.Real.Greg.Lee.

One year ago, Suncrest made our commitments to “The Jesus Mission”.  His mission to anyone who follows him is found in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy spirit comes on you.  And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.”

And we sensed God was leading us to follow that model…Locally, Regionally, and Globally.

One year later…the St. John and Hobart Campuses have GONE to launch new campuses and lay the groundwork for church plants in Liberia.  And people have GIVEN  $360,000 beyond all of our regular offerings to this mission. Wow.

Today, we have campuses in Highland and Walkerton, and new churches being started in Liberia.  All of them are already being used by God to change lives.

Update on Liberia Church Planting

Our church plants are Liberian-led (very important to us) and will be self-sustaining financially (rare in Liberia).

So far: one church is up and running in Ganta, with 45 people in attendance each week.  This is a ‘lab church’, being associated with Liberia International Christian College.  Ministerial students are leading the church- using their education and gaining real-life practical experience.

We are in the process of restarting a church which was destroyed by the civil war in Liberia.

We are helping Liberians with economic development (a rubber plantation achieve production) so it can help fund our new churches for the long-term.

While church planting is central, we have also provided our ministry partners materials to finish a medical clinic, supplied materials to finish a church building, and provided for a church to bring clean water to their community.

Update from the Walkerton Campus

We love Suncrest and that well over 100 people in Walkerton are a new a part of our Suncrest family.

We love that 70% of our regular attendees are serving on a ministry team and that over 50 adults are involved in a Suncrest Group.

We love that God allows us to be a part of man’s story in his ongoing battle with a 35 year addiction to alcohol and that God is giving us huge influence in a low income housing area that’s hungry for the hope of Christ.

We love that a woman has chosen to forgive a person who years ago had rocked her life and that God is using us to change lives.

Update from the Highland Campus

We could share great stats here to, but how about a simple story instead.  This is from Wes Blackburn’s blog this week:

This particular Sunday, our worship team was formed with five people. One was me. Two were Mitch and Spencer, two of our awesome teens who have stepped in and helped out in big ways at Highland. But the other two are a special story. Steve Ziembicki (drummer) and Dana Argoudelis (vocals) are both relatively new artists for our Highland worship team. This week was Steve’s second week to play drums for us. This was actually Dana’s very first week on vocals (she rocked it out, didn’t she?). It’s always exciting to have new people in whatever ministry you serve in; they bring a new life and energy to our teams that you just can’t get anywhere else!

But beyond simply being new artists, what makes me so excited about having Steve and Dana as a part of our team is that they are both brand new to Suncrest as a result of the Highland Campus. Steve and his wife Diane have been coming since like week number one back in September! And Dana and her husband Jim have come since December. Both were brand new to Suncrest.

Thank you Suncrest, for making such incredible investments and sacrifices to live out Jesus’ Mission here.

~ by Greg Lee on March 17, 2011.

Posted in Suncrest