The fall season is upon us and it brings far more than cooler weather and a brilliant change of color. Fall also brings a new ministry year in all of our Harvest Bible Chapels.
Much hard work has taken place over the summer as our churches prepare to take the gospel to our neighborhoods and around the world, as well as to grow disciples. We praise God for all the effort being spent to exalt the Lord Jesus and offer living water to thirsty communities in North America and Romania. We rest in God’s promise that His Word will not come back empty, but will accomplish all His purposes (
Isaiah 55:10-11).
And fall at the Fellowship has been very busy also. In September we launched five new churches:
Arthur, Illinois;
Houston, Texas;
Muskoka, Ontario;
Orlando, Florida; and
Phoenix, Arizona. We praise God for the wonderful privilege of starting new Harvest Bible Chapels - and Lord willing, by the end of 2008, we will have launched five more! Decatur, Illinois; Turks & Caicos, BWI; Asheville, North Carolina; Cambridge, Ontario; and Monrovia, Liberia.
Please pray for God’s protection and favor for our new churches. We long to see them flourish with great fruitfulness and honor our Father in heaven (
John 15:8).
Finally, it was great to see so many of you at the
Straight Up Conference. I thought it was the best conference yet. It is a tremendous encouragement to see you and hear of the fruit produced in your churches. Pictured above are the Senior Pastors of most of our Harvest Bible Chapels, as we gathered at Straight Up.
We are looking forward to God’s work in the days ahead.
Kent C. Shaw
Executive Director, Harvest Bible Fellowship
God did something amazing three years ago, when He brought five families together in central Illinois to plant a church with a commitment to solid biblical teaching and evangelism within their community. His amazing work expanded as Harvest Christian Fellowship transitioned and officially re-launched as
Harvest Bible Chapel Arthur on September 7.
Over 100 people came to celebrate this new work, which was the culmination of much prayer and sacrifice. The worship service began with music and celebration, and
Pastor Tony Caffey started a series on 1 Peter entitled, "Run the Earth, Watch the Sky."
Two weeks post-launch brought a baptismal service where four souls made a public declaration of their faith in Jesus Christ. Continuing to serve the central Illinois area, Harvest Arthur seeks to make mature disciples of Jesus Christ who are committed to God's Word and sharing the good news of salvation through Him.
Harvest Bible Chapel Houston NW transitioned into action on Sunday, September 7. What began last year with 54 people in a living room has already grown into two services, with attendance of about 250.
Preparing for whatever God wanted to do on that Sunday, the majority of the leadership team of roughly 130 served in some capacity - whether in the parking lot, serving coffee, greeting, ushering, teaching, or leading - with anticipation and excitement.
And the Lord allowed the destruction of Hurricane Ike to draw them even closer together. Generators were being rotated throughout the body. Several members opened their homes to host those without power and/or water…many more helped repair and clean up where necessary. Ike presented opportunity for the church to be the church.
In the opening service, communion was shared for the first time as a Harvest Bible Chapel.
Pastor Buddy Riddle introduced his yearlong sermon platform, “Heart Healthy,” focusing on the importance of guarding your heart in
Proverbs 4:23. It was a great day - and a great day to be in the house of the Lord.
The launch of
Harvest Bible Chapel Muskoka made it clear that people were praying - the worship was Spirit-filled and passionate, the details were more than taken care of (with only a couple of glitches), and people showed up - quite a crowd for their little town!
Pastor Kaj Ballantyne can't help but tear up every time he reflects on it.
Muskoka is blessed with a worship team full of true worshipers and a core group pumped to reach their community. As Kaj charges, "Now on to the work! God is so good, and we are just praying that each Sunday and each day of ministry onward is one where we are surrendered completely to Him and where He continues to show up in huge ways!"
The Lord is doing a new thing in Orlando - and it's marvelous in our eyes! The first public service of
Harvest Bible Chapel Orlando was energized with prayer and anticipation, and the core group serving in multiple ways for the 100-plus attenders.
The excitement and passion were amplified in worship, which led the call to consider God's heart for their city. Kicking off the ministry season,
Pastor Joel Anderson brought the Word with “The Next Step: A Study in the Life of Abraham,” and a challenge to make God’s call personal and to respond authentically.
Now growing together as a body of disciples, this church plant is getting after the harvest God is raising in Orlando.
God is at work in Phoenix, AZ! Early in 2008, the leadership of
Harvest Rolling Meadows determined it was time for North Phoenix to transition from an extension campus to an official church plant. After much prayer,
Bill Borinstein was called to be the new Senior Pastor and work began on "re-launching" the church on September 7.
Following a day of hitting the streets on September 6 with a "Get Out the Word" campaign that reached well over 2,000 homes,
Harvest Bible Chapel North Phoenix celebrated its new beginning with a new message series from the book of Joshua entitled, "StepUp! Leadership Lessons from the Life of Joshua."
With 158 people in attendance, God was exalted and everyone was challenged through His Word to step it up in their daily lives with Him, and to settle for nothing less than being world-changers for Christ.
This fall the Harvest Training Center is pleased to welcome four men called to minister,
as the Lord wills, in future Harvest church plants.
Trent, who is preparing to pastor a church plant in Granger, IN, is
married to his wife Andrea. Together they have four children: Brooke,
Zachary, Allison, and Leah.
His favorite Bible verse is
Acts 20:24. Trent explained, “God used this
verse to thrust me into ministry and sustain me when it was difficult
to continue. It reminds me of the importance of finishing well.”
The core group in Granger is sold out on the Harvest distinctives and
has a big vision for their church to unapologetically proclaim truth
for the purpose of growing disciples for Jesus. Trent is both humbled by
the opportunity to lead this future plant and passionate for the body
to demonstrate the core values of Christ’s church.
Randy came to the Harvest Training Center from Cambridge, Ontario, to where he has returned to transition a church. He is married to Martha and together they have three sons: Zac, Ben, and Pete.
2 Corinthians 5:21 is compelling to Randy as it speaks with clarity on the person and work of Christ and on the event of redemption.
Also compelling is the leadership team in Cambridge - people who are genuine in their love for God and others, and are excited to hone in with a laser focus on the work of the Kingdom.
Zygmunt will take on the task of planting a Harvest in Wroclaw, Poland. He is married to Maria with whom he has five children: Wojtek, Ela, Piotr, Patryk, and Marcin; and is further blessed with two grandchildren: Zuzia and Olaf.
Zygmunt’s favorite Bible verse comes from
Isaiah 6:8, which called him to ministry after his conversion in 1965.
The people of Wroclaw (one of the biggest historical cities in Poland, with a population of about 800,000) are open for new ideas, and those in this core group are very serious about sharing the Gospel with others and helping them grow spiritually. According to Zygmunt, the Harvest hallmarks of solid doctrine, contemporary worship, and emphasis on small groups and spiritual maturity are “exactly what we need in Wroclaw.”
Meet the 2008-2009 Class of the Harvest
Training Center in our next edition.