Seasons and Storms

Seasons. I am a fan of the changing of seasons during the year. Each has its own character; almost a personhood, and right about the time I start to tire of one, another one comes along - refreshing and invigorating. Granted, at the beach the differences are less pronounced but we are still far enough north to experience differences. Life seasons are a different story. I am realizing that when I am in a good season, it feels “normal” and as if I am always almost there, but never quite arriving. Then comes a change into what I will call a less than good season; maybe “difficult” is a good word for it, and I start to recognize the lessons I have to learn and the dearth of wisdom in my life.

Katie and I seem to find ourselves in a transition between seasons and are hopeful that it is going from good to good, or to even better than good. . . 

On August 29th, I was informed my position as Media and Tech Pastor at Seacoast Vineyard Church was being eliminated immediately for financial reasons. Katie is still employed at the church and I will receive severance through the end of October. Still, it was sudden and losing employment is never easy, no matter the circumstances.

We are praying and seeking God for financial provision and guidance while looking for open doors. One of those potential doors is the financial support to work full-time with Shiloh Place Ministries. About a week ago, I had a meeting with Doug Crew, the executive director, who is excited about how my skills in video production and graphic design can help the ministry strengthen and grow. In order for this to be fully realized, Katie and I are seeking to be fully funded by the end of September. This will provide an overlap of one month before my severance from Seacoast Vineyard Church ends and will allow me to invest more time in the ministry sooner. We are currently at ten percent of our goal, so there is much to do!

Earlier this week, we evacuated North Myrtle Beach due to Hurricane Florence to the home of friends whose lives have been and are being changed by the message and ministry of Shiloh Place earlier this year. Over meals, card games, and rides into town, they shared about how God has brought healing, blessing, and more awareness of His unconditional love for them as they have processed, prayed over, and digested what was taught during those SPM encounters. Katie and I were also honored to hear that our “Redeeming One” EP is their daily soundtrack on the way to work! This family ministered to us in a time of uncertainly and vulnerability by opening their home and welcoming us into their lives, and we will be forever grateful.

In the midst of job loss and evacuations, we are doing our best to learn more about the importance of walking in humility, acceptance, and gratefulness for things we so often take for granted. We are also praying for the families and friends of those who lost their lives over the last two days and for protection as the rain and flooding will continue across our area and the Carolinas.

As with most unexpected events like hurricanes and evacuations, we are faced with financial challenges compounded by my job loss and Katie’s loss of work at the church while we have been evacuated. We returned to our house to find a significant amount of debris in our yard and on our house, along with flooding in the creek that runs along the edge of our property. We are keeping a close eye on that as flooding in the area has not reached its apex and we don’t know how that might affect our property or house. We also have evidence of a leak of some sort over our kitchen that is in need of repair. We do have insurance with an unfortunately high hurricane deductible and will file a claim with our provider. With all that, we would greatly appreciate any one-time financial gift to our ministry or to help with the costs related to our evacuation and recovery from the hurricane damage.

If you have been following our blog and ministry activity or even just discovered us and have felt a nudge to do so, we invite you to partner with us by supporting us financially on an ongoing basis. You can visit the Shiloh Place “donate” page, click "donate now" and select “Chip and Katie Holt" in the pulldown menu.

As always, please let us know how we can pray for you and thank you for your love, support, encouragement, and prayers!