The Vegas Project

One of the unique things about Vegas, and especially the people who have jobs on the Strip, is that Friday, Saturday and Sunday are the main work days, and the primary work shifts start between 4 and 8 p.m., and don’t end till 12 to 4 a.m.  So, if you’re trying to convince people that they really do need God, and that they should try church, that’s a pretty hard sell if their only option is on a work day, and when they will only get a few hours of sleep and then have to get up early to go.

These realities have led us to decide to do a Sunday morning service AND services at other times, that might be more convenient for people who work on the Strip.  We’re thinking of starting out with our alternate service day/time being Tuesdays at 7 p.m.  We’re also dreaming about the possibility of ultimately having a service every day of the week at all different times – maybe Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m., Tuesdays at 7 p.m., Wednesdays at 12:15 a.m., etc., etc.

Please pray that this strategy is effective, and reaches people who wouldn’t be reached at any other time.

We plan to offer seminars on a semester based system that will offer biblical teaching on theology, spiritual disciplines, life skills, etc.  At Verve we’ll talk about how we want to become God Stalkers, Grace Wholesalers, and Guerrilla Lovers.  God Stalker U. will be one of the main places where we teach people what it looks like to pursue God with all their hearts, and to have Him at the center of everything in their lives.

Please pray that a lot of people attend God Stalker University, and that it’s really effective in leading them to love and become more and more like Christ.

To get our own permanent 24/7 leased space we need to raise some extra money, to build out the space so we can use it for church services and children’s ministry.  Unfortunately, we don’t have our own people yet, so doing a “building campaign” isn’t a possibility for us.

What we’re trying, instead, is to find 500 people who are willing to give $100.  This will give us what we need to get the space.  Please pray that 500 people will be willing to make the sacrifice.  And, please pray and ask God if He might be leading you to sacrifice $100 to help make this dream a reality.  If you’re interested, check out www.verveventure.org.

Some people on our launch team are establishing regular places (and days and times) where they will shop, eat out, fill their car with gas, get coffee, etc. to work on developing relationships with the employees at each of these places.  The hope is that we can then invite the people we have met to our opening service.  Also, we have Verve t-shirts we can wear often that will act as conversation starters, and also to help people notice that they keep seeing the same thing over and over in hopes of getting their attention, creating buzz, etc.  Please pray that this is extremely effective and God helps us to plant seeds in people’s hearts.

Some people have asked us, “Do people who work on and live around the Strip even have kids?”  The answer is yes.  And another thing we’ve learned is that Las Vegas tends to be so unfriendly toward kids that even people without children are impressed with and want to be a part of something that focuses on kids.

We want to have an excellent Children’s Ministry.  Please pray for those who will lead and volunteer in this ministry, and for God to help us to have a Children’s Ministry that totally impresses parents and totally raises up radical Christ-followers.

One of the keys for a new church is leadership development.  It’s probably true that God won’t send more people to a church than that church can connect and shepherd and disciple and minister to.  But connecting and shepherding and discipling and ministering to requires leaders.  And the more people God wants to send you, the more leaders it takes.

We want to do an excellent job of raising up lots of reproducing, God-centered, Jesus-following, strong leaders.  Please pray for that for us.

Hey Prayer Team,

A few things to let you know about:

First, we got approval (zoning) from the City Planning Commission for us to have church in the warehouse space, yeah!

Second, we are getting down to the wire with our fundraising campaign – only 18 days left! – but we are only half way to our goal of raising $50,000.  So would you please pray that somehow we can get the rest of the way there.

Third, the big news is that Shepherd of the Hills (a church in Los Angeles) just let me know that to help us reach our goal they are going to match all donations made in December!!  So every gift will be doubled, all the way up to $25,000!!  We’re praying this will inspire more people to give, and we’d appreciate it if you’d do the same.

And … if you’ve thought about giving (or giving again) to our campaign (maybe on behalf of your spouse, or child) or you’ve thought about encouraging others to give, that would be great, and the gifts will be doubled!  You can learn more and give at www.verveventure.org.

One of the distinctive things about Las Vegas is that there is not a sense of community.  Vegas has been called “the least neighborly city in the United States” and it may be true.  But still, we believe that people were made for relationship, and that deep inside they want community.  We decided to try and meet this need by throwing Block Parties.  We’re also using the Block Parties to introduce people to our church, by serving them and through having a quick vision casting moment.  So far the Block Parties have been a success.  Please pray that they continue to be – that people will keep showing up, and that they will take the next step and get involved in the life of our church.

The art community in Vegas has an event on the first Friday of each month called, appropriately, First Friday. It’s an outdoor event where local artists get to display their art. Musicians play, painters show their pieces, poets do readings, dancers dance, etc. A couple thousand people will show up for it.

Our plan is to do art exhibits at First Fridays. We also talked to the woman in charge and asked how we can help. She said, “Oh, we’re fine.” We said, “You must have some needs. Don’t you have to set it up, and clean up after?” She asked how much we would charge. We said, “Oh no, for free. We just want to help.” She seemed pretty shocked and said then yes, she definitely would like our help.  We’ve been able to do that at most of the First Fridays this past year.

Please pray that we can become a presence in the art community in Vegas…

Most of the people who are moving to Vegas to help start Verve are already here.  However, there are still about three families who are yet to come, and who need to sell and buy houses.  Please pray that God will totally be a part of this process and help these families to quickly sell their homes, and to find just the right houses to be used for furthering God’s vision in Las Vegas.