August 2014

       Stepleton News

The Happs: August 1, 2014

We started the month with Sarah’s family coming into town for the 4th of July weekend. We spent  the holiday cooking and eating way too much, telling old stories and laughing a lot. On Saturday the 5th and Sunday the 6th, we were invited to come to Canyon Ridge Christian Church to share about next steps. As our next steps were unclear when we left staff, it was an opportunity to bring closure and share all about  what God was calling us into as we transition to SLO. It was great to see some old friends  and to introduce everyone to Silas. 

Kurt and Sheri (lead pastor for Elevate and his wife) are already living in SLO, but were in town for The Fourth to spend the weekend with family. Since they were in town, they were also able to hang out with us most of the weekend at CRCC. We were also joined by Aubrey, Mariah and Wes who are all planning on joining our church plant. It was very cool to have the whole Elevate crew together in the same place for the day! 

Towards the end of June, Kurt and I talked about how he and Sheri being in town would be a great opportunity for us as Elevate Christian Church to dedicate Silas to God together. Seeing Sarah’s family was also in town to share in the occasion, it was an exciting opportunity indeed. 

Kurt prepared and led the time elegantly. There was an incredible sense of oneness in the room as we were drawn together by The Spirit. The challenges put forth to Sarah and I to love, lead and point Silas to Christ at every turn was beautifully significant and humbling. Yet, there was a strong sense that we would never be left to this task by ourselves, but instead, we felt that our little community was saying, “We're in this with you!” There was a strong sense of both ownership and sincerity as we prayed over Silas’ life together. Sarah and I feel so grateful for this group of people in our lives and feel very excited to create, partner, and be the church with them in SLO. 

Last week, I was finally given my job offer from Elevate Christian Church! Though this may have only been a technicality, it feels good for things to be official. I will be on staff as of today (August 1, 2014).

As Sarah has been feeling more and more independent, I have been spending my days at the “office,” which is the Starbucks @ Craig & Jones to throw myself into working on various projects with Kurt. Kurt and I have been “meeting” via FaceTime a few times a week to plan, pray, laugh and craft material that will hopefully carry the culture we lead into deeper expressions of worship, togetherness, and life!  So far, (through much council  and time) we have been working on our discipleship curriculum, core values, measures (how do we know we are accomplishing what we were called out to do), and have crafted Elevate Christian Church’s mission statement which states: We ELEVATE Jesus by leading every generation to BELONG to God, BECOME His people, and reach BEYOND themselves. This process has been a blast and Sarah and I simply can’t wait to get on the ground in SLO to start meeting people and inviting them into our life! 

With that said, we have put in an application to two different properties in San Luis Obispo County. The first is a house in Arroyo Grande (about 15 mins away). This is the biggest house, great neighborhood, smaller deposit, but no back yard. Second, there is a house in Grover Beach (just minutes closer than Arroyo Grande to SLO). This one has a decent back yard but has a hefty deposit. We feel very much at peace with either of the properties (or anything else God may open up) but we will need to make a special trip down to do an in person walk through for anything that we get accepted for. 

You can check out the pics of our prospects below :) 

This has been an incredible season of God’s provision! We have not at all been in want for any of our needs. We have felt the incredible generosity of God through His people in many different  ways! 

We want to continue in our trust for all that we need so here are ways you can be praying for our family:

• Pray for Hudson as we look for the right support network to address his autism. We want the right school, community, therapists, etc. 
• Pray for continued growth of our support network. We have raised enough to get hired, but still have much to raise for our continued future in SLO. We have raised about 30% of our total budget for the next three years. Please pray for God to provide the right partners both in prayer and financial support. We love advocates too, so if you personally know anyone that might be interested in joining our support team, please send them our way!
• Pray for housing. Though these two rental properties have come to the top of our list, we want it to be the “right” house for location, education for Hudson, ministry opportunities, and a place that we can settle into for the next season. Sarah and I have felt in “transition” since moving back from the UK and would really like to find the place we can call home for the next few years. 
• Pray for our connectedness, unity, and harmony as a family. There has been so much change so quickly over the last year and we have stuck it out well. Nevertheless, finding a routine that is not only life-giving, but also bonding for us as a family is something we need to implement. 
• Pray for our church planting team. Between the Pflegls (Kurt, Sheri, McKenzie and Sydney), the Geers (Mariah and Wes) and Aubrey Bridges, there are a lot of needs. Pray specifically for Aubrey and the Geers to find the right jobs and the right housing. They have had lots of leads but again, we want them to find the right fits for longevity sake. 
• Finally, pray for lots and lots of opportunities as we land on the ground in SLO. 

