Ministries

The Membership Committee facilitates an ongoing Prayer Card ministry. We hope you will use the prayer cards which are available to you in the Narthex. When you pray for someone, no matter what the concern, be sure to let them know. In this way, we can

Please address your cards as completely as possible. We might not have access to addresses beyond our membership. On Mondays, we will gather the cards left with us and either mail them or deliver them personally if there are several going to one person on the church visitation list. PRAYER WORKS!

The Lakeway Church ministerial staff is involved in providing pastoral care to individuals and families during times of crisis, loss and transitions.

All of the church’s ministers are available to provide supportive spiritual counseling to church members and those seeking help and solace in a time of need.

Both the ministerial staff and Shepherd groups respond quickly to support our church family during times of loss and grief. At such times the church family works together in support and care for one another.

Members who are hospitalized or limited in movement due to illness are supported through our visitation program.

Prayer groups and prayer circles join with our pastors to keep our members and their families supported with prayer. A Prayer Group meets every Friday morning at 9:30 am. Join them in the prayer room off the sanctuary or request a prayer by contacting the church office at 261-6331.

Times of Transition are stressful and challenging. Our church is committed to providing support at these key times in the lives of our people. Weddings, baptisms, funerals and memorial services are provided to meet spiritual needs that arise during these critical times in our lives.

The Walk to Emmaus is a spiritual renewal program intended to strengthen the local church through the development of Christian disciples and leaders. The program's approach seriously considers the model of Christ's servanthood and encourages Christ's disciples to act in ways appropriate to being "a servant of all." Our volunteer leaders are Lester and Betsye Witcher. For a complete list of walks as well as forms for registering visit the Austin-Emmaus website.

The Shepherd Program is one of neighbors caring for members of the "Household of Faith" with love and support.

Our Church families are part of neighborhood Flocks, each one of which is coordinated by a volunteer Shepherd. The mission of the program is to provide special ways to keep in touch and become better acquainted. This is done through giving service to the Church, celebrating happy events together, and giving comfort and assistance to fellow members in times of sorrow and need.

It is our hope that this program will be a continuing blessing to our Church Family, and in keeping with God's will as expressed in John 13:34-35 - "As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, all will know that you are my disciples."

The visitation ministry at The Lakeway Church includes prospect visitation, visitation of homebound members, and those who are hospitalized.

Our church has developed a strong Stephen Ministry to counsel those in sorrow. For more information about this ministry, please click here.

The Lakeway Church sanctuary is available for performing wedding ceremonies. All inquiries should be directed to the church office at 261-6331 or Pinki Herrick at 261-9349 or email her at pinkarts@aol.com.

The Lakeway Church has three ordained ministers who are available by appointment for spiritual counseling. For more information or to schedule an appointment please contact or email Renie Galvin, renie@lakewaychurch.net 0r call the church office at 261-6331.

The Lakeway Church people reaching out to Lakeway/Lake Travis area people. Helping to meet spiritual and physical needs.

"Each one [Lakeway Church members] should use whatever gift he or she has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in it's various forms."

? -assisting people with various "Project" needs, e.g., carpentry, plumbing, building repairs*

*If you are interested in being part of this "Project" ministry or have or know of a need, please contact Marty Berdan, 608-9244

Additional activities are planned for fall, like teaching English as a second language. A good way to get involved in a service project is to join a Home Team.

Operation Interdependence was formed to collect and distribute of a variety of non-perishable items to our armed forces servicemen. We are excited to provide our facilities for a monthly workday, during which collected items will be actually packaged for delivery.

Operation Interdependence meets the first Saturday of each month, with the work scheduled from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm. All members interested in devoting their time to this worthy cause can simply show up at the church Fellowship Center Hall.

The Rotary Club of Lakeway/Lake Travis concluded a very successful bicycle collection drive with provision for distribution of approximately 100 of these in the Lake Travis area. Our Lake Travis Ministries distributed over 50 of these bicycles to needy children in the Lake Travis area in November 2006.

