that I wasn’t quite comfortable).  But even though I wasn’t at the highest comfort level, I know that comfort will come quickly and I had a great time teaching about God’s love that endures forever from Psalm 136.  Feel free to listen the message if you like online or download it to your iPod.  I am looking forward to preaching again on Palm Sunday in a message series called Enter the City, Exit the Tomb.

Eternal Conversations

It has been some time since I have been able to share the gospel openly and last week Pastor Josh and I had a great time with two guys from Centerburg.  One of the men had yet to come to a Center Pointe Worship Gathering (until this past weekend).  He has little knowledge of Jesus but has openly said that he wants to know more.  Please pray that God would draw him to himself and also that God would use the people of Center Pointe to lead him to Jesus!  The other gentleman has lived a rough life which he is currently struggling with.  He is trying to “be religious” but as Josh and I were able to share with him, Jesus is bigger than his sin.  Please pray that God would show himself bigger and stronger than this man’s condition and that he would allow Jesus to heal him eternally. This has been a great thing to be a part of and I can’t wait for more conversations like these.

What a month of work has yielded

In the Month of February I had the opportunity to be a part of a large project as well as teach a class forTuesday University.  The project was to redesign the Center Pointe website (www.centerpointecma.com) and to integrate things like sermon audio and church calendar so as to make it extremely useful for those who call Center Pointe home.

Driving, Driving, and more Driving

It seems like all we do is drive and put fuel in our vehicles of late!  Christina is still working in Columbus (which is a real blessing) and I am making the next hour drive north to Centerburg.  I am estimating that we are driving about 880 miles per week just back and forth to work!  Christina and I are filling our time by listening to an audio Bible, talking and listening to music. It is definitely draining having to be in the car this much but we know that this is a part of the journey (literally) that God has us on.

Beginning stages of being ordained

One of the many blessings we are now seeing in being with the Central District of the C&MA is that I have the honor of going through a two year ordination process.  It will be challenging but I have been looking forward to this for about 5 years and now the time has come!

France and Kosovo – European Training

God has given me the opportunity to go France and Kosovo in Europe this April!  I can’t believe I will have this type of opportunity! The over-all purpose of this trip is to see the impact of Post-Modernism on the culture and also see a Post-Christian culture. As we interact with missionaries from both countries the 8 of us who are going will be trying to apply these things in our contexts in Ohio. Unfortunately, Christina is not going to be able to go with me, but I will bring her back something nice!  I will be in Europe for 14 days beginning on April 11 and returning on April 26, 2010.  I will be posting many updates on Facebook and Twitter as well as www.clintbieri.com so that you can stay up on all the action.

Prayer Requests:

• The selling of our house at 520 Buttercup Ave. Please ask God to sell this for us so that we can be more fully involved in what God is doing at Center Pointe Church.
• We desire to have more relationships with people in the Centerburg community.  Please ask God to help us connect with the people so that we might win them for Jesus.
• As I have said above we are on the road a lot.  Please thank God with us that He has kept us safe so far and ask that he would continue to do so.
• We are still actively seeking people to partner with us in the following ways:

1. Partners who will pray with us and for us.  Our goal is 300 people in the next year.
2. Partners who will support Christina and I financially.  If you are interested in contributing please follow this link.
3. Partners who will join us in church planting in Columbus in two years.  If you would, please set your alarm and pray Luke 10:2 with us at 10:02 AM each day – “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” We joyfully anticipate those the Lord will call to join us as we go into the harvest field in Columbus.

The month of March looks to bring just as much excitement as February brought our way.  We are thankful for how God is providing for us, teaching us and helping us along in this adventure of church planting! Thank you again for being a part of the journey!

Clint and Christina Bieri

Request:

• I am preaching this weekend at Center Pointe for the first time from Psalm 136 about God’s steadfast love for people.  Please join Christina and I in praying that God would illuminate the hearts of many who are still outside of God’s family and that He would draw people to himself this weekend and that people would know with their head and their heart that God loves them.

Praises:

• This past weekend was a wonderful time with the Jr High Students at Winter Blast where I had the opportunity to speak.  It was a ton of fun and I wanted you all to know that 5 students came to know Christ over the weekend making first time decisions to know Him!  It was a thrill to be a part of what God was doing in the kids.  Thank you for praying and know that God answered out prayers in a cool way!
• We are currently at 32.5% of our monthly support raised for 2010!  I am so very excited!  Please help us thank God for His provision.  Also, because of one time gifts and such, we have met our income goal for February!  I can’t even believe it!  God is great and worthy of praise!  We still have a ways to go to achieve 100% funding but I am confident that God will provide!

If you would like to know more about becoming a financial partner please click here for more information!

Thanks again friends for praying for us and encouraging us!  We will be in touch with more news about how God is working in us and through us!

p.s. take 30 seconds and pray this scripture with me:

Luke 10:2 “The harvest in plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Thank you very much to all those who prayed for us yesterday.  We both did very well answering questions and the men who were asking questions were wonderful!  Please continue to pray for us.  We have our home on the market and need to have it sell so that we might move to Centerburg and begin to serve the people in that community 24/7 and limit our travel time. Thank you again for bringing our requests boldly before the father.

Are you hopeful for 2010?  I know that for Christina and I the end of this last decade ended differently than we had planned 6 months ago, but I am so thankful that God’s ways are not our ways. For the last few months I have been writing updates about our journey of church planting.  I have been posting these things because I know that you have meant so very much to Christina and I, as well I know that when presented with a prayer request you all pray!  I am thankful that all of you do take these requests to the Lord on our behalf.  Thank you!!

If you wouldn’t mind praying with Christina and I about the following things we will be blessed!