Project Christmas/Impact Appalachia

Impact Missions Adventure first joined Impact Appalachia in 2008 with 19 people. In 2009, we added a site in Virginia and took 59 kids, teens, and adults. This year, we added a third site in West Virginia and took 96 life-changers from the ages of 5 to 70. Impact Appalachia – Mission Accomplished.


Pineville, WV: Pineville, West Virginia is a beautiful little town nestled in the Appalachians. While the scenery is breathtaking the obvious need of many families is heart-breaking. It was our inaugural trip to Pineville for our team. We had a warming time of connection as we brought Christmas for the local families to the junior high gymnasium. Songs, games, laughter, supplies, presents and JESUS where all shared with this community. It was amazing to see the transformation of hope and joy brought to the faces of the children in Pineville in just a few short hours.




Hazel Green, KY: This was IMA’s third consecutive year to join the Kentucky District at Red River Valley Elementary School. What a joy it is to return to this location! It is literally a family reunion. We count it an honor to be the “bearers of good news!” Hundreds of miles are traveled to prove to generations (young and old) that Jesus Christ is the Savior and He is our provider. We laugh, play, giggle, hug, give dozens of high-5’s, paint faces, sing, pray, and hand out gifts, blankets, gloves, hats, coats, shoes, toys, candy, food, and home care products that was collected from our PCG team across America. We believe it is more blessed to give than to receive. When you see a little boy or girl’s face brighten with a smile, or a mom and dad’s demeanor change from sadness to gladness just because somebody is “doing their part,” then you know we are being God’s messengers.

Saturday morning opened with a Christmas Program for the Elementary students and their families and then that night the Hazel Green Fire Department opened their station for us to serve 200+ at the community free chili supper where we once again, gave food and care boxes to families. Way to make an Impact, Team Kentucky!










Craigsville, VA: There is nothing better than helping children, teens, and families that are just miles away. Though the trip was over 1000 miles one way, for me there is not one second that any of us on the “Blue Bird” would have traded. The evening we arrived, the churches and Home Missions team had already had boxes ready and unloaded. The team pulled together and got all the gym set up in no time and there was no complaining. When the doors opened on Saturday morning the families rushed in. The smiles on their faces, the joy in their eyes, and the tears that filled our eyes from their stories made us all realize we are REALLY blessed. Everything from the toys, blankets, clothes, shoes, balloons, and songs brought excitement and even to some their only Christmas. But the biggest part for some of us was the Chili supper where we shared Jesus and the greatest story ever told. The burdens were lifted and the smiles so big as not only us but God came into all their lives that day.

PROJECT CHRISTMAS/IMPACT APPALACHIA was a TOTAL TEAM EFFORT! The PCG Women's Ministries department and The National Missions department joined with Impact Student Ministries, PLUS a tremendous team of local volunteers from PCG Churches met us at each location!

ILD Regional Encounters

Our ILD Regional Leadership Encounters are RIGHT AROUND the corner! Remember registration is FREE, so don't miss this opportunity to bring your team of leaders for a wonderful weekend!

This year we are privileged to have Pastor Shannon O'dell as one of our Keynote Speakers. Shannon O’Dell is a devoted husband and father of four. People know him as innovative, inspiring and committed to reaching out to struggling rural churches and churches with a rural state of mind. He has served Brand New Church as senior pastor for over seven years in Bergman, Arkansas, a small community of just over 400 people.

Brand New Church has grown from 31 to 2000 members with 6 campuses, network churches, and an online campus under Shannon’s leadership. He is the author of “Transforming Church in Rural America.”


This will be an exciting time to have Pastor Shannon pour into our hearts and lives as next-gen leaders. Shannon is also a featured speaker this year at the 2011 C3 Conference (www.c3conference.com)hosted by Pastor Ed Young, which is one of the premier Church Conferences in the US.


