The Wicks

Chris and Ashley grew up on the West Coast and were saved by God’s grace at an early age. They graduated from college in 1999 and were married shortly thereafter. Since then, God has blessed them with four amazing children who are now adults - Tahlia, Mikaela, Braden & Karsten. Previous ministry experience gave them a deep love for youth and young families, and God continues to strengthen their passions in the area of evangelism and discipleship.

They desire to see the cross of Christ transform Slovenia and its people, serving alongside national Slovene church planters, Sebastian and Gloria Forjan, who were called to plant a church in Radovljica, a city without a true gospel presence for 400 years before their arrival. The Wicks also minister to families experiencing disability in their work with Guidelight Ministries, giving them multiple ministry avenues aimed at connecting and sharing the gospel.

We have watched relationships deepen with those who are involved in ministry outreach to special needs families. One family in particular has expressed a desire to be involved in greater measure, and we are excited about the reach they could have, if God wills this.

Praise God for the growth of our local church, both in maturity and in number. We are thankful for new faces, new relationships, and new depth. We are also thanking God for an increase in servants. Slovenes are stepping unto fill ministry needs, and we praise God for this.

We have watched the Lord sustain a youth ministry and watched God continue to provide Slovenes to help lead this work to young people in our community. I was struck a few weeks ago by the youthfulness of our church. This is vastly different from most churches in Slovenia, and it is the fruit of years of ministry to young people in our community. Praise God for how He is building His church with the next generation. We are very hopeful for the future here!

Pray we would be faithful with the opportunities that God has given us and any that He affords us in the future.

Pray that we would always point to Christ in all our ways and that we would grow in greater measures of humility.

Pray we would be wise with our time, absent of selfish ambition, and fully following God’s leading.

Pray for further growth and protection on our marriage, and pray for our kids (almost all adults). Pray for God’s clear leading as they contemplate future decisions in many areas of life!

We hope to see God work in the lives of men in our church, that they would grow in leadership abilities, and a few would aspire to the role of elder.

We hope to see God use the women’s Bible study to show the difference between the gospel of grace and the gospel of works that many hold to.

We hope to see more special needs families reached, more volunteers trained, and more churches desire to engage their special needs communities.

We hope to see God give us wisdom and clarity in the ministry decisions we must make in the near future.