Manna Faithful,
As we start this final month in 2025, I’m blown away with gratitude toward God, as well as with pride and joy for our church family. What an incredible season we’ve come through – truly accentuating God’s Goodness and Faithfulness! Please don’t miss our Celebration on December 7th as we Dedicate our new property and building to the Lord’s service, as well as consecrate our lives for His use in the years ahead.
December also ushers in the Advent Season, where the Global Church resonates with the anticipation of the Messiah’s coming on that first Christmas morning. We’ll be studying God’s perfect timing in a series entitled, Right On Time, anchoring our lives in the truth of Galatians 4:4. If you’ve ever struggled with waiting on God to fulfill His promises, or been frustrated with His lack of honoring your timetable (sarcasm intended), then this series is for you!
It’s been an amazing year, Manna Family. I’m truly honored to be your Pastor. Keep Abiding.
Join us for a Night of Celebration as we come together to honor all that God has done! This special evening will include the dedication of our new building and a heartfelt appreciation for our incredible Serve Team who make ministry happen week after week. We invite you and your family to enjoy a night filled with worship, gratitude, fellowship, and celebration as we thank God for His faithfulness and the people who make Manna Church home.
The event will kick off with a 45-minute dedication service, followed by an hour of fellowship in the back parking lot with appetizer-style food, fun snacks, and a bounce house for the kids!
Childcare will be available during the service for children ages 5 and under.
Please register your children within this registration so we can prepare to serve your family well.
Christmas at Manna is right around the corner! Join us on December 24th at 3:30 PM or 5:00 PM for a special Christmas-focused service as we celebrate the birth of Jesus together. After each service, we’ll enjoy light refreshments and a time of fellowship with our church family. We can’t wait to celebrate Christmas with you! We encourage you to invite your friends and family to this fun holiday service.
The Reach Out Celebration may be complete, but the charge to make the Great Commission SO GREAT in our lives is still active. The ROC booklet you received during the ROC series was designed to be utilized as a tool throughout the next 6 months. Be sure to take the time to go through the questions and fill out the commitment pages.
If you are interested in giving to the ROC offering, there is still time. The goal is to reach $100,000. This will enable us to support our missionary partners around the world for 2026.
This past month STU wrapped up our STU 850 series where we unpacked our verse, 1 Timothy 4:12! This series challenged our students to live out their faith in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. STU also celebrated Friendsgiving together! During our night each small group assembled blessing bags for the faculty and staff at Niceville High School. These bags were prayed over and our students wrote encouraging notes on them! Then, it was time to FEAST! Friendsgiving was such a fun night together with our students and leaders!
STU CAMP 2026
June 1-5 we are going back to SHOCCO in Talladega, AL!! Registration opens DECEMBER 3rd and we have a limited number of guaranteed spots. A $75 deposit is required to reserve your spot!
Meet the Amparo Family!
We are delighted to introduce the Amparo family to our church community! Marlow and his wife, Madel, are grateful to call Manna their new spiritual home. They are parents to two wonderful children: Gavin (5), their energetic son, and Guinevere (3), their social butterfly daughter. Joining them is Marlow’s mother, Maria, whose warm presence and gentle wisdom are a blessing to all who meet her. The Amparo family is excited to worship, learn, and grow in faith alongside each of you.
Meet the Duartés!
Raymond and Jessica, both Veterans- Raymond, Navy, Jessica Air Force; have been believers for over 20+ years. Jaelynn, a junior at Niceville High School, enjoys serving in the Manna kids nursery. Her plan after high school is to go to nursing school. Jocie, an 8th grader at Ruckel Middle School, also serves in Manna Kids. Jocie is in the RMS Honor Band and is the Co-Captain on the speech and debate team for her school. We just completed Next Step last month as a family and are very excited to see where the Lord will bring us.
Growth Track will be taking the month of December off to focus on faith, family, and friends! We pray everyone has a joyous season celebrating our Savior.
This season, we’re excited to offer a variety of meaningful ways to serve our community and share the love of Jesus in practical, impactful ways. Whether you enjoy hands-on projects, blessing families, or meeting needs behind the scenes, there’s an opportunity for everyone to make a difference. Check out the links below to learn more and get involved in the outreaches happening this month!
The latest email in my inbox has the subject line, “From Murderer to World Changer”. It tells the story of a recent ‘Saul to Paul’-like conversion. A man once radicalized in his beliefs, who violently fought and killed pastors bringing Christianity to his region, found himself chosen and called by Christ. His wife was cursed by a group of people who practiced black magic. She became so ill and delirious that nothing could help her. He desperately sought ways to help her, trying every religion and god he could find, until he was hopeless enough to seek Jesus. A brave pastor agreed to meet with him and pray over his wife. Slowly he removed each idol and image of other gods in his home, as the man recognized that they were doing him no good, and they did not have the power to heal his wife. His wife was healed that day, and she came out of her delirium quoting scripture (John 15:16-17). Even though the man had never heard these words before, he knew they were from the Bible. He grabbed the Bible from the pastor and it opened to the exact passage his wife had spoken out. He became a believer that day and committed his life to ministry. He is receiving training from our local partner there, and now, every day, after he puts in a ten hour work day, he travels house to house sharing the gospel with as much passion as he used to try and stamp it out.
Missions Coordinator-Sharilyn Margulis
For more details on this story, and others like it, join us monthly in the Missions Minded small group.
If you’re considering serving on a Manna Vision Trip in 2026, now is the time to get moving! The 2026 Trips are:
– India in February led by Drew Margulis (closed)
– Fayetteville DREAM Center (North Carolina) led by Pete Heitz, dates TBD applications due by Dec 20, 2025
– Albania led by Sharilyn Margulis, April 20-27, applications due by Dec 20, 2025
– Lakota Tribe (South Dakota) led by Alyssa Heitz, June 2026, application deadline TBD
– Other trips led by our mission partners may be available on a space available basis, if you are called towards a particular ministry featured in the ROC or a specific type of trip (i.e., medical) please let us know and we can help you look for an appropriate place to SERVE.
Vision Trip Application – click here
Join the Missions Minded Small Group for once a month, in depth updates on our ROC partners – click here
