After spending approximately 48 hours in travel, we safely arrived in Kitale, Kenya. When we arrived at Mattaw Children’s Village we were greeted with songs and dances by the children. There are about 30 children at Mattaw. After some introductions we spent time with children doing crafts, playing games and hanging out. Everyone enjoyed playing with the children. Their smiles and hugs are incredible.

Sunday morning we lead Bible study for the children at church and lead during the preaching time. It was fun to worship with the children and adults from the community. For lunch we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the children. During the afternoon, children played on the swings, played soccer and simply hung out.…

Check out this video update for the Carthage Campus on the status of the Generations Campaign.

God has blessed us with an amazing beginning to the year. Baptisms are WELL above what they were this time last year. God worked powerfully in our Easter celebration. New people are attending and becoming part of our church family. Most importantly, lives are being changed for eternity.

Almost every week I receive testimonies like this one:

I just wanted to let you know how much I have enjoyed going to church. I have never really found a church home until now. Growing up we went to church on Easter and Christmas. Now I look forward to going to church every Sunday. I am in a Small Group, and even serve in a children’s class. If you would have told…

Spring is here! God has provided us with a beautiful picture of His creation once again, and we’re sure there is more to come. Easter, as always, was very special. With the choir, orchestra and cast presentation of Bow the Knee leading up to Easter Sunday, it was easy to see God’s hand in that entire week. Easter weekend was capped off with 22 baptisms and over 2,500 in attendance, at all service, on all campuses. God truly is good!

You continue to give faithfully to “Generations,” and for that, we give thanks and praise to God. Sticking to a pledge over 36 months is a challenge that only God’s people, with His help, are able to accomplish in these…

It is hard to believe that we will be celebrating our first Easter weekend at North in just a couple of days. It seems like just yesterday that we were getting ready for our launch back in September. I have a couple of things below that I want to remind each of you to help with this weekend as we prepare for guests. 

However, let me first start by saying that this has been an extremely tough week for our campus. On Monday, we had the sudden death of our dear friend Luke Grayson who has worked side by side with me at the North Campus since day one, making sure everything was finished and ready for our launch.…

Our trip to Haiti was definitely an adventure. We had all kinds of travel difficulties, but eventually made our way back into Joplin Sunday night around 10:30 pm.

The doctors were able to help many Haitians. Mark and I were able to visit four different ministries and talk with a few pastors to assess the needs. We believe we have a good plan for our future involvement in Haiti.

Plan to attend the informational meeting on Sunday, February 28 at 2:00 pm in the Chapel at the Range Line Campus to find out how you can help in Haiti.

These photos were taken during the second day of Elevate 2010 and the Haiti Relief Rummage Sale.

These photos were taken during the first night of Elevate 2010.