— Updates —

November 2024

Dave and Sheila have retired from Starbuck and will be moving to Texas to be near their daughter. Be with them during their transition.

Please pray for Village Missions as they seek the Lord for another Pastor for Starbuck Community Church.

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June 2024

We are retiring on September 2nd…or at least that is the plan. We thank Lake Tapps Community Church for supporting us over these many years!

Some prayer requests:

• We are having VBS on June 17-21. Please pray for Tanya as she is in charge of it this summer.  We do have four interns coming from Village Missions to help.  Pray for coordination between them and our church team.

• Please pray for the timing of Starbuck Community Church getting a new Pastor & that the people will be able to pull together until that happens.  Pray people would step up to the plate when needed.

• Of, course, packing and moving is a huge choice and we are both 70, so our energy level is less that when we were younger.

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NOVEMBER 2023

Dear Lake Tapps friends, 

First of all, we want to express our condolences in the loss of Tim Heath.  We haven't directly addressed the church since his passing, but wanted to let you know of our sorrow in his passing.  We are thankful he is with the Lord, but we know he is missed by all.  He was a godly man of integrity and we know he is missed greatly!

We are still ministering here in Starbuck, but plan to retire in July of 2024.  We will be moving to Texas to be near our daughter, son-in-law, and their four children.  It will be a big move and a huge change for us. As we get older, our health problems increase and our energy seems to decrease.  We thank the Lord that He gives us strength for every day.  Isaiah 40:29 and Isaiah 41:10. Dave has a deteriorating neck and left shoulder, and he is seeing a specialized Dr. about that.  He will probably be getting an injection.  Sheila has recently been diagnosed as a diabetic, so that has caused many life changes.

We did our annual Operation Christmas Child boxes last week. See picture below: 

Thank you for your continued support of us!  We appreciate you so much!!  May God bless your church as you go through this time of transition. 

Love in Christ, 

David and Sheila McIlroy

Prayer Requests:

• We have a couple in our church in crisis--please pray for them and their school-aged children.

• Please pray for the next pastor and the timing of their coming.

• We would appreciate continued prayer for our ladies and men's Bible studies.  We are reaching people through them who do not attend church.

• Please pray for our move to Texas in July of 2024. This will be a big move and a huge change for us.

• Please also pray for us as we go through our house and get rid of stuff and pare down for a move.  

JULY 2023

***Hoping to receive an update soon!***

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FEBRUARY 2023

Praise the Lord…attendance has climbed in both Sunday School and church since the covid dip.

Bible study attendance has been excellent this year for both the men's and women's studies.

We continue to be grateful to be serving the Lord in Starbuck, WA.

Please pray for good health and strength to serve and for wisdom as we consider future retirement. 

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SEPTEMBER 2022

Summer activities included:

- VBS, with the theme of “Salvation Railroad”.

- Dave had a health concern in July when his kidney stones flared up, ending in surgery. It was a tough two weeks.

- A surprise appreciation party for two 40-year servants, Leo and Colleen Janes.

- A nice two-week vacation mostly in Montana with relatives and friends. It was a relaxing time.

- An 11-year-old boy was baptized in the Tucannon River. This was followed by lunch at the church.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Teachers for Sunday School and Bible studies

• Focus on the truth of God’s Word for those who are teaching

• People to see the importance of church attendance and make it a priority

• For us as we anticipate future retirement—where? When?, etc.

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MAY 2022

Here are some things that have been going on in our lives and our church:

• I have been spending time with an elderly gentleman who lives (temporarily) in an RV in town.  He claims to be a Buddhist but lets me share Scripture with him.  He is searching for purpose and direction.

• What started out as Valentine's Day dinner for a few couples ended up as a community dinner with 37 people attending.  We decided to do it again, with 45 people this time.  We have decided to continue it on a regular basis.

• I give kids in town, who want to work, jobs that they can do for pay.  They can also use it for camp if they so desire.  This is good relational time with kids and their parents.

• In two weeks, we have a group coming to help us replace a portion of the church roof.  This is a blessing, as we are an older church that doesn't have many available workers.

• After the covid crisis died down, we were very few in number.  Sometimes we didn't have over 20 people in church.  After the first community dinner, two new families began attending.  We now have 8 kids in Sunday School, where before we had one. 

• Our biggest outreach this summer is VBS.  We will have it the last week in June.  We were concerned that we wouldn't have enough workers, but at the last planning meeting, we had 10 adults volunteering to help.  This is a real shot in the arm.  Also, Sheila doesn't have to lead it, as she usually does.

 Prayer Needs:

• Sunday School teachers--We have two classes and need a teacher and helper for the older class. 

• People to help with the sound system.      

• A woman who is a frequent drug user who has been coming to church occasionally.

• James-for salvation

• Dave and Sheila--to know when and where to retire

 Thank you for your continued prayer and financial support of us!  God bless you all!

 Dave and Sheila McIlroy

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DECEMBER 2021

FIRST:  Thank you, LTCC, for our faithful prayers and support. The McIlroys REALLY appreciate it!

PRAISES:

• Praise for Granddaughter Ella, who had a pacemaker put in 5 days after her birth in October. She is gaining weight and is healthy!

