Prayer Update for May

Hello Prayer Warriors,

I realize that a lot of time has passed between this post and the last post. We have had a very busy month and a half! First of all, Steven and Missi Perry have been searching for a house so that they could move on the field. I am happy to report that they found a great house in a great location. Pray for them as they work towards moving to Dallas, GA. The plan is to close on June 6 and move in the next weekend. Anyone want to help unpack?

Continue to pray for the Perry's as they seek jobs to help them before the church launches. Missi and Steven both have interviews coming up.

Pray for the Bridges as they remain in New Orleans for Brian's last semester. They have also been experiencing some illness lately.

Recently, I met a woman who lost her husband to cancer last year. They have a six year old boy. Pray for Irene and Matthew as they continue to adjust to the loss of a husband and father.

One of my priorities is to finish my dissertation before I get too involved in the church plant. I am well on my way to finishing, but I am down to the last few months. I will complete the dissertation this summer, but I sure could use some prayer to get through it.

We are about to seek support for the church plant. Our best estimates (based on quotes we have received) have shown that equipment will cost around $50,000 and other start up costs will be around $50,000. Right off the bat we are going to need to raise $100,000. This is church plant is an exercise in faith, and we are trusting God to provide for our needs.

Continue to pray for the people and community of Paulding County. There are so many here who need to hear the gospel and to experience God's grace.

Pray that we will develop a core group of people who will be focused on reaching the unchurched.

LifeTree Church Baptism Brooke

Click to Play

The first baptism of LifeTree Church.

LifeTree Church's First Baptism

It has certainly been a busy couple of weeks! LifeTree Church has really begun to blossom and take shape. This past weekend, we had the Bridges family and the Perry family visit and pray for the community. I think they really were able to see the vision and the need.

During their visit, we drove around Paulding County looking at the new developments that are being built, the new roads that are being laid, and the new businesses opening their doors. Seeing the amount of growth taking place really drove home the importance of LifeTree Church.

Also, most excellent news!! Over the weekend, Brooke accepted Christ as her Savior! As her daddy, I am absolutely thrilled! Since we had the entire current membership of LifeTree Church staying at our house, we decided to go ahead and baptize her on Sunday evening! I am going to try to attach the video of her baptism but if it doesn't work, I'll provide a link. (Sorry for all of the exclamation points in this paragraph. I just think this is exclamation worthy info!!!)

Please pray for our newest believer, Brooke, that she will continue to grow in her relationship with Jesus Christ and will boldly proclaim His gospel.

Also, continue to pray for LifeTree Church's search for a worship leader.

Thirdly, pray that LifeTree Church will receive the funding it needs to carry out the mission of reaching Paulding County and all the world with the gospel.

New Logo for LifeTree Church

I wanted to give a quick update about our logo. We have a new logo! My brother, Mark, has a friend at the Mellow Mushroom named Dusty. Dusty drew three logos and the last was the one we wanted. Go to the website to check out our new logo.

www.lifetreechurch.org

A Productive February

Well, February is coming to a close and God has really blessed LifeTree Church this month. Over the course of the month, we were incorporated, our Trustee Board met, the prospectus is nearly completed, and we have added two families to our leadership team.

Steven and Missi Perry have heard God's call to plant a church in Paulding County, GA and are moving here from New Orleans this summer. Steven is going to serve as a teaching pastor with responsibilities involving missions and evangelism.

Brian and Karen Bridges are also going to move here from New Orleans, but they are going to move around the first of January, 2008. Brian is going to serve as a teaching pastor with responsibilities involving small groups.

Please pray for the Perrys and the Bridges as they make arrangements to move to GA.

Also, pray for the completion of the prospectus.

Thirdly, pray for the community of Paulding County. Karen and I are building relationships with our neighbors and other community families.

Thank you for your prayers. God Bless.

Assessment, Prospectus and Raising Support. OH MY!

This has been an eventful couple of weeks for LifeTree Church. We completed the steps necessary for incorporation and are now able to receive funds. Also, we began work on our church plant prospectus. This is the brochure (pamphlet) we will distribute to potential supporters (churches, businesses, individuals, etc.) I am hoping to have the prospectus completed and printed before March 1.

Finally, Karen and I completed our assessment. When denominations are asked to provide support for new church plants, they prefer to have the lead church planter (and his wife) assessed to determine if they have the personality, gifts, and calling to successfully plant a church. This is primarily a matter of good stewardship. West Ridge Church was good enough to provide the assessment opportunity and added a wonderful marriage assessment. We really enjoyed the process and were pleased to confirm that our marriage is strong and healthy.

Prayer requests for the upcoming month include:

1. Prospectus Development and Logo design. Pray for us as we develop the prospectus to share with others. The prospectus is the first experience that the world will have with LifeTree Church. It is highly important that we have a high quality prospectus to introduce ourselves to the world. Also, we are brainstorming and working with creative types to come up with an exceptional logo. Pray that the artist is able to grasp the full concept of LifeTree Church and visually convey who we are.
2. Core group development. We continue to share the gospel and cultivate relationships hoping to find those whom God desires to be in our core group. Please pray that God will prepare these families for the task ahead. Also pray that we will find the core group members.
3. Church Planting Team. We are also praying for God to provide some capable men and their families to join us in the planting process. Please pray for these men as they seek God's will for them and their families.

These are the top three prayer requests we have for the upcoming couple of weeks. Personally, pray for Karen as she continues to heal from her tonsilectomy, and pray for me as I am traveling next week. I am headed to New Orleans to work on some research and to meet with a few potential team members.

Blessings,

Jeff