Knock, Knock! Will you answer the door of opportunity?

Like many, I have always said, "Lord, send me anywhere but Africa," until several years ago when I was attending the Tennessee Baptist Convention and kept running into Missionary Mike McAfee from Abidjan, West Africa.  Immediately, I sensed the Lord saying that this is where I was to go.  At first, I rejected it and didn't want to follow through.  For several weeks, I continued to sense the nudging of the Holy Spirit to seek out the opportunity to travel to the Ivory Coast to take HOPE to a people in need of Jesus. 

I remember the first conversation that I had with Missionary Mike.  It was like a breathe of fresh air and a peace flooded my spirit.  From that moment forward, my first trip was in place and the days were counting down.  I still remember the moment that I boarded that plane heading to Abidjan and the feeling of excitement that gripped me as I knew God was carrying me every step of the way.

Abidjan is an urban city in West Africa of some 8 million people.  Many live in the city and many live outside of the city in poverty ridden villages.  My team experienced first hand the hunger and thirst for HOPE among the people and we were blessed to be able to share with them the story of creation to Christ. 

Honestly, even after returning home and to this very day, I cannot for the life of me get the images of those people out of my head and off of my heart.  I love the people of Abidjan dearly and cannot wait to return again to share the HOPE of Jesus Christ and plant new churches to reach their own people.

I am scheduled to take a team of 4-5 people from Impact Church this October 20-29th to once again impact this area with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  On this team is an elder from Bridges of Hope Fellowship in McMinnville, TN (my former church plant), a young lady who is in our student ministry at Impact, her brother, and myself.  There may be the possibility of another lady in our church going as well.  Me and the elder from BOHF have both been before, but the other two will be making this journey as their FIRST mission trip ever.  That's exciting!

I am asking all of my friends to pray about helping us get to Africa this fall.  We are currently in need of $5,000 to purchase the plane tickets in order to secure a good rate.  I understand that many cannot go on foreign missions, but could give to help see that others get there and that the gospel gets shared.  There are several ways that you can give to help support this mission trip.

1)  Pray for us and God's provisions

2)  Give online at https://impactchurchtn.securegive.com  and mark "AFRICA" in the memo box.

3)  Mail your contribution to:  Impact Church, P.O. Box 1057, Kingston, TN 37763

Any amount you can give to help us get to Africa will be greatly helpful as God will multiply your gifts.  All gifts are totally tax deductible as allowed by the IRS.

Thanks in advance for giving to make an IMPACT in the lives of the people of Abidjan, West Africa! When we get to heaven, many of them will await you to thank you there.  May God bless you as you give of yourself so that many could be won to the kingdom!

If you need more information or would like to talk with me more about this trip, please call 865-376-4400 or email pastor@impactchurchtn.com

Pastor DeWayne
Impact Church
Kingston, TN

We're Off The Ground!

This week, I am reflecting on the "Grand Opening" or public launch of our new church plant, Impact Church, in Kingston, Tennessee.

As I look back over the past year, there was lots of hard work, praying, serving, relationship building, vision casting, and just plain loving our community that has led us up the point of our launch on Sunday.

When I arrived at the building on Sunday morning, the excitement of the day filled the air.  Volunteers were already there and preparing for our guests that would soon arrive.  The worship team arrived, instruments were warming up, and worship rehearsal began.  The celebration band and praise team sounded awesome!  I could tell it was going to be a great day.  

I am so thankful for Tim & Heather Mears coming to help us from my former church, Bridges of

Hope Fellowship, in McMinnville.  Tim ran the sound for us and Heather was available as a backup for our projection.  Both are always ready to serve at a moments notice and with a smile on their faces.  Tim was my chairman of deacons and Heather, what was she not.  LOL  She and her family were part of the original few that helped us plant Bridges of Hope Fellowship.  It was great to have them for the launching of Impact Church as well.

At 9:50 a.m., we started our very first Volunteer V.I.P. Huddle for all of our volunteers.  It was a great time for some vision casting, informing them of changes or protocol, and praying together before everyone got to their places of service at 10 a.m.

