Dear friends and family,
I
hope this letter finds you well. I’ve
had a lot of friends ask Alaina and I how our time in Fresno is going and if
there is anything that they can do to support us. So to those of you who are interested, I’d
love to give you all an update on our lives.
Alaina
and I moved to Fresno to become the College and Young Adult Pastors at Fresno
First Baptist Church, the oldest church in Fresno. Invited by our close friend Pastor Joe Basile
in February of 2013 to partner with him in ministry, we prayed and sought the
Lord to see if we were to move to Fresno.
Feeling like God had called us, we looked for opportunities to be able
to make the move. Fresno First Baptist
Church wouldn’t be able to pay us to do ministry so we searched for other means
of income so that we could do what God was calling us to do. We searched for jobs for eight months and
couldn’t find anything. In faith, we had
started driving up once a month to meet with the college students at the
church. In September of last year, a man
from Fresno First Baptist Church told us that God had told him to give us
$10,000 to move to Fresno so we could do ministry. What a blessing! What an answer to prayer! So by faith, we quit our jobs in L.A. and
moved to Fresno to embark on this adventure with God. The Lord blessed us with a place to
stay. A wonderfully gracious lady from
the church has let us live in a room in her house for free! Without her help we wouldn’t have been able
to afford a place to live. God was
providing, so we moved in October and came on staff at Fresno First Baptist
Church as the College and Young Adult Pastors.
 |
| (Dan preaching) |
In November we
launched CRUX College Ministry and started to meet with the college students
weekly. Our weekly meetings consist of
Worship, Prayer and preaching the Word.
Among our many duties, Alaina is in charge of the Worship teams and I
prepare the sermons. You can read about what topics we’ve gone over here: http://whowithunveiledfaces.blogspot.com/.
 |
| (Alaina with the Worship Team) |
Each week, we meet individually with
several college students in a mentorship capacity. Since we started CRUX, we have launched three small groups and have gone on two
retreats. I have been able to lead two people
to the Lord since I’ve been here and have had several college students be
baptized. The Lord is moving and we are
excited to be a part of it! That’s a broad overview of just some of
the ways that God has moved rather swiftly in the life of this ministry. Individual stories of people serving, growing and maturing in Christ
are already part of our short history.
In March, the church
was able to give Alaina and I part-time jobs.
Alaina is now the Church Bookkeeper and I am now the Office
Manager. As helpful as these jobs are,
they don’t meet our financial needs. We
already work 40 hours plus between our church office jobs and ministry. To add another job on top of what we already
do would make doing ministry difficult.
Our hearts are to pour into this church and these college students as
much as we can. As we have prayed about our situation, it has
become clear that the Lord wants us to open up an opportunity for all of you to
join us in the ministry God has called us to.
We are confident that the Lord is going to meet our needs no matter
what, but sometimes, He desires us to ask others for help. Not solely for our benefit, but for the
Kingdom and for those of you who feel called to partner with us. Here’s how you can be a part of this ministry:
PLEASE
PRAY!
 |
| (CRUX Leadership Retreat in February) |
We need prayer to
carry out this work. 70% of college students will
leave the faith in college. Only 35% eventually return. We are trying to bridge the gap between High
School and College and keep our young people engaged with Christ. Your prayers will go a long way to help
that.
· Pray that students will not only come to
know Jesus Christ, but also learn to lead others to Christ.
· Pray that God would give us courage,
boldness and creativity as we aim to share the message of the gospel to this
community and beyond.
· Pray that God would raise up this next
generation of leaders to change Fresno and the World.
PLEASE
SUPPORT!
 |
| (Dan giving announcements) |
We ask that
you would pray about giving to CRUX College Ministry. Funding is difficult for
College Pastors. Many churches,
including Fresno First Baptist, don’t have any money in their budget to reach
out to students even though they want to.
It’s such an important age group… a group that will be our future leaders. I relish the opportunity to help shape this
generation for the Kingdom of God and I want you to have that opportunity as
well. Our desire is to cover our
essential resource needs to enable us to effectively minister to the needs of college
students. One of the things God has put
on our hearts is to be able to rent our own house.
A place where college students can come and hang out and be ministered
to whenever they need it. A safe place
where they can encounter God as we live life together. Unless our finances change, this ministry
won’t be able to continue. That’s where
you come in, dear friend.
We would like
to raise at least $25,000 if not more, so that we can continue to minister here
in Fresno. Please prayerfully consider
supporting us financially on a monthly basis or with a one-time gift. Your gift of $50, $100 or even $500 a month
will go a long way to make sure this generation of college students has an
opportunity to change their campuses and the world for Christ. Any gift amount helps. Thank you in advance for whatever God puts on
your heart. And if you don’t have
anything to give, don’t worry about it.
God is going to take care of this ministry. We just wanted to give you an opportunity to
be a blessing to these college students.
But if you can’t give, please know that your prayers are also a huge
support.
To
send support to us directly, please make your checks out to Alaina or Daniel
Lowman:
Alaina and Daniel
Lowman
2985 E.
Willis Avenue
If
you would like a tax deduction for your donations, please make your checks out
to Fresno First Baptist Church (or FFBC) with “Lowman Ministry Support” in the
memo and mail it to:
Fresno First
Baptist Church
1400 E.
Saginaw Way
Fresno, Ca. 93704
If
you would prefer to give online you can donate at: http://www.fresnofirst.org/connect/onlinegiving/ using the
drop down menu for “Dan and Alaina Lowman”.
We’re excited for this next chapter in our lives and we thank
you all for having ears to hear and hearts to care. Thanks for your prayers as
we take this leap of faith and trust in God’s goodness and greatness.
In
Christ’s love,
Dan
& Alaina Lowman
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