Serving America's Small & Struggling Churches
Sent By and Serving Through:  Lincoln Ave. Baptist Church
Ionia Michigan

Dr. David Iseminger & Family
PO Box 213
Ionia, MI 48846

www.isemingerfamily.org

Dear Praying Friends,
 
I know they say April Showers bring May flowers, but here in Michigan the showers we opened April with were snow showers. I am not sure those are the type that bring May flowers but we certainly hope so.

I trust all of you are well and busy with what God has for you to do. That pretty well sums up our situation which you will see as you take a minute and read our spring letter.

Ministry Update

The work here at Needmore continues to press forward. Early in the year we suffered a bit of a setback when a family of 8 that had been coming faithfully for 6 months or so moved back to North Carolina. It is hard to be upset about this, because while it did empty a pew and leave a void here it was clearly what was best for the family.

In spite of the setback, we are still seeing progress with new and repeat visitors and God moving in the services.

We spent a time of missions emphasis and took up new faith promise commitments in February. It had been several years since this had been done and the church typically took in $170 a month less in missions money than what went out every month. The new commitments brought a $260 a month increase, so what was a deficit is now a surplus, there is a meeting scheduled to make some additions/changes to the missions family of the church, Praise the Lord !!!!

It also looks like the church is going to buy a used van. We have been running a van route in personal vehicles and our chief mechanic has been trying to get the church’s old bus back into shape and it seems to be more trouble than it is worth. Hopefully by the end of April we will be running a full size Chevy Passenger van to pick up the kids. Please continue to pray for progress, God’s will to be done as well as His continued blessing on the church.

Since the first of the year we have also begun a regular once a month Bible study at the Lansing Rescue Mission which is going very well. Needless to say the Needmore ministry continues to take the bulk of our time and effort.

I have been over to Lincoln Ave in Ionia once since our last letter. Things seem to be stabilizing and they are praying about calling a pastor, we are praying that they will have a resolution to the situation soon.

In April I will be at Bible Baptist Church in Richfield, OH for a Sunday and later on this year we will be holding a revival at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Claysburg, PA . Other than that and any odds and ends that may pop up our focus continues to be the rebuilding at Needmore. Please Continue to pray with us about all that is going on with our ministry.

 

 

Family Update

The kids are all doing well. Since our last letter David II turned 18. He has since registered to vote, registered with the selective service and began the process of getting his drivers license. He is working towards his High School graduation, although the end of the school year for any student is a chore. With all that and working daily with a man in the church building his home and all his work in the church he is staying extremely busy.

Lena is still taking piano and playing in church, she also has a few piano students and is working in our visitation and Junior church program. As this is being written she is spending the week with one of Carmen’s friends helping their family out, the mother recently had a baby and 2 weeks ago fell down the stairs and severely broke her leg. It is a blessing to a parents heart to see their children do anything they can to help others.

Emilee is also taking piano and playing in church. She is not working in the Junior church like the other two but she works on the van route and in the nursery. As a parent it is an answer to years of prayer and training to see your kids serve God because they want to, not because they have to. They are certainly an asset and help to the ministry in a major way.

Carmen is beginning to make some sense of some of her issues, she has undergone a radical diet change, added some supplements and is beginning to see the start of some improvement for which we are grateful. So many people have sent emails with information or called and it has been amazing to see God’s hand in it. Almost everyone has had similar information all leading to the same health issues that we were discovering at the same time. God has been amazing with opening our eyes to years of health issues in just a few short months. We now pray that the damage that has been done can be reversed.

I am getting along ok, the knee issue is still present but getting somewhat better. I seem to find myself most weeks with more to do than I actually have time for. I feel a bit overwhelmed at times but remind myself I am only one person serving God and will just continue to do as He leads. It has been a huge blessing to have the kids working with me so well and them being willing to help in any way they can.

We are certainly grateful for your continued prayer for the 5 of us.

Support Update

Our support continues to be consistent. We do have the possibility of a new supporter, if that materializes we will let you know in the next letter. With the rising cost of everything, every cent of our support is precious to us and greatly needed to survive day to day, yet another reason the van situation is such an enormous point of prayer.


We are certainly grateful and thank God regularly for our family of supporters (the oldest of which has been with us for over 15 years now). In spite of the economy and rising costs on every front, God continues to keep our supporters faithful and consistent, we are truly grateful for each and every one of you.

I probably don’t mention it enough but we are very grateful for our prayer partners as well, we regularly get cards and emails from people reminding us that they are praying for us, it means so much and we certainly couldn’t do it without you.


Prayer Request

Carmen's health issues - We need prayer for wisdom as well as continued direction. But most of all healing.

Needmore Ind Baptist Church - Please pray that God will continue to work, that God would continue to move and the church will continue to make progress and grow.

Pray for Churches - As usual we are aware of multiple churches with struggles and issues. Please pray for these and other churches and our country.

Support - As always, we are in need of support. Please pray God continues to provide daily for our needs and also long term with the support we need.

Transportation - Our van is now at 292,000 miles and climbing as well as in desperate need of a new transmission. Clearly we need to do something soon. Please pray that God will show us what and when.

We continue to be grateful for each of you and for your part in all that we do. Please continue to pray and we will update you again soon.

Because of Calvary,
The Iseminger Family
David & Carmen
Lena, David II and Emilee
Romans 10:13-15