Impacting the communityBay Community Fellowship

(BCF) has learned to keep their eyes and hearts open to unexpected people seeking the Kingdom of God in unexpected ways. BCF has a good reputation in the neighborhood, which produced a phone call from an in-home daycare in West Oakland. The daycare, The Baby Academy, was looking to grow but needed a larger space. Since the inquiry, BCF has worked with the daycare to pass all of the state inspections and entered into a contract to open in the church facility around Christmas.

Throughout the week, laughter and learning can be heard from inside the church building. A place filled with the prayers and helping hands of a faith community now serves as a place for children to grow in wisdom.

Not only is this a place where little boys and girls are loved and taught, but parents who may never otherwise come to church are walking through the church doors. BCF Pastor Curtis Flemming said, “If I am at the church office at the right time of the day and I take a little break outside, I get to shake hands and introduce myself to the heartbeat of our neighborhood – the families.”

As a part of intentional community building, one stipulation in using the facility is to employ local community members. Rob is a member of BCF and has lived in West Oakland for 43 years. He worked on and off for many of those years, but he always had a desire to find meaningful and consistent work. The job opportunity the daycare provided was perfect for him. Rob now works in the kitchen preparing food for the little ones. When asked what he likes best about the job, he said it was being able to help provide care and food for the kids.

“Families are the heartbeat of our neighborhood.”The love of a local church family displayed through acts of service and generosity continue to build a reputation for BCF in the community. The church is known as a place to find hope for your hearts and help for your hands.

Plant healthyUrban churches

Rob, Pastor Curtis, and two staff members from The Baby Academy.

Good neighborOne of the greatest tools in being able to start churches in the city is being a neighbor. Shopping at the same grocery stores, seeing the same late-night police lights, and being able to wave hello and goodbye as you come and go from your home are great equalizers.

Midwest church planters Tim and Cynthia bought a house that had been vacant for two years and was a real fixer-upper. They knew it would be a lot of work, but they were up for it! What they did not expect were all the stories that would come from this home. As neighbors saw them tearing down walls and building a front porch, they lingered to tell stories about the house – past residents, events and lawn care. Eventually the porch was completed but the neighbors continued to stop by and chat.

During Christmas, World Impact partners with a local church that supplies Christmas food baskets. Tim and Cynthia received a few baskets to pass out to their neighbors. As they presented a Christmas turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pie and much more, they were invited into their neighbors’ homes. At one house, they were able to cry with and pray for a family that was grieving the deaths of two family members. As the family shared memories of their loved ones, a bond was strengthening and an invitation to join a small but growing church was shared.

Tim and Cynthia have a small group of people that meet at their home for church, which is a Christ the Victor Church plant and part of an Urban Church Association. Although they are small in number, they link arms with many other churches in World Impact’s Midwest Region.

Church Planter ProfileElwood and Betty Jones,Landmark Church of Alexandria

Vision: To be a multi-racial church that reaches out to people who are unchurched in Alexandria, VA, and in the Washington, D.C. metro area

Lead Pastor Elwood Jones grew up in Alexandria, VA, in the late ‘60s. The community where he lived was both multi-racial and diverse. After a job with the city’s Department of Recreation and a fruitful music career, Elwood gave his life to Christ in the early ‘80s. His culturally diverse upbringing gave him a heart and a passion to see a movement that embraces all people. This passion has led him and Betty to many different ministries and opportunities over the years. This new church plant is a labor of love and passion.

Please Pray for Landmark Church as they reach out to the unchurched in Alexandria.

Tim and Cynthia (second row, matching sweatshirts) with their house church.

Fuente para las nacionesOne night at weekly Bible study, church members sat in a circle sharing stories of how God answered prayers. Congregants saw and heard how God moved, and they wanted more! This gathering birthed a new prayer ministry in South Los Angeles. Every week, homes throughout the South Park neighborhood open to gather with people who are hungry to be with God, and God keeps showing up.

