NLC Connect - Nov. 12, 2025

PC: Pastor Brad and Amanda Dover
Pastor Brad, along with several church leaders, attended the PDC Convention at Bethany last week.
The PDC celebrated Otto Ekk as he received the Distinguished Graduate Award for the decades of service he and his wife, Marjorie, gave in Portugal.
Missions Month is in full swing at NLC! We were grateful to hear from Pablo Chavez on Sunday. If you missed the service, you can watch it online.
Our NLC Kids & Youth Volunteer Lunch was a phenomenal time of food, fellowship, and searching for “Evidence of Faith.” We are deeply grateful for our volunteers who faithfully share Jesus with our children and students.
Interested in joining this amazing team? Contact Jessica—there’s room for you!

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 12:  6:30 p.m. - Prayer Group - Room 113

THURSDAY, NOV. 13:  6:00 p.m. - CELEBRATE RECOVERY small groups - Education Center

SATURDAY, NOV. 15:  Women's Ministries' Baking Day - Kitchen

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16
9:30 a.m. - CONNECTING POINT

• Come meet and encourage others over coffee and snacks - Patio

10:00 a.m. - WORSHIP/NLC KIDS/NURSERY

• Baptism
• Guest speaker Pastor Christian Uwajeh

11:15 a.m. - Women's Ministries' Bake Sale - stock up on pies and zweibach, and help send women to the annual retreat
5:00 p.m. - Youth Group - Room 207

TUESDAY, NOV. 18
6:00 a.m. - Men's Bible Study - Dining Room (starting a new study)
9:00 a.m. - LIFT Women's Bible Study - Room 114/115
6:30 p.m. - Healing Room Prayer Ministry - Library

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 19
6:30 p.m. - Prayer Group - Room 113

THURSDAY, NOV. 20
5:30 p.m. - Gleanings' Love Feast with Pastor Brad being interviewed - contact the NLC office if you would like to attend this dinner and worship service
6:00 p.m. - CELEBRATE RECOVERY small groups

SATURDAY, NOV. 22
10:00 a.m. - GriefShare "Surviving the Holidays" (includes brunch) - Room 114/115

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23
(No Salt & Light class this week)
9:30 a.m. - CONNECTING POINT

• Come meet and encourage others over coffee and snacks - Patio

10:00 a.m. - WORSHIP/NLC KIDS/NURSERY

• Guest speaker Dina Gonzalez-Pina from Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
• Offering goal $25,300 this month (designate check/cash/online for Missions)

11:30 a.m. - Family Meal (please bring a dessert to share)
(No evening youth group)

TUESDAY, NOV. 25
6:00 a.m. Men's Bible Study - Dining Room

During the volunteer lunch we recognized the following volunteers for displaying NLC's aspirational values:
Welcoming: Justin Griggs
Joyful: Candace Godfrey
Prayerful: Michelle Villarreal
Hopeful: Anena Glandon
Reconciliation: Tristan Ringhofer
Additional award to Terry Chappell for his faithfulness in service to our students!

This year we will have pies and zweibach available for sale! 

Did you know that our Home Resource Center has helped 49 families so far in 2025, and given out 69 beds (with bedding!)?  That represents lots of kids no longer sleeping on the floor!  We currently have only one bed on hand.  Donations of money and gently used household items are always welcome!  Please contact Carolyn Ehoff or Phyllis Enns for more information on volunteering (especially with picking up or delivering furniture and household goods) or donating.

Offerings Received last week (11/9): ........ $10,659*
Offerings Received this year to date: …….$74,520*
Budget to date: …………….........……..….…….. $80,693
Needed weekly to meet budget: ………..….. $8,216
*Includes $1,520 specified for Missions
  toward goal of $25,300 this month

In a culture where the Gospel moved slowly and churches took years to form, Otto and Marjorie exemplified “long obedience in the same direction.” Their ministry reminds us that discipleship, church-planting, and cultural engagement are not instant-results work, but journeys of perseverance and faith.

Their story inspires us at New Life Community in this Missions Month:

• We are reminded to pray for the long-haul in mission, trusting that God is at work even when fruit unseen.
• We are challenged to engage both gospel and community: spiritual transformation and practical care go hand-in-hand.
• We are invited to root ourselves in relationships, culture, language, and local context — because the good news of Jesus is incarnational.

Otto & Marjorie: thank you. Thank you for your decades of faithful presence in Portugal — for your tears, your perseverance, and your willingness to adapt, learn, and serve. Thank you for embodying the Gospel in both word and deed, and for entrusting the next generation of leaders to carry the torch. Your legacy is seen not only in churches planted, but in lives transformed and in generations who now stand on your shoulders. Thank you for continuing the work of local missions here at New Life Community, recognizing that God still has great work to do through you in Dinuba.

How We Can Celebrate:

• Pray for them by name — for continued wisdom, joy, and health as they continue in this season of ministry and life.
• Ask them to share their story at your table, in your small group, or with your children — let the next generation hear how God used ordinary people to change lives.
• Consider how God might be calling you to invest long-term in mission — whether locally or globally — trusting that your presence matters.
• Let us, as a church community, celebrate them during Missions Month--acknowledging how their work allows us to deepen our own commitment to Gospel witness.