Hi all,

We are into the fall season as we minister to people, struggling and surviving.  As the cooler weather arrives, those who are camping need the warmth of shelter.  Battling addictions, experiencing great loss, and living in hardship, people need hope to arise in their hearts. Recently, I wrote a current snapshot of the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission.  We are busy ministering to men and women from the jail and the streets.  Meals are served every night to the community.  And in the midst of it all, we are fully engaged in sharing the gospel and promoting Christian discipleship.  There is a way out.  Jesus is that way.

Here are some of the highlights from September.

• September 1: Attended the homecoming service of Pastor Don Patterson
• September 2: I had the honor to officiate in the wedding of Kirk and Becky Easley at Shelley Baptist Church
• September 3: Preached at my loved home church, Emmaus Road
• September 9: Fellowship luncheon with Pastor John Lovegrove (Shelley Baptist Church), Pastor Jay Sprecher (Friendship Baptist Church), Pastor Brian Griffin (Pocatello Baptist Church), and Pastor Russell Martin (Harvestview Baptist Church – Rexburg)
• September 12: Attended Cop Church
• September 14: Pastor Dan Kishiyama ministered to the IFRM Staff
• September 17: I took Dave Jacobson with me to Grace Baptist Church in Elko, Nevada.  Dave shared his testimony; I preached.
• September 24: I ministered to the brothers in the Bonneville County Jail.
• September 26-27: I stayed the night with the homeless at the Lighthouse Rescue Mission and then attended part of the Northwest Baptist Missions Conference at Fellowship Baptist Church in Nampa, Idaho.
• September 30: The men from the IFRM Works Program went to a movie night hosted at Grace Baptist Church in Rexburg, Idaho

Would you like to contribute financially on a monthly basis to my missionary work?  Here are three ways: (1) Send the contribution to the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission but make sure to designate it with my name, for example, “chaplain fund for Todd Wood”. (2) Send the contribution to my home church, Emmaus Road Church, and mark it as “missionary fund for Todd Wood”. Or for option (3), you are welcome to give directly to me.  I am praying and seeking to raise my missionary financial support to at least a minimum of $2000 per month.  For the month of September, I received $935.  Thank you.

On the home front:

In this fall semester, Elon Joshua Wood will finish all the necessary requirements for his B.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics and his Minor in Business from The King’s College in New York, New York.  His last day of undergraduate college classes is December 14.  We will watch him receive his diploma in downtown Manhattan at Trinity Church next spring on May 5.

In regards to our other kids: Hannah is swimming in the deep waters of nursing clinicals at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina; Mariah is knocking out senior AP classes with high honors; and Micaiah is a three-season athlete of football, wrestling, and track.

And my wife . . . wow . . .  she is the heart and glue of everything in our family.

Prayer requests and action steps for you to consider:

• Luncheon on Friday, October 13, for those interested in being mentors to the men
• Read first the book, Same Kind of Different As Me and then you need to watch the movie when it is released on October 20.
• The development of a ladies’ discipleship program at the Ruth House
• We need a new supply of good study Bibles.
• Opportunities to present mission work in the local churches around the region

My four main ministry objectives: 

1. Partner IFRM with local churches
2. Disciple IFRM staff, volunteers, and residents
3. Provide pastoral prayer, encouragement, counsel, and Biblical preaching and teaching
4. Help facilitate discipleship components for the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission and a future gospel-based Recovery Program

Thanks for the prayers.  God bless you all.

roots by the river,

Todd Wood