Dear River Valley Church Family,
We want to say "thank you" for your kindness and generosity to the Lord, and our church, over this past year, 2020. This year has been like none other. Together, with the Lord's help, we are navigating this turbulent time, keeping our eyes on Jesus, loving one another, and maintaining a ministry presence that is in the community for the community. Throughout 2020, because of your faithfulness in giving your time, heart, and treasure, lives are being changed and impacted in our local community and throughout the world. Some brief highlights from this past year:
2020 has also been a year of creativity and new methods of ministry. For example, because of COVID related closures, we launched the weekly "RVC at Home" online service complete with worship, teaching, announcements, and pastoral facilitation.
Along with that we launched our weekly podcast called "Digging Deeper," in which staff members dive into the previous week's teaching for more significant study and application.
For those seeking worship leadership for their LG, families, or personal time, we created a video playlist with dozens of worship songs recorded by our RVC worship ministry that can be used for moments of praise and worship.
On top of it all, we have seen our Murphy Campus developing a new worship venue at its currently rented location on the corner of Williams Hwy & New Hope Road, along with God's provision for a future community center-based ministry location in Sunny Valley! What a mighty God we serve who is not hindered by adversity, sickness, the economy, or politics.
Thank you, Lord, for always making a way through adversity and for birthing new vision even amid challenging times.
As we draw to the end of this calendar year and set our sights on what the Lord would have for us together in 2021, many of you requested that we let the church family know of any specific projects we are trying to fund and complete. In response to your requests, here are some options to consider:
1. Murphy Campus Development - The Murphy Campus Team is excited about how their new worship space is coming together. However, there is still practical remodeling to be accomplished on the site such as flooring for the worship space, overall weatherization, painting, and some concrete work.
2. Sunny Valley Campus Development - God has done miraculous things in providing the "Radio Park" building and property right off the Sunny Valley exit to be used as a center for community and eventual worship space. This facility is in need of interior and exterior repairs, security, lighting, and more to get it ready to welcome the community inside it.
3. Uganda Scholarship Fund - Through the ongoing generosity of our church family, we are stewards of hundreds of children in Uganda. An additional vision is to provide scholarships to the top graduates of our RVC run schools to help them move into collegiate pursuits, ensuring more significant opportunities for themselves, their churches, communities, and the nation.
4. RVC Local Scholarship Fund - We are passionate about raising new leaders to take the gospel to our community, nation, and world. Our fund offering scholarships to those pursuing education related to occupational ministry has been depleted. We would love to see this fund available again to assist those pursuing ministerial callings.
Thank you for considering these items. If you choose to give towards any of these, please designate clearly on your check memo, envelope, or online the area being given toward. Also, remember that to have your donation credited for 2020, we must receive your gift postmarked before the end of 2020.
We can't say enough how much we love being your leadership team here at RVC. Please receive our gratitude and appreciation for all that each of you does every day, not only as you serve and give here, but as you each serve and give in your homes, jobs, schools, and throughout our community. Together, we help advance the kingdom of our Lord on earth as it is in heaven by impacting one life at a time. Let us all prayerfully consider how we can make the most significant impact to all who surround us this Christmas season. Please invite people in your lives to one of our Christmas season weekend celebration services, our Christmas Eve services, or to watch our pre-recorded Christmas Eve service online! You will not want to miss it!
God bless each of your greatly,
Your RVC Elder & Leadership Team