 |
| May 2025 |
Dear Praying Friends and Family,
Our time is drawing to a close in Illinois and we are getting excited about our move to New York and Camp Shoshanah starting soon! However, it has also been emotionally challenging to navigate this transition, and we have experienced a lot of grief preparing to say "Good-bye" to a community that means so much to us. Thank you for all of the prayers, encouragement, and support you have given our family over the past few months! Each loving action has meant so much.
Our prayer has been to finish strong in this season of ministry at Upper Room Bible Church. We have been thrilled to serve a variety of groups this year:
* Little Candles hosted their final playgroup on Thursday, April 23rd. This group of moms and their young children was such a blessing as we met weekly to fellowship and encourage one another through the early and physically exhausting seasons of motherhood. We deepened our love for God and His Word, studying the accounts of women in the line of Jesus and the book of Ephesians together. We also were so blessed by the volunteers, young and old, who gave their time and love to us and our children so that these studies would be possible. Thank you so much to all who participated! We pray that God will continue to guide and strengthen you, Mothers, as you seek to love and serve Him and your husbands and children well. We also pray for wisdom and unity as you seek out the next steps for this ministry in the fall of 2026.
* Our weekly young adult group, studying through the book Multiply by Francis Chan, will conclude as it began, on Monday, April 27th, with a game night! This group has been such a blessing and encouragement to us as we've met each week for fellowship and to deepen our understanding of God's Word. We have appreciated everyone's questions, discussions, and prayers, been blessed by the foundation that each person already has in understanding and applying the Word of God, and have been encouraged to see the many ways each group member volunteered their service at URBC and in their families this year. Our prayer for each of you is to continue to taste the sweetness of fellowship with God and time in His Word and that you would find fulfillment in Jesus as you continue to yield your lives to Him and follow Him, one step at a time. We also pray that you will feel equipped and burdened to share His Word with others.
* Cornerstone Youth Group will meet one more time, this Sunday night (April 26th). Meeting with these students on Sunday nights to study the Old Testament has been one of the chief highlights of our year! We always come away from our time with them energized by the joy and vitality and growth that we see. We will miss you so much and be anxiously watching for news of your graduations from high-school and college, your first jobs and marriages, and where the Lord will call you to serve Him in your adult years. You know the truth of God's Word and what He asks you to do. We pray that He will give you the strength and wisdom to follow through with this truth and to be lights shining brightly for Him in this world.
* Wednesday night Awana concludes with an Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, May 13th. We are so grateful to all of the dedicated teachers and students of Awana and proud of all of your hard work and teamwork. May God bless your efforts and all of the seeds sown and give you direction for this next fall!
* Benjamin will continue to teach teen Sunday school until our last Sunday at URBC. He has one final elders' meeting to participate in as well. The elders have accomplished so much in the past few months preparing the church to stand strong through the summer and until a new pastor is found, and God has been so faithful in providing what is needed through each step in this process. Thank you, Mat Bowen, for the ways you have served our church and God bless you in your next steps. We will continue to pray for you, church family, that the Lord will comfort, strengthen, and guide you in unity as you continue to provide a place for people to know and experience His love and truth. We cannot wait to see what He has in store for you this coming year!
In summary, this is our prayer for each one of you, from Ephesians 3:14-21.
"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."
Thank you for the family we found in you! We thank our God in all our remembrances of you (Philippians 1:3).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our final Sunday here will be May 17th. Our house (333 West Pine St, Paxton) went on the market on April 12th, and is currently under contract - glory to God! We pray that closing occurs with no disturbances and are excited for the new owners to take possession. May God bless you and grow you in this home as He has us!
On Monday (May 18th), with the help of friends, we plan to drive a loaded U-haul truck and our minivan to NY, stopping overnight in Ohio. We will be moving into a house provided by Ariel Ministries, located on Camp property and close to Megan's parents. Our new home address will be: 849 Trout Pond Road, Keeseville, NY 12944.
Classes at Camp Shoshanah do not start until after July 4th weekend, but Benjamin will begin work on June 1st, to make sure everything to do with the kitchen is ready to go! This summer, Benjamin is responsible for meals and kitchen staff at Camp Shoshanah. After Labor Day weekend, he will be assisting the Camp Director with maintenance and improvement of Camp facilities and will also begin to represent Ariel Ministries to the surrounding area and churches. Megan will be assisting in the children's program at Camp this summer and will begin a new homeschool year this fall, with Nathaniel in 2nd grade and Evangella in Kindergarten. Please pray for us through all of these transitions, that we will adjust quickly and learn to serve well in our new ministry opportunities. Please pray for this summer at Camp Shoshanah also, that God's Word will be preached faithfully and that people will grow spiritually and stay safe and healthy, despite all of the Enemy's attacks on this "Bible Bootcamp" each year.
If you would like to learn more about Camp Shoshanah or Ariel Ministries, please explore their websites: https://arielshoshanahcampus.com/, Home - Ariel Ministries™
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We want to let you know that, starting June 1st, our family will be supported 50% by a yearly salary from Ariel Ministries and 50% through donor support. If the Lord is leading you to give a one-time donation to help us through this time of transition, or to begin supporting our family in the ministries God has called us to through a recurring donation of any amount, you may do so through this weblink of Ariel Ministries that will designate your gift to our family: Ben McEndarfer or by writing a check, with our name in the memo, to the Home Office address: 11926 Radium Street, San Antonio, Texas 78216.
If you know of anyone who would like to receive our future prayer letters, you are welcome to share my email address with them so they can write to me and request to be added to the mailing list: meganmcendarfer@gmail.com.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our family, in this season and always! Let me know how we can be praying for you!
God Bless,
The McEndarfers ~ Benjamin, Megan, Nathaniel, Evangella, Mariyah, Jason
