Things are starting to heat up as we get more "soldiers on the ground" in the La Crosse area.

Currently, we have 10 adults and five children who have moved from Eau Claire, Wisconsin and are preparing for action. Our total team of 24 adults and 18 kids is making a push to get settled in this summer to begin the ministry of Coulee Rock Community Church.

Our team has been working on building unity with each other and has been planning and preparing for just over a year. We have been amazed as God has filled in so many blanks already.

Our ministry roles have been established and our focus will be on public service, our small groups, and community outreach events. We are doing our public launch by objectives, not a specific date.

Our location and meeting place is one of our last big blanks yet to be filled in. (God is doing some amazing things in that regard but that's another story.) Overall, we remain excited, humbled and encouraged by all that God is doing and will do as we prepare to open our doors. We appreciate your prayers.

Check out Coulee Rock Community Church at: www.couleerock.com

In 1991, our movement of churches, with the simple focus on the Great Commission, grabbed my heart and I have never been the same. It seems that the Lord can do great things with willing hearts. 

Around 2005, He began to impress on me the importance of understanding the Asian culture. In the summer of 2009, my wife, Melissa, and I, along with six of our seven children went to China. During this trip, I had the opportunity to teach a few seminars on parenting and marriage at a Christian daycare.

During one of the seminars, one lady declared that she would believe nothing I said unless she heard it from my kids. I told the youngest four to go to the front of the stage and answer whatever was asked of them. It was a father's dream to hear his children answer the questions brilliantly.

Finally, the lady who was so distraught stood up and asked, "Why can Peter stand up on stage for half an hour and not move a muscle?" Peter, only four years old, looked around, and after he took his hands out of his pockets, simply said, "Because my dad asked me to."

Afterwards, I led those in the room in a prayer to receive Christ. People came up to me afterwards, wondering if they should feel different if they prayed to receive Christ. My answer was, "Yes, because now, you are truly forgiven."

As the fall of 2009 began, we could tell as a family, as a church, as a region, and as a nation of people committed to the Great Commission and planting churches, that the time had come for all of us, including my family, to move to China.

Needless to say, a venture like this will require the oversight and support of the nation, region, sub-region and local church committed to supporting the church overseas. Please pray for us!

Craig and his family attend Summitview Community Church in Loveland, CO: www.summitviewcc.com.

What is Mission to the City?

Mission to the City is a service-oriented evangelistic outreach in the urban and inner-city areas of Minneapolis for 10 days every July.

Why did you feel particularly moved to get involved with this ministry?

Oddly enough, I grew up in a rural community in Michigan, but went to college near Detroit and became very good friends with someone that grew up in inner-city Detroit (later to be my best man). After getting saved, the Lord increasingly put on my heart a desire to reach people of other cultures and communities, particularly African American. The urban areas of America are like the harbors of old. The nations are literally coming to our backyards and doorsteps.

After going on an international trip and having an amazing experience, the Lord showed me that I didn't have to go half way around the world to connect with people from different cultures. Our church decided to offer Mission to the City in 1999. Folks took a week off of work and we headed just 20 minutes down the road to minister in the city.

What have been some memorable highlights of your time in this ministry?

Opened eyes for sure, starting with mine. It's been amazing to see how participants have awakened to the great, yet sometimes daunting, opportunity all around us. Meeting and serving a Somali single mother of six who had lived in the U.S. for five years without ever being invited to an American's home was definitely a highlight. Connecting personally with a young man that now lives with us has been one of the most blessed experiences of my life.  The partnerships that have developed with other ministries have been wonderful.

Do you have any future goals for this ministry?

One dream that is just starting to be realized is seeing folks from churches host their own Mission to the City trips. Our church joined Cornerstone Community Church in Kansas City in 2009 to help them with an urban mission trip. We hope to continue hosting trips that reach our city for the Kingdom of God, and help God's people grow their hearts for all the nations.

Andy attends The Urban Refuge in Minnesota: www.theurbanrefuge.com.

The day I put my trust in Jesus as my Savior, I told Him, "Whatever you want me to do, I'm ready to do it."  Jesus said to his disciples, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few."  So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields" (Matthew 9:37-38).

The Lord sent my wife, Pam, and I to Turin, Italy first. He has established a thriving church there, raised up two other pastors and through them, is training and raising up other leaders.  The church is well-established, and the national leaders-in-training are coached by the elders.  This growth has allowed us to move out and make disciples in other cities.  Jesus said, "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work'.  You know the saying, 'Four months between planting and harvest.' But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest" (John 4:34-35).

Last September, Pam and I moved to Milan, Italy, joined by a young student, Tony.  Another couple will be joining us this coming June.  We feel like God has opened all the doors for us here.  It seems like everyone wants to practice speaking English. We have met three students who work with a student organization and they have helped greatly by allowing us to register students inside the university and use its classrooms free of charge.

