Welcome!
...To our first Harvest Bible Fellowship Newsletter. In these busy and challenging days, Harvest Bible Fellowship is committed to keeping you informed of all the exciting things that are taking place in our Fellowship. In the Newsletters to come, you will be receiving timely updates on new church plants and existing plants. You will have the opportunity to meet new Senior Pastors as well as find out about new initiatives in our Fellowship. The purpose of the newsletter transcends keeping you informed. Ultimately we want you to rejoice and be glad with us for all that the living God is doing. Please help us by sending to us reports of what God is doing in our midst.
We all know that to date, we have planted
27 Harvest Bible Chapels
. But did you know that in 2007, our church plants, (excluding Rolling Meadows, Elgin, Niles and Crystal Lake) baptized
475
people. If we include all Harvest Bible Chapels, more than
1,100
people were baptized last year. Praise God! Also, in our church plants, we have more than
5,000
people actively involved in small groups. God’s Spirit is moving and working in our midst. Let’s rejoice in the Lord Jesus and the power of the gospel to radically transform lives.
For your encouragement, here is a
video of a great baptism service
.
So far in 2008, we have planted in
Jacksonville, Florida
and
Indianapolis West
. In the next several weeks, we will have the opportunity to plant in
Decatur Illinois
,
Muskoka Ontario
,
Orlando Florida
,
Phoenix Arizona
,
Houston Texas
,
Turks & Caicos Islands (Caribbean)
,
Arthur Illinois
,
Wroclaw Poland
,
Braila Romania
and
Cordoba Argentina
. This month we are planting in Braila Romania and we would like to give more detailed information about Braila.
Braila is a city in eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the 10th largest city of the country. Having only one Baptist church, this city is rooted in traditionalism and the Orthodox Church. Marius Mezin, Sr. Pastor, has been recommended by Cristian Barbosu of Harvest Church Plant,
Metanoia
of Arad, Romania for a new work in Braila.
Marius is thirty-seven years old, graduate of the Baptist Seminary in Bucharest and has served for fourteen years as a Youth Pastor and Worship Leader. In 2007, Marius became certain regarding the calling to start a new church plant to bring renewal and revival to the city. The church he was on staff with in Braila has released Marius to begin a new work and called 150 members to partner in this endeavor. Marius and his leadership team visited Church Plant, Metanoia of Arad, for initial training and were of the same mind that this is the model of church they desired to plant. The humility and like-mindedness in all of the leadership at both churches was of One Spirit. It was obvious to all that God had prepared the hearts and minds of those involved.
Marius and one of his leaders then made a trip to HBF for a week of training and intense learning of Harvest Church Planting. After visiting HBF, they returned, presented the plan to leadership and the core team resulting in a unanimous decision to plant Metanoia of Braila. We are pleased to announce Metanoia of Braila is an offical Church of Harvest Bible Fellowship and the second Church Plant in Romania. Join us in celebrating this new work.
Marius is currently preaching a series on the pillars of Harvest and will begin seven small groups to kick off their ministry season in September. They currently are meeting in a youth ministry building and have already launched with weekend services, children’s ministry and qualified leadership. Please be in prayer as they search for a Pastor of Worship Ministry and Children’s Ministry.
We are grateful to the Lord for the gifted men he is sending to us to plant churches. In this newsletter, we want to introduce you to three of our new Sr. Pastors. We have asked them several questions in order for you to get to know them better:
Bill came to us from
Prestonwood Baptist Church
in Plano, Texas. Bill served in several capacities at Prestonwood including Minister of Men, Minster of Small Groups and Discipleship and Minister of Spiritual Development.
Bill has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from Pitzer College. Bill is in the process of completing a Master of Theology from Liberty University.
Wife and Children: Pam, Andrew 23, Blake 16, Brett 13
Best things about your wife and children:
They love the Lord more than me. My wife is an incredible helpmate and serves our family and pours into women. Blake and Brett challenge their peers in their walk.
Interesting fact about you that few people know:
I came to Christ late in life (10 ½ years ago). I served the god of business for 20 years. Now I am serving the God of salvation.
