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Hello to the First Presbyterian family from Keystone Church in Loveland, CO. 

 

Your partnership with us on this journey has been such a blessing to us, and I hope that this update gives you confidence in the work that is being accomplished through your willingness to partner with us. 

 

On the surface, our community has so much going for it. Colorado is beautiful, the people are largely friendly, it’s easy to enjoy the outdoors throughout the year and there are great jobs to be had.  With all the state’s beauty, there is a different picture beneath the surface here. Only about 10% of the population of Colorado claims to be Christian while only about 6% are connected to a church. On top of that, our county has suicide rates that double Seattle’s, Colorado has been a hotspot for mass shootings, and homelessness has skyrocketed through the state. Darkness has a firm grip on so much of this beautiful state.

 

During all of this, our church plant is now officially 3 years old. As you might imagine, we have experienced all kinds of highs and lows over the past 3 years. We have walked through the joy of launching a new church body, baptisms, hearts surrendering to the gospel, and so much more. At the same time, we entered this Covid world as a one-year-old church, watched as a lost and hurting community struggled to know how to respond, found that there is almost nobody willing to rent or lease space to a church, which has led to us having to adjust how we gathered as a church 6-7 times. 

 

Through all of this, we have continued to pray, share the gospel, build relationships in the community, and aim to strategically meet needs in our city. Our church has become a go to for the school district as needs arise for their families. This March, the district reached out to ask if we could help get beds for 5 of their families that did not have beds in their homes. We have worked with a local school to launch a program to help get dads involved on campus which has been a great success, and we regularly serve the staff at our neighborhood school. 

 

In addition, we have seen that this area is full of young families and that many are struggling in their marriages. About a year ago we launched a marriage ministry for the community. We are limited by space to about five couples we can take each round, but the feedback from the couples has been incredible. In our current round of this, none of the families involved go to our church and they are hearing the gospel week after week. This has been an incredible way for us to invest in marriages and families in our community.  

 

All of this is happening while we also continuously see our people building intentional relationships and sharing the good news of Jesus in their neighborhoods. 

 

Through all the obstacles, we continue to see the gospel going out into our community. It’s amazing to see how big our God is as He continues to work regardless of the circumstances. 

 

Thank you again for your partnership and for helping us take the gospel to this community. Without the help of people and churches like you, we would not be able to continue this work!

 

In Christ, 

AJ Neely