An additional opportunity exists for handymen and women who may want to help with the actual repair and cleanup work remaining on some of the Rotary’s collected bicycles. Anyone interested in this worthwhile activity should call the Church office and leave your contact information or speak to Nancy Keetch at ext 21. This is another fun opportunity to put God’s love through our Church into community outreach.

Benevolence

The Lakeway Church has had a Benevolence Committee for many years and the Church continues to designate a portion of the budget to support charitable organizations or individuals.

Benevolence funds disbursed by The Lakeway Church come from the Church's regular offerings and from special offerings at Easter and Christmas. The recipients are selected according to the following criteria:

    1. A ministry which is based or centered upon Christianity,

    2. A ministry which serves people in the Greater Lake Travis area who are needy,

    3. A ministry which meets standards set by the Better Business Bureau and the IRS.

The Capital Area Food Bank of Texas (CAFB) serves as a clearinghouse which receives and stores donated food and other grocery products. CAFB distributes these items to human service agencies throughout the area that help people in need.

Located in Lakeway, the Healthcare Volunteer Associates Clinic is staffed entirely by volunteer doctors, nurses and support personnel. In addition to providing free health care to needy area residents, the clinic also offers ESL courses.

The Lakeway Church supports our needy neighbors by helping them with necessary repairs to assure that their homes are livable. We work through the Lake Travis Ministries and other local organizations to contract those in need. Our Church provides funds and working volunteers for repair projects to aid those identified as needing help.

Through their annual Green Santa program, EMS#6 Auxiliary collects thousands of new toys and collects and refurbishes bicycles for distribution at Christmastime. Other activities include collection and distribution of Coats for Kids in the fall and canned goods in December.

Another local organization supported through our Benevolence Outreach program is the Lake Travis Crisis Ministry. Founded in 1989, they serve needy families living generally in the Lake Travis ISD, providing counseling, food, home repairs, transportation, housing assistance, utilities, etc. During a recent weekly food distribution session, 50 families were there needing assistance. The evening distribution session is preceded by a devotional and the message that this assistance is provided in grateful Christian response to God’s blessings. English and Spanish language Bibles are distributed as part of this activity. In a local outreach effort, our church will provide $20,000 in support to this organization this year.

The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the Universal Christian Church. The Salvation Army in Austin operates a Social Services Center, a Community/Worship Center, a Shelter for Women and Children (including an Infant Center and a Children’s learning Center) and an Adult Rehabilitation Center. Open to all, the Center serves over 1,600 meals every day.

Each quarter the Benevolence Committee presents a list of recommended recipients to the Board of Trustees for their approval. The committee includes an on-site visit on a regular basis as part of their selection of organizations and/or persons deemed to be worthy of financial assistance from the Church.

Lakeway Church Mission Support

Several of us will once again return to Ukraine to teach English with International Partnerships. We are looking for others who are committed to serve in this way. The teaching dates are October 5 - 11, 2008. Are you looking for a way to help fulfill the Great Commission? Please call Beverly Leonard at 264-2181 or email bkleo@aol.com.

A trip is being planned to Reynosa, Mexico to help with the Rio Bravo Children’s Ministry. It is scheduled for: April 24-28 and will cost $300/person. If you are interested, let Beverly Leonard know at bkleon @mac.com. This will be a great opportunity to participate in a short-term mission trip.

Maury heads up Mission Discovery and raises up short-term mission teams and the finances to support their work. They build homes, churches, orphanages to help those who are unable to help themselves. Maury has spoken to our church and our Youth have been on one of their projects to Mexico. The Lakeway Church has support Maury and Ann since 2005.

Mission Discovery began in 1991 as an effort to combine the mission resources of churches around the United States to serve Jesus Christ by meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the world’s poor through short-term team mission projects. Since Mission Discovery’s beginning, over 20,000 students and adults have served in Mexico, Jamaica, Nassau, Honduras, Tennessee, Missouri, Florida, Nicaragua and El Salvador, building homes and churches and sharing the Gospel with hundreds.

