River Ridge Teays Valley- West Virginia by Chad Cobb
With approximately 30 families, River Ridge Church planted a second campus in Teays Valley, WV in the fall of 2008. The church decided on a model of "one church in two locations." While each of the five pastors concentrate their ministry efforts on specific campuses, both campuses are served by a plurality of leadership. The Teays Valley campus has been meeting in a local elementary school, which has provided opportunities to minister to the staff and teachers. One of the highlights of the year is the church's annual Big Kick Soccer Camp, a week-long soccer camp for elementary school students, where the kids receive not only soccer instruction, but also the truth of the Gospel.
In the three years since its planting, the people of River Ridge have boldly reached into their neighborhoods, and God has blessed that faithfulness with lives being changed by the Gospel and people being baptized. In January, the church began having two services to serve the growing number of families who had begun attending River Ridge. The Teays Valley campus is actively pursuing property in the Teays Valley area in order to reach this community for many years to come. As God continues to widen the geographic influence of River Ridge into surrounding communities, the pastors are always seeking to identify leaders for a future church plant. Check out River Ridge Church, Teays Valley, West Virginia: www.riverridge.org.
Orphans have been a passion of mine ever since I
learned I was adopted. In 1998, during my first mission trip
to Kiev, Ukraine, the Lord solidified my simple desire to make
a difference in the lives of orphans, turning that desire into
a burning
For years, we have taught that strong families and
intergenerational ministry are “core values” for our church,
and for our family specifically. For many GCC families that
has meant that their children have stayed in the area and gone
to