Last year, we had two mission teams who led English Clubs in March and October.  The October team came from the Turin church which proved to be very successful. Since then, the Lord has given us the opportunity to continue English clubs three times a week.  We have also started two Bible studies and, this past January, we began our first worship service.  Recently, the father of a Ukrainian family that lives near us received the gift of eternal life and will be baptized at our first service.  Praise the Lord!  Keep us in your prayers that the Lord will continue to lead us and guide us to make disciples.

For more information on Great Commission Europe, log onto: www.gceweb.org.

Almost thirty years ago was the turning point in my life when I saw what it looked like to live out the New Testament.  What an amazing journey it has been to still be, day by day, passing along that same passion and reality to Russian-speaking people on the other side of the world.

In Kiev, Ukraine, Voleri, a drug addict and infamous hooligan not only repented, but was given a vision for how God wanted to use him and his storied past as a witness to reach those around him. From Voleri's testimony and investment in others' lives, more than 15 alcoholics and drug addicts have come to Christ in the past year. Two churches and a rehab center have been started through these men because they have grasped the power of God to transform and use broken and ordinary lives. 

In this part of the world, many Christian leaders are realizing that their countries will never be reached if starting churches requires buildings, professionally run programs, and full-time pastors.  Their desires and openness, coupled with the experience we have gained through our years with Great Commission, are opening up doors for us to train church planters in countries all over the former Soviet Union.  My wife, Kenyon, and I are so thankful and are humbled that the vision we prayed and dreamed about so many years ago has become a reality.

For more information, contact Timmy at: timmy.powers@gcmweb.org.

Timmy is a member of Great Commission Europe: http://www.gceweb.org/.

In the fall of 2006, a group of around 30 recent graduates of the Drake Campus Fellowship Ministry began to meet as a Bible study.  Their hopes were to begin a new congregation plant of Walnut Creek Community Church that would focus on ministering to the downtown part of Des Moines, Iowa.  In recent years, the downtown population has boomed with young people who work and live in the area.  Many, if not most of these people, are un-churched and we made it our mission to reach them.

In February of 2007, we were given a building rent-free in the East Village, a young hip part of downtown, to meet in for Bible study and a Saturday night service.  By May, we had outgrown the building and moved to a new and larger location in the heart of downtown.  As the various ministries continued to grow, and people were getting saved, we began to focus on meeting the needs of the city through outreach, service projects, and volunteering for any and every downtown event that we could. 

Four locations later, the Downtown Church consists of 15 Bible studies meeting in homes around the city, two weekend services, weekly prayer times, and outreach teams through the summers designed to reach out in new and creative ways.  We are thankful for the growth and for the laborers as we look ahead to see what God will do in reaching the city of Des Moines. 

Check out The Downtown Church: http://www.thedtc.org.

In 2004, Pastor Berk Wilson led a team of staff and students to take a step of faith by starting the Wilmington Summer Outreach Project. We continued the project each summer and by 2007 there were 8 individuals who were committed to be in fellowship with one another. In November of 2007 my wife and I moved to Wilmington to assume leadership of the young church. We saw God give amazing answers to prayer in regards to our housing and financial support. He is honoring us as we continue to step out in faith.

Our church has a couple of strong points. First, we've been able to answer many questions people have about the Christian faith. Second, we've been able to take the gospel to the students instead of waiting for them to come to us. We've been taking back turf that this world so brazenly claims it owns. Recently, I had lunch with a freshman. After our conversation, he kept thanking me because he had never heard the gospel explained so clearly. He knew that day that Jesus was his Savior. It's been great to go out on a limb and find the fruit God has for us.

Check out Pneuma Christian Fellowship.

Since 2001, Lael's partnership with Operation Christmas Child has helped thousands of people around the world hear the Gospel.

In 1982 when Lael became a Christian, she was shy and hesitant to surrender her life to God in the area of evangelism.  She feared that the moment she did, God would have her speaking publicly in the streets.  But God helped her overcome her fears and is now using her in an incredible ministry.  In 1996, she and her family got involved with Operation Christmas Child.  New Song Community Church joined efforts and in 2001, 88 shoe boxes were filled for children around the world.  Last year, thanks to her "packing parties," Lael and 100 other volunteers of all ages from New Song helped put together 1,951 shoes boxes filled with gifts for Christmas.  But most importantly, they included Gospel tracts in the child's native language. 

Samaritan's Purse has found that an average of 20 people hear the Good News of Jesus Christ from just 1 shoe box.  Based on this average, nearly 40,000 people heard the gospel last year through the New Song packing party organized by Lael.  An amazing work by God through someone who was hesitant to be an evangelist!

If any church is interested in having an Operation Christmas Child "packing party," please contact the GCC office for more information.

I grew up in a picture-perfect, religious household. I was the problem child. At one point, I became very depressed and I didn't want to live anymore.

