Dear Friends and Family, 12/2025
I have not been very faithful with Christmas letters for the last couple of years. Sending one this year however, will be much more abbreviated than some of the long ones which I wrote in years past.
We have just completed 2 years as pastor and family at Lifegate Baptist Church in Wildwood, MO. For those of you unfamiliar with our transition here, this is the church which my Dad started in 1975 and where I was born (and born again). Our family moved away in 1986 and now after 35 years, the LORD brought me back here to pastor.
Here are updates on our family:
Joel has completed 2 years in the USMC. He is a corporal stationed in Okinawa, Japan and will be there for a couple more years.
Laura has been married for a year and a half. She and Jeb gave us our first grandchild, Jack, on October 21st. We were able to see them for a few days after Thanksgiving and are thrilled to be grandparents!
Grant is living and working in Illinois near Grandpa and Grandma Bumgardner. Thankfully, we are close enough that we get to see him a little more often than the other 2 who have left home.
John is finished with high school. He is living at home and working on a degree in criminal justice; his day job is working at a country club (golf). He participates in our church music program instrumentally (trumpet and trombone) and vocally.
Josiah is a junior in high school and works at Culver’s near us as a manager. He also participates in music (French Horn) at Lifegate.
Kara will get her driver’s license in January when she turns 16. She loves the city – at least as much as any of us. She is not intimidated to drive on the interstates or downtown St. Louis. She plays the organ, the piano, and her flute at various times for the church.
Gardner hit his teen years last June. He is in 8th grade and so we’ll have another high schooler next year. He is a big part of our church tech team helping with the livestream, song displays, sound, etc.
Gilead is our only one still in single digits. He’ll be 9 in January. He thoroughly enjoys reading, yet still loves to be outside. He has a wonderful singing voice which will hopefully blossom in the near future.
Carol and I are doing well. We know our age, but both still feel fairly young (even though we are grandparents). We both have vision of what we would like to see in our lives and ministry and anticipate still many things in the years ahead of us.
Lifegate Baptist Church is well. I’m still in awe of how the LORD put me back here to minister in St. Louis. I have usually considered myself “a country boy” due to the years in rural NE Missouri and rural Central Illinois. However, I have been surprised by my love for the city. We’ve adapted well to this life, though we are still thankful for opportunities to visit our family and friends in less suburban areas.
We often think of the friends which God has granted to us over the years and realize how blessed we are to know you. Though social media can be a drag at times, it is still an opportunity for us to stay connected and we appreciate getting to see many happenings of your lives throughout the year.
May your holiday season be filled with joy and may it be used by God to reinvigorate your spiritual life.
Always in Christ,
Levi, Carol, John, Josiah, Kara, Gardner, and Gilead Deatrick
(217)781-4081
1208 Cottagemill Dr.
Manchester, MO 63021
Filed under: Uncategorized |
Levi Deatrick 
You must be logged in to post a comment.