March 2025 Ministry Update from Greater Seattle and Guelph Ontario
Greetings once again from the Greater Seattle area. But not for long! I am headed back to Guelph, Ontario from April 8–July 10. Like last year, I will be coming alongside my co-workers and Guelph Prays founders Jacob and Karen Ginter and their team, as they continue to form prayer groups and partner with others with similar vision to see transformation in their city.
John 12:24 says: “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” Jacob and Karen have labored tirelessly the past five years believing that God would reproduce as they left the results with Him. The sprouts from the buried seed are multiplying.
Guelph News
- Prayer groups for the transformation of the city of Guelph are suddenly finding each other. A friend of Jacob recently shared that he had a vision to see both a network of prayer cells throughout the city and a means to help the most physically and spiritually vulnerable. Through this friend’s connections, an owner of an apartment building is donating a unit at no charge. This venue will be a staging area for both prayer and community help. Those involved in this network ask prayer for unity and for direction from the Lord on how to proceed.
- I have mentioned before how Jacob’s involvement with the Christian ministry called Celebrate Recovery (CR) has led to CR participants asking for help to understand the Bible. Several of them now attend a weekly home church called The Missional Group, which serves as a bridge for those who wouldn’t naturally attend church. But that’s not all. Several of these CR attendees participated in a fundraiser for Hope House, the ministry where CR meets, which reaches out to the vulnerable in Guelph. https://www.hopehouseguelph.ca/
- When I return, I will be reconnecting with various aspects of Guelph Prays and its partners: prayer groups, the Missional Group, and folk newly involved since my last trip.
Spain News
Although I have been gone for almost two and a half years, I still hear quite a lot about Betania church and their prayer requests. I also hear periodically from my former students and friends in the town where I lived. And I regularly hear from Cristina, the mother of my former students Javi and Emma. Please pray for opportunities to continue to share about Christ with them. I would love to visit for a few weeks this Fall if the Lord opens the doors.
Seattle News
- Each week I continue to meet remotely with prayer groups, the Missional Living Group, and my team in Guelph.
- I continue mentoring a Mexican woman at church who wants to form a Bible study group in Spanish.
- I continue leading prayer meetings in the majority-Christian co-op where I live while in the United States.
- This month I will participate in some of the 40 days of citywide prayer events for Seattle, organized by a new group (https://prayseattle.org/)
I want to thank you one and all for the ways you partner with me. I am happy to report that all of this year’s financial needs have been met. I am incredibly grateful. If you are able to give an additional gift toward my upcoming Guelph trip, please refer to the information below to designate as you intend.
Mary Woodward