March 2022 - Ministry Highlights

Women's ministry hosted the IF: Gathering 2022 and the theme this year was resilience. We had 32 women registered from 4 different churches. Special thanks to Mandy Hartman for helping with the event.

If you were unable to join us but would like to watch the session, they will be available on RightNow Media (available here). We highly encourage you to watch them!

On Friday, March 4th, 96 Middle School students and leaders enjoyed a fun-filled night around Fort Wayne.  Their stops included the Roller Dome, Crazy Pinz & LaserX.

Pastor Brian shared that Nate Williams spoke to the students about the Good News of Jesus as revealed through the story of the Prodigal and that the entire Adult Youth Leader team rocked! 

High School students will have a similar evening (Spring Thing) on Friday, April 22nd (click here to learn more).

On Friday, March 11th, a.b.l.e. Ministries hosted a special Carnival Friend's Club for families who have a child(ren) with special needs.  The carnival was complete with games, crafts, storytime, and food!  Friend's Club events are held for children with special needs and their siblings so that mom and dad can have an evening to themselves to enjoy a little respite.  Clearly, you can see by the smile and joy in these photos that fun was had by all! 

Our next event is on Friday, May 13th from 6:00 to 8:30 pm (click here to register to either attend or volunteer).

Friends and family of the Hebrew language class stepped back in time to celebrate the Feast of Purim on Sunday, March 13th. Dressed in costume, they re-enacted the book of Esther with much laughter as they booed Haman and celebrate the victory of the Jews by feasting on ethnic delights such as challah, hamantaschen, and hummus as well as dancing to music from the Middle East.  Their theme for the event was "Don't let the Hamans disturb your Peace - Behold Yeshua! (Jesus!)".  Thank you Dawn for making learning fun!

The Upward Basketball and Cheer program played its final games on March 11/12th and had an EPIC closing ceremony on March 18th complete with Pastor Craig getting a pie in the face! 

This season we had: 32 teams; 253 players; 43 cheerleaders; 64 coaches; 16 Referees; 18 Concession Helpers; 6 Sound Tech; and Countless Score Keepers.

Thanks to EVERYONE that made this season possible and for helping to use the power of sports to share the gospel and promote the discovery of Jesus in our community.  

Little Dresses for Missions, is an ECC outreach ministry of women who gather together to make dresses, shorts, baby blankets, and baby kits to help children in need around the world and in our local community! We also have projects for non-sewers like tying fleece blankets, as well as cutting out diapers, liners, burp cloths, and bibs.

Our first Thursday evening sewing event was such a fun time. Learning together, learning from one another, working together, and of course, laughing together. From middle school age and up, there was a spot for everyone and a project that benefited another person somewhere on this earth.

The group meets at The Branch on the third Thursday of each month, and our next upcoming date is Thursday, April 21st from 6-8 pm. 

In March, Pastor Denny and his wife Karin had the pleasure of being with two wonderful groups from Emmanuel In Israel.  These were the first trips since February of 2020. 

To learn more about upcoming education trips that he has planned, click here. 

At the end of March, ECC sent 8 men to Bowling Green Kentucky to help IDES with disaster relief efforts. The team assisted homeowners who were devastated by the tornadoes late last year. Many of the homeowners do not have the funds or insurance to repair their homes.

Special thanks to Mike Duggan for stepping up to lead the trip and to all the men that participated and made a difference in the lives of those homeowners.