Dear NEO family, WHAT A GREAT TEAM WE HAVE IN NEO! Skeptical? Let me give just a few examples from this week: 1.  Youth Camp was “Seriously Ridiculous”! I was at camp for portions of Sunday and Monday and was seriously impressed with the camp. It kept kids involved with great activities and had weighty spiritual impact – thanks Anthem and K.P. Westmoreland. One sponsor told me they had never seen God move at a youth camp like He did at this camp. Youth pastors told me of a number of their kids praying to be saved and sanctified! PTL! I loved Allison Joy Woolery’s  post on Facebook regarding camp (Allison was there as a worker this year!): The past 7 days I learned a few things about helping run youth camp. If you don't have a sunburn and no voice, you're doing it wrong. If you don't cry with someone at least once, you weren't paying attention. And if you don't leave and have to pull over for a 10 minute nap, you probably didn't do anything all week.  To sum up Camp Seriously Ridiculous... 10 cups of coffee a day  9 hideous but awesome bruises 8 life-changing services  7 people from my home church that bonded like no other  6 nights of no sleep  5 hours a day spent editing video  4 awesome dress-up nights 3 days of no voice 2 awesome Chaco tans  And 1 SERIOUSLY RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME God Hats off to directors Todd Barker and Dustin Wine and to all the outstanding counselors and workers. What a treat to see Lead Pastor Steven Lester helping at camp along with a host of youth pastors and great NEO lay leaders. Kudos to NEO teens – there are none better! And thank you for praying, supporting camp through your gifts to the District and by sending your teens. 2.  Pastor Ken Pell of Broken Arrow sent the following note to the church board secretary at Wagoner Cornerstone Community:I am connecting with you to let you know that we, the BA Church, would like to help your congregation with Levi and Becca’s move-in. We would like to volunteer to help you move their belongings into their home and in any other manner you would recommend. I love the way we come alongside one another! We are better together! 3.  We provide great leadership training for our workers! Steven Lester and our SDMI Board are planning a great Leadership Training Day on Saturday, August 16. Our speaker is a familiar name to NEO.  M Kim Smith has been a successful pastor and a highly motivated speaker and practitioner of creating an environment for church health and growth.  He currently serves as the DS of the Iowa District. In addition to the keynote messages, Ryan and Beckie are offering tracks for youth and children’s workers.  Adult workers will have David Nash in the morning, bringing material from NPH,  and John Comstock with Discipleship Place in the afternoon. The day will begin at 9 am and conclude at 3 pm.  You will be receiving a schedule and promotional material soon.  SDMI is offering this event FREE of charge and including lunch and snacks! This is an important time to inspire and reward our SS teachers and workers.  This conference can help our churches launch a great fall Sunday School emphasis! Summer has other exciting opportunities: ·       PALCON is next week at SNU for all Pastors. ·       Kidz Kamp is July 18 – 21 at Sky Ranch at Cave Springs. ·       NEO Ministers and Mates Team Retreat is Aug. 22 – 24. By faith, EXPECTING MORE!   Dave

NEO Kidz Kamp

July 18-21 We will be returning to Cave Springs.  Our speakers will be Linda and George Crummer (we loved them last year and by popular demand they will be back).  Our theme is “Walking in His Footsteps”.  Make plans now, begin your fundraising and send the children of your church to a long weekend they will never forget.  Early-bird registration by July 1: only $190. All forms are now on our website!

REGISTER TODAY http://palcon.org/ I hope you are able to attend the upcoming PALCON (Pastor's and Leader's Conference). This is a time to gather with other ministers and be encouraged, equipped and enriched. You'll enjoy the sessions with Tom Noble (outstanding Wesleyan/Nazarene Theologian.... "Holy God~Holy People"). Gabriel Saguerra will press us forward in our thinking; Carla Sundberg will deliver clear direction; they will join our gracious General Superintendent, Eugenio Duarte in leading our worship times. Workshops, late night entertainment, free time...a great time! Do you need some scholarship funds to offset the cost? Our funds are limited but we are committed to help if we can.

Dear NEO family, What a joy it was to gather a week ago for our District Missions Convention and Assembly. Brian Utter and Dr. Duarte challenged us with their messages. The reports of our pastors revealed their passion and encouraged us all. Our District leaders reported on their service this past year and gave us reason for sanctified pride. A highlight of the Assembly is always the ordination service. We rejoice with Rev. Joel Heid and Rev. Beckie Richburg on their ordination.

Dr. Eugenio Duarte, Rev. Joel & Julie Heid, Rev. Beckie & Jay Richburg, Dr. Dave McKellips, Rev. Jim Thornton

We also honored Claude and Betty Guy on their retirement.