Their mission is to serve Jesus Christ by mobilizing the church to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the world’s poor.

A few years ago, the mission field was only accessible to a few select people. Within the last fifteen years, there has been an explosion of interest in short-term team missions. As the world has become a “global village,” thousands of people have begun to respond to the world’s needs. Mission Discovery was established to coordinate mission efforts of local churches.

LEARNERS – our teams come to discover what God is doing in the world and get involved. We come by invitation, not invasion. We come not to teach, but to learn.
SERVANTS – our teams come not to be served, but to serve in the same way the Lord Jesus Christ came as a servant and friend.
STORYTELLERS – in other words, to tell the story of what Jesus has done and is doing in our lives.

Mission Discovery offers 7- to10-day projects to Mexico (Reynosa, Juarez, Tampico and Tecate,) Honduras, The Bahamas, Tennessee, Jamaica, El Salvador, Haiti, Mississippi, Kenya, South Dakota, and Russia. Mission Discovery also customizes some trips for churches and denominations. Each Mission Discovery project is unique. All Mission Discovery projects involve evangelism and construction of a vitally needed building. Mission Discovery partners with national churches to insure good follow-up of new believers. Mission Discovery utilizes full-time staff as well as experienced volunteer staff to provide the best possible mission experience for your youth group. Senior high and junior high projects feature great Christian worship leaders and speakers who can communicate to youth.

Mission Discovery web site is www.missiondiscovery.com.

“I was born November 13, 1979 into a nominal Christian family in India. Christian values were not a part of my family and therefore I grew up without having a proper understanding of the living God.

Once I had an accident and escaped unhurt with a minor injury in my leg. Lack of proper treatment turned my leg septic. The medicines were of no avail and the only way left out was to amputate the leg. A sign fell on my family and tremendous grief took hold of us. But my mother cried out to the Lord for His healing hands. The Lord heard the prayers and healed me completely. The miraculous healing revealed God’s power to us and with a penitent heart we as a family accepted Him as our Lord and Savior. Very soon we testified to our faith in water baptism.

As I learned more of Christ and His love, I was burdened to reach out to the dying souls with the message of hope. I was affirmed of my calling as the Lord opened new ways for me to enroll in a Bible training center to be equipped for an effective ministry.

At present I am working as an evangelist among the Hindus in India. I am actively involved in church planting work, open-air meetings, house visitation, home prayer fellowships and literature distribution. Through these ministries the Lord is graciously making me a part of the great harvest.

The Lakeway Church has sponsored native Gospel for Asia missionaries since 2000.

I was born (February 4, 1981) in a Hindu family in India. Even though from a young age, I adhered to the various rituals of our religion, I did not find true meaning and purpose in life.

Once, a pastor came to our home and told us about the love of Christ. He also explain to us about the salvation that only Jesus can give. Initially, I did not agree with him but argued with him. But he was able to clear all my doubts based on the Bible.

Right then, I confessed my sins and received Jesus as my personal Savior. Empowered by the Lord, I began to lead a life filled with an enending peace and joy.

As I was drawing closer to God, I surrendered myself to proclaIm the gospel to the lost. Waiting upon God in prayer, He revealed His plan for me and conferred His call upon my life to labor for the furtherance of His kingdom.

I was born October 24, 1982, into an orthodox Hindu family in Maharashtra, India. As a Hindu, I went to temples and worshiped a host of gods and goddesses. Moreover, I was trained to perform certain rites and rituals in the temples. My childhood was greatly influenced by temple activities, and I performed it all fervently.

Since I was considered to be a priest in the temple, I did not make friends with the others in school. I gained a good name in the school and studied well. After I graduated from high school, I joined a college to continue my studies. However, I became frustrated and did not appear in the examinations. Out of fear, I ran away from home.

