As the Church Planting ministry of the IPHC, Evangelism USA sees first hand the impact that the Global Outreach Offering has in reaching the lost.  New churches are statistically accounting for a large percentage of the new growth our church is experiencing.  Your giving to GO makes planting churches like Fellowship Church of Moore/Oklahoma City possible.  The story below is written by John Youell, pastor of Fellowship Church in Moore. When you give to GO, you have a part in the Kingdom expansion that is taking place through these church plants.  
-- Rev. Rick Fountain, Director, Church Planting/Development, EVUSA

The sun had barely risen in the eastern sky when the trailer truck containing our church rolled into the parking lot of Warren Theaters on Sunday, March 8, 2009.  A team of 30 volunteers began the process of turning three theaters into places of worship.  With each cart that left the trailer our anticipation grew.  Would anyone show up?  Would we be able to get all the theaters set up and ready to go on time?  Would the doors to the theater be open?

When the band took their places and the first chord was struck we looked up to find 180 people crammed into Theater 2.  With tears filling our eyes, Fellowship Church was launched.  That day 13 people gave their hearts to Christ.  When we dismissed we knew the dream had become reality.  We will never forget that day or the people who helped make it possible.

This was not your normal church start up.  The word launch means to catapult.  We hoped to start a new church that would skip several baby steps in the hopes of being healthy and sustained within the first year.  To do this, it was important in our strategy to look like we had been a church for many years instead of just a few weeks.  This meant raising and investing a large amount of money for equipment and marketing, neither of which is a cheap endeavor. 

While building our launch budget, we began to explore with our sponsoring church to forge a new type of mothering church concept.  As our discussions continued they agreed to continue my salary and keep me on staff until their daughter congregation could take over the burden.  In return we agreed to give half of the tithes of the launch team members who left our sponsoring church in order to help us start Fellowship.  17 people came with us.  Now 3 months later, TCC has grown by more than they released and the monthly income has nearly doubled!  

The Heartland Conference has also played a huge role in funding us.  We are doing things together that I never thought I would see.  We are on the forefront of out-of-the-box church planting and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  

Through the years I don’t think I really understood the importance of the Global Outreach offering until my family and I accepted the challenge of planting Fellowship Church.  It is safe to say that EVUSA and the GO offering were instrumental in helping us establish Fellowship Church.  In fact, we could not have done it without them.  I have become convinced of the need to plant and fund church planting like never before.  No one organization can do it alone.  Others helped us get started - including everyone who has given in the GO offering.  Together we are making a difference for the Kingdom and Fellowship Church is proud to be a part of the church planting revolution in IPHC Ministries.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) has named Galen Carey as
Director of Government Affairs. Carey is a longtime employee of World Relief, the relief and
development arm of the NAE.  He will join the NAE staff on August 1, 2009. 

Carey served as the Washington Director of Advocacy and Policy for World Relief from 2002-
2004.  He was known as a leading evangelical voice on refugee, immigration, and international
relief and development issues.  Most recently he established an HIV/AIDS network and worked
as the Regional Program Advisor for the World Relief Great Lakes Region, based in Bujumbura,
Burundi.

"Galen Carey brings a fresh approach to evangelical advocacy in Washington,” said Leith
Anderson, president of the NAE.  “He is a committed Christian who is active in his large
multicultural church in Maryland.  He has formal theological education with a masters degree
from an evangelical seminary and doctorate from a mainline seminary.  Galen not only speaks
about the growing number of Hispanics in our communities and churches but also speaks to
them; he is fluent in Spanish.  Caring for the vulnerable is not an abstract policy issue but a
passionate personal commitment arising from more than twenty years living among the poor in
Chicago and ten years working with victims of disaster, persecution and poverty from Africa to
Indonesia.  His concern for protecting the unborn comes not only from moral theorizing but also
from his own journey as the father of a special needs child.  Galen Carey speaks from
experience."

As the Director of Government Affairs, Carey will be responsible for representing the NAE
before Congress, the White House and the Courts and will work to advance the approach and
principles of the NAE document For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic
Responsibility. (The document is available at www.nae.net.) 

“I am honored to be the fourth person in the NAE’s 67 year history to fill this important role,”
Carey comments.  “I am excited to represent evangelical churches in Washington as we seek to
protect children and families, promote religious freedom, peace and human rights, seek
sustainable solutions to domestic and global poverty, promote a consistent ethic of life, and
responsibly care for God’s creation.  These are goals shared by many people of good will.  I look
forward to collaborating with the NAE’s many partners to promote the health and wellbeing of
our great nation and to bless our neighbors throughout the world.”

