Growing in Every Season

In our previous blog post about becoming the support couple for the San Francisco Peninsula Ecclesia, Gideon and I talked a lot about the context and events leading up to our time here. We are now halfway into our time with the ecclesia here and have continued to feel very blessed to have this opportunity, enjoying building new friendships with dear brothers, sisters and young people. 

In our time here, we have been reminded about the lessons in Ecclesiastes 3, that there is a time and a season for everything, that it can often take a season or two to get things going, and that each season eventually passes.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…”
– Ecclesiasties 3:1-4

There was a lot of time organizing, planning, and behind-the-scenes work for our first few months here, and we now feel that we are in a place where we can enjoy the fruit of those efforts. Many of the outreach events that the ecclesia wanted our help in starting have now become consistent and regular parts of the ecclesia’s activities, and the work to organize and advertise them is becoming more automated and easier to run. These events are what we want to focus on for this blog update.

We ended the year 2025 with a well-attended holiday family evening at the hall, which was a very special way to end the year together before many went their separate ways to visit family. We enjoyed a meal together, sang hymns, had a devotion, and enjoyed some cookie decorating. We even had one of the families from the neighbourhood who had attended our VBS that past summer come out and join us for the event!

When everyone came back together in January, we continued to build on this momentum by hosting a Praise and Prayer evening with Bro. Peter and Sis. Melissa Davis from Southern California. Peter led the praise and prayer devotional evening and special Sunday school group activity, followed by an encouraging lunch all together. Gideon and I have really enjoyed the San Francisco Peninsula Ecclesia’s group lunches, both for the quality of the food and, more importantly, the amazing fellowship. One thing we have really enjoyed seeing is how long everyone wants to stick around when there is a shared lunch and is willing to pitch in and help afterwards. These have definitely been a highlight for Gideon and me because they have been one of the best opportunities for us to really get to know everyone in the ecclesia.

The Wednesday night “Why Believe” series has continued every other week at the hall, and we have now had over eight of these events happen. Each one has had good Ecclesial attendance, both online and in person. On the other weeks, there is a Tuesday night class that meets in homes, which has also been encouraging, and we have been able to host some at our apartment. We have been blessed to make use of our apartment, both to host visitors and other events.

Something I personally have enjoyed is getting to know the women of the ecclesia better at our monthly Women’s devotional group. Even though we are a small group, I enjoy learning about the various topics and discussions in an intimate setting with very caring and insightful individuals, and I am looking forward to continuing these through the rest of our time here.

For our February family night, we enjoyed a more relaxed Pizza and bowling night with Bro. Logan and Sis. Kaycie Hollenbeck. On Sunday, Logan gave a Sunday School lesson, exhorted, and they enjoyed fellowshipping with everyone during Sunday lunch. It is very helpful to have visitors come to SFP to speak, as the group does not have many speaking brothers. These monthly visits have also been a time to help strengthen the connection to the global brotherhood with fellowship that gives a huge boost to the members here. We would encourage anyone who has an interest in visiting the area to help with one of these events to contact us, and we can get you in touch with a member of the Ecclesia. We know they would really appreciate the support!

There are always many opportunities to serve week to week, and we have enjoyed our roles in teaching Sunday school, helping with AV and helping with some pastoral care as well. We are looking forward to a spring of more get-togethers outside of the “bigger events” as well as some new Ecclesial trips and planning for the San Francisco Vacation Bible school in June. As we transition into the spring, we are starting to transition into a new phase of our time here with the ecclesia, as we start to think more about how we can help the ecclesia to continue to be fruitful once we return to Maryland.

Please continue to pray for the growth and strength of the San Francisco Peninsula Ecclesia and for a blessing on the events that will be happening throughout the spring.

Love in Christ, Shoshanna and Gideon Hewitson