Northeast Oklahoma District Church of the Nazarene

Dear NEO family,


What a week! It began with Easter and the celebration of our Risen Lord. I heard story after story of how the God who raised Jesus from the grave was active in NEO churches. Praise His Name. Through the week, some of the devastating storms that have marked springtime in the USA again raised their violent arms! Several of our families in Tahlequah experienced tremendous loss. This morning, Christian marriage was affirmed as Kate and William were united in marriage (was the historic “second kiss” an affirmation of our second blessing?). And, somehow, in the midst of everything else, NEO pastors are completing their annual pastors’ reports!

Disaster Relief. Pastor Casey Hollingsworth is helping to orgainze NEO efforts to help our brothers and sisters in Alabama who are suffering as a result of the tornadoes this week. Pastor Jason Powers is in the middle of relief efforts after the flooding in Tahlequah. If you want to get involved, contact one of these pastors or the District Office. Collecting Crisis Care kits is a good starting point.

Our April Statistical report is available on our website (http://www.neonaz.org/resources/stats-report ), along with a listing of churches who led the way in numerical growth in Sunday School/Discipleship and in worship attendance. Note below what pastors were celebrating:
Mike Howard, Drumright. . . On Easter Sunday we celebrated with 155 in attendance and we had 30 conversions this year!

Jeff Wooten, Cornerstone Community (Wagoner). . . Our first Sunday School Drive in years was a success. Go to www.wagnaz.org to see our promotional home made videos.

Scott Behm, Chelsea. . . In April, we had a special theme for our Easter missionary offering. We asked that everyone in the church collect thirty pieces of silver (bills were ok too) , the offering was gathered in little homemade bags marked “thirty pieces of silver” that Sister Louise had specially made, this year, for this occasion. Wanting to keep our children involved, we asked one of our youngest people Denise (age 3) to collect that offering. She used an Easter basket to collect the offering and was barely able to carry the heavy basket, once full, to the altar. I had no idea what I was asking her to do, God is good and He is in the business of providing blessings. Denise’s little, two years old; brother Malachi went with her and gave many in our congregation high fives as he greeted them. We talked about how Judas had betrayed Jesus for so little and how Jesus told us we are to have hearts like these little ones in our faith and love for God. We celebrated the memory of the late Pastor Gene Smith, during our Easter service by sharing his painting (which was graciously donated by Valena to the Church) with our congregation of his artistic depiction of that first Easter morning with the stone rolled away and the Glory of God shining out of that cave.

David Stevens, Vinita. . . What a marvelous way to end the fiscal year - Easter was wonderful. We set a new record for attendance (since the Stevens have been here at least.) God was present and blessed each one. Looking forward to great things in the new year.

Doug Gunsalus, (Glenpool) South County Community. . . We are currently hanging 8' X 10' banners on the front of our building. We bought river rock as an initial step in our landscaping. We also added some elements to our sanctuary. I'll send you a picture of the worship center in a minute. We also had 2 Easter egg hunts with crafts, food, and bible lesson in two different neighborhoods in our area. There were about 200 people combined at those events. We had an incredible worship service yesterday as well. 110 people, 2 baby dedications, and multiple people responded to invitations to step closer in relationship to Christ. We had so many who worked so hard to get people to SoCo on Sunday and it really paid off. I am so thankful to be among teammates in mission.

Gerald “J.J.” James, Claremore. . .
• We have 25 folks who have expressed interest in going on a mission trip to Honduras next year. We haven’t done a mission trip like this in years. We raised a great offering for Faith Comes by Hearing mp3 players for soldiers.
• We enjoyed hosting the Children’s Mission Day. Thanks for coming our way. Thanks Ruth Ann for coordinating this event.
• Great concert with Jeff and Sheri Easter with another full house in attendance.
• Five baptized in our Easter Morning Service. Great day!
• Several new families are putting down roots and many plan to join our membership next week.
• We just finished building a new pavilion on our property.
• There is a fresh fire brewing in our congregation!

Steve Davis, Sapulpa. . .
• Financial Peace University
• 2 New Ladies Bible Studies
• Beginning new Bible Study for Men
• Great time of vision clarification
• Beginning to see God answering prayers in a new way
• All-church Passover celebration
• Children’s Easter Musical
• Blessed Easter Sunday
• One new salvation

James Wilson, Pawhuska. . . Lots to celebrate this month. Our spaghetti fundraiser for VBS made $415, We had a great crowd for Easter Sunday with 7 visitors and 1 person who made a profession of faith, and we will induct 2 new members in May.

Brad Farnsworth, BA Connection. . . 15 salvations during month of April (9 on Easter Sunday); 2 Baptisms on Easter Sunday; 9 C3 Life Groups meeting weekly; record attendance of 307on Easter Sunday; despite bad weather, indoor egg hunt, with nearly 4,000 eggs pulled off without a hitch!; tremendous turn out for our Project Reach event at Observation Point Apartments, serving over 200 hotdogs, popcorn, ice cream, etc;
Angie Bentley, Bristow. . . a great celebration on Resurrection Sunday, the launch of a new young adult small group, a growing Caravan program, and a deepening corporate walk as we journey through Ashes to Fire together. God is so very good and faithful!

Dwain Young, Horton Chapel. . . Recently one of our teachers led four boys and one girl to the Lord!

Cole Weston, Oklmulgee. . . We received the money to do a number of improvements including much needed new guttering.

Some of you may not have heard that Geoff Gunter’s mother, Ila Mae, passed away on April 20. The funeral was on April 25 in Kirbyville, Texas. Let’s support and pray for Geoff and Sharon during this time of loss.

Manna House Needs a Pick Up Truck. Our District Compassionate Ministry Center needs a truck for weekly pickup of groceries. I wonder if someone has a truck to donate or to sell for a discounted price. Or, if someone has a truck that they could use on Monday’s to help us pick up food, that would be even better. Contact Howard Essery or the District Office if you have any help for this need.

Southern Nazarene University and the South Central Region NYI are excited to announce the first annual Nazarene Extravaganza Night at Frontier City . The date is Saturday, May 28, 2011, 10:30 am – 11pm, and the event is for all ages. Go to info@snu.edu/frontiercity for more details.

Crimson Storm Football Camps. Southern Nazarene University located in Bethany, OK is pleased to announce their annual football camps in June for children from 2nd grade to 8th grade. Each participant will learn fundamentals and skills from the SNU Football Staff. To get more information or register, go to www.snuathletics.com.

I received a call on Monday from Rev. Nury Rivera. She entered the Nazarene church in NEO and received her first license here. She was so excited because the North Florida District has helped them buy a building for their Hispanic Congregation. They already have a licensed daycare and a school and she believes great days are ahead for the church. Nury has helped start four other Hispanic churches in North Florida. She said to tell all her friends in NEO “hello” and to let you know your investment in her is continuing to pay dividends for the Kingdom. I commended her for her hard work and Nury said, “In heaven we are going to rest; I don’t have to rest here.” I didn’t bother to talk about the principle of sabbath rest. J

The latest Church Exectutive magazine has a helpful article about Turnaround churches: http://churchexecutive.com/archives/turnaround-churches

Have a blessed weekend. You are loved!

Dave McKellips