Simplicity Ministries

TRAVELING PREACHING MINISTRYMIKE THIBODEAUX PREACHED AT 10 MINISTRY EVENTS TO APPROXIMATELY 813 PEOPLE IN 2021. THERE WERE NO RECORDED PUBLIC DECISIONS OF FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST AS SAVIOR IN LORD WHICH WAS A FIRST SINCE THE MINISTRY BEGAN IN 1999. THE NUMBERS OF EVENTS AND NUMBERS OF PEOPLE ATTENDING WAS DRASTICALLY REDUCED DUE TO THE LINGERING COVID PANDEMIC AND RESTRICTING MANDATES. DRAWING THE LOST TO THESE EVENTS WAS DIFFICULT. LOCAL PROJECTSMEN OF SIMPLICITY (MOS): MOS IS A THREE-YEAR JOURNEY OF WEEKLY DISCIPLESHIP GROUPS FOR MEN, OCCURRING SEPTEMBER THROUGH JUNE EACH YEAR. MOS BEGAN IN 2009. MIKE LEADS TWO GROUPS IN THE GRESHAM, OR AREA, ONE ON SUNDAY NIGHTS AND ONE ON MONDAY NIGHTS. IN ADDITION, VIA ZOOM VIDEO CONFERENCING, CHURCHES, GROUPS, AND INDIVIDUALS FROM OUTSIDE THE GRESHAM, OR LOCATION PARTICIPATE IN MOS ON MONDAY NIGHTS. WE CALL THIS MOS CONNECT, A LIVE FULLY INTERACTIVE VIDEO CONFERENCE CALL. IT WAS FIRST LAUNCHED IN SEPTEMBER 2017. THE GOAL OF THESE GROUPS IS BIBLICAL MANHOOD - MEN LIVING AND LEADING, SIMPLY AND PURELY DEVOTED TO CHRIST (2 COR. 11:3), NO LONGER LIVING FOR THEMSELVES BUT FOR CHRIST WHO DIED AND ROSE AGAIN ON THEIR BEHALF (2 COR. 5:15). THE MEN OF SIMPLICITY DISCIPLESHIP JOURNEY CONTINUED TO GROW AS WE MOVED INTO 2021. 27 NEW GUYS WERE ADDED TO THE GROUP IN JANUARY. THE VALLEYPOINT CHURCH GROUP (IN SPOKANE, WA) MORE THAN DOUBLED-GOING FROM ONLY SIX GUYS TO 14. IN THE WINTER OF 2021, THERE WERE MEN JOINING THE WEEKLY ONLINE MOS MEETINGS FROM SEVEN DIFFERENT STATES: OREGON, WASHINGTON, CALIFORNIA, IDAHO, TEXAS, TENNESSEE, AND PENNSYLVANIA. IT WAS EXCITING TO SEE HOW THE LORD WORKED IN THE MIDST OF THE DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES COVID CAUSED. THIS BROUGHT THE TOTAL WEEKLY DISCIPLESHIP OF MEN UP TO 136 MEN FROM 10 CHURCHES OR GROUPS IN THE WINTER/SPRING OF 2021 (FOUR OF THESE GROUPS WERE CHURCHES WHO HAD NOT PARTICIPATED PREVIOUSLY). IN THE FALL OF 2021, 112 MEN PARTICIPATED. THIS DECREASE IN PARTICIPATION RESULTED AS TWO PREVIOUSLY PARTICIPATING CHURCHES WERE LAUNCHED TO CONTINUE MEN'S MINISTRY AT THEIR CHURCHES ON THEIR OWN. WE CELEBRATE THIS AS IT INDICATES THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEN TO TAKE THE LEAD IN THEIR LOCAL CHURCHES. THE HIGHLIGHT OF THIS YEAR WAS THAT TWO MOS MEN EACH LED ONE OF THEIR CHILDREN TO TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST AS SAVIOR AND LORD. ONE WAS A CHILD, THE OTHER WAS A YOUNG ADULT MAN.LIGHT SHOP: IN SEPTEMBER 2021, MIKE THIBODEAUX LAUNCHED A DISCIPLESHIP GROUP FOR 7TH-9TH GRADE BOYS THAT MEETS WEEKLY. THIS PILOT GROUP FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF DISCIPLESHIP FOR BOYS WENT WELL, WITH 8 BOYS PARTICIPATING THROUGH THE FALL.S.E.A.D.S. & BRIGHT LIGHTS: DEBBIE THIBODEAUX CONTINUED TO LEAD THE WEEKLY SIMPLE EVANGELISM AND DISCIPLESHIP STRATEGY (S.E.A.D.S.) WOMEN'S GROUP ON TUESDAY MORNINGS WHICH SHE HAS FAITHFULLY LED SINCE 2001. THERE WERE 11 WOMEN INVOLVED IN THAT. SHE AND HER GIRLS ALSO CONTINUED IN THEIR SIXTH YEAR OF LEADING THE WEEKLY DISCIPLESHIP GROUP CALLED BRIGHT LIGHTS. 17 TEEN GIRLS PARTICIPATED. TOTAL PEOPLE DISCIPLED THROUGH WEEKLY DISCIPLESHIP IN 2021 WAS AROUND 172 PEOPLE. INTERNATIONAL PROJECTSOUR MAY 2021 MISSION TRIP TO RWANDA WAS CANCELLED DUE TO COVID. HOWEVER, SIMPLICITY MINISTRIES WAS ABLE TO SUPPORT THE WORK OF OUR PARTNERS AT THE RWANDA RISE HOPE VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTER (HVTC) JUST OUTSIDE OF KIGALI, WITH A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT TO CONVERT A WOODWORKING SHOP INTO CHAPEL. SIMPLICITY MINISTRIES GAVE $5,000 TOWARD THE PROJECT. THIS CHAPEL WILL BE USED FOR DAILY PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST TO THE STUDENTS WHO ATTEND HVTC AND WILL BE A LOCATION OF A CHURCH PLANT FOR THE STUDENTS AND THOSE IN THE SURROUNDING AREA. IN ADDITION, SIMPLICITY MINISTRIES CONTINUED OUR ANNUAL PROJECT TO PROVIDE BIBLES IN THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE OF KINYARWANDA, GIVING $2,636.40 TO PROVIDE 438 BIBLES, ONE FOR EACH OF THE STUDENTS AT THE HOPE VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTER IN 2021.