BLESSING THE CITIES We’re Sending It Out
Are you surprised to know that 26¢ of each $1 is focused outward — directly to people, ministries and needs outside the walls of Perimeter Church?
This includes the budgets for
Giving in 2015 was significantly above projections 110.6%
We are still ahead of projections (105% of anticipated giving) through the first 18 months of ALL IN
Giving to date in 2016 is 96% of projections in Quarter 1 and 88% of projections in Quarter 2
So what’s next?What is going to be the next big ALL IN project that you will see?
While our campus is for the most part “complete,” any homeowner can tell you that maintenance is necessary and renovation is often advisable. As our main building is now 20 years old, it has become apparent that some updating and remodeling was in order.
For all of these reasons and more, the church leadership decided it was time to give the foyer a makeover. At the same time, the plans are designed to make it more open, more inviting, and more functional for friends and families to gather and connect.
Some information about the foyer renovation:
While renovations are necessary — and fun — we are really on pins and needles, waiting to see what God has in store for the next 18 months. In this ALL IN Impact Report, we hope you have caught the vision for what God has done and is doing in and through Perimeter Church, its people, and its gifts. As a church, we have truly gone ALL IN and Leveraged Our Lives in amazing ways.
Evangelism is often portrayed as a one-on-one interaction when it’s really much more than that. Billy Graham once said that the average person needs about 20 exposures to the gospel through God’s people and His Word to come to faith.
Vicky was raised in communist China as an atheist who believed in science rather than God. Her life took a dramatic shift two years ago when her husband’s job transferred them from Shanghai to Atlanta. What happens to a Chinese atheist who moves to the Bible Belt? God only knows. Literally.
Her family settled in Johns Creek to be close to her husband’s work. Her first introduction to Perimeter Church was through Chinese English as a Second Language (ESL) classes which meet here. There she met people who took an interest in her, wanted to get to know her as a person, and invited her to attend a worship service here.
After attending a Sunday service, Vicky started to attend the International Community Connect Group where she met many new friends including Beling Ni.
“Vicky and I have talked about ‘seeking answers from God’ many times and the conversations are always profound and enjoyable,” said Beling. “When my mother passed away, Vicky was there and provided comfort and support. Her sincere way of letting me know that she cares really touched me and enhanced our friendship.”
Vicky was intrigued by Christ and loved by so many people in the church that she wanted to learn more. She was encouraged by her friends at Perimeter to take the Essentials of Faith class, which is designed to be an introduction to the faith for those who either do not yet believe, or believers who want a good, strong theological base for their belief.
Vicky says that the people at Perimeter made her feel “at home.” People that she met at each step along the way — at ESL, at the International Community Connect Group, at Essentials of the Faith, and at Sunday morning worship — loved her right where she was, but encouraged her to go deeper.
After a time, she knew she wanted to join the church.
“It was clear in the membership interview that she didn’t quite grasp the concept of God’s grace,” said Perimeter Pastor Herschel Hatcher. “Gail and I invited her to go through the Life Issues books with us. During the fourth week, she prayed to receive Christ.”
On July 17 of this year, Herschel baptized Vicky, and she was welcomed into the church family during the Sunday morning Chapel service. “She had a whole cheering section there watching her that was made up of people from each of the groups she’d been involved with,” said Herschel. “There were two years between getting Vicky from her first visit to Perimeter to that baptism. I just came in at the tail end.”
“You might not be the person who has the chance to pray with someone to receive Christ. You might be encounter number one … or five … or 15. But each believer can be a link in that chain by how they interact with others — even strangers — and especially newcomers to the church.”
Perimeter members serve nearly 100 hours of volunteer service somewhere in the community each day. And that’s only what we know about!
$2.8 Million have already been deployed during the first 18 months of our current ALL IN initiative.
So far during the first half of our 3-year ALL IN effort the following resources have been deployed to those in need.
