During the month of September, I have been learning to trust that the Lord is my good Shepherd and that I shall not want. I can acknowledge the writings by David in Psalm 23, but how much am I experiencing the reality of this in my own life and for those to whom I minister to on the streets? I am desiring to trust the Savior more fully. I deeply need Him.
Here are some of the highlights from September:
- September 1: I oversaw the renewal of wedding vows for Ron & Louis Vance (their 50th anniversary) on the River Walk downtown.
- September 2: I began a new sermon series, “Our Shepherd & His Providential Care,” on Sunday evenings at Providence Downtown Church.
- September 5: Thirteen ministers gathered together for a ministry luncheon at the City of Refuge.
- September 7: I started Hebrew class with Pastor Beau Floyd of Emmaus Road Church.
- September 8: Ten of us from the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission went to the Eastern Idaho Fair and Demolition Derby in Blackfoot, Idaho.
- September 9: Picture night at Providence Downtown. We ended up holding our worship service in the downtown Civitan Plaza. This particular Sunday marked our six months of ministry as a church family.
- September 10: What a joy to celebrate the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish new year.
- September 11: I joined seven other pastors at Cop Church. We thanked all our first responders in attendance and remembered those who died on 9/11.
- September 13: We had Pastor Phil Hagen, First Presbyterian Church, as a guest speaker for our IFRM staff breakfast.
- September 15: The executive director of the Shepherd’s Inn, a ministry for pregnant mothers, gave me a tour of their facility.
- September 16: I preached out of Galatians for the morning service at First Evangelical Lutheran Church. I spent the afternoon in ministry at the Bonneville County Jail, ministering to approximately 25 men.
- September 17: This day marks the completion of three years of ministry with the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission.
- September 18: The beginning of a fast with Jews at sundown – Yom Kippur. That night I also attended the Imani Milele Children’s Choir Concert at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.
- September 20: We were a part of a beautiful reconciliation of an adult son with his sister and mother at the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission.
- September 23: Providence Water Baptism Service at the Apple Athletic Club. We listened to Ginger sing a song of worship to the Father, and then she was baptized.
- September 24: Celebration of the first day of Sukkot – Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles.
- September 29-30: Attendance at the FELC Men’s Retreat with Pastor Patrick Jones at Old Faithful Christian Ranch. Sunday was a full day: (1) Beautiful, early 8:30 am service and communion at the camp, (2) 11:00 am worship service at Grace Baptist Church in Rexburg, (3) afternoon ministry at the Bonneville County Jail, and then (4) evening 6:45 pm service with the beloved Providence Downtown Church family.
Would you like to contribute financially on a monthly basis to my missionary work? Here are three ways: (1) Send the contribution to my home church, Emmaus Road Church, and mark it as “missionary fund for Todd Wood”; (2) Address mission support to Providence Downtown Church in care of my name as well, or (3) You are welcome to give directly to me. For the month of September, I received $1,450 in monthly support. Thank you so much!
On the home front:
It has been a lot of fun to watch our youngest son compete in Cross Country meets. It reminds me of my senior year in high school when I ran Cross Country. It is a grueling sport but a great way to get in shape.
Prayer requests:
- Pray that I might be able to increase my monthly mission support.
- Pray for our five men in the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission Works Program. Two of the men will be graduating on November 17.
- Pray for God’s strength to uphold men and women when they fall to temptation.
- Pray for a Christian brother at the Mission who spent a day in family reconciliation with his mother and sister.
- Pray for God’s blessing and Christian growth for the sister who was recently baptized.
My three main ministry objectives:
- Be a servant missionary-pastor with Providence Downtown Church that specifically ministers to the incarcerated, the addicted, the homeless, and impoverished. It is a church ministering and bringing mercy to those in the margins.
- Minister as a chaplain with the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission: (1) Encouraging and partnering with local and regional churches, (2) Discipling IFRM staff, volunteers, and residents, and providing pastoral prayer, encouragement, counsel, Biblical preaching, and teaching, and (3) Assisting with discipleship components for the IFRM Work’s Program.
- Be a blessing to the local church families.
May Jesus reign as King!
roots by the river,
Todd Wood (downtown missionary)
Providence Downtown - Roots by the River 