John B. Leaf

Thank you for supporting us in this ministry!!!

*We have just come to the end of the first year and are amazed to tell you that we received 100% of our financial need! Praise God!

*I feel the weight of your trust and have been intentional in my goal to be a good steward of that trust; with my time and talents and with your treasure.

*Our support raising goal will need to increase this year for various reasons including the second car (more expensive- but far more efficient) and older kids who are quite active. I would be pleased to give details of our financial plans to interested parties.

*Since about half of the support came as one time gifts, we will need your prayers and we will need to remain diligent in our fund raising. We trust that God will provide.

*I will be preaching Sunday August 26th at Covenant Pres. in Wheat Ridge, Co.

*The summer has been more hectic than the school year, but with lots of family time.

*The Leaf family spent 50 hrs in our new van in June and July, attending the PCA General Assembly in Memphis, Tenn. and visiting my family in Oklahoma between my Greek classes and Shay’s Ballet intensive. We had many wonderful conversations and all went well except for an encounter with a Kansas State Trooper.

*I played basketball in Memphis, where homelessness, drug deals and prostitution were obvious issues. Throw me in the briar patch. It was a great experience and I met a homeless guy that blessed me tremendously. Ask for the story if you have the time.

*We saw our foster son Loren (just turned 30!)and his wife Arlene in Tulsa, and they plan to visit here soon.

*My summer classes included third semester Greek and the Worship course taught by former V7 pastor Joseph Wheat. I was blessed to give him rides to class and was able to seek his councel on several issues. He was very much an encouragement to me and the direction the Lord is leading me in.

*We took a bus to the Queen Palmer neighborhood and picked up 30 kids for Vacation Bible School in July. It was a highly successful event in all ways, mostly because I got to play a pirate on stage. In addition to having numbers, we had relationships, the Gospel was preached, and one of my QP kids, nine year old Daryn, made a profession of faith.

*The Lord is at work in Daryn’s life and he came to church with us last Sunday! Pray for him as he has little Christian influence outside of his time with us at V7.

*Hey! I asked for your family photo and only a couple of folks complied. We want to have you in mind as well, so that we can pray for you; so send us your family photo.
Plus- we will look really cool if people know that we know you!

*Thank you for your prayers; we feel the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

We are so pleased with the calling God has laid out for us, and we thank you for coming alongside of us in this endeavor. We ask that you pray for us as we come to mind in the following ways:

• That I would be prepared to be used by God in the pulpit; it is a humbling and often intimidating experience to be called upon to preach the Word.
• That I would continue to be diligent in my studies and that I would learn all that God has planned for me.
• For the work at Queen Palmer this fall- that relationships would continue to be built and that lives would be changed as these young kids are involved with the people of God at V7 on Wednesday nights.
• That Christianity Explored would be used by God this fall in a mighty way.
• For wisdom in deciding which courses to take this fall.
• God’s continued provision for our financial needs during this time of ministry.
• God’s people faithfully continuing to lift us up in prayer.

All Blessings to you,

JBL

*We thank you for your support! We are continuing to see God provide for our financial needs. We are at the 87% mark for the year and all current needs are met.

*Thank you for the stuff also! We have received from supporters: a TV, VCR, speakers, a laptop carrying case, a sofa/love seat combo, and a washer/dryer set that is nearly new!

*We are considering a used vehicle more suited to the winters here in Colorado. Our little Saturn was quite useless several days so far this winter, with the bulk of our snow still to come. In addition, I have become increasingly concerned with the idea that my family spends so much time in a car that would come out on the short end of nearly any crash. If you are aware of any great deals let us know (but we intend to be patient). We are also on the look-out for an amplifier to go between our DVD player and the speakers.

*I have decided to drop the coursework down to five classes instead of six. The three main reasons: 1) I dropped a class that would have required the largest workload, about ten hours a week on average 2) It will not impede my graduation schedule, and I will take the course during a less demanding semester 3) This allows me to be home for dinner on Tuesday nights with the family!

*I have found that those ten hours I “saved” are mostly going into other course work! I am doing 45-50 hrs. in study and 20-25 hrs. in ministry. I am often stressed by the workload, but never by the work itself, I am “loving every minute of it”.

*We are bringing 18-20 kids from the Queen Palmer area every Wednesday night to V7 for Pioneer Club. God’s Word does not return void, and we have every reason to believe He is working in the lives of these kids and their families.

*Christianity Explored so also going very well, with about 40 people involved regularly. We have six children attending who are experiencing the love of the body of Christ through our Children’s Ministry team while their parents attend the class. We are seeing God working in the lives of those attending-including all of us in service through this ministry.