I did not know where to go and what to do. Finally, I went to a church and shared all these things with the pastor. He then gave me shelter in his home. As I stayed there, I was impressed by their lifestyle. He used to teach me from the Bible everyday. As the days went by, I was able to see the love of Jesus in their lives. I realized that the things I was doing were meaningless and they would not help me achieve salvation. Thus I confessed my sins to Jesus and received Him as my personal Savior.

Obviously, a lot of changes took place in my life. The Lord became more real to me and I was empowered by the Holy Spirit. As I spent most of my time praying and meditating on the Word, I realized that it is God’s command for me to obey Him by being baptized. Thus, I was baptized in water as a public testimony of my faith. I also joined the pastor in going for outreach. That really challenged me to commit my life to serve the Lord.

However, I fasted and prayed to know God’s will for my life. Gradually, it was confirmed that I was called to full-time ministry. I was aware of my lack of knowledge in the Word of God. Thus , according to the pastor’s advice, I decided to join a Bible school to study the Word. As I prayed, the Lord opened a way for me to enroll in a Gospel for Asia Bible school to be equipped for the task ahead of me.

(Now) I serve the Lord as an evangelist in the state of Maharashtra, India, where the majority are Hindus. With a passion to win lost souls, I distribute Gospel tracts, conduct home-prayer fellowships and visit houses. I am also engaged in the church-planting ministry.

Please pray for me that I may fulfill God’s plan to expand His kingdom.

“I was born March 1, 1970 into a Hindu tribal family in India. I followed the footsteps of my parents and continued to worship the idols thinking that they are real. I had a desire to become famous and labored very hard for the same. I became a political worker and lost interest in my studies. And discouragement began to rule my life as a result of an illegal relationship. To escape, I decided to commit suicide.

Then I met my brother-in-law who was a Christian. I was comforted by the words he shared from the Scripture, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’. I confessed my shortcomings and accepted Jesus as my personal Savior. My father beat me for accepting the new faith. But God strengthened me and gave me boldness to witness the Good News to others. I sensed the call of God in my life to be His cup-bearer. I dedicated my life to the Lord and started spreading the love of God.

Now, I am in Assam, India serving the Lord as an evangelist to win the tribal Hindus. The Lord has greatly blessed my ministry and many ignorant people heard the Gospel through me. The outreaches through which I communicate the Gospel include preaching in open-air meetings, leading home prayer fellowship, distributing literature and planting churches.

Please pray for me and for my family that we may fulfill God’s plan to expand His kingdom.”

The Lakeway Church has sponsored native Gospel for Asia missionaries since 2000.

Michael lives in one of the most dangerous spots of our missionaries with his wife Nargis and three children. He was raised in an English-speaking community in Lahore and went to Christian schools. He is an articulate speaker, writer and lecturer.

Michael has been a missionary in Uzbekistan and neighboring countries of Central Asia where his ministry with ‘Gospel Recordings’ was mostly to illiterate village people, bringing them the Gospel message on ’wind-up’ audio tape-players in their native language.

Now Michael is with People International and is their National office director for Pakistan and field leader for Afghanistan. His projects in Afghanistan and places like Kazakhstan are some form of church planting. He cannot tell us a lot about his work in that he is somewhat undercover in areas where he works. Michael is also a very important part of the Pakistan church.

The Lakeway Church has supported the Abel family since 2002. Michael is hoping to come to the U.S. in the spring of 2007 and we are hoping we can have him come to Lakeway. The church has supported Michael and Nargis since 2001.

Michael is on staff with Cadence International and is assigned to Ft. Hood to minister to the soldiers and their families there. Cadence's has a solid Statement of Faith and their work is much needed in this time of war.

Shane is part of the executive team of Crusade, one of the largest mission-sending organizations with over 13,000 missionaries around the world. The Deikes live near their Orlando, FL headquarters with their three children. Shane is a Texan with parents living in San Antonio.

