Gearing UP

2007 is almost gone and LifeTree Church is gearing up for an incredible
year! In TWO weeks, we are going to have our first worship service at
Allgood Elementary. If you are in the neighborhood on January 13, 2008, be
sure and drop in. Allgood Elementary is on Hart Road off of Hwy 61 (Villa
Rica Hwy). Get there around 10:30 am and help us with our very first worship
celebration.

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11:51 AM

October Update

Well, I have finished my dissertation and we are working like gangbusters on the church. It is really interesting how God works through us and finesses the vision. We are really focused on reaching families and have developed a small group discipleship design that will help us to make disciples within a family environment.

Please pray for LifeTree and for our leadership.

Beginning of August - Prayer Concerns

It is back to school time once again, and we at LifeTree Church are geared up. Last week we sponsored a breakfast for the teachers at Allgood Elementary, our meeting location. They seemed to have been pleased.

This summer we have been very busy. I have been working on my dissertation, watching the girls, and taking care of some LifeTree Church planning. Steven has moved to Paulding County and has begun working on his church planting responsibilities while working. Brian has been taking classes in New Orleans all summer and working on his church planting responsibilities. It is amazing how well we have adapted to multi-tasking. I pray that God would continue to give us the focus to handle life’s distractions while cultivating the church field.

I would like to give you a few prayer concerns we have at this point:

• Continue to pray for Kent Caperton and his family. His wife will have baby Julianne on September 13, and then Julianne will have a surgery within the first three days in order to correct a heart condition.
• Pray for our fundraising efforts. We are in the process of raising support towards a goal of $150,000. This amount will fund our equipment, facility rental, and outreach ministries for the first year. Check out the details at our website: http://lifetreechurch.org/prospectus.html.
• Pray for our launch team development. We are working towards developing a core group of people who will help launch the church next year. If you would like more information about the launch team, send me an email at jeff@lifetreechurch.org.
• Pray for the people of Paulding County that they will hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and come to know Him as their savior.

Thank you for your prayers and for your ministry.

July Prayer Requests

The one word that can best describe this summer is BUSY. Most of the busy-ness has been focused on me finishing the dissertation I have been working on. My goal is to finish it this summer so that I can focus on church planting in the fall. At the end of May, I made a major jump ahead, but now I am in the tedious stage of technical writing.

In June, the Perry family moved to Dallas, GA. As you are aware, we asked for prayer that Missi would find a job in the area, and I am happy to report that God faithfully answered your prayers. Missi was offered a great nursing job and has been getting settled on the job for the last couple of weeks.

LifeTree Church has begun having a weekly small group meeting on Sunday nights. Currently, we are studying what a disciple of Jesus Christ looks like.

Continue to pray for LifeTree Church as we seek to reach Paulding County. We are meeting some really wonderful people and opportunities for ministry are always present.

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

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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.