For the 25/4 church planting initiative. We are praying that God rises up the servants He desires to plant new churches in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
For the churches and the GLBC ministries. As many ministries are closing our their budget years, please pray that there would be faithfulness in the financial commitments made. Please pray that God will provide and that His wisdom and guidance would be abundant as work is done to plan new budgets. May we be good stewards of the resources God has blessed us with.
For the people that make up the Great Lakes Baptist Conference, that we would be diligent taking time to spend with Jesus through prayer, personal study and participation in the local church. That we would be consumed with a passion to draw nearer to our maker.
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Strategic Partners
We have companies that partner with us. By accessing these companies through our website you support the GLBC. If shopping at Christian Book Distributors or Amazon fit into your shopping plans for the fall ministry, please access them through our website!
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS
GLBC Annual Meeting
Oct. 22-23, 2010
Information will be coming to your mailboxes soon!
Hosted by Bethany Baptist Church- Schofield, WI.
Guest speaker is Pastor Dana Olson, Faith Baptist Fellowship- Sioux Falls, SD and Former Director of Prayer First with Converge Worldwide (BGC).
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Dear Ministry Partner,
How are you being faithful to what God has called you to do?
Jesus asked his disciples a very penetrating question: "Who do people say that I am?"
Peter, the young leader who more often than not said or did the wrong thing, stepped up to the plate and said, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God."
Jesus replied, "You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you.... Now I say to you Peter... and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it" (Matt. 16:13, 16-18, NLT). Not upon Peter, as some have misinterpreted this passage, but Jesus Christ himself (1 Cor. 3:11) is the foundation upon which the church is being built.
Building His church is a work of God, through the Holy Spirit in partnership with the faithfulness of man (1 Cor. 3:1-15; 4:1, 2, I Thess. 1:2-5). In and of ourselves we cannot save or change anyone. All we can do is be faithful to what God has called us to do and be, and allow Him to work in us as we proclaim, with words and deeds, the gospel (euangelion) to a world that so desperately needs Him.- Dr. Dwight Perry
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From the Desk of Dr. Dwight Perry
 Reaching a Different Demographic
It is almost 37 years since I bowed my knee to Jesus Christ and threw myself almost immediately into seeing Christ's church built. Over the years some have asked, "Dwight, why you do what you do?" Only two things last forever: the Word of God and people. The question is where our relatives, friends and neighbors will spend eternity.
I am convinced of this because of my personal transformation and because of what I have seen as a servant-leader the past 21-plus years in the family of the churches that I love, Converge Worldwide (BGC). And especially during the five-plus years I have served as Executive Minister of the Great Lakes Baptist Conference. One real-life example is in the relationship between Community Church and our newest church plant, Thrive, both in Fond du Lac, Wi.
Community Church is a member of the Fox Valley LEAD Team. Our friends and colleagues Paul and Darla Johnson planted CC some 30 years ago. It has a rich history of partnering and planting churches in our region. Thrive, CC's fourth daughter church in the past 11 years, launched March 28, 2010.
These churches, literally a few miles apart, have partnered to reach a different demographic of Fond du Lac - those age 18 to 35 and those completely unchurched. I asked CC Senior Pastor, Ken Nabi, and Thrive, Lead Pastor/Church Planter, Steve Bialy about their unique relationship. See what they had to say below.
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'Whatever it takes' for Kingdom Growth
In these tough economic times, how could CC send away resources so freely?
Pastor Nabi answered: "When you plant a daughter church, you must do everything to ensure its success and growth. Often planters are full of ideas, energy and vision. They are short on money, people/volunteers and established relationships. Community Church is devoted to planting churches; we have a 'whatever it takes' attitude. We earmarked $20,000 to help Thrive get started. We gave Steve 'open hunting season' to recruit any of our most mature members. I challenged our congregation to financially support Steve and Amanda's efforts as an extension of our own vision to reach this community. This led to a key donor making a contribution for the next three years totaling $100,000." Pastor Bialy said, "I greatly value Ken as a colleague and mentor. We processed and honed the mission, vision, strategic plan, etc. I would ask established churches to consider how much more could be accomplished for the kingdom through planting churches targeting other communities -- or potentially different demographics within their own community." Adds Nabi, "There are thousands of people within five miles of our church who have no idea of the gospel. It is our mandate to reach them. We celebrate the birth of our daughter churches and give growth updates periodically. We tell every new member about our church planting past and zeal to continue."
Jesus says He will build His church. That promise spoken 2000 years ago was for first-century disciples just like you and me. God doesn't want us as congregations to be satisfied with our programs, buildings and budget, but committed to seeing His church continue to multiply until he comes back to claim his own.
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Transforming Communities...
Faith Works is a ministry of Faith Community in New Richmond, WI. They began their vision and planning in December 2008 with their first project in July 2009. There first year they had over 250 people from the church work on 15 different community projects. These people served together for one week in July approaching this time much like a missions trip by providing people the opportunity to camp on the church campus, eat all three meals at the campus and basically stay away from the comforts of their homes.They just finished Faith Works 2010 less than two weeks ago!
Last year there was real focus on becoming a body of believers that could grow and move together in an effort to share the Gospel. They have used projects around their community to send out teams of people (from Faith Community) who didn't know each other well, to get to know each other better while serving those God has brought before them.
While these aren't exact statistics, there are approximately 20,000 unchurched people within a ten mile radius of New Richmond. Faith Community's prayer/goal/dream is to provide an opportunity for all of these folks to hear the Gospel. Faith Works is simply a tangible way to make a connection and share what God has done and continues to do in the heart's of His people.
There hope is that Faith Works isn't something that their church family waits once a year to do. They are just trying to show people ways to make connections with those God has provided to them, to serve them and share the Gospel. Their prayer is that these connections will continue to be pursued throughout the year and that they can continue to celebrate His Kingdom as well as the desire and passion He has provided to His family, and to tell others all about it! -From information provided by Todd Hennlich -Faith Works Mission- Faith Community- New Richmond, WI.
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