To There & Back Again

Dear Praying Friend—

August is now almost over and three weeks ago my son and I returned from a 47 day, 3500+-mile trip. Whew! Lots of driving! And five different flights —in six different states. Joy was spread. Wonder shared. His truth proclaimed. We saw many hearts come to know Christ. And many recommitments, too! In the last six weeks I’ve ministered with:

Trevecca Community Church, Nashville, TN
Real Life Community Church, Portage, IN
First Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, AL
Lake Forest Ranch, Macon, MS
First Baptist Church, Lesterville, MO
South Missouri Baptist Camp, Van Buren, MO
Philadelphia Nazarene District Children’s Camp, Stevens, PA
Grace Church, Columbia, TN
North/East Texas District, Scottsville, TX
People Of Faith Church, Children’s Lighthouse, Winter Garden, FL

Here’s what Pastor Scott Marshall, from Real Life Community Church in Portage, Indiana said about our family outreach event:

There several extraordinary things happening in the work of this ministry! Let me share with you a couple of them:

As of July first, New Dimensions has brought under our ministry umbrella FaithKidz. Faithkidz was started by long-time friend and mentor, Steve Pennington. Steve has had a stellar record on staff as children’s pastor at Saddleback Church (California) and Highland Park Church (Florida) and is currently at Trevecca Community Church in Nashville. FaithKidz creates and develops curriculum for children. AND is actively training the next generation of Children’s Ministry Leaders. A recent report from faith research company, Barna, stated:

“Fewer churches emphasize and equip people for evangelism these days, and the results are obvious and undeniable. The implications of ignoring gospel outreach – especially among children, who are the most receptive audience to the gospel – are enormous. All the ‘church growth’ strategies in the world cannot compensate for the absence of an authentic transmission of the good news of what Jesus Christ has done for humanity.” (source: Barna.org)

At our core, NDE is all about partnering with churches to reach communities. Much of our mission is aimed at families and children. Bringing FaithKidz into our fold allows us to go deeper, build larger and proclaim stronger the Good News! Steve is the director of the FaithKidz project with NDE. Thanks to Trevecca Community Church and Jones Legacy Foundation in Nashville for financially supporting this endeavor!

You are a vital part of this ministry. In case you don’t know, this is not a “big ministry” operation. We have less than 100 people a year that financially give to this work. I believe that God has directed me to build toward 200 in 2020. If we had 100 more folks that would stand by this work at least once-a-year…I believe we could be so much more effective! Would you join in me praying that by the end of 2020 we’d have an additional 100 supporters?

Please continue to lift up this work in your daily prayers!

Sharing His Wonder,