Blowing the Shofar

Thank you for your prayers for 7-07-07. We had a great time praying and praising God in our city as well as uniting with others in Kansas, Nashville, and Jerusalem. In the picture you can see Melissa Yoh sounding the shofar.

The Bible Studies on Thursday night are going well. Paul is actually taping his study on Matthew. You can listen to it by clicking on the following link - http://www.merriamhop.org/. This website of ours is under construction, so please bear with us as the graphics are still unavailable. The women's study is also going well. A couple more ladies have recently decided to come, and they are a wonderful addition to the study.

The Merriam House of Prayer also has some new additions. On Tuesday, Leah Blake and Susan Simon are singing the Word with Mark, and occasionally Mark's sister will sing as well. I have heard it is a really powerful time. On Fridays, Sam VanBuskirk has been leading the worship time. As always Thursdays are the corporate prayer time, and we encourage all to attend to intercede for our city.

Our connection with Adat Yeshua (Jesus People) continues to grow. Tom and Mark went to Chicago to attend the Union of Messanic Jewish Congregrations (www.umjc.org). They learned a lot at the conference about the Messianic movement. They also had a great time getting to know people from Adat Yeshua better. They came away with an even greater appreciation of our Rabbi Jerry Feldman, a true pioneer amongst the Jewish believers in the world. Every five years the UMJC meets in Jerusalem for this annual conference, which includes tour options after the meetings. A number of us are considering going to Israel next summer for this event.

Our community groups are also going well, as God has been changing our lives in various ways. Someone in our community recently had her apartment broken into, and then a few days later her car was stolen. The person who broke into her apartment aparently took her spare set of car keys. Soon thereafter an anonymous gift came in for $4,000 to help her get back on her feet. This touched both the woman and her boyfriend deeply as they saw God's care and provision for them.

On a personal note:


Paul, Harrison, Noah and I had the privilege to visit my family in North Carolina for a week. We had a wonderful time in the mountains. It was a treat to introduce Noah to my gram, nieces and brother-in-law for the first time. He was a big hit. You can click on Noah's blog to see some more of the pictures from the trip. Paul also had the opportunity to speak to a group of about 30 people while we were there on the Jewish roots of our faith. http://noahcalebblake.blogspot.com/