Mission begins at home

We don't always see the fruit that our Kingdom work produces, so this update from Eric and Tressa Voss is doubly precious. It's a letter from our friends - our brother and sister in Christ. It is also a reminder that we are part of God's great work transforming lives so that more lives can be transformed by the power of his love and grace. God is good - all the time.

It’s pretty wild to think that Tressa and I were packing up a U-Haul four years ago and heading north to Charles City. Let me first say that without the prayers and support of all of you we would not have made it to where we are today. The staff and congregation at First Presbyterian Church illustrated the love of Jesus Christ at a dark time in our lives. Thank you for loving us when we didn’t know how to love ourselves. The impact your Church is making on the Kingdom reaches far beyond Marshalltown. Fulfilling the Great Commission requires Kingdom-focused churches like yours working together, so thank you for all your efforts.

As Tressa and I got healthy and began seeking the Spirit’s will, we felt called to launch a recovery ministry in hopes of reaching folks with struggles similar to ours. Celebrate Recovery at the Bridge Church just celebrated its first anniversary on September 1st, 2021. Despite the ongoing pandemic, God has used CR to free countless individuals from oppression from everything from drug and alcohol addiction to depression. We just graduated our first step-study group, raising up 13 new leaders to carry the message of freedom and hope found in Jesus.

God has continued to move as we remain obedient. Our most recent win is in our K-6th Celebration Place Program. This program begins teaching kids about recovery principles like denial and surrender with the goal of breaking the cycle of hurts, habits, and hang-ups. Celebration Place averages 25 kids a night currently, and the breakthroughs we are seeing are nothing short of a miracle.

Again, the impact First Presbyterian Church has had on Tressa and I, and Celebrate Recovery, cannot be overstated. Your willingness to model the love and compassion of Jesus Christ to Tressa and I illustrate how we minister to our people today. The Church’s mission requires all of God’s people modeling the grace found in Jesus. Thanks for being an example for us all to follow. May God bless you and keep you in the upcoming year.

For more information on Celebrate Recovery and the Voss's ministry in Charles City, visit these websites:

https://celebraterecovery.com/ [Celebrate Recovery's national organization]

https://thebridgechurchcc.com/recovery [The Bridge Church in Charles City]