Shane has served in many ministries and presently is primarily involved in new and innovative ways and technologies to reach students with the Gospel. Their outreach ministry through the internet has reached many students.

Mark and Carole moved to Republic of Georgia with their five children in 2006 to begin a campus ministry in Tbilisi, Georgia. They have been on staff with Crusade since the mid-80’s. Their last assignment was Ukraine where they worked for 12 years and established student movements on 12 campuses. When their objective of nationals overseeing the student ministry was met, they moved on to Georgia.

Their work in Tbilisi is to gather student leaders to train and draw other students to get excited about knowing and spreading the Gospel message of Jesus Christ and influence campuses in Georgia. Most everyone in Georgia considers themselves Orthodox Christians and is fairly suspicious of anyone promoting studying the Bible.

They have established a small group of students with a desire to study the Bible, grow in their knowledge of God, tell others and build a student movement.

Brian and Cathy are from Indiana and Texas and have lived in Moscow and then Kiev with their five children since 1992. Brian is Director of Crusade’s Ukraine ministry.

Their ministry is primarily a campus ministry on ten plus university campuses and a team of Jesus Film teams that support the local evangelical churches, frequently with use of the Jesus Film. The ministry began in the early ‘90’s with missionaries from the U.S. Now Ukrainian nationals, which total in the 70’s, staff essentially all the positions except the National Director.

Brian and Cathy have also directed a K-12 school for missionary children and are about to begin building a school building. Missionary families are able to stay ‘on the field’ because their children are getting a good education.

* That 2,000 students a year would choose to go into full-time ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ .

Patti is a veteran missionary since 1980 who has worked in several parts of the world, including Africa, eastern Europe and India. Patti is 40+ and is so far unmarried. She is a native Texan from Sundown, TX.

Patti works with an organization named “Youth With A Mission” (YWAM), which is probably the largest missionary-sending organization in the world. One of their specialties is gathering and sending young people on short -term mission trips. Many of the youth go for a year-plus instead of a week-plus and many of those stay for many years.

Patti has a personal ministry wherever she lives to the native people there and her role with YWAM is training. She is one of the leading trainers for YWAM’s Discipleship Training program which is about 6 months of training YWAM provides new missionaries going on multi-year assignments. She also is involved with training, encouraging, refreshing, etc. “permanent” missionaries. Patti spends about 6 months of the year on the road on most of the continents of the world doing her work.

Patti rather recently moved from Budapest to South Africa to facilitate her training in that area of the world. Some of her recent work and scheduled training is in India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Nepal, Turkey, Netherlands, Indonesia and South Africa and Patti has done discipleship training in Malaysia, Bangkok, South America and many other “vacation spots” of the world.

Patti has visited the church many times and has spoken in the church worship service, classes, youth, etc. Patti was one of the first missionaries the church supported when the mission program was initiated in 2000.

Martha is a Texas University graduate in Political Science and a graduate degree from Wheaton. Martha is 35+ and is so far unmarried. Martha is a veteran missionary who has worked in several parts of the world, including Africa, eastern Europe and now the Middle East - Jordan. Martha also works with “Youth With A Mission” (YWAM).

Martha was in Bosnia when the war broke out there and was involved in the first truck load of relief supplies into Bosnia. She was there with a team working to plant churches.

Martha’s present job is leading the ministry of the YWAM team in Jordan and their job is to reach out with the Good News of Jesus Christ to natives and to plant churches there (think of home churches in the beginning.) Most of the people in Jordan are Muslims and persecution against Christians is not uncommon.

Martha has visited the church many times and has spoken in the church worship service, classes, youth, etc. Martha was one of the first missionaries the church supported when the mission program was initiated in 2000.

The Lakeway Church

Glorifying God, Loving Others

Our Ministries

Benevolence

Lakeway Church Mission Support

The Lakeway Church Foundation

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