Hello New Hope Family!

Many of you heard at our most recent worship service about our coming Sabbatical. I shared we would be spending January, February and March 2024 on the island of Sint Maarten planting an International Baptist Church.

Traditionally, pastors take a sabbatical leave every five to seven years to study and refresh. As we have already established in these past 4.5 years together: I am not a "traditional pastor"!

Nothing will refresh me and recharge my spiritual batteries more than jumping back into a church planting opportunity. However, our calling to Sint Maarten did not originate with us. God has been calling us and preparing the way for some time.

Do you remember us talking about Paul’s “Macedonian Call” in the Book of Acts? He was headed in the opposite direction when God radically broke into his schedule and strategy to redirect his ministry. It was not Paul’s idea or plan to go to Europe, and yet God used him powerfully in a new mission field because he was faithful to follow God’s leading even when it didn’t “make sense.”

Trust God’s Plan

As your pastor, I want you to know that I completely understand your surprise and even confusion about our decision to follow God’s leading in this way.

I confess that I have given God all of the pushback that you can think of, but His peace and His leading continues to pull us in this direction. Though we may be surprised by His plan, we can trust in His plan! 

We will be sharing more details in the coming weeks about what the ministry here and in Sint Maarten will look like while we are away.

In the meantime, I ask you to continue to pray and ask questions. The same God who has been opening many, many doors of opportunity on the island is the same God who will cause New Hope to thrive!

~Pastor David