Bible verse or passage that means a lot to you and why:
1 Timothy 1:12 – I knew that it was the Lord that put me into the ministry, due to my faithfulness to Him. He strengthens me daily to work wholeheartedly for Him. I know that serving Him is a great opportunity and responsibility.
Best things about the people and location of your church:
The people of our church are faithful to the Word of God. They have been watching videos for almost two years due to their hunger for God’s truth. We have found that Phoenix is open to the gospel; we just have to be faithful to share it.
Why do you want your church to be a Harvest Bible Chapel?
Harvest is committed to pointing people to Jesus and not to man. As I have met the other plant pastors, I have been impressed with their unyielding commitment to preach the Word, pray, worship the Lord, and share Christ. Why would I not want to be a part of that?
Tony also comes to Harvest from the great state of Texas. His undergraduate degree is from the University of Texas. Following his time at UT, he received a MDiv from
Moody Graduate School
, A ThM from
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
and is working on his PhD in Old Testament from Trinity. Tony’s ministry experience has been as a youth pastor in Longview Texas.
Wife and Children: Sanja and Alastair (16 months old)
Best things about your wife and children:
Even though she is an accountant by trade, my wife has numerous talents including singing, cooking, art, sports and languages. She is a real renaissance woman. Alastair is a fantastic dancer even though he is only 16 months old.
Interesting fact about you that few people know:
I cry every time I hear the song Creed sung by Rich Mullins
Bible verse or passage that means a lot to you and why:
“Iappeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2
I associate this passage with my call to ministry. What more could I offer the Lord in light of his mercy than my life?
Best things about the people and location of your church:
Our church members are incredibly hospitable, genuine, can caring. They reflect a lot of the values of a small town culture. Also, they are very self-reliant, which is less common in larger cities.
Why do you want your church to be a Harvest Bible Chapel?
There is no resisting the Holy Spirit. Also, I want to be a part of a church-planting organization that is as passionate about worship and the Word of God as I am.
Buddy comes to Harvest with one of the more interesting backgrounds of a Senior Pastor. For many years, Buddy served as an undercover narcotics police officer for the City of Houston. In addition, Buddy spent a year in Iraq training Iraqi policemen. Buddy’s ministry experience was serving as Pastor of Counseling and Discipleship at Metropolitan Baptist Church in Houston. Buddy received a graduate degree from
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
.
Wife and Children: Maureen, Curtis and Stephanie
Best things about your wife and children:
My wife is a tower of strength. She has been supportive through years of trials as the wife of an undercover police officer and several injuries in the line of duty. Her growth as a Christian in the last few years has been a joy to watch. Both my children are believers and my son is engaged and will be finishing his masters in missions in prep for the mission filed. My daughter is growing and maturing daily in her walk and is evidenced in her daily decisions.
Interesting fact about you that few people know:
I am a pilot and love to do acrobatic flying.
Bible verse or passage that means a lot to you and why:
91st Psalm – I used this Psalm in daily devotions with my Army unit in Iraq. It gave me the opportunity to share the Gospel with these guys. It has a huge military history that I was unaware of until after I shared it.
Best things about the people and location of your church:
I have a wonderful mature body of believers who love the Lord and each other. They have a heart for sharing the gospel. We are located in one of the fastest growing areas of the U.S. and I hear from people over and over that they can’t find a church where God’s Word is preached and taught.
Why do you want your church to be a Harvest Bible Chapel?
We are in complete agreement with Harvest Bible Chapel philosophy of ministry and we believe that God is blessing our church and blessing Harvest Bible Fellowship and together we are expecting God to do great things.
Straight Up - Oct. 5-7th
You should have received your Straight Up registration information in the mail. Just a reminder, Straight Up dates are Sunday, October 5th through Tuesday, October 7th. We look foreword to seeing you there!
Online registration is open and available at:
http://www.straightupconference.org/HBF
.
If you have any questions regarding registration please contact Darlene at
.
Any other questions regarding Straight Up, please contact Lynda at
.