River of Life Christian Church in Austin
Location: Austin, Texas
Pastor: Reverend Stephen Yeem
Year started: 2023
Church Website
In 2013, Pastor Stephen Yeem, who was equipped in the seminary, saw the importance of church planting in Austin after reading news about Austin's high-tech industry was booming. Later, while serving at River of Life Christian Church in Silicon Valley, he continued to seek God to see if God had given him and his wife the vision to plant a church. Their family also went to Austin twice for vision guidance prayer walk and to visit brothers and sisters. After clearly receiving the call at the end of 2022, they officially moved from the Bay Area to Austin in June 2023 and planted the Austin River of Life Christian Church.
They currently rent the Marriott Courtyard for Sunday worship and many prayer and gospel meetings. Currently, the church has a stable gathering of about 60 people. Since 1/3 of the congregation is children and teenagers, the church focuses on developing children's ministry. At the same time, they are also vigorously developing online ministry. The church’s YouTube channel has nearly 20,000 views and a total viewing time of more than 3,000 hours. The theme of the church in 2024 is "Build and Expand" (Build and Expand). At the same time, as the number of weekly gatherings instantly increased to 80 people, Pastor Yan Laien also firmly believes in the importance of building a team. In the second half of 2024, he will focus on building a team of co-workers, equipping and training, hoping to cultivate a group of God's Disciples, work together in small group and prayer ministries.
2013年,在神學院受裝備的嚴來恩牧師因讀到奧斯汀高科技業正蓬勃發展的報導而看見在Austin植堂的重要性。後於矽谷生命河靈糧堂配搭事奉期間不斷尋求神是否神對他和師母有植堂的託付,也曾兩次全家到Austin進行異象導告行進並拜訪弟兄姐妹。2022年底清楚領受呼召之後,他們於2023年6月正式從灣區搬到奧斯汀並開拓奧斯汀生命河靈糧堂。
他們目前租用Marriott Courtyard來行進主日崇拜及許多禱告及福音聚會,目前教會穩定聚會約60人。由於會眾有1/3為兒童及青少年,教會著力於發展兒少的事工。同時他們也極力發展網路事工,其中教會的YouTube頻道的播放次數近2萬,總觀看時長超過3000小時。教會2024的主題為“興起建造,左右開展”(Build and Expand),同時,隨著每週聚會人數瞬間提高至80人,嚴來恩牧師也堅信建立團隊的重要性,2024下半年,將會著重在建立同工團隊,裝備培訓,希望能培養出一批神的門徒,一起為小組與禱告事工努力。
partner in prayer:
Please pray for the church to find a new gathering venue. With the increase in the number of people, the Marriott currently rented is basically full, and a new venue needs to be found as soon as possible. We are now beginning to negotiate for some locations, and we pray that the Lord will bless us in finding a venue for the gathering in the next 3-5 years.
請為教會尋找新的聚會場地禱告,隨著人數的增加,目前租用的Marriott基本已經飽和,需要盡快找到新的地點。目前有開始接洽一些地點,求主恩待我們找到未來3-5年聚會的地點。
Two of the three Chinese groups that have just started have Pastor Yan as the group leader. I hope to find a group leader as soon as possible. Please ask God to personally lead the brothers and sisters to accept the work of the group leader. I hope that all the members can use the gifts and health given by God. and wisdom to manage and build the house of God; so that the spiritual lives of all brothers and sisters can grow further.
剛剛開始的3個中文小組中有2個小組是嚴牧師兼任組長,希望能盡快找到組長,請神親自帶領弟兄姊妹來迎接小組長工作, 希望衆肢體能發揮神所賜的恩賜、健康和智慧, 去管理和建立神的家; 使眾弟兄姊妹的屬靈生命得到更大長進。
Recently, we are integrating media ministry (video and live broadcast, website, social media, etc.). Pray that God will lead the appropriate co-workers to perform their duties and connect with each other, so that the church can influence people in Austin and beyond through media ministry.
最近在整合傳媒事工(錄影與直播、網站、社交媒體 等),求神帶領合適的同工各司其職並相互連結,使教會藉由傳媒事工影響奧斯汀及遠處的人。