• Dave, Sheila, a young lady from church that lives with them, and the young lady’s boyfriend, Josh, all came down with Covid. Praise that they have all fully recovered and that their illness was never life threatening.

• Praise that their church body rose up to fill in for them and helped in many ways, including meals, preaching, praying, teaching Sunday school classes and called them with encouraging things to say. They felt the presence of God with them through it all and they are very thankful.

PRAYERS REQUESTS:

• Dave, Sheila and the young man, Josh, help people in their church and their community by providing them with wood for their fireplaces and wood stoves. These people are widows, elderly, and weak. Josh also helps a young homeless, aimless vet that he has taken in. Please pray for these ministries in their community.

• Though their numbers at church have been down, a lady in their church has a bible study which reaches out to women who do not attend church. Pray for growth for them and a willingness to attend church.  Pray for God's work in the hearts of these women.
  

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August 2021

Our church has allowed us a sabbatical this summer. We took vacation time and went to Iowa/Wisconsin for family reunions. Now we are taking the sabbatical time for some rest and restoration. We are going to a cabin in the Colville National Forest for a few weeks. We are not discouraged, but we are tired. The work can be demanding, and we are getting older. But God is sufficient.

One issue we are facing is three neighbors who are at odds with each other--there is a need for reconciliation among them. All of them claim the Lord, but do they truly know the Lord? We don’t know. We are trying to be peacemakers, and not choose sides. Please pray for wisdom as we work through this with our neighbors.

Our church attendance is down. We are not sure why, but it seems to be universal.

Our son and his family have been home from the mission field (Asia Pacific) for several months. As the time to leave came near, new restrictions in the country arose, causing them to need to get COVID shots for all the family, but the five-year-old. They are with Ethnos 360. They just left today to fly back. We are praying for safe traveling, safe quarantining, and free access to travel within the country.

One shot in the arm which we have had recently is a young man who came to know the Lord two years ago from the drug culture. He ended up in Starbuck, attended Ecola 2 years, and is back in Starbuck now with a zeal to serve the Lord here--particularly to drug addicts, veterans, and anyone seeking the Lord. His girlfriend has recently arrived, (also an Ecola student) and she, too, has a vision for Starbuck. Please pray for this young couple.

Pray for renewed vision, energy, and stamina when we get back from our sabbatical. We are leaving in two days.

Thank you for your continued support of us. 

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MARCH, 2021

Update

• We were able to meet 41 times in 2020. In March we started doing our services on Facebook Live and have continued doing them weekly for those who can't attend. That has been a positive for those who normally wouldn't come.

• We were able to do Good News Club last year, but not VBS.

• We had 30 cords of wood given to the church and were able to help many people in town get firewood.
  

Prayer requests

• We are seeing more and more fractured families in the community, in and out of the church.

• We are definitely lacking in the areas of music and Sunday School classes. At the present time, we only have an adult class.

• Wisdom to know whether we should attempt to do VBS this summer.

• Sheila is recovering from rotator cuff surgery. She can't do a whole lot yet and will start therapy on March 12th.

• Jerry and Peggy are new believers who are laying low because of covid (they are elderly)

• Two recent difficult situations with two different people, one left unresolved, and the other one is hopefully resolving. Pray for the Lord's working in these people's hearts.
  

Praise

• All the people who had COVID have recovered, some of them elderly.

• We have been able to keep our church doors open and meet many of the needs in the community.
  

~ We are thankful for our prayers and support. ~

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October, 2020

For the most part, COVID is not taken as seriously here as it is on the west side.  We didn't have "church" for a couple months.  During that time, we went to "Facebook Live" for a service every Sunday. 

We continue to record our sermons on FB Live and we hear back from some people who do not attend church who listen to our services regularly.  That is a positive.  We still have some families and individuals who haven't come back yet.  Most of them are elderly, but not all.  We sure miss them!

We are starting our fall Bible studies--a couple women's studies, a beginner's study, and a men's study.  Sheila is driving bus two days a week and has gotten to know most of the school kids through this.

Joshua Hershaw, a young man, lived with us for six months (off and on for over a year) and is now back at Ecola for his second year.  He has been a big help in the ministry.  He and Dave have gotten a lot of wood for people to burn in their wood stoves for area residents.  We see him growing in the Lord and are very encouraged!  We pray for his outreach to drug and prison people. That is his desire for a ministry in the future.  We also pray for a godly wife for him. (he is 37).

Rural America is being more and more influenced by the drug and alcohol culture, and we are definitely seeing an increase in our town.

Prayer requests: 

• Joshua and his final year at Ecola and his future ministry. 

• Dave--continual sore throat and bad knees.

• Sheila--issues with both shoulders. 

• Wisdom with an elderly man in the community who has dementia. 

• Involvement in people's lives with drug and alcohol issues--that the Gospel would reach their hearts and changes come from the Lord, not self-effort. 

• That believers in our town would make a difference on our school board and city government. 

• For the Bible studies to reach the unsaved and cause growth in those who know the Lord. 

• For wisdom and strength for Dave and Sheila.

Thank you!

Love,

Pastor Dave and Sheila