Many of the homes do not have large family rooms, but somehow the hosts manage to fit 20-30 people. Chad Wolyn, the founding pastor of Fuente para las Naciones, was moved to tears seeing those people standing with arms lifted high, kneeling, sitting, crying, laughing, and experiencing the goodness and faithfulness of God. The prayer ministry has welcomed more first-time visitors who want to lift their needs before the Lord.

A church member named Francisco leads these times of prayer. He feels he is being challenged to follow God wherever He calls. Francisco is working on preaching and teaching the Word of God. “I had never finished reading a book before,” he said, “and now I’m starting my fifth book in five months!”

Francisco is in his fifties and has taken steps toward the calling God has on his life. The leaders of the church have been there every step of the way to guide him, watch him be stretched and cheer him on. The preparation behind-the-scenes has been constant: weekly mentoring meetings, Bible memorization, fasting and much more. At the end of the year, not only will he have read 12 books, but all 66 books of the Bible as well. He is also working on his first sermon. Francisco is thankful for this push and opportunity to pursue and be guided in something that seemed like only a dream a year ago.

Francisco, second to the left, and men from the church gather for fellowship.

PLEASE PRAY FOR: » Randy, who is currently in a Kansas prison but has committed

his life to the Lord and is taking The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI) classes inside the prison. A World Impact staff member had the privilege of marrying Randy and his longtime girlfriend, Monica, behind prison walls! They are already planning to join Christ the Victor Church Planting Movement upon his release, and Randy has begun apprenticeship through his leadership role with the church inside the prison. » Randle and BJ Cameron, who have been teaching TUMI classes

for quite a while in their small church in Colorado Springs, CO. When they heard what World Impact Midwest was doing with church planting, they wanted to be a part of it! They are bringing an already-established church to the partnership. Pray for them as they continue moving forward with renewed vision.

Randy and Monica and family

BJ and Randle Cameron

A Letter from hank voss“Our goal is to create a beloved community, and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dear Friends,

Perhaps you wonder why World Impact is so passionate about church planting? The answer is simple. We are compelled by the deep love of Christ. This love is the most potent transformer of souls in our planet’s history. God has shared His love with us so that we can share it with the world.

Robert Dixon, a man known as “Preacher,” displays this transforming love to his community through the local church. Preacher and I recently stood next to each other at a prayer vigil. We had gathered because a 62-year-old woman from my street had been murdered walking home from the grocery store two days before Christmas.

That evening our prayer was a lament, but the next time I saw Preacher, it was to celebrate the transforming beauty of God’s love. Preacher was hosting the first “Christian Family Gospel Festival” several blocks from where the woman had died. The event brought together 25 different choirs, worship teams, blue-grass groups, hip-hop artists, and gospel performers for 12 continuous hours of testimony, worship, and praise.

Preacher had planned the event while incarcerated in California’s Centinela State Prison. His life was transformed by God’s love in prison. He completed TUMI’s Capstone Curriculum and returned to life outside prison in April 2014 with a compelling vision to see others transformed by the same love. Under the guidance of his local pastor, Preacher organized the Gospel Festival to share this good news.

World impact is committed to transforming communities together with you and leaders like Preacher. We are praying and planning for 300 new churches to be planted as crowns of beauty to display the splendor of Christ’s love. Thank you for partnering with us in this task.

Rev. Dr. Hank VossNational Director of Church Planting

worldimpact.orgP: 323.735.1137 | F: 323. 735.25762001 S. Vermont AveLos Angeles, CA 90007

wiinfo@worldimpact.orgin Canada: Box 12085Murrayville RPOLangley, BC V2Y0M6

THANK YOUYour support and

prayers have made these church plants

possible! We want to be able to plant 20 churches this year.

On average, it costs $50,000 to plant a church. Please

consider helping us achieve these goals!

Hank Voss, his wife Johanna and their family

Robert Dixon, aka Preacher