Dear NEO family,

Hope you have had a wonderful celebration of our nation’s birthday! Gloria and I were at Sapulpa on the morning of the 4th and I was moved by how many veterans were in our service. We are indebted to these men and women who have sacrificed for our country. We sang the third verse of “America, the Beautiful” yesterday: “O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life.” And I resonated with the prayer that concluded this verse: “America, America, may God thy gold refine; till all success be nobleness and every gain divine.”

On Sunday, Pastor Steve Davis was installed as pastor at Sapulpa. Go to the link below for pictures from this event:
Sapulpa, July 4, 2010
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTPCg

Last week 33 of our pastors participated in Pastors and Leaders Conference (PALCON) at Southern Nazarene University. One pastor wrote: “This was probably the best conference that I have been to, in terms of speakers and workshops. Truly enjoyed "Closing the Backdoor" with Woody Stevens, and the Theism class with Crutcher. Informative. Middendorf’s sermon, and MacDonald's wisdom were truly life changing.” Thanks for giving our pastors time and financial support to attend PALCON!

Last weekend we had District Work Projects at Drumright and Tahlequah. Jerry Wilburg shares this report on the work project at Drumright last weekend: We had a successful 2 day work gathering. Churches involved included Southwest, Mannford, Bristow, and BA First. The teams made a huge dent in the work list but much is left to be done. Rain hamperred our work on the second day but we were able to do things inside during the heaviest rain. Thanks to all the churches who have supported this effort.

I was at Tahlequah on Friday for the total makeover of the parsonage, led by Brian Loderhose. A good group from Tahlequah and Owasso Silver Creek were involved and were very productive. The ladies of the church fed us well! New pastor, Jason Powers, arrived on Friday. I will share a more complete report later.

Troy Farmer reports that the Crisis Care Kits collected from NEO were delivered to the warehouse in Fawn Grove, PA, Wednesday AM, June 16th, 2010. Thank you to all who participated in this effort.Two shipments are going out from the warehouse the next week to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

In approximately one year from now, thousands of Nazarene youth from across the stretches of the U.S. and Canada will converge on the city of Louisville, Kentucky, for Nazarene Youth Conference 2011 - A World Unbroken. Youth and youth leaders will be in for a week of spiritual formation, missional outreach, inspired worship, and of course, fun.

Kid’s Kamp, July 23 – 25
For Downloadable forms go to http://www.neokidskamp.com/

More and more marriages represent the forming of a stepfamily. As these families form, often what is brought to the table is "his", "hers" and "ours." This refers to kids, finances, step-relationships, house hold items, and more! Forming a stepfamily brings about some of the same challenges as any relationship, but due to the sheer number of relationships woven into the complexities of stepfamilies there are unique circumstances and challenges. The goal of couples in stepfamilies is to create a marriage and family all at the same time. Let the Forever. For Real. – For Couples in Stepfamilies workshop help! Come and learn the major differences between first families and stepfamilies, be guided through how to develop new step-relationships, and pick up some step-parenting tips. Come away with the communication skills that are the key to a successful remarriage and stepfamily.

Saturday, July 17, 10 am - 4 pm, Tulsa Technology Center – Riverside Campus, 801 East 91st, near the Jenks airport. For more information or to register for this FREE workshop, visit www.ForeverForReal.com or contact Kristin at (877) 435-8033.

I WANT TO CELEBRATE… (shared by pastors from monthly reports)

Cole Weston, Okmulgee…Held my first ever baptism, for a beloved teen in our church. We’re proud of her and hope that many more will join her soon. Also celebrating the 40 year old heaters in the baptistry that are running strong! :) Brainstorming on holding a leadership series in August, and holding our first (to me) VBS next month. Then completely re-doing the kindergarten room, expecting that if we make way for the Lord to work, He’ll fill it up. Also paid everything according to the new budgets this month, and working on catching up with last months too!

Carl Brown, Hominy…Thirteen Baptized June 20th with new lives dedicated to serve Christ as Lord. We start VBS with the theme “The Ten Commandments” Starts July 20 – 23rd

Dwain Young, Horton Chapel…On June 6, we had our second Children's Day Celebration with Del Wilson, who lives in Tulsa. He is serving as president of Fellowship Christian Magicians. Our boys and girls responded to him and the gospel message. We had families in attendance who do not attend regularly. One child responded to the invitation. This day was a highlight for us this month.

H. Gordon Smith, III, Dewey…Thanks to our church family who kindly had a fellowship dinner in recognition of my being ordained an Elder in the Church of the Nazarene. I want to also celebrate our Youth Group that went out and volunteered at The Concern Center in Bartlesville painting.
David Stevens, Vinita…In recent weeks I have been asking God to renew our spirits and bring a revival to Vinita. As we pray and prepare ourselves, it is so nice when we have a Sunday when God is particularly close. The last Sunday of June was one of those special days. From the opening worship song all through the final Amen many of us felt God’s presence in a tangible way. He is so good!

Nick Vernier, Tulsa Southwest… We want to celebrate...our attendance is up from last month!!!! God is good and Southwest is resilient.

Wayde Normandin, Chelsea…Our Sunday School and Worship attendance have increased compared to this time last year. We also had five teens and a sponsor attend Golden Bell Camp in Colorado! They went with the Claremore Church. Each of our teens had a lot of fun and grew spiritually from the experience.

Brad Farnsworth, BA Connection…Baptized an entire family on Father’s Day, with the father dedicating his young daughter; very successful Dadfest (aka, Sweatfest) on Father’s Day.

Randy Schuneman, Bartlesville…21 teens went to NYI NEO Camp. God used this camp to bond our teens together. We had a great VBS this month! Many children came to hear about how our Savior Jesus! Our faith promise weekend went wonderful as well; our speaker Terry Baker did a fantastic job.

Dan Hazelton, Pryor…We received $5000 in pledges and offerings for an emergency fund.

Jim Wilson, Pawhuska…God is moving here, I don’t know what He’s doing but He’s moving and that is exciting.

Steve Davis, Sapulpa…6 teens saved and several others re-dedicating their lives at Teen Camp; Wonderful VBS with several new families; Being blessed to lead Sapulpa as their new pastor.

John Whitsett, Tulsa Central…Our Spanish work is having Sunday Bible studies … an outreach VBS at The Lakes Apartments this past month that looks like it will yield some prospects for us as well as the new Spanish work … some genuine “God stuff” happening in my heart at PALCON … some positive visitor flow in recent weeks … a number of things to be encouraged about.


NEO DISTRICT LEADERS in attendance gain in June, 2010 over June, 2009
 Sunday School/Discipleship
Bristow +23
Barnsdall +21
Tulsa Fuente de Vida +20
Pryor +11
Nowata +9
Horton Chapel +8
Cushing +7
Vinita +6
Chelsea +3
Coweta +4
Dewey +3
Drumright +3
Miami New Life +3

AM Worship
Pryor +32
Tulsa Faith +18
Broken Arrow First +17
Sapulpa +15
Barnsdall +13
Vinita +11
Bristow +10
Coweta +7
Miami New Life +7
Dewey +5

You are loved!
Dave McKellips