Events

Overview for 2024

This year has proven very productive. Both the Promise of Life Café and the Sequim Community Carwash outreach ministries flourished this past summer. The ten session training and equipping module for the local church, Four Keys to Sharing Good News, continues to be well received. We are now in the process of publishing a second edition and are currently scheduled to teach at Fairview Bible Church in January 2025. TTVF sponsors home fellowships; Elder Will Finch recently finished teaching through the book of Ruth and in September began teaching 1 Samuel. His teaching is outstanding. Mike Pritchard continues to develop our website. This year marks the beginning of our on-line newsletter. A special thanks to the Lord for very gracious and thoughtful brothers like Mike.

This year has also proven to be a year of great loss. After battling cancer, Elder Mark Simpson passed on to the Lord. Some of you will recall his art work from past Journal covers and ministry t-shirts. Locally, known as Costco’s pastor, for years Mark openly ministered to all who sought his prayer and counsel in the appliance section of the Sequim Costco. The Lord blessed Costco in no small measure with an employee who was consistently rewarded for outstanding customer service. As an evangelist, Mark was very bold, yet loving and compassionate to both believers and unbelievers. As an elder for The True Vine Fellowship His counsel was always timely and wise. He leaves behind a Godly wife and three children. Thankfully, as sad as our loss is, heaven has gained a faithful servant. The Lord is good!

The Promise of Life Café

Babbette Tyler continues to lead this outreach. Many thanks to her and all who join her in serving the love of Jesus. Over the years, the Promise of Life Caféhas been blessed to partner with several ministries, Beautiful Day, Queen of Angels School, Family Fun Fest, Sequim Food Bank, Blessing of the Bikes… to name a few, but in 2024, for the first time, this outreach successfully struck out on its own. Summer attracts many visitors to Sequim from all over Washington and the Pacific Northwest. Those who visit the Promise of Life Café go home with Gospels of John and memories of a free burger. Praise the Lord for blessing the Promise of Life Café.

The Sequim Community Car Wash

Over the years, our car washes have supported numerous charities, Sequim High School Basketball, Bremerton High School Basketball, Youth For Christ, Christmas Angels, Boys and Girls Club, and others. Each of these charities share a common need to raise money for their activities. The citizens of Sequim love to support their community; as a result, each car wash raises from $700.00 to $2,200.00. A special thank you to the Sequim Discount Tire for being a faithful partner in this outreach. Praise our God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

Home Fellowships

Very few books in the Old Testament pull back the curtain on evangelism… Ruth is one of those books. The power of “chesed” or loyal covenantal love drew two Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah, to the One True God of Israel through their mother-in-law Naomi. When darkness and loss settle into their personal lives, the Lord pours out His “chesed” through Ruth to draw Naomi back to Himself and in the process to evangelize the entire town of Bethlehem. This same daughter-in-law, who believed on the Lord through Naomi’s ministry, God rewards with a Godly husband in Boaz and ultimately a place in Messiah’s linage. The good news both in word and deed of God’s great love and faithfulness to His people abounds. Bless the Lord for His faithfulness and Will Finch who taught the book of Ruth.

TTVF Journal

Many thanks to all who partner with The True Vine Fellowship to write and/or edit articles for the Journal. The Grace Evangelical Society graciously allows TTVF to reprint articles by Bob Wilkin, Ken Yates, and John Niemelä. Lindsey Adkins wears many hats as a wife, mom, evangelist,… and thankfully a writer for TTVF Journal. Hopefully Don Crouse will soon bless our journal with more articles on apologetics… we promise not to fault him for his math skills. All of us have missed Grant Christensen’s articles; pray that the Lord restores his excellent work to our Journal. This year we will use our financial resources (normally allocated to publish the journal) to print our training manual theFour Keys to Sharing Good News.Equipping brothers and sisters in the local church to share their faith in Christ must take precedent over TTVF Journal. With the Lord’s help, we will resume publishing our journal next year. The Lord and His Word are blessings.

Four Keys to Sharing Good News

Equipping brothers and sisters to share the good news of Christ and His promise of eternal life remains at the very core of The True Vine Fellowship’s mission. As an evangelism fellowship, the only remuneration received is the joy of seeing brothers and sisters set free to share their faith openly from the Gospel of John. If you abide in My word you really are My disciples. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32, Logos 21 Version). To this end, we make disciples and provide training in the Four Keys to Sharing Good News to local churches for absolutely free. This year Frank Tyler begins a commentary on John as a companion to the Four Keys to Sharing Good News. You may read the introduction on-line.

