2 New Environments Approved!
On March 23rd at our DEXCOM meeting, we had the joy of approving our next 2 Kingdom Advancing Environments. Each of these projects represents over a year of discerning, empowering, training, and creating. With the approval of these 2 projects, we have now activated 10 new Kingdom Advancing Environments since we set our goal of 30. God is up to something good amongst us! This is a moment to stop, rejoice, and thank God for all that God is doing in and through the North Central District.
Before giving you the details of these plants, I want to remind you why we are pursuing this goal. We are called to be light in dark places and bring the hope and love of Christ to every man, woman, and child in our district. In these last weeks, we have again experienced devastation from witnessing violence towards the Asian-American community in Atlanta and at a supermarket in Boulder. As we continue to grieve the loss of life and the fear that is experienced by members of these communities, I want to make clear that our planting of churches is part of how we respond to the brokenness, racism, and violence in our society. We respond by proactively exposing the light of Jesus in the darkness, trusting that the peace and presence of Jesus stand opposed to the violence and racism in our nation. These new church plants represent significant venues for the Kingdom of God to be made manifest and for the peace of God to reign.
Compassion Church: Anoka, MN – www.compassionanoka.com – Rob and Kelsey Bergfalk Pastor Rob is the youth pastor at Nowthen Alliance. Nowthen’s pastor, Nate Kemper, began to sense the potential for Rob as a church planter some years ago and brought him up as a potential candidate for planting. Rob and Kelsey attended our assessment center and after a season of development are ready to launch out to plant Compassion Church on June 1st. Nowthen Alliance Church has been amazing throughout the process to discern, send and support this new church plant. Rob and Kelsey have a vision for the church that involves ministry to and with the homeless population. The vision for Compassion Church is: “To make Jesus visible in Anoka. We are a non-traditional church with a heart is to show compassion to those in need.” Please pray for Compassion Church in these early days! If you would like to partner with this new church plant Rob is available to share at your church the vision for what God is up to in Anoka and beyond.
RiverLife Brooklyn Park: Brooklyn Park, MN – www.riverlifemn.com – Kong and Pang Moua Pastor Kong is the Associate Pastor at RiverLife Church in St. Paul. RiverLife’s mission is to bring "hope, healing, and growth to 2nd and 3rd gen Hmong”. Part of the vision for the church since it was planted by Pastor Greg and Pang Foua Rhodes was to multiply, either through planting another church or campus. When Crossroads Alliance Church closed, we began seeking the Lord for what God might want us to do with the property. Once a potential merger fell through, we began processing the potential for another RiverLife Campus in Brooklyn Park. Pastor Kong has grown in his leadership at RiverLife and Kong and Pang went through our assessment process. After a season of development, Kong is ready to become the Campus Pastor for a new site in Brooklyn Park. There is a large Hmong population in the Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park areas and the church is poised to reach into this spiritually undeserved population with the light and love of Jesus. Please pray for RiverLife Brooklyn Park in these early days! If you would like to partner with this new church plant Pastor Kong is available to share at your church the vision for what God is up to in Brooklyn Park and beyond.
10 New Environments:
Alliance North (Fargo, ND)
Christ Community Church (Rugby, ND)
Compassion Church (Anoka, MN)
Ekklesia (Sioux Falls, SD)
Morningstar Family (Elk River, MN)
New Life Alliance (Bena, MN)
One Degree Ministries (Mora, MN)
RiverLife Brooklyn Park (Brooklyn Park, MN)
The Seed (Centerville, SD)
Zion Evangelical Fellowship Minneapolis (Minneapolis, MN)
Kyle Magstadt
Associate Superintendent for Church Multiplication
North Central District of The C&MA