Dear Friends and Family of RRUMC,
As I put this Circuit Rider article together, I am sitting at our Cleveland Campus at the corner of W99th and Madison Avenue.
It is a beautiful September morning and I have been walking around the building and praying as I wait for AT&T to get here to install another phone line for our security system. We received the property from the East Ohio Conference of the UMC and it has been quite a journey ever since.
I went on my Emmaus Walk in September of 1998 and my sponsor for that walk told me to be aware. I asked him, “Aware of what?” He said the devil will stop at nothing to keep you from going on a weekend Emmaus retreat where the one goal is to get closer to Jesus Christ than you ever thought you could get. He was right. Time and time again things kept popping up to keep me from going.
His words of wisdom kept me focused on fighting the flaming arrows of the wicked one. I went on that walk and it changed my life. The devil wants to stop anything amazing that the Lord is about to do. I have watched that happen with the new Free Store location at W99th and Madison.
There have been many hiccups and stumbles that we have encountered since we took over the building in April. There have been many upgrades, repairs, and improvements that have been needed to be done, and that we planned for, but everything in our world right now is taking longer than it used to.
Our free store director, Ben, was able to find a full time job that is exactly where he wanted his career to go, but it means we are in a search for a free store director sooner than we had anticipated. (Best of luck and God speed, Ben.)
We wanted to open in late August and we are still, as I sit here September 8, trying to figure out when we will be officially ready to open.
What that tells me is that God is about do something monumental and life changing at the corner of W99th and Madison Avenue on Cleveland’s west side. God is using RRUMC to make it happen.
We are being called. We are being filled with the Holy Spirit. This place that I am standing on right now is holy ground. I hope you can feel the same amazing Holy Spirit power that is erupting from this old church building as we transition it into a hub for Jesus Christ on the west side of Cleveland.
Please keep praying for it. Please keep donating to its upgrade and improvement as more work still needs to be done. I have said this time and time again, but I am truly blessed to serve such an amazing congregation.
The pandemic could have had us go into a sleep or a hibernation until it was over. NOT THIS CHURCH!!! We took on a whole new property right in the midst of it.
I LOVE YOU CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for your amazing faith.
Peace and Blessings,
Rev. Dan