Rev. Claude & Betty Guy

So many of our churches qualified for Missional Achievement Awards. For a full listing of the churches, click here. The faithful giving of our churches enabled us to report that all giving goals were paid at least 100%, with our giving for WEF being almost 103%. Our District Superintendent, Dave McKellips, challenged us to “Expect More” in the year ahead. To read the full report, click here.

NEO May Statistics

Attendance for May                                                                                                            2013-14           2014-15                                              SDMI                              2,718               2,505                                              Morning Worship            3,580               3,697

view full report

I Want to Celebrate. . .

Curtis Martin, Mannford. . . The electric work in our new Outreach Center is nearing completion being led by one of our members, Robbie Sonnenberg.  Drywall is being attached by church members. God continues to be faithful. David Stevens, Vinita. . . God is faithful when we are faithful. The increased attendance we have been seeing in Vinita Church continues. The wonderful sense of God’s presence continues. The primary reason is a dedicated group of people who continue to pray for God’s Plan for our Church. Thank the Lord!   Yalmi & Norma Izaguirre, Tulsa Regency Iglesia del Nazareno. . . We are working to consolidate our members and thank God it's going well and our leaders are committed to win others to Jesus. Otoniel Dannemann, Tulsa Fuente de Vida. . . Thank God the church is in an awesome spirit and church is growing Sunday by Sunday. This month 29 women went on a retreat and the testimony of them was that the Holy Spirit gave them baptisms with the Holy Spirit. Saul Ramirez, Tulsa Fe y Esperanza. . . Thank God it’s open opportunity to make contact with families of our community. In this moment we are connecting with families of our neighborhood. Georgina Lopez, Tulsa Cielos Abiertos. . . This month we participated in a women’s retreat and 8 women of our church were impacted with the Holy Spirit. Scottie Behm, Chelsea. . . 1) The marriage of Dennis and Shyanne LaRange. 2) The grace of God at work in the life of our church. 3) We had our first VBS Kids Reaching Kids Saturday morning mission service for this year: horseback riding, bounce house, art and mission garden projects; thank you and we praise God for an anonymous donor, and also the Tomato Man's Daughter and the Claremore and Owasso Lowes Stores for donations and huge discounts and the Claremore Church of The Nazarene; God funded the entire day's program and much more.

Other District News

Our Living Hope Church in north Tulsa had two rooftop AC units vandalized – copper was cut out and stolen. Pastor Bill Hilton says the losses are not covered by insurance and the church is exploring options for the future. Please keep the Proctor family in your prayers this week.  Tony (spouse of Youth Pastor, Michelle, at Sand Springs) lost his grandma and her husband, Ruby & Melvin Grimm, within hours of one another on Monday.  They were both in a nursing home under Hospice care this last month or so.  Pastor Tim Odom and the Collinsville Church and Pastor Nate Burns and Silver Creek in Owasso recently conducted Church/Pastor Reviews. With both pastors and church boards, our District Superintendent discussed recent accomplishments, major decisions facing the church, and strengths of the pastor and board along with areas needing attention. Pastor Nate Burns and Pastor Tim Odom both received very positive evaluations and their pastoral relationships shall continue according to the Manual provisions.  A big thanks to crews from Owasso Silver Creek and Sapulpa Church who have been assisting Mannford in their building project in recent weeks. We are better together. We are needing to replace flooring in the entryway of Tulsa First building, now the home of Cielos Abiertos. If you can help, contact Jerry Wilburg, chair of our Properties Committee (jerryw@thermoflo.net). We prayed for Carol Hazelton (Country Faith), who left Assembly with dizziness on Monday afternoon. After stress tests at the hospital, doctors think her symptoms were due to blood pressure issues. Carol is back home and doing well.

NEO Youth Camp

Register at neoknyi.com

NEO Kidz Kamp

July 18-21 We will be returning to Cave Springs.  Our speakers will be Linda and George Crummer (we loved them last year and by popular demand they will be back).  Our theme is “Walking in His Footsteps”.  Make plans now, begin your fundraising and send the children of your church to a long weekend they will never forget.  Early-bird registration by July 1: only $190. All forms are now on our website!

REGISTER TODAY http://palcon.org/ I hope you are able to attend the upcoming PALCON (Pastor's and Leader's Conference). This is a time to gather with other ministers and be encouraged, equipped and enriched. You'll enjoy the sessions with Tom Noble (outstanding Wesleyan/Nazarene Theologian.... "Holy God~Holy People"). Gabriel Saguerra will press us forward in our thinking; Carla Sundberg will deliver clear direction; they will join our gracious General Superintendent, Eugenio Duarte in leading our worship times. Workshops, late night entertainment, free time...a great time! Do you need some scholarship funds to offset the cost? Our funds are limited but we are committed to help if we can.