"We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess. 1:2, 3).

Dear NEO family,

By the time many of you receive this blog, we will be in the National Day of Prayer. I hope you will join thousands of your brothers and sisters in setting aside time to pray for our nation, our state our NEO cities and leaders. And pray for members of your own church and our District family that we will be salt and light, speak grace and truth and demonstrate the love and care of God.

One of the ways we put God’s love on display is through simple acts of service. I am sensing somewhat of a “Servolution” in Northeast Oklahoma. Dino Rizzo says that a “Servolution” starts when the church moves out beyond its walls and looks throughout the community for someone in need. I am hearing of this happening more and more in our NEO churches. Following are some exciting opportunities for service:

Burn a Rod for Kids, May 22 at Hope Ranch in Ponca City
Jerry Wilburg reports that we currently have 11-12 welding crews with welder rigs on trucks or trailers to help out at the ranch. We have two runs of 600 feet of pipe rail fence to do and n additional side of about 330 feet. Brian Loderhose from Owasso Church is volunteering to bring a piece of equipment to bring down several dead elm trees that are in the fence row. Other crewmembers are from Miami, Regency Park and Broken Arrow, along with a Boy Scout troop and a boy’s SS Class.
Much to do but it is exciting.

Assistance in Tennessee with Flood Cleanup.
Pastor J.J from Claremore I reports that 9 folks from three different NEO churches have already contacted him and are planning to go with him on Sunday afternoon to help with the flood clean up at the Nazarene Campground in Tennessee. Jim Reeves is helping design a bridge and we will be building it when we get there. There is still some room for many more to go if they want to but J.J. will need to know by Thursday so that he can finalize travel plans. Praise the Lord for the great response!

District Service Projects at NYI/NMI Convention
As you hopefully have heard by now, during the afternoon session on June 2, we will have several service projects in the Tulsa area for children in third grade through Senior Adults.

Zone Service Projects in 2010-11
We are gearing up for work projects at a local church or parsonage on every zone in the year ahead. Plans are in the works for a Parsonage Makeover at Tahlequah on July 2 and 3, a “Sheetrocking the new Facility” Party at Miami, a new paint job for Pawhuska church, finishing up the new Family Life Center at Tulsa Southwest and finishing the youth center at Drumright.

Change a Child’s Forever
Join us for a community gathering to learn the many ways you can help foster children.
Monday, May 17, 2010 Fellowship Bible Church, 5434 E. 91st ST, Tulsa
For more info, call 405-522-0606 or visit www.faithlinksok.org/FeaturedEvents.htm

And God’s call to serve continues throughout our lives. I received an exciting email today from Gary and Elaine Narron. Gary has already retired a couple of times, but he and Elaine are now starting a new church with another couple (the other couple is young – in their 50’s) in Richmond, Virginia. Gary writes, “We have been praying about this for a number of months now and we feel very comfortable this is a calling from God and we are excited about saying yes.” May God continue to raise up people of all ages who are passionate about serving – yes, we need a “Servolution”!

What a privilege it is for Gloria and me to visit the NEO churches. Here are pictures from recent visits:
Sapulpa, April 18, 2010
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTN5g

Chelsea, May 2, 2010
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTOGg

Have you ever had a student come up to you and tell you that God was calling him or her into full time ministry? Helping a student sort out that call can be a challenge. Six years ago the South Central Regional NYI council had a dream to put together a conference designed specifically for students in high school that felt a call to full time ministry. We call it the YES conference. YES stands for Youth Equipped to Serve. This year's YES conference is July 6-9, 2010 on the campus of Southern Nazarene University. The YES conference is a four day conference that is designed to help students understand what it means to be called, understand the preparation that is inherent in that calling, and explore possible areas of ministry. There are general sessions each day when we all meet together to learn about what it means to be called. This year's speaker is Kendall Franklin who is a SNU alumnus and currently pastor's College Church in Bourbonnais, IL. Throughout the week, we also have breakout sessions in several ministry areas: senior pastor, youth, children, music, urban, and missions. We also have a special session for women in ministry that deals with specific challenges our young ladies may face. Registration is already available online at www.nyi-snu.org. The early registration deadline is June 17th, so be sure to register as soon as possible

You are loved!
Dave McKellips