It's that time of week again! Who's a part of Reliance Wednesday! Today we will meet Joel Hastings!

My name is Joel Hastings and I am from Owasso, Oklahoma. I grew up in a Christian family, which helped lead me to put my faith in Jesus at a young age. While following Christ has not always been easy, and I have made many mistakes; God has always kept bringing me back to Him. I eventually went to Liberty University to study the Bible and better learn how to minister. It was there I met my beautiful wife Bethany, and the rest of the team (they are beautiful too, just not as much). 



Danny first approached me about the church over a year ago while we were sitting in a seminary class together. We began talking, planning, and praying what God had us to do. God made it clear that this is what He had for us. We are so excited to be moving down in a week (I can’t believe it’s so close)!



In Reliance Church, I will be overseeing the leadership development of the church for the first few months. Specifically, I will be helping lead and coordinate the small group leaders and ministry team leaders. It has been said that everything rises and falls on leadership. We would agree with that, but our mindset is slightly different from normal. We want leaders who are followers. We want to be raising up leaders who passionately follow Jesus. By December, we want to have a small group, with a passionate leader, for every 15 people in the church.



We definitely appreciate your prayers. Bethany and I will be moving to Saint Petersburg then looking for jobs and permanent housing. We know he will provide, but when these doors open up then we can focus more on the ministry that God has called us to. Most importantly, pray that we can quickly and effectively meet people and start reaching the city for Jesus.



Thank you so much for your love and support!

It's that time of week again, "Who's a part of Reliance Wednesday!" I would like for everyone to meet Sarah's other half, Devin Quesenberry! 

Hi, my name is Devin Quesenberry and I am from the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwestern Virginia near the city of Roanoke. I was introduced to Christ by my youth pastor at age 15 and through accepting him as Lord and Savior my life has been radically different ever since. God saved me from repeating the mistakes that plague my family, from relationships that didn't honor him, a life of ignorant rebellion, and most importantly a meaningless life without Him! He has taught me about how to be a not only a good Christian, but a good father, a good husband to my wife that I can never deserve, an honest and hard worker, and how to true servant to others. I am going to miss the beautiful landscape that I've grown accustomed to, but I am most looking forwarding to sharing the gospel with the people of St. Petersburg, and working alongside of them to experience the same victory in Christ that I have found! 
Goals by December:
1. Secured a building
2. Developed Sunday morning game plan
3. Connection class.

Prayer requests:
1. Us to do everything in our control and to trust God with everything out of our control.
2. Discernment as we are laying the substructure of Reliance church 
3. That the people of St. Petersburg are looking for a hope and open to the gospel.

Today is "Who's a part of Reliance Wednesday!" I would like for everyone to meet Sarah Quesenberry! 

Hey there! My name is Sarah and I was born and raised on the best place on earth…Long Island, New York!! I come from a small family consisting of my parents and older sister. We grew up listening, dancing, and playing music ALL the time! When I was in the 3rd grade, my dad taught me how to play the trombone and in 7th grade, I started taking piano lessons. I continued into my freshman year of college as a music education major. While in state school, I started experiencing the typical college life and got into the partying scene. I decided to transfer schools to get away from things and ended up at Liberty University. Coming to Liberty was probably one of the best choices that I made in my life. While at school, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I also met the most amazing, godly man, Devin Quesenberry, who I am honored to now call my husband. 
I am excited to be a part of Reliance Church with some great people who I truly admire and look forward to working alongside with. What I am probably looking forward to most about moving to Florida, is seeing God’s plans for Reliance Church, unfold before us all. I am also excited about the people we’ll meet, the relationships we’ll develop, and those who will come to know Christ. I know we’ll have many ups and downs throughout this experience, but what is most encouraging to me, is knowing that God’s plans for us is not to harm us, but to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). 

Just recently, we were assigned some temporary roles that each of us will be performing until December. I have the opportunity to serve as the “Guest Relations” person. I haven’t quite decided all my goals that I would like to reach by December but some of them are:

1.Contacting our guests, after their first visit, as a follow-up to see how their experience was and how we can be praying for them.
2.Aid in getting people plugged into the church
3.Overall, we want to leave lasting impressions on our guests that hopefully lead to lasting relationships.

Prayer Requests:

I am asking for your prayers as my husband and I prepare to move down to Florida. That He would provide for our family in jobs, housing, and just meeting our needs overall. Also, that He would prepare my heart for this move, the church, and the role that I will be taking on.

Thank you all for your support and prayers. God Bless!

We are continuing our Bible Study and we are studying in Acts chapters 16-17. As I see Paul and his boldness as he starts churches sometimes with only three people I am encouraged and claim God's promises. As anxiety troubles me at times, it is soon replaced with the peace that surpasses all understanding, and  the hope that I live for and want to share with others.