Find out more about Shannon at www.brandnewchurch.com

DON'T MISS THE ENCOUNTERS! register today at www.impactym.com

MIDWEST/EAST COAST
January 14-15
Solid Rock Family Church
Jefferson City, MO


WEST COAST
January 21-22
Higher Vision Church
Valencia, CA

leadership development

"Effective leadership requires us to exercise and develop both our relationship with God and our skills as a leader" -Ron Luce

A few weeks ago we had the privilege of having Ron Luce address a large group of our Student & Children leaders. One main area that he focused in on, was the need to develop as LEADERS. Often we develop our "ministry" skills and forget about developing our "leadership" skills, when in all reality we need them both to be effective.

As leaders we know the priority of focusing in on our spiritual growth. However many of us lack a focus on developing as a leader. Ron shared this key thought...

"Just as you need to be deliberate about growing in your relationship with Jesus Christ, you also need to be deliberate about developing your leadership skills."

What are some ways we as leaders can place an "emphasis" on developing as leaders?

Blab:(verb)to talk idly or thoughtlessly.

Are we communicating to our students & children? Or do WE THINK we are communicating to our students & children? It is so important for us as leaders to make sure that when we are communicating to our students and children...that we are doing just that: COMMUNICATING. I found this following excerpt from Seth Godin's book, "TRIBES-we need you to lead us" very interesting...

"My friend Jacqueline tells the story of how Unicef spent a fortune creating posters to promote the idea of child vaccination to the mothers of Rwanda. 'The posters were gorgeous-photographs with women and children with simple messages written in Kinyarwandan (the local language), about the importance of vaccinating every child. They were perfect, except for the fact with a female illiteracy rate exceeding 70 percent, words written in perfect Kinyarwandan made little difference.'

Jacqueline noticed that the way messages spread in Rwanda was by song. One group of women would sing a song for other women, both as a way of spreading ideas and as a gift. No song, no message.

Your tribe communicates. They probably don't do it the way you would; they don't do it as efficiently as you might like, but they communicate. The challenge for the leader is to help your tribe sing, whatever form that song takes."



Communicating and NOT 'blabbing' requires some effort on our part. At times it requires some bravery. Take a poll of 5 students/children after a service and ask them a few questions:

Am I communicating in a way that you understand?

What can I do to make the message relate to your age group?

Did the illustrations make sense?

Am I talking about issues that you can relate to?

Impact Appalachia MICRO MISSIONS

On November 19-20, Impact Missions Adventure welcomed over 30 volunteers to help
prepare and organize donated items for the Impact Appalachia Missions Adventure. That sentence
sounded “nice,” didn’t it? Do you know how this “nice” sentence becomes extraordinary? Out of
those 30 volunteers, the majority were kids!

Joplin Family Worship Center, Oasis Worship Center (Joplin, MO), and Solid Rock Family Church (Jefferson City, MO)
recruited their young leaders to give up their weekend to help make an Impact in Appalachia. Kids and teens
willingly gave up their Saturday morning “sleep-in time” to organize over 200 boxes of clothes for families living
in Hazel Green, KY, Craigsville, VA, and Pineville, WV.




The weekend was full of laughing, singing, connecting, sharing, and giving of self. It was humbling to see
Christ-followers coming together to make a difference, coming together to do their part, and coming together
to share the love of Christ to communities they may never step foot in. What a great example this team has
shown.

We are so thankful for Messenger College, as well. They opened their doors
to the missions team and allowed them to stay in their dorms, meet in their cafeteria, and accomplish
the project in their gymnasium. Messenger College students, Kayli Price, Caleb Smith, and Jada’ Tanoh
organized the entire weekend. They are believers in our young leaders and know the importance
of raising a mission-minded generation.





On December 9-10, over 100 people (kids, teens, and adults) will be taking a missions trip to the
Appalachia region. We will be giving blankets, shoes, socks, food, and healthcare products to 600
Families. It takes all of us working together to make an impact!
Our heart goes out to the donators, collectors, organizers, transporters, and the givers…we do it all
In the name of Jesus and for the receivers.

For it is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35

For more information or to make a donation, please go to www.impactym.com.

What is a ILD Regional Encounter?

So what takes place at an ILD Encounter? Is it just for those who have went through the ILD curriculum? Is it simply a youth event? Is it simply another conference?


