Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Hello from Ireland!

Winter seems to have arrived! Golden leaves are dancing off the trees with a cold, crisp wind here in Waterford. The country is in an interesting time at the moment with all of the Halloween festivities. The kids are off school and our neighbours kids have been greeting us with scary masks and open hands looking for some treats. Even though it seems like a darker time, LifeHouse Church is shining bright here in Waterford and we're holding grasp onto all of Gods promises. He is sovereign over our city. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Compared to last, this winter seems like a different world. So many prayers have been answered. The church has grown at a crazy pace and LifeHouse Teens has had an amazing start. It was just over a month ago where we kicked off, but every time we meet we are seeing teens come with their friends. Not only are they excited and enjoying the time together, they are very open to learning about God—not in a legalistic sense but one of legitimate curiosity as to what it's like to actually know Jesus and have a relationship with Him.

This last month we really got to see the benefits of serving with the mindset of consistency and longevity. There is a teenager here who came to our very first SuperKids camp that we put on three summers ago. We have stayed in consistent contact with him throughout all this time, whether it was playing football or basketball with him at the local complex, or giving him a lift into town if we saw him walking by the side of the road. Over time, he eventually became curious enough as to what we were about that he showed up in church one Sunday. He has been attending the past 4-5 months. A couple weeks ago, we announced that we were going to have a service where we baptised people who were knew believers or had committed their life to Christ and have never been baptised. This young man started asking questions about baptism and all that it entailed. We explained it and at that moment he wanted to ask Jesus into His life. It's so amazing to look at how God works. So many people have reached out and touched his life and his family’s life. It really shows what can happen when the body of Christ is unified and working together for the common purpose of reaching people with His love. Each and every one of us has a part to play, whether it be at home or abroad. We just have to wake up each and every day, remain sensitive to God’s voice, and obey what He tells us to do. This leads to a true life of adventure which we all desire and want to walk in. That's really how simple it is.

Here is a photo of all of us who got baptised, including that teenager we just mentioned. This is such an incredible day for each one of us, we're so proud of our youth for making the decision to get baptised. It really is a privilege to serve God here in Waterford!

We've also been able to connect with students here in Waterford, through the Christian Union (CU) which happens in Waterford's Institute of Technology (WIT). It's very exciting and encouraging to meet with these students, to be able to pray for them and encourage them in their walks with God as they study. Most of the students in WIT's CU are international or erasmus students, so they only stay with us between 6-12 months at a time. A couple of Asian students in particular have been such a blessing to our church. In addition to their great personalities and inspiring faith, they're highly skilled in sound, having served in sound ministry in their home church in Malaysia. We're so grateful for them!

SuperKids has really been amazing over the past few months. Just over the weekend we had at least 6 new kids from the local estate and all of the kids seemed to have a blast! It's such an incredibly humbling experience to minister to these kids with the realisation that our clubs are where most of the kids hear the Gospel for the very first time. How amazing!

Thank you so much for everyone standing with us. Working together, we are taking ground. It's easy to be excited when you see it happening, but it really requires faith and perseverance when you're in the middle of the fight waiting for that moment of relief and breakthrough. If we can encourage you in any way, whether you are currently walking in victory and are on top of the mountain, or if you are in the middle of the valley and you feel like you're in all out war,

keep trusting in Jesus. It's simple child like faith and doing the small consistent things everyday to grow in your relationship with God, that will bring the change you are looking for.

We are so beyond grateful for everyone who has kept us in your prayers, spiritual support, and financial support. No one could ask for a better group of people behind them. We genuinely can't say thank you enough. We will be heading back to Texas soon to visit our family and to speak in some churches, then we will be taking a trip to Belfast to spend Christmas with our Northern Irish family.

We hope we get to see you all soon and tell you a massive ‘Thank you’ In person.

Jonathan and Cherith Loper