Donations and Expenses for 2024

Agur the son of Jakeh requests two invaluable things from the Lord: Remove falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches (Proverbs 30:8). Falsehoods can be propagated through the need for financial support. Sadly, nothing could be more fatal for an evangelism fellowship than compromising the good news. For this reason, TTVF counts on the Lord to provide just enough, but not too much financial support that we may remain safely focused on our mission to equip brothers and sisters to share good news.

Donations and Expenses for 2024

Donations $5,330.00

Expenses 5,043.31

Net 286.69

Thanks to all of our supporters for their prayers and blessing of just-enough-yet-not-too-much financial support. You are all special blessings!

The Promise of Life Café

Sequim Community Church leads a group of local churches in partnering with civic organizations and businesses in Sequim to bless our community: “Our desire is to get out and make a big difference in our region at least one weekend a year each April” [http://sequimbeautifulday.org]. The True Vine Fellowship supported Beautiful Day (4/29/23) as an evangelistic outreach by serving free burgers to the workers. These workers came from a wide variety of backgrounds, not necessarily Christian. To receive a free meal and a Living Water Gospel of John always communicates the love of Jesus and the good news of eternal life.

The skater community is one of the most difficult groups to reach with the gospel, yet as a former professional skate boarder Mark Simpson has found ways to share the love of Jesus with them. Hosting the loosely organized Skate Jam 2023 (5/13/23), instead of a skating competition, allowed all levels of skating talent from young to old to participate in the fun. Everyone enjoyed a free deluxe burger with a Living Water Gospel of John. There is a special joy seeing skaters receive the Word of God designed for them to know for sure they have eternal life, all while doing something they love… skating!

On 5/30/23 the Promise of Life Café served free burgers to the students and staff of Queen of Angels School in Port Angeles, Washington. The lunch raised money for a special eighth-grade class project. Over 150 burgers were served to the students in three 30 minute shifts. Each burger came in a 9”x9” container with a 4”by 4” sticker identifying the burger and correlating it to the promises of eternal life in the Gospel of John. For example, a John 3:16 burger is a classic American cheese burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles. On the front of the sandwich prep table, a 4’ x 6’ sign reads: “Promise of Life Café: Serving the Love of Jesus”… but how do young people know Jesus loves them? Lots of bacon, jalapenos, mushrooms, and burgers correlated to His promises of life. Jesus’ love looked like a free burger and His promise of eternal life! As one second-grader said, “Wow, this is way better than Frugal’s!” Indeed on a cold windy day, all those working the café served the love of Jesus.

Thank you Lord for open doors, the opportunity to bless others and the boldness to share good news!

The Sequim Community Carwash

Most people admire those who minister to youth, address social inequities and bless those who are less fortunate, but to support these efforts more often than not requires monetary resources. This past year the Sequim Community Car Wash raised money for the Sequim High School Basketball Team (6/24/23 and 9/16/23), Mark Simpson (7/22/23), and Christmas Angels (8/12/23).

Uniforms, tournaments, travel and food expenses for players and coaches are but a few of the myriad expenses the Sequim High School Basketball Team faces each year. Mark Simpson struggled with stage four cancer and needed help financially for his family. Moms and Dads struggling to put food on the table and provide a place to live do not have the financial resources to provide Christmas gifts for their children; Christmas Angels needed money to provide gifts for parents to give their children. Each of these pressing needs the Lord graciously answered in 2023.

Every person having their car washed received a free Living Water Gospel of John and a cold bottle of water. While waiting in line, many customers enjoying the water while reading the Gospel of John. After the carwash, those blessed with a free car wash had the opportunity to give whatever they desired to the sponsored charity. Many commented that it is the best car wash in Sequim. A special thanks to Discount Tire for hosting the Sequim Community Carwash. The Lord was good to use the car wash to bless others and share the gospel in 2023!