Carey has worked with World Relief for 26 years. His previous assignments include Indonesia
Disaster Response Director, Africa Regional Director, Mozambique Country Directory, and
Midwest Area Director (Chicago). Carey also worked as a Consultant and Acting Head of
Resettlement Unit, for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), based in
Zagreb, Croatia. 

His education includes B.A., History & Philosophy, Trinity International University, Deerfield,
Illinois; Master of Divinity, Trinity International University, Deerfield, Illinois; Doctor of
Ministry, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois.

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Redemption World Outreach Center (RWOC) hosted the grand opening of a new state of the art health and fitness center last week.  The Imagine Center is the church's latest ministry outreach to the Greenville community.

“Imagine a first-class, affordable fitness facility that also helps reduce crime, takes kids off the streets, offers midnight basketball, helps restore and renew bodies and families, all in a family environment no matter what level of life people are on," said RWOC Senior Pastor Ron Carpenter in a press release to local media.  "Buildings never fix things, but they can facilitate the programs and Ministry to grow people. I’ll never use people to build buildings, but we’ll forever use buildings to build people.”

The 55,000 square foot facility has three full-size basketball courts, workout areas, and a resturant.  Expected membership to the new fitness center is estimated at 4,000.  Many outreach sports and youth activities are already taking place.

The center also helped boost a sagging economy in Greenville.  Members of RWOC who had previously lost employment were hired to work at the Imagine Center.  The center created 54 full-time jobs for area residents.

"This Imagine Center is a vital Stewardship program - being good stewards of the body God has given us," said Rev. Ed Wood, executive director of IPHC Stewardship Ministries.

To learn more about the Imagine Center, visit RWOC's website here.

For more on this story, click here.

S.C. Highway Patrol Senior Trooper Wilson Owens Horton Jr. has been named the state’s Trooper of the Year for 2008.

Horton is a Lake City Native.  He and his family are active members of the Barrineau Pentecostal Holiness Church. 

“We believe Senior Trooper Horton embodies the characteristics of an all-around outstanding trooper,” said Highway Patrol Col. Kenny Lancaster, who presented Horton’s award. “He believes strongly in serving others — both in his personal and professional lives. We have received very positive comments from the public about the compassionate and caring manner in which he has conducted his collision investigations. We believe he sets an outstanding example for other troopers to follow.”

Congratulations to Senior Trooper Horton for a job well done!

To view the original news article, click here.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Bishop James D. Leggett will complete twelve years as general superintendent of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church on July 29 during the church’s 26th General Convention July 29 – August 1 in Greensboro, N.C.

“I am grateful to God for the privilege of serving the Pentecostal Holiness Church during an exciting period of growth and expansion,” said Leggett. “It has been a joy to represent the church in a number of organizations in the church world.”

Prior to serving as general superintendent, Leggett was the executive director of Evangelism USA for the denomination and a North Carolina conference superintendent.

Leggett was elected general superintendent at the 23rd General Conference in August 1997 in Kansas City. The delegates of the 2001 General Conference reelected him by acclamation. In 2005, the delegates of the 25th General Conference reelected him for a third term.

The church has experienced remarkable growth during Leggett’s tenure as Executive Director of Evangelism and as Presiding Bishop. Under his leadership, the IPHC established new conferences in New England and the Midwest with a third developing in the northern plains states. Church membership has shown record growth over the past decade and church planting has become a vital part of the church's mission. The IPHC now has churches in more than 100 nations and over 4.2 million adherents worldwide.

Leggett also serves as the chairman of the Pentecostal World Fellowship (PWF) and chairman of the 2010 Pentecostal World Conference to be held in Stockholm, Sweden. He has served as co-chairperson of the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA) and currently serves on the board of directors. He serves on the board of directors for the National Association of Evangelicals, serves on the Steering Committee and is president of the Evangelical/Pentecostal Family of Christian Churches Together (CCT), and is a member of Mission America and the American Society for Church Growth.

In September, Leggett will assume his new post as president of Holmes Bible College in Greenville, S.C., the oldest Pentecostal college in the United States. “We look forward with eager anticipation to the fall semester at Holmes Bible College when Bishop James Leggett becomes the sixth president,” said Dr. G. Earl Beatty, interim president of Holmes Bible College. “His leadership abilities have been documented in his current assignment and I feel certain he will do the same at Holmes.”

Leggett’s successor will be elected July 29 in Greensboro. An installment ceremony will take place at 7:30 p.m. July 31 in the Guildford Ballroom of the Joseph S Koury Convention Center. This event is open to the public. For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Rev. Mike Gray, General Conference Coordinator, at (405) 787-7110 or mgray@iphc.org.