The one thing that kept me going was my grandmother. Then one night she fell and broke her hip. She went to the hospital and became very ill. My grandmother - my only reason for living - was going to die. I couldn't live with myself and everything began to fall apart. I took a bunch of pills and tried to end my life. I ended up in the hospital, and my grandmother soon passed away. I was very angry at the world and with myself. The morning after we buried her, I entered a rehabilitation clinic.

I came home from that clinic knowing that God was real and that I loved Him. The problem was, I still didn't know how to do that - I only knew what I had been taught all of my life. No matter how many times I went to church or read the Bible or tried to clean myself up, I always ended up back in the same spot. Until a Christian friend invited me to The Rock.

I wasn't comfortable at The Rock at first. It went against almost everything I had been taught to think a church should be. In fact, a casual environment, coffee, and rock music were all things I was taught were the opposite of what God would call a church! There was a lot of talk about grace and about how you don't need to work to receive God's love and acceptance. I learned that I don't have to prove myself to God or earn my way to heaven! My life has changed. I am a new person, and God has blessed me since I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

Seminole Christian Life on the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee, Florida, is a new church plant as of Fall of 2008! It was a blessing to have a summer project here in May, June, and July, but the kick off service with permanent pastor Ryan McKenna, and the 9 person church plant team, was held on August 24th. We praise God for kick off success.

From this beginning we have had 20-30 students in attendance on Sundays, and we have a group interested in creating a worship team, and serving however is needed. Thank you for your prayers and praise God for His ability to build something great where there was nothing there before!

GCC Director John Hopler gives five reasons why the divorce rate is so low for Great Commission Churches members:

1. The grace of Jesus Christ. In Colossians 1:17 we are told that in Christ "all things hold together." In our movement, we understand that Jesus Christ is the great "glue" in a marriage. Each husband and each wife is a weak and needy person--but in our weakness, Jesus Christ keeps a marriage strong. To Him be all the glory!
2. A heart devotion to obey the Scriptures. We believe in the adequacy of the Scriptures, as is stated in 2nd Timothy 3:16: "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." Our movement believes that God blesses couples that follow His truths as to marriage. Also we put a high emphasis on the Lordship of Jesus Christ where His word is not merely listened to, but obeyed (James 1:22.) Church members are urged to humbly believe in the grace of Jesus Christ and to obey His commands, including the commands in Ephesians 5 related to the roles of husbands and wives.
3. A commitment to love and unity as a church. In Great Commission churches we emphasize elders and members living out Philippians 2:3: "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let each of you consider one another more important than himself." Elders practice this bondservant life-style of loyalty and self-sacrifice towards each other--and this example has had a powerful effect on couples in the church. As elders work through their relational conflicts, couples in the church are inspired to follow their example of loyalty and devotion to each other.
4. A Great Commission church vision. Jesus gave the command in Matthew 28:19,20 to "Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you." We have seen that marriages are strengthened when couples devote themselves to a common cause--the cause of advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ through the local church.
5. A resolve among couples to not get divorced. God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16.) If we love God, we will hate divorce as well. My wife and I often say to each other, "I just want you to know, that if you ever leave.....I'm going with you!" We aspire to build this mindset, this resolve, in couples in Great Commission churches." 

Praise God for His grace-- and pray that He will continue to strengthen and build marriages in His church, so that the name of Jesus Christ may be honored and loved throughout the world.

The Provo church plant officially opened its doors on Friday night, September 21st, 2007. Since then, we have purposefully tried to break down the paradigm of what church looks like, meeting on Friday nights at 7:24 PM in reference to Matt. 7:24 when Jesus says: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock." God blessed with over 415 people at the first service, and we are continually trying to put His words into practice.

With 50,000 students at BYU and UVU, and a Utah County combined population of 400,000+, we believe God has placed us in an amazing fishing hole. Many people think of this area being filled with clean-cut folks with high morals. We have found a group of people within this culture that are the outcast and rebellious. They are hungry for love and acceptance. The gospel is exactly what they need and many are being drawn to Christ. Since our opening over 75 people have asked Jesus into their lives, over half have been baptized, and most are still with us. And many, many others have heard the gospel. Please pray for God's leading, protection, and provision as He releases His power on this place! He is mighty to save!

Check out The Rock Church, Provo.

Lauren Gordon is a middle child in a family of 11 children.  At age 10, she is eager to be involved in sharing her faith.  This spring the Gator Christian Life campus church provided an eight week long Outreach Training Class to equip the students in the Bridge Diagram, a clear method of sharing the gospel.  Lauren attended the class faithfully along side of the college students, then would pair up with an older sibling once a week to share the gospel with students on the University of Florida campus. 

The highlight of her spring was going on one of the Spring Break Outreaches to Florida International University in Miami.  There she had the privilege of helping lead two FIU students to the Lord.  Lauren looks forward to sharing her faith on the college campus.  She will boldly approach any college student, give them a survey and proceed to take them through the Bridge Diagram, often including her testimony.  If she is this bold now, just wait until she gets to college!

Lauren attends Gator Christion Life.