Blessings,

Sean

If you would like to receive a personal email with our newsletter, please email me at:

sean.stepleton@gmail.com

(702) 325-8623  

July 2014

The Stepletons

Newsletter for July, 2014

Hello friends and family! I hope this letter finds you all well and filled with the Joy of Christ! I ask for your forgiveness for not writing a newsletter just yet. I may have reasons but not an excuse. It is my goal to keep you informed monthly and therefore, will attempt to keep you informed by the first of every month. Here are some of our highlights over the past few months.

Baby Silas

As many of you are aware, we welcomed Silas Benton Stepleton into the world on June 9th, 2014 @ 3:39 am. He weighed in at 8 lbs, 3 oz. He was born through emergency c-section and all seemed just fine. Around 10 am, Sarah began to bleed out severely and her body began to shut down. Our doctor was very quick to spring into action and got her down to the operating room. We were told there was a strong chance that she would lose her uterus if they couldn’t get the bleeding stopped. 

In that moment, I began to pray something our friend Debbie Thomas began to pray when her husband Steve had a severe heart attack, “No death, no death.” I of course felt concerned about not being able to have more children but I also feel totally undeserving of the ones I have already been blessed with and all I wanted was for Sarah to be all right. 

Again, as many of you know, all turned out well and Sarah was not only saved, but we should be able to have more children down the road if God allows. Doctor Harter (Sarah’s OB), said that it was nothing short of a miracle that her uterus was saved. There’s really no reason it should have been. God continues to prove His love to our family. Sarah is recovering well and Silas is a healthy beautiful boy that all three of us are so in love with… Especially his big brother Hudson. 

Insurance 

Many of us have struggled trying to navigate Nevada Health Link. We were no different and began to become more and more concerned with whether or not we would be insured for the arrival of Silas. Many of you had been praying faithfully for us and we wanted to say that we were processed on the 45th day after applying for Medicaid and our entire family was insured be the 29th of May! We even had a representative come to the hospital to take Silas’ info before Sarah was discharged! Our friend Wes even made the realization that God came through in the eleventh hour… literally. The insurance representative called me around 11:30 am on the 29th… God’s cool that way.

Here Comes the Bride…

It was an honor to be officially ordained by Canyon Ridge Christian Church on April 27th. It was also a great honor to do my first official wedding this past weekend (June 29th). I was approached months ago by Brian Spendlove and Ashley McCloud to work with them through premarital counseling and to officiate their wedding. It was an incredible joy to be a part of this step of their journey. Brian had joined the CRCC Worship Team a few years ago and I have always enjoyed not only his incredible talent as a drummer, but his heart in seeking Christ and serving those around him. I pray that Brian and Ashley will experience the greatest joy in Christ as they grow in their relationship and share their lives together!

Slow Getting to SLO…

Finally, we continue slowly but surely to San Luis Obispo. God continues to reveal His heart for the community of SLO to Kurt and I. Kurt has been on the ground now for a few months and he, Sheri and their daughters have been getting to know the area and acclimating well. Sarah and I have been in talks with the leadership of Canyon Ridge as well as many partners who continue to come out of the woodwork in the support raising realm. There have been a number of you who have displayed incredible acts of generosity and we are both grateful and humbled. 

This weekend (July 5th & 6th), Sarah, Hudson, Silas and I will be sharing at Canyon Ridge at the end of the services to bring closure to this chapter of our lives and with the hopes to win more partners in our next step in our journey. We had not expected fund raising to be as difficult as it has turned out to be this time around but God has proven His faithfulness to us over and over again. We are so excited to see what He is going to do. 

Prayer Requests

Our hope is to depart the end of July for SLO. Please pray for:

• We need to raise a total of $50k before we can receive our salary. We are close but have not reached that goal. Please pray that we will in the next 2 weeks

• We need to raise a total of $250k as we join the church plant. Please pray that God would reveal who He desires for us to partner with.

• Housing is very difficult to come by during the school year in SLO. Please pray that God would reveal to us where it is He has for us to be in the next few weeks.

• Transition can be immensely difficult for all of us, but specifically for Hudson. Please pray that with all the changes in his life, he will continue to acclimate with great joy and peace!

• Finally, pray for our team: Wes & Mariah Geer, Aubrey Bridges, Sarah, Hudson, Silas, myself, Kurt, Sheri, McKenzie & Sydney. Pray that God will continue to do the work of keeping us one in His Spirit and that we would be given power to love our new community well… all in the name of and for the glory of Christ!