The vision of the ILD Encounter is to create an atmosphere in which young leaders can connect and network with each other, and in which older leaders/mentors can inspire and encourage them in their pursuit of God. The encounter is not an event exclusive to young people or to those who have went through the ILD curriculum. Rather the goal is to have leaders, bring a young leader, who also brings another young leader. We must begin to place an emphasis on our “next generation” and this weekend is our moment to do that. Here is a “snap-shot” of what we are looking for:


We must begin to place an emphasis on our “next generation” and this weekend is our moment to do that. So what should I “expect” for the weekend?

-Do not expect just another conference or workshop.

-Do not expect just to hear another good sermon

But instead…

-Expect to connect with other leaders in your region that share like passions & desires.

-Expect God to inspire you with fresh vision for the next generation.

-Expect to worship God with other followers of Christ with all of your heart & soul.

-Expect God to challenge your heart as a leader.


Make plans today to attend your regional encounter:

MIDWEST/EAST COAST
January 14-15
Solid Rock Family Church
Jefferson City, MO


WEST COAST
January 21-22
Higher Vision Church
Valencia, CA



Registration is FREE for the encounters! Register online today at www.impactym.com

Impact Ethiopia

Wow! Is the only way to describe the experience of seeing 150,000 thousand people press in with an intense hunger for God to touch their lives.

It was an honor to take a team of eight to serve with the Joshua Campaign in Ethiopia. We had representatives from Missouri, Arizona, Michigan, and Montana unite for this trip. Everyone left from their perspectives airports to meet in D.C. Monday night November 1st. A long layover in Frankfurt gave us an opportunity to celebrate Quinika’s birthday (one of our team members), and enjoy a little bonding time.



Upon arrival in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia we met up with the Joshua team, a group of seven from Kentucky, a couple from Sweden, and three men from California. These amazing men and women of God would become our family and co laborers for the next several days. From Addis we took an 8½ hour bus ride to Shambu. It is interesting how this ride seemed so rough at the beginning of trip, but was not quite as bad on the way back after several days immersed in the reality of the people.



Our first morning in Shambu we broke into teams and traveled to smaller villages in the surrounding area, to preach the gospel, pray for the sick, and invite people to the crusade. We saw close to 100,000 come out the first night of the crusade and God was ready to move on behalf of these hungry people. Many came to Jesus and the healings began. Our second day was very similar, but the numbers increased. The third day was powerful. Many people had traveled so far they were camping on the field, and we were asked to do a second crusade that day. We did one in the morning and the evening one. A highlight from that morning was a tumor the size of an orange was completely gone from an elderly gentleman’s stomach. We dubbed the service that night as kids night, because the platform was full of children that had been healed. A lame boy walked, blind eyes were opened, deaf ears heard, the mute spoke, and many more amazing miracles took place. They estimated around 150,000 people were at the crusade that night. On Sunday we again had 2 crusades, with many more salvations and miracles. Karl Hargestam spoke a word for the nation of Ethiopia and challenged the people to press in with hunger for the Holy Spirit. When you have the opportunity to stand on a platform in the midst of a multitude of people that are hungry for God it does something in your Spirit that is life changing.


The next morning we began our journey back to Addis. Dave and Etheleen Reed, an amazing couple set apart by God for His good works, have moved to Ethiopia and started a flower farm with the vision of supporting the ministry of Joshua campaign. We had the privilege of visiting this amazing operation and these sacrificial servants. What a huge blessing they are to the Kingdom.
That night back in Addis we had a family dinner, celebrating all that we had seen God do that week. The next day we had a chance to visit a deaf school, tour the city and Joshua’s offices. Joshua has an awesome outreach for women in Addis called the Mercy Project where we had a devotional and some very tasty coffee(yum!). They offer women the opportunity to learn trades and find the healing love of Jesus while taking care of their children. From this ministry they run a coffee shop that provides employment for some of the women. The stories of hope that emerge from this ministry are incredible.

So as you can see we are back to WOW! This trip is a life changing, perspective rattling, heart humbling experience.