The True Vine Fellowship Journal

Most seminaries publish a journal—other Christian organizations do as well. Imagine if those who participated in evangelism enjoyed a forum designed to publish their work. The Lord has blessed The True Vine Fellowship Journal with writers ranging from seminary professors to lay brothers and sisters gifted as evangelists. Some write on apologetics, others on difficult passages, still others on theology… all related to evangelism. If you desire to write on evangelism, please consider publishing with TTVF Journal by mailing your article (hard copy and thumb drive with digital copy) along with your name, mailing address, and phone number to:

The True Vine Fellowship
P.O. Box 682
Carlsborg, WA 98324

The Lord uses writing to grow both writers and their audiences in the grace and knowledge of Jesus; please write and share with others what the Lord has taught you regarding evangelism. For those who would like a free copy of the journal, please send your name and mailing address to the above address in Carlsborg, Washington.

The Four Secrets of Sharing Good News

Ephesians chapter four describes evangelism as an equipping ministry entrusted to evangelists to teach others within the body of Christ how to share their faith in Jesus. Outreach is only one expression of that equipping. Conceived in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic, the Four Secrets to Sharing Good News continues to be used to teach brothers and sisters how to share their faith in the marketplaces of their lives with joy and confidence in their Savior. The latest edition should be ready in early 2024.

TTVF Home Fellowships

Beginning in 2023, The True Vine Fellowship began an evangelistic home fellowship. Elder Will Finch is teaching through the book of Ruth. Naomi evangelized Ruth and together they returned as missionaries bringing the good news of God’s loyal covenantal love to the children of Bethlehem. Our goal for 2024 is to start one more home fellowship focused upon sharing the good news of Jesus and His promise of eternal life.

The Ministry of Gratitude

Giving and prayer are ministries of gratitude and ultimately expressions of thankful hearts grounded in hope of Jesus Christ. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). We know the Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10); nevertheless, Paul reminds us, Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account (Philippians 4:17). For brothers and sister desiring to give, we accept personal checks made out to The True Vine Fellowship and mailed to P.O. Box 682 Carlsborg, WA 98324.

Regarding prayer, Paul wrote to the Philippians: For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:19). The True Vine Fellowship covets your prayers for our deliverance. Pray especially for Elders Grant Christensen and Mark Simpson as they battle stage four cancer and the effects of treatment.

Again, a huge thank you to all who give to and pray for The True Vine Fellowship; your fellowship in the gospel is a joy and blessing!

For 2022, the car wash ministry raised between $1,800.00 to $1,300.00 per car wash, supporting Commit 360 (Bremerton), the Sequim High School Basketball team, and Christmas Angels (Sequim). The True Vine Fellowship (TTVF) carwash trailer provides all the materials and equipment needed to conduct a carwash complete with pressure washers, signage, and towels. The youth ministries (along with parents) provide the manpower necessary to conduct each carwash. Every customer and participant receives a free Living Water Gospel of John and ice cold bottle of water. In addition, TTVF provides a free pizza lunch for the workers.

The Promise of Life Café supports outreaches in Sequim: Beautiful Day, Sequim Food Bank, and the Sequim Skate Park. Beautiful Day is a multi-church outreach design to provide services to various charities in Sequim. The Sequim Food Bank provides free food for those living in the Sequim area. The Sequim Skate Park raises funding for skate park improvements. Unfortunately, this year one of our outreaches with the skate park was cancelled due to weather. The Promise of Life Café serves burgers and gives out Living Water Gospels of John, all for free.

The Carlsborg Family Church hosts a special annual Christmas outreach called the Living Nativity. On several evenings in December the birth of the baby Jesus is reenacted. Pastor Jerry Luengen requested The True Vine Fellowship provide evangelism training; Prior to the event, Frank Tyler taught a ten session series called The Four Keys to Sharing Good News. Elder Will Finch reenacted the Inn Keeper; Frank played the Angel Gabriel. The Carlsborg Family Church is a very faithful fellowship dedicated to reaching out to the Olympic Peninsula with the gospel!

ByDon Crouse

[Editor’s note: Reaching out with the gospel takes many forms. Don Crouse has created a zoology based card game call Zoocards. Getting from the initial idea into production is a story worth recounting of God’s timely deliverance over a span of 15 years. Don graciously consented to share some of this journey. May it encourage all of us as believers to pray.]

Sometime around 2004 I decided I wanted to play a game. I vaguely remembered a game that had something to do with animals and that I had played at my friend’s house as a kid. It had a board, and I thought it had animal cards… but there was definitely a board. Well, fat chance of finding that game. So I decided to make my own. Brilliant!

Read more: 2021 - ZooCards™ Origin