The Vegas Project

One of the main things we’re doing right now is trying to “learn” Las Vegas. Someone has said that one reason so many new churches don’t succeed is because church planters plant churches in their head rather than in their community.  The point is that you get this idea in your head of what you want your church to look like, and you create your church to be that, without considering whether it fits with the people in that community.

This is why we’re waiting awhile to start weekly services (February 21, 2010).   We want to know the people we hope to reach and start a church that fits our community.  Please pray that we’re able to do that. Currently, we are meeting with as many locals as we can to ask them all kinds of questions about life in Vegas.   Pray that God continues to give opportunities to meet with locals who are knowledgable about the Vegas culture.

We have all kinds of ideas for how to bring people in but just as important is keeping those people.  If they visit once and never come again, that won’t have much of an impact on their lives.  Assimilation is a goofy word that means helping people to get connected in and stay with the church.  We want to create a loving, accepting, exciting environment that makes people want to come back.  We are also going to create a “system” of follow-up with new people to help make sure they know we noticed that they were there and want them to come back.  Please pray that we are totally effective in assimilating new people.

Vince and Jennifer Antonucci and their two children have moved from Virginia Beach to Las Vegas to help start the church.  They will serve in a variety of capacities, with Vince especially focusing on the vision, as well as preaching, missions, and church planting.  Please pray that God prepares them and then uses them in a powerful way.  Pray that they stay focused on and close to Jesus throughout this entire adventure.

There are a bunch of churches that have agreed to partner with us in starting this new church. Without their support I’m not sure how we’d do what we’re hoping to do.

Would you please pray today for God’s blessing on these generous churches…

We will need a place to hold our Sunday morning services.  It looks like we will be able meet in the Rave movie theater without any problems.  An an alternative, because of the inexpensive real estate market right now, we are trying to lease permanent space that we can do ministry out of 24/7.  Please pray that God leads us to the place He wants for us, and works out all the details along the way.

Tommy and Krystal Altman have been attending Forefront and in the past were part of a core group that launched a new church. Tommy used to be in the Air Force but then felt called into ministry.  He’s been attending seminary and will be graduating soon.

Tommy is hoping to raise support and be our first ever “Church Planter in Residence” (which is a fancy way of saying intern) with the idea that he’ll spend a year or two with us and then launch out to start a new church.

Please pray for Tommy and Krystal (and their two children) as they prepare to move and try to raise financial support.

Prior to our “Grand Opening” on February 21, 2010, our Launch Team continues to meet weekly to get to know each other, pray together, and strategize for the build up to and launch of our new church.  We’re spending most of our time looking at the life of Christ and talking about what it says about the kind of church we need to be.

Our Launch Team has grown enough that we now have meetings on Sunday mornings and Monday evenings, with each person able to choose which meeting to attend.

Please pray that God continues to make these meetings amazing and really effective.

At Forefront we “adopted an unreached people group” back in 2001. That means that we committed to try and help a people group who have never even heard about Jesus to finally hear about Him.  God directed us to a people group, we committed, and He’s been doing amazing things to allow us to serve them and share the love of Jesus with them ever since.  This people group has about 1.5 million people, and so we plan on the new church in Vegas partnering with Forefront in trying to reach this group.  This means we’ll have cool mission trips to countries in Southeast Asia.  Please pray that God will give us people for these trips and supernaturally use us to reach these unreached people.

Unfortunately it’s not cheap to start a church. In addition to salaries and rental fees, we’ll have to buy a sound system and children’s equipment and tables and signs and on and on.

We had hoped we’d be done with fundraising before moving to Vegas, but things haven’t gone quite as well as planned (with our current economy, this is not the time to be raising funds!) and so are still raising financial support from churches and individuals who believe in what we’re doing and have the means to help make it happen. Please pray that we will reach our funding goals and be able to afford to do everything we think God has in mind. (And maybe even pray about you supporting us financially…)

Josh and Heidi Krause lived outside Kansas City and attended Cedar Ridge Christian Church where Vince spoke in March. In Vince’s message, he mentioned that he and a bunch of people had moved to Las Vegas to start a new church on the Strip. The Krauses, who had been praying for God to provide something big to give their lives to, looked at each other. Soon they were talking, praying, meeting with Vince, talking to their families, e-mailing with Vince, praying more – and then deciding to move to Vegas to help start Verve.  Unbelievable!

The Krauses are now in Vegas.  Please pray that they stay close to God and that He uses them in amazing ways in Vegas.