Photo by Desmond Simon

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, from the work He is accomplishing in Fredericton, NB, Canada.
As of March 1st, 2019, Christ Community Church has been ministering in Fredericton for three years and six months. When we began back in September 2015, we had roughly 20 individuals in the city ready to be a part of this church plant. By October, that number was down to twelve, including myself and my wife. In January of 2019, we were able to officially establish the church membership with 23 persons, with 3 more awaiting approval. On any given Sunday, there are over sixty in attendance.

The ministry has matured since our beginnings, most notably in the prayer lives of the people. Our weekly prayer meetings are well attended, and those who often struggled to put two words together, now pray confidently in public to the Lord. This brings me great encouragement.

We also praise the Lord for answered prayers. The need for a building is becoming more apparent, as our current accommodations simply hold the number of people we are seeing in weekly attendance. This has made the building project extremely important. Lord willing, we will begin preparing the land and laying the foundation this spring. It has been encouraging to see the Lord providing for us every step of the way. Many people have volunteered their time to work on the project already. A hardware store owner has offered to provide materials at cost price. An electrician and plumber have volunteered to pull the permits, and do the work free of charge. Another man has volunteered to put the foundation in. Our plans, which would normally cost around 40-50K dollars, are being prepared for us at less than half of that cost. We rejoice in the Lord’s provision! Please continue to pray for this project.

I praise the Lord that I pastor a church that regularly shares the gospel with others.  At the beginning of the month, one of our members made a point that I believe had a profound impact on people. He said (and I paraphrase), “It’s good that we are sharing the gospel, and it’s good that there are lost people hearing it. Yes, God is honored by gospel preaching, whether men believe it or not, but we cannot be content to only tell people the truth, without being burdened for their souls.” He was exactly right. We cannot be content to preach and share the good news if no one comes to Christ or believes it. So, we began praying to that end. Not only that the Lord would help us to make His name and His Gospel known, but that he would save those who are perishing. Don’t get me wrong, we have been praying for this all along, but recently, there seems to be a renewed sense of urgency, and a greater longing to see people saved. 

We are so thankful for what God has been doing here, and what God has been doing though you. Remember us in your prayers.

In Christ,

On Behalf of Christ Community Church, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada,

Corey Betts