Meet Our Missionaries...

What is a "missionary"? We define a missionary as anyone who desires to promote the cause of God in the world by helping others connect to God through Jesus Christ, who is "The way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6). Helping people connect to God can be done in many ways. Some missionaries go to the en ds of the earth; others go across the street. Some missionaries help the less fortunate; some work on construction projects. Some missionaries work in vocational Christian ministry; some change oil, teach school, play music, participate in the arts, sell groceries, fly planes, and...the list goes on. The thing that ties all missionaries together is a desire to see people find the love of God through Jesus, and they do this simply by doing what God has called and equipped them to do wherever God has placed them. Think you might want to be a missionary?

Say hello to Pastor Mike Raether and Katherine. First off, Mike would like you to call him, well, "Mike." He's not big on titles. Mike and Katherine arrived in Big Sky Country in 2000 from Washington State to plant churches in rural Montana. Their heart was to plant churches in communities where little or no evangelical churches exist. Since then, Jesus has worked through the Raethers to establish two successful churches, and as a result many people have entered God's kingdom. About 45 people have been baptized between the two churches. With a lot of help from their friends, the congregations of both churches meet in new, debt free buildings. Did we say God is awesome? Oops. We forgot. "God is awesome."

God has now expanded Mike and Katherine's vision to include not just the rural communities of Montana, but also the metropolitan areas. Therefore, they're now following the call of God to Missoula, Montana where they believe the Lord will work through them to establish a network of new churches we call "Connexions." Mike is also affiliated with the Acts 29 church planting network.

Mike's first love is Jesus, followed closely by Katherine to whom he has been married since 1987. They share a blended family of eight grown children and nineteen grandchildren. Mike is also passionate about almost anything outdoors, including hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, camping, fly fishing and hunting. He also enjoys cooking, especially wild game. If you like to cook, check out some of Mike's recipes.

Mike describes Katherine as a "girly-girl." Her passion and unashamedly highest ambition is to be "just" a housewife. She loves few things better than simply puttering around the home. She's also extremely gifted in the area of hospitality; within five minutes of entering her home, you'll feel like the most important person in the world. Katherine is also a prize winning quilter, with a large collection of blue ribbons.

Greet our newest missionaries (your name here). We're always looking for others to help us in our work of church planting in Montana and beyond. Think you might be interested?

"The worker is worthy of his wages." That's what Jesus said in Matthew 10:10 as He sent His missionaries out into the world to tell people about Him. Sometimes our missionaries work bi vocationally, but they'd prefer to advance the cause of Christ full time. They're responsible for raising all of their own support. Why not let God help them through you? Perhaps you could help with a monthly gift of $25, $50, $100 or some other amount. Perhaps you could send a one time gift, or help with a gift of materials needed for church planting. Find out more. There's one more thing we'd ask you to consider. Would you pray for our missionaries and our work? And you can keep up on things by receiving our monthly newsletter.

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