New Planter Spotlight: Sigolf Greuel

Sigolf Gruel and his wife

Sigolf Greuel IS THE THE HEAD PASTOR FOR Comunidade Encontro in Santa Catarina, Brazil. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.

How have you seen God working in your life?

I see God acting and shaping my character through his Word: through the word I read and study, but also the word I preach and share with people. God's word is transforming me and making me more aware and sensitive to people, and giving me a more missional heart. My deepest desire is to become a better person, through the Word of God.

How have you seen God working in your family?

I see clearly God leading our family and approaching us one from another, building solid love bonds between us. Different experiences of life, some of suffering, has been used by God with this purpose in our family. We have been seeking to learn and to trust in the Lord, even in the suffering experiences. And having the whole family committed with Christ and his mission is a blessing!

How have you seen God working in your church?

The short history of Comunidade Encontro is an eloquent testimony of God's acting. In only two and a half years, we have already consolidated ourselves as a congregation. New people coming every week, and many of them becoming disciples of Jesus are another clear sign of God's action among us. Lives are being transformed. Also the way everything happened to set the new project Encontro Ilha, the base group and the partnerships, shows us that God is acting among us and in the control of everything.

Church Mission & Vision

Encontro is a contemporary christian congregation that cares about people and provides opportunities for meaningful relationships with Jesus and with others, acting with societal relevance.

Visão:
To be a referencial of christian congregation, multi-located, planter of new communities, communicating the Gospel of Jesus with boldness, excellence and creativity.

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If you would like to reach out to Sigolf, you can visit the church's website at www.encontro.org.

New Planter Spotlight: Dan Anderson

The Anderson Family

Dan Anderson

DAN ANDERSON IS THE THE HEAD PASTOR FOR Central Presbyterian Church of Little Rock in Little Rock, Arkansas. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.

How have you seen God working in your life?

Words do not do justice to the fire I feel for God right now. His gospel is as alive in my heart as it ever has been. Through several teaching ministries across the country I've come to a much greater understanding and appreciation of the union that I have with Christ through faith. As a result I am experiencing a renewed passion for the gospel, a desire to share it with many, and a clearer picture of the gospel culture that I want to establish in the church. I've never worked harder, longer, and with this amount of zeal in my life but I've also never had this type of energy as well. All praise be to God!

How have you seen God working in your family?

This past November my wife gave birth to our third child (William) on the floor of our bathroom. The unexpected timing of the birth as well as its speed showed us God's care and protection over Kimberly and William despite the absence of modern medicine. On top of that, when William was born he was our 3rd child at 3 years of age and younger so over the past ten weeks we have seen rapid development and growth in all three of our kids.

But God is at work spiritually in all of their lives. One of the greatest joys as a father is to hear my two oldest sing the doxology. Every now and then my son (age 4) will lead our church in the doxology.

How have you seen God working in your church?

Well for one, he is bringing people to us. Over the past month we have seen a dramatic increase in our numbers (50%). This is something we've been praying for. Our people are beginning to understand who we are and what we believe and as a result are bringing their friends with them. The church as an organization is also beginning to understand how to make our church easier to attend and easier to remain at.

Besides that, one of the objective realities of 2017 was that our church had done a poor job of giving. So we have been praying for an increase in our internal giving. Thankfully, the Lord is doing this as well. In just the first 4 weeks of January we are already at 33% of our total giving of 2017 and we haven't had to guilt people into giving!

On top of these things, I have entrusted some of the leadership to people who have been a part of our church from the beginning. After being mentored and trained over the last year (and you want to talk about God at work!) these people are now teaching, welcoming and leading other in our church. When they began doing this earlier this month it was the first time there was an official church event and I wasn't at leading! So encouraging!

Church Mission

Loving Little Rock with the gospel for the glory of God.

Church Vision

Transformed lives, Transformed City

The love of God is trans-formative. It is the love of God in Christ Jesus that transformed us from sinner to saint. It is the love of God in Christ Jesus that transformed us from selfish to selfless. Because of this great love, we as a church seek to bring it into to the hearts, minds, and institutions of our city. We believe that in doing this we will see lives transformed as well as our city.

Who we target: Our church is strategically placed five minutes west of downtown Little Rock. The vast majority of people that live in this area are politically and theologically liberal. They tend to be young but are not always so. There is also a decent mix of young families. Over 90% of this area is Caucasian and wealthy.

Success and the change we want to see come about five years from now go hand and hand. We will be successful if we continue to see people come to Jesus (or come back to him). We will be successful if we launch another church in Little Rock (we know we can't be the only ones pursuing the gospel mission). All of this will require equipping the saints to do the work of ministry, raising money from within, and establishing leaders to help bring it about.

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If you would like to reach out to Dan, you can visit the church's website at www.centralpreslr.com

New Planter Spotlight: Pastor Dima

For the safety of Pastor Dima and his church, personal pictures and names cannot be shared.

Pastor Dima IS THE THE HEAD PASTOR FOR a new church plant in Belarus. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.

How have you seen God working in your life?

When I became a believer, I eagerly received the free gift of Jesus dying in my place, to pay the penalty for my sins. But as time went by, I came to believe that I needed to work to maintain my salvation. I lost my joy toward God and I hid my imperfections from people. However, this past year I studied the book of Galatians and the Holy Spirit helped me to understand that I am an adopted child of God. There is nothing I can do to cause him to love me more nor is there any bad thing I can do to cause him to love me less. I needed the Gospel for my salvation and I also know that I need the Gospel every day for my sanctification.