I will never forget the way I felt as people started pouring into our facility and the way our volunteers greeted the people with smiles, handshakes, and welcoming laughter.  It was amazing!  There is no way anyone could have left our facility and not feel loved and welcomed.  Our volunteers rocked it!

Our children's ministry was ready as kids checked-in at our new electronic check-in center.  Ginger Hammons, one of our volunteers, was there greeting with a smile and warm words of welcome for parents and children alike.  She was great!

As for the refreshments, it never ceases to amaze me how a cup of hot coffee, water, or juice can stir up fellowship before entering the worship center.  Lots of people stood and got to know one another over a cup of coffee.  

In the worship center, when the countdown hit zero, the band was on it!  The did a fantastic job of leading us in worship and preparing our hearts for the hearing of God's Word.  I have never felt more sure about a service as I did this one.  We had all worked hard, prepared, and prayed for God to show up and do His thing...move in the hearts and lives of the people...and He did.  

After I preached and gave the invitation, the altars were flooded with people praying about different things and surrendering their lives to the Lord.  One young man chose to follow Christ and went from darkness to light.  Praise God!  Many came for baptism, while 36 came to join "The Core" membership at Impact Church.  God was in the House!!!!!  It was so exciting to see the Holy Spirit moving mightily in our midst.  

On the way out that day, I was thrilled to talk to, fellowship with, and pray with lots of people who had blessed us with their presence as our special guests.  My heart was full and overwhelmed, to say the least.

Since that day, I have watched Social Media blow up with posts of excitement, photos, videos, etc. from the BIG day.  Our momentum is high and we are blessed!  

As a result, this coming Sunday, we'll be helping people "Go Public" through baptism.  It's going to be exciting as we watch lots of people invite their family, friends, and co-workers to experience their public acknowledgement of their faith in Jesus Christ.  How awesome!  

I just want to close by saying how amazing proud I am to be the pastor at Impact Church and to shepherd these wonderful people of God.  Thank you, Impact Church, for loving me and my family so much!  We are truly blessed to serve you!

Let The Celebration Begin!

It's been a year ago since we officially gathered a couple of people to walk alongside of us in this NEW journey of church planting.

Over the last year, my family and I have worked hard to get out in the community, get to know the community again, and serve the community with the love of God.  As we did, we shared the vision that God has given us for a new church planting movement based out of Kingston through the planting of Impact Church.  One by one, individuals and families began joining the vision.  We started meeting on Sundays in February 2014 for our Core Group worship and then meeting on Wednesday nights for our Core Group training and equipping sessions.  Throughout the year, we spent lots of time, energy, and resources reaching out to our community through serving projects, sports camps/clinics, Backyard Bible Clubs, VBS, door to door canvassing, partnerships with the local schools, etc.

It's been a long, hard, but fun and rewarding year as we've watched God perform miracle after miracle and life change after life change.  We ended the year with 37 people having gone from darkness to light as they surrendered their lives to follow Jesus Christ.  We saw 8 people walk through the baptismal waters as they went public with their faith.  Praise the Lord!

Now is the time to "officially" launch Impact Church in full force to the Kingston and Roane County area.  Our teams are in place, excitement is high, and we are praying like crazy for God to Impact Kingston and the world through the ministry of Impact Church!  This Sunday, January 25th is our official "Grand Opening" and we are believing God to show up and display His marvelous power and glory in our midst.  We would love for you to bring a friend and join us, if you can.  We start serving coffee, juice, water, and snacks at 10 a.m. (EST) and the celebration begins at 10:30 a.m.

In celebration, I'll be kicking off a new sermon series entitled, "MISSION: Impact."  In this series, we'll be breaking down the mission of Christ for every believer and more specifically, Impact Church.

If you can't attend, please pray for us that many lives will be changed for the glory of God.  I will be sure to update you as to the move of God in our midst.  Thanks for all of your support!