*I will be preaching my first sermon from the pulpit this Sunday Morning, March 4th, at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian, 10:45am service. It is not without some trepidation, as I feel wholly inadequate to the task. I had thought I would be further along in my studies before I was used in this capacity.

*Hey! I asked for your family photo and only a couple folks complied. We want to have you in mind as well, so that we can pray for you, so send us your family photo.
Plus- we will look really cool if people know that we know you!
We are so pleased with the calling God has laid out for us, and we thank you for coming alongside of us in this endeavor. We ask that you pray for us as we come to mind in the following ways:

• That I would be prepared to be used by God as I preach His word this Sunday (yikes!)
• For the work at Queen Palmer- that relationships would continue to be built and that lives would be changed as these young kids are involved with the people of God at V7 on Wednesday nights.
• For CX- that God uses the CX team to call His people to Himself. That the plans of the adversary would be thwarted and the families invited would attend with hearts prepared in advance to hear the Gospel message.
• That I would continue to be diligent in my studies and that I would learn all God has planned for me.
• For the strength of my family, especially Ana, during this season of our life, as I am not able to support her in the evening tasks as I have in the past
• God’s continued provision for our financial needs during this time of ministry.

Peace be with you,
JBL

* No change or real news in regard to Queen Palmer. Between the holidays and multiple snow days here in the Springs, school has been out most of the time since the last update. I have been taking photos and will create the end of the year slide show as I have done the last two years for the school. I see the show as a work of Art and I love creating it. It has been a big hit and is a great way for me to express my love for this community.

* Christianity Explored (CX) started up Jan. 7th. We were very encouraged with good numbers, but more importantly with people joining us who are excited with the study and the relationships they are building with the table leaders. I met a young man on the street near the seminary by chance J and struck up a conversation. I asked him about is views on life and death and faith. He described himself as a “Philosopher of religion”. When he was unable to express the basic theme of the Bible I told him “Dude, if you are a philosopher of religion, you have to know the basic theme of the Bible!” So I invited him to CX, and he came with his wife. They seem to be at a crossroads, pray that we are able to minister to them in a meaningful way and that God uses us to call them to Himself.

* Life as a student has its challenges, but I am enjoying it. Grades are in and I did well. I finished with a 3.76 . Not straight “A”s which was the goal, but I have to be pleased with the “B+” in Greek. After a rocky start (I ain’t even ever got no “A” in English) I scored a 96% on the final, bringing my grade up to a 91% and just into the “B+” range (“A-“ starts at 94%). I do not endorse this grading system, but they didn’t ask me. As an educator of twenty years and a self described “Philosopher of Measurement and Evaluation”, I would like to take on the entire educational system as it relates to this subject, but I should probably wait and tackle such ideas in time.

* I had intended to slow down, but New Geneva granted me a scholarship for this semester, based on monies currently available. It seems wisdom demands I take 12 hours again to make the most of this opportunity. I can handle the workload- that is not the problem. But I will have less time with the kids for another four months. Ana and I decided this is the way to go, start out strong and then the workload will taper off. I should finish the first year with 32 of the 99 needed credits. I will most likely spend as much time with my kids as the average American man, but we are used to much more.

* Wow! As I had been told, December is a big month for support raising, and it proved quite true. Earlier I had reported we were at 75% of need, but I had been projecting forward only and had not taken into consideration the missing funds from the first several months. I took the time to refigure and applied one time gifts backwards to cover those first several months. We are at now at 80% of total need for the entire first year. That is just great, we feel very blessed. Thank you for your support

* Send us your family photo! We want your picture on our fridge so we can pray for you!

* If you are local, we are about to make some purchases soon on the following used items. If you want, you can cut out the middle man -Salvation Army- and donate directly to us! (VCR, speakers/amplifier, bathroom scale, clothes dryer)

* We received severe damage to our tree with the October snow. With the leaves still on, we lost about 25% of the branches. I will need to borrow a good chainsaw when the weather turns to prune the tree for its health. If you want to help as well, I will buy the pizza!

We are so pleased with the calling God has laid out for us, and we thank you for coming alongside of us in this endeavor. We ask that you pray for us as we come to mind in the following ways:

· For the work at Queen Palmer- that relationships would continue to be built and that lives would be changed as these young kids are involved with the people of God at V7 on Wednesday nights.
· For CX- that God uses the CX team to call His people to Himself. That the plans of the adversary would be thwarted and the families invited would attend with hearts prepared in advance to hear the Gospel message.
· That I would continue to be diligent in my studies and that I would learn all God has planned for me.
· That the short term reduced family time would not be of ill effect. That if we have made the wrong choice that God would show us quickly.
· For God’s continued provision for our financial needs during this time of ministry

God Bless-JBL