How have you seen God working in your family?

My wife and I have been married for more than 15 years. We are in a sweet season where we enjoy our similarities and no longer try to change the other person's differences. I'm blessed to have a wife who cares for me, loves our children, works full-time and disciples women in our church. Her sacrifices allow me to be a pastor and freely shepherd our church. Our children are growing in their love for God, by it is more and more difficult to protect them from negative influences in our culture. Even though our lives are extra busy because of planting a new church, it has been unifying to serve God together as a family.

How have you seen God working in your church?

As we launched the church, I had many new ideas that I was sure would result in many new believers and a fast growing church. God had other plans for us. Many of my new ideas did not work. God worked in ways that we did not expect. I think that God broke some of my pride through failures so that I would learn to depend more on Him.

Church Vision

There are a lot of young people currently living in our city, and many more are coming here from villages and towns all over our country. The number of students at our main University (and different colleges) is over 15,000 people. Additionally, there are also over 18,000 students in public schools. At the same time young people are lacking guidance in life and basic moral values, which is why we have serious problems with smoking, drunkenness, drug addiction, AIDS, early abortion and violence. In 2015 our city was #1 in the region regarding AIDS infections, and is in the top 5 of our whole nation.

It breaks my heart to see that the young people are dying in my city without God. I want to bring the gospel into their lives and share this hope for a new life that only God in Christ can give!

In addition to growing our church, we plan to plant a daughter church that will focus on another part of town. We are investing in young men who want to become elders and pastors in the future.

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For the safety of Pastor Dima and his church, names and locations cannot be shared. However, if you would like to learn more about Eurasia Partners and give towards Pastor Dima's work, visit www.eurasiapartners.org/give/00245.

New Planter Spotlight: Michael Veitz

The Veitz Family

Michael Veitz IS THE THE HEAD PASTOR FOR New River Fellowship in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.

How have you seen God working in your life?

Growing up, my life was driven by the desire to be "successful" and to gain the approval of man. Whether it was athletics, academics, or relationships, I was motivated to do well so that many would view me as a success. That began to change when I came to understand how Jesus had won the approval of God the Father on my behalf.
Ministry, however, can feed into this idol.

• How many people?
• How many dollars?
• How big of a facility?

These questions have been acceptable measurements of success within American Evangelicalism for some years and can be helpful. But they can wreak havoc on the life of a man who seeks to be viewed by his peers as successful. I have seen God continue to work in my life, freeing me from seeking the approval of man. Instead, he has given me a desire to be faithful to what He has called me to do, knowing that because of Jesus, I am fully accepted by God

How have you seen God working in your family?

God has been working in my family in mighty ways. I see my daughters recruiting their friends to come to church, to believe in Jesus, and they are eager to help me plan for church worship. They have bought into what we are doing because they believe that it is of upmost importance for people to believe in Jesus.

Suzanne and I see God at work in our marriage as we labor together to see God's Kingdom grow in our home and in Fort Lauderdale. God has given us unity in the midst of busyness. He has provided us with peace in the midst of uncertainty and confidence that our God will provide and that we will see Him change lives through our work.

How have you seen God working in your church?

We have see God bring many people who do not go to church to New River Fellowship. One gentleman told Mike's friend, "Mike has taught me more about God than any other person in my life." 
Suzanne and I do not take this lightly. God has given us an incredible opportunity to meet and find favor with people who do not know Jesus in Fort Lauderdale. We are asking God to build a church around people who are coming to know Jesus for the first time. We have begun to see God do this. People are coming to faith, others are growing in their faith, and many are getting questions answered. We praise God for His faithfulness.

Church Vision

To make, equip, and send followers of Jesus for the glory of God and the good of Fort Lauderdale, South Florida, and the world.

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If you would like to reach out to Michael, you can visit the church's website at www.newriverftl.com.

New Planter Spotlight: Charlie Mitchell

The Mitchell Family

Charlie Mitchell

Charlie Mitchell IS THE THE HEAD PASTOR FOR Epiphany Church Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.

How have you seen God working in your life?

God has been a faithful friend during this season of my life in ministry. The early days of 2017 were very difficult for my family and I as we faced many health issues that threatened to derail our ministry efforts in Baltimore City. In spite of that God has work in our weakness and provided all that we could ask or think. My faith in the Lord has only increased as each day more opportunities to serve and make an impact in Baltimore have come in ways that can only be accounted to God. God is faithful.

How have you seen God working in your family?

My wife and children have always been a priority in my life. But as we faced the realities of church planting and the trials of spiritual warfare I quickly realized that rhythms and patterns we had cultivated in the past were not enough to withstand the pressures of church planting in the inner-city. So we have double-down our efforts to address the spiritual and emotional needs of everyone in our household and reinforce rhythms of rest and renewal so that we can sustain a healthy family while planting.

How have you seen God working in your church?

Our church is a miracle from God. When most people speak of starting a new church they use agricultural language to help people understand the process. For us, we use the language of demolition and construction. In the recent months that we have been on the ground in Baltimore City, God has brought us people who are ready to work and serve iso Baltimore would better reflect the kingdom of God. It has been astounding to watch.

Church Mission

At Epiphany Church, our aim is to be in the community, for the city, showing off the glory of Christ. We do this by cultivating communities of Spirit-led followers of Jesus that enjoy God, engage the city, and reach the world.

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If you would like to reach out to Russell, you can visit the church's website at www.epiphanybmore.com.