Perimeter invests heavily in time, energy, and resources dedicated to helping students and adults grow in their faith. One of the tricky parts can be that kids who grow up in the church — who have never known anything but life in the church — may not know exactly when they first truly believed. And they run the risk of having a “been there, done that” attitude. They know all the right answers … so how do you know if you’re reaching their hearts?
In the summer of 2015, 8-year-old Gage Stephens came home from Camp All-American and reported that there was a Japanese boy named Daina in his group who spoke hardly any English.
Knowing that less than one percent of Japanese people are Christians, Gage’s mother, Jennifer, knew that Daina’s Camp experience might be his first exposure to the Gospel and to Christians. How would her son carry forth the Good News in deed when using words wasn’t an option?
“How can you reach out to him?” she asked casually over dinner. Gage made a sad face then swiped his hands in front of his face and transformed it to a happy face. Jennifer prayed that her son would be able to make Daina smile.
On the last day of Camp after assembly, Daina’s mother found Jennifer, and in broken English, relayed what knowing Gage meant to her son.
“Gage good friend. Gage good friend Daina.”
What are the chances that Daina would come again, the summer of 2016, be there the same one week as Gage, and that they would find each other in a sea of 1,000 kids? Because God is in control: 100%.
Daina did come back, he was there the same week as Gage and he was overjoyed to see his friend again. Their friendship picked up where it left off the summer before. The boys started writing letters back and forth. Daina’s mother once again reached out to Jennifer to let her know how much Gage’s friendship meant, especially as they would be moving back to Japan.
“I was just floored how God orchestrated this,” said Jennifer. “Look at what's going on in these rooms that you don't see.”
One of the best-kept secrets of Camp is how it impacts the counselors as well as the kids. Not all counselors come to Camp with a mature understanding of the Gospel, as former counselor Cameron Washington can attest.
“I was saved at Camp so it holds a very special place in my heart,” said Cameron.
“If I didn't work at Camp I wouldn't understand the faithfulness of Jesus the way I do now,” said Cameron. “The people that I know and love have been walking with me for a few years now. In that time, we have been through some rough patches, but they have stuck with me just like Jesus would have.”
In fact, Cameron is married now, and most of his groomsmen were men he met at Camp. They are men of the faith who have been in deep relationship with him for years. He calls them some of the most influential friendships of his life.
Kids worshipping in KidsQuest in a year
Kids in Discipleship (K-8)
Kids attend the Bricks in a year
Impact Arts Academy immerses 460 kids each year in the Word and worship through the arts
Hours of spiritual investment each of the 545 students at Perimeter Christian School receive each year
Children attended CAA this summer
Youth attended Rush, our entirely student-led conference for students
In fact, the three are very intertwined. In order to know and feel the Grace of God and reach out to others in the love of Christ, we must first be mature believers and equipped.
There are so many stories of Perimeter members who have invested the “Head” time to get equipped so that when opportunities arose to serve and share, they were ready. There is nothing worse than feeling the call to action, but knowing that you do not have the training necessary to proceed. Perimeter’s desire is to make equipping opportunities and mentoring relationships an everyday part of life in our church.
Allison Dudman has been at Perimeter Church for 20 years and says that she has always felt a great desire to pray for her friends and family — and occasionally strangers! However, she points to her many years in discipleship — both as a participant and as a leader — as transformative to her ability to minister to the people that God brings into her discipleship groups.
“Discipleship has changed my prayer life the most, through accountability with each other,” says Allison. “We challenge each other to memorize passages of scripture and use it to pray for each other. We celebrate together when we see answers quickly, and we praise Him when the waiting is long, encouraging one another, that God's timing is perfect.”
Allison tells the story of a woman from one of her discipleship groups who was weighed down by fear over some deep wounds in her life. She had never shared these wounds with anyone before, but over time, she decided that needed to change. Her group had gathered around her to pray and encouraged her to trust the Lord with her pain. In time, she wanted to share her secret in the safety of her discipleship group.
“Her secret was making her sick,” said Allison.
As a seasoned discipleship leader, equipped with the gift of prayer and years of experience and training, Allison was able to meet this woman right where she was and lead the other members of the group to come around her and support her through this incredibly trying time — physically, spiritually, and emotionally.
“I watched a young mom go from fear and trembling over some deep wounds in her life, to courage and freedom,” said Allison. “Set free to love, she has a new found compassion and desire to forgive like never before. We have all learned from her willingness to be real and exposed, just how God brings great healing as we confess struggles to each other and we pray and encourage one another.”
"Sometimes equipping can help you discern when you need to grab an opportunity when it presents itself. The Monday of Thanksgiving week a couple of years ago, I was out walking in the neighborhood and I see Pete working in his garage. I stop to say hi and we start talking. Somehow the conversation turns to beer. He reaches into the fridge in his garage and offers me a craft beer to take home. I declined, saying that I’d rather take that beer at a time when we could sit down and drink it together. Then I noticed that he was already drinking a beer! In the morning … on a Monday! So after a moment’s hesitation I told him to pop the top and I’d join him. That one conversation led to many other spiritual discussions. Then Pete joined my Wednesday night men’s group. Then he even joined a church! Later he told me, ‘You know what? If you hadn’t stopped and had a beer with me that Monday morning, I don’t think any of this would have happened."
Following is a letter to one of our men’s discipleship group leaders, written by the wife of one of the group’s members. The letter is used with permission, and the names have been changed.
Dear Mike,
Good morning! This is Emily, John's wife! John has no idea I’m writing to you, but I wanted to take a second to say thank you. As I sit and write this email I cannot believe you have played such a huge role in our lives this year, and I still have yet to meet you face-to-face. However, even despite the fact that we have never met, you are a huge answer to prayer.
John and I have been married for almost five years but we have been together for more than 10. John has always been a wonderful man, and I fell in love with him almost instantly. I knew from the beginning that the Lord created this relationship and brought us together for a lifetime. As I am sure you know, John grew up in a strong, amazing Christian home. He was taught to love the Lord from a very early age. This was the first thing about John that I fell in love with.
Well from day one of our relationship I have always prayed that the Lord would bring the right people into his life to help him grow in his faith and walk with the Lord. People have come and gone throughout the years who have mentored John and helped him grow in his walk. However, none have made an impact on his life like you have.
This year has been a year of huge changes and transitions for us in many areas of our lives. I am 100% convinced that the Lord waited and brought this Journey group into John's life for this specific life phase for us. I am not sure how we would have made it through some of these changes without the mentoring and security he has felt from the Journey group. I have watched my husband grow in ways that have blown me away.
I have seen John handle things this year with patience, love, humility, and wisdom. I’m not sure that would have been possible if he were not so wrapped up in the Word through the Journey group and your direction. This year he truly has grown and become the strong Christian leader of our house that I have prayed for for years. Our two boys are so blessed to have a daddy who loves the Lord first, then his wife and family.
I cannot wait until the day we can finally meet and I can give you a hug of gratitude. But for now this will have to do. I have also expressed to John several times that I am very interested in joining a Journey group for women as soon as there is an opportunity.
Thank you again. You will never know the ways you have impacted John's heart — and our family — for Christ.
In His unfailing love,
Emily
“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” [Jeremiah 29:7]
Perimeter has always sought to grow not by increasing its own membership, but by planting new churches. Atlanta is a diverse city, and what is meaningful and impactful in suburban Lawrenceville may not be at all what inner-city Atlanta needs. To date, Perimeter has 30 churches that exist because of this philosophy, including our first great-great-granddaughter church — Shalom City Church (see below for more). So even our church plants are planting churches!
Over the last few years, Perimeter has used ALL IN funds to help launch or support new churches in Lawrenceville, Brookhaven, South DeKalb, West Atlanta, and a bilingual church in Norcross. Each of these churches is impacting its city in a different way that is unique to the area where it is located and the people who live there.
When most Atlantans think of Brookhaven, they think of affluence. But as pastor Zach Bradley knows, Brookhaven is also home to a significant population of lower-income Latinos and other minorities who are getting pushed out as upscale developments move in. Currently Zach and leaders from 11 other religious congregations are petitioning the Brookhaven City Council to address the need for affordable housing in Brookhaven.
“Cross Keys High School, which is right in the middle of our target area, is the most diverse high school in Atlanta with more than 40 nationalities represented,” said Zach. “And some demographics indicate that 40 percent of the people in our area are unchurched or non-Christian, though some would say it’s even higher than that.”
Zach and his wife Robin are seeking to intentionally build relationships with all of the residents of Brookhaven in order to fulfill their mission to “serve God, know Him, and make His Kingdom grow.”
Click here to learn more about Brookhaven Presbyterian Church. http://brookhavenpres.com/
Pastor Alex Villasana’s desire for Christos Community Church was to have a church that was highly personal and relational. But he also wanted to draw its community from the extremely diverse Latino community and the socio-economically diverse white community in Norcross. How do you do that? Very carefully.
“Building a multicultural church — a church with different languages, economic levels, societal levels — is hard,” said Alex. “But God is at work here. When you see people who don’t speak the language trying very hard to speak the other person’s language because they love God, because they have been changed by God, that tells you that God is at work.”
Christos Community Church just finished a low-cost, volunteer-driven children’s camp called Camp Leonardo after Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci was known as the “renaissance man” — a diverse intellectual community within himself. Therefore, Camp Leonardo sought to draw in children who are rich and poor; black, white, and brown; artists and scientists alike.
“The main idea of Camp Leonardo is to provide a quality learning environment where children, and their parents, could have an opportunity to see and enjoy the beauty of Jesus Christ in a culturally diverse setting, specifically by exploring God's gift of creativity,” said Alex.
Click here for more information on Christos Community Church. http://christoscommunity.org
Before officially starting Ikon, pastor Darryl Ford went back to his hometown of Detroit because he saw many similarities between DeKalb County and Wayne County. “It arrested my heart,” said Darryl.
Twenty years ago, East Lake — often referred to by the nickname “Little Vietnam” — was considered one of the most dangerous and economically impoverished communities in the country. In the mid-90s, only 13% of the residents of the East Lake Meadows projects were employed. But because people before Darryl intentionally invested in the neighborhood, its reputation has changed considerably.
Pastor Darryl has always believed strongly in joining God where he is at work. God’s work of reconciling not only broken people, but broken systems was readily apparent in East Lake which drew Ikon Community Church there. His desire is to help continue to effect change and foster a sense of community that is gospel-driven.
“My vision for Ikon is that of helping a multicultural community of radically transformed believers image God well through celebrating God’s grace, engaging in authentic community, and joining God as agents of cultural renewal,” said Darryl. “This means using cultural influence, ability, and capital to help East Lake as well as Metro Atlanta look increasingly more like the new city to come.”
Since planting, Ikon has been able to partner with residents, organizations, and Drew Charter School to help effect change in East Lake. Most recently, Ikon was asked to partner with the school for its annual Back-to-School Jam. Ikon members worked alongside city council members, school faculty, and residents in encouraging the students as they prepared for the school year.
“We manned concession booths, helped set up and tear down equipment as well as distribute backpacks filled with school supplies,” said Darryl. “I also had the opportunity to pray for the principal, the school, and its students. What an amazing, God-given opportunity!”
Click here for more information on Ikon Community Church. http://ikoncommunitychurch.org
“Why Lawrenceville?” one might ask New City Church pastor Ryan Johnson. “Because Lawrenceville needs Jesus” is his answer.
Ryan saw the need in Lawrenceville clearly two years ago while driving around Atlanta with his daughter looking at Christmas lights. His daughter commented, “These lights are beautiful, Daddy. But where’s Jesus?”
From the mouths of babes. Ryan sees that comment as a picture of what’s happening in Lawrenceville. “There seems to be confusion in Lawrenceville about Jesus’ Kingdom and who that Kingdom is for,” said Ryan. Lawrenceville is becoming a haven for immigrants from around the world, much like other areas of Gwinnett and DeKalb Counties. But that same new diversity of people and cultures and religion is driving out long-time residents.
“But the Gospel meets both groups of people right where they’re at,” said Ryan. “The light of Jesus will drive out fear and insecurity and will redeem not only individuals and families but the very city you are either coming to with hope or fleeing in fear.”
Ryan sees the people of Lawrenceville as hungry for community and for restoration. Both desires are being met with New City Church’s partnership with Richards Middle School. Although Richards wasn’t the church’s first choice for a meeting space, Ryan now says that God is going to have to kick them out for them to consider moving.
Although it’s in the suburbs, Richards is a Title I school with 85% of its students receiving free or reduced-price lunch and more than 50 students classified as homeless.
“Before our first service in the school, our team decided that we wanted to contribute to the flourishing of the families and staff that make up Richards, not just consume their resources for our good,” said Ryan. “We wanted to be embedded in the Richards community.”
In the short time that New City Church has called Richards home, that is certainly happening. Relationships with other churches, cultures, and denominations are flourishing because of New City Church’s commitment to the Richards community.
Click here for more information on New City Church. http://newcitychurchatl.org/
Although Shalom City is Perimeter’s youngest church plant, it is already impacting the broken people and places in its home of Grove Park, a beautiful but marginalized community in West Atlanta. Pastor Danny Iverson’s goal is to bring God’s Shalom — holistic peace — to a blighted area of Atlanta that many have written off, but is ripe for redemption.
“The Gospel is being proclaimed powerfully in word and deed as God’s people within the Grove Park community show up and faithfully share life together with each other day by day, house to house, and street by street,” said Danny.
When Danny says street by street, he is being literal. Church members meet every Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m. to systematically walk through Grove Park to pray for one or two streets at a time — each house, each lot, and each family. In addition, outside supporters of Shalom City have adopted each of the 80 streets in the neighborhood and pray for them as well.
The first ShalomHouse, which meets in the Iverson’s home, has been replicated in to a second house occupied by recent Georgia Tech graduates who are reaching out primarily to the single men and women in the neighborhood. Three additional ShalomHouses are in the planning stages in different areas of Grove Park. The goal is to have small, tight-knit communities of people who live within blocks of each other and are a part of each other’s day-to-day lives. Then the individual ShalomHouses will come together as a community for worship and outreach.
One of the specific areas where Danny hopes to make an impact is with the young men of the neighborhood. Grove Park, which is 95% African-American, is at risk for losing a generation of men to drug abuse, incarceration, and hopelessness. The Grove Park Warriors is a group of teens who are being impacted by the Gospel and a vision for what true Biblical manhood looks like. During Warrior Week this summer, 19 Grove Park Warriors brought lunch to the Zone 1 police precinct.
“Over a lunch of hot wings, the officers and young men had a heart-to-heart discussion about current events and what needs to happen to see peace in our streets,” said Danny. “By the end, the officers were crying. It was such a powerful moment of understanding and reconciliation. Being a man means being a peacemaker, and that’s what we are hoping these Grove Park Warriors will be — peacemakers.”
Click here for more information on Shalom City Church. http://www.shalomcity.org/
When most Atlantans think of Brookhaven, they think of affluence. But as pastor Zach Bradley knows, Brookhaven is also home to a significant population of lower-income Latinos and other minorities who are getting pushed out as upscale developments move in. Currently Zach and leaders from 11 other religious congregations are petitioning the Brookhaven City Council to address the need for affordable housing in Brookhaven.
“Cross Keys High School, which is right in the middle of our target area, is the most diverse high school in Atlanta with more than 40 nationalities represented,” said Zach. “And some demographics indicate that 40 percent of the people in our area are unchurched or non-Christian, though some would say it’s even higher than that.”
Zach and his wife Robin are seeking to intentionally build relationships with all of the residents of Brookhaven in order to fulfill their mission to “serve God, know Him, and make His Kingdom grow.”
Click here to learn more about Brookhaven Presbyterian Church. http://brookhavenpres.com/
Before officially starting Ikon, pastor Darryl Ford went back to his hometown of Detroit because he saw many similarities between DeKalb County and Wayne County. “It arrested my heart,” said Darryl.
Twenty years ago, East Lake — often referred to by the nickname “Little Vietnam” — was considered one of the most dangerous and economically impoverished communities in the country. In the mid-90s, only 13% of the residents of the East Lake Meadows projects were employed. But because people before Darryl intentionally invested in the neighborhood, its reputation has changed considerably.
His desire is to help continue to effect change and foster a sense of community that is gospel-driven.
“My vision for Ikon is that of helping a multicultural community of radically transformed believers image God well through celebrating God’s grace, engaging in authentic community, and joining God as agents of cultural renewal,” said Darryl. “This means using cultural influence, ability, and capital to help East Lake as well as Metro Atlanta look increasingly more like the new city to come.”
Since planting, Ikon has been able to partner with residents, organizations, and Drew Charter School to help effect change in East Lake. Most recently, Ikon was asked to partner with the school for its annual Back-to-School Jam. Ikon members worked alongside city council members, school faculty, and residents in encouraging the students as they prepared for the school year.
“We manned concession booths, helped set up and tear down equipment as well as distribute backpacks filled with school supplies,” said Darryl. “I also had the opportunity to pray for the principal, the school, and its students. What an amazing, God-given opportunity!”
Click here for more information on Ikon Community Church. http://ikoncommunitychurch.org
Although Shalom City is Perimeter’s youngest church plant, it is already impacting the broken people and places in its home of Grove Park, a beautiful but marginalized community in West Atlanta. Pastor Danny Iverson’s goal is to bring God’s Shalom — holistic peace — to a blighted area of Atlanta that many have written off, but is ripe for redemption.
“The Gospel is being proclaimed powerfully in word and deed as God’s people within the Grove Park community show up and faithfully share life together with each other day by day, house to house, and street by street,” said Danny.
When Danny says street by street, he is being literal. Church members meet every Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m. to systematically walk through Grove Park to pray for one or two streets at a time — each house, each lot, and each family. In addition, outside supporters of Shalom City have adopted each of the 80 streets in the neighborhood and pray for them as well.
The first ShalomHouse, which meets in the Iverson’s home, has been replicated in to a second house occupied by recent Georgia Tech graduates who are reaching out primarily to the single men and women in the neighborhood. Three additional ShalomHouses are in the planning stages in different areas of Grove Park. The goal is to have small, tight-knit communities of people who live within blocks of each other and are a part of each other’s day-to-day lives. Then the individual ShalomHouses will come together as a community for worship and outreach.
One of the specific areas where Danny hopes to make an impact is with the young men of the neighborhood. Grove Park, which is 95% African-American, is at risk for losing a generation of men to drug abuse, incarceration, and hopelessness. The Grove Park Warriors is a group of teens who are being impacted by the Gospel and a vision for what true Biblical manhood looks like. During Warrior Week this summer, 19 Grove Park Warriors brought lunch to the Zone 1 police precinct.
“Over a lunch of hot wings, the officers and young men had a heart-to-heart discussion about current events and what needs to happen to see peace in our streets,” said Danny. “By the end, the officers were crying. It was such a powerful moment of understanding and reconciliation. Being a man means being a peacemaker, and that’s what we are hoping these Grove Park Warriors will be — peacemakers.”
Click here for more information on Shalