Dear NEO family,

It is 10:30pm on Thursday evening. I am sending out emails following a 4 ½ hour District Advisory Board Meeting. A highlight of this meeting was reports by several of our NewStart pastors.

• Brad Farnsworth of Connection Church shared of the recent surge in attendance as they reach out to the unchurched and dechurched with a message of hope. Brad will be baptizing 5 – 6 people in a few weeks. The church had 177 in attendance two Sundays ago.(Connection Church has a 24 foot U-Haul truck they would like to sell. Contact Brad if interested.)
  
• Doug Gunsalus of South County Community Church shared stories of recent conversions and of 5 people responding to a sanctification message.
  
• Our Hispanic Coordinator, Otoniel Dannemman brought Pastor Saul and Rosa Ramirez, pastors of our new Hispanic Church at Faith. The church has grown to 30 people in just a few months. Pastor Melissa King and her husband are working to make contacts for a new Hispanic Church in Claremore. There are 21 students in training to be pastors and leaders in our Hispanic churches.
  

Each year, the Church of the Nazarene sends a number of college and university students to minister cross culturally in areas around the world through the dynamic ministry of Youth in Mission. Kendra Hansen, a member of Tulsa Central, is one of 70 students selected to participate this year. Kendra will be serving in Saipan.

District Women's Ministry Director,Gloria McKellips, sent me a wonderful video Lynne Peterson created for the BA First Church to help advertise our district women's retreat, "Fill My Cup, Lord"!

http://www.banazarene.com/water.wmv

Gloria says, "I met yesterday with Pam Wheeler and Kelli Odom who are enthusiastically leading our fellowship time after the first session. We are going to have a huge bunko party with added surprises! I think it'll be great fun. If you've never played bunko...it's easy. Trust me. I have to refresh my memory every time I play it because I don't very often, and it's easy to learn.

"After meeting with Pam and Kelli and then speaking with Cyndi this week and the Lord gave me a fresh excitement for the retreat. Cyndi has such a message of hope...and is a wonderful communicator. You will be glad you came! I needed that fresh excitement. Sometimes when I'm covered up in details or feeling the weight of the signed contracts, I forget to remember that God is doing His thing in the midst of all the preparation and commitments. I hope to see all of you there!"

Women's Retreat 2009
March 6 & 7
Doubletree Hotel Downtown Tulsa
Speaker: Cyndi Lamb
Early Bird Registration: February 23, $40
After February 23, $50
www.centralchurch.tv/connect2central/adults/women/documents/FillMyCupLordRegistrationFormandSchedule.pdf

http://www.centralchurch.tv/connect2central/adults/women/documents/2009RetreatPoster.pdf

Dave Kyncl, Director of 2:8 House and the OU Nazarene Student Center writes: Anyone interested in receiving monthly updates can sign up for the newsletter by visiting our website at http://www.28house.org/.

Congratulations to Pastor John Whitsett of Central Church and Pastor David Stevens of Vinita Church on positive Pastoral Reviews this month.

Lou Burch was going home today after having surgery early this week.

We will have a Pastor's Breakaway on Saturday at Tulsa Family Church. Pray that it will be refreshing and rewarding for our pastors!

Next week I will be at Nazarene Bible College for the annual Board of Trustees meeting. Pray for President Harold Graves and our NBC leadership team.

Let's also pray for Family Church as they search for a Lead Pastor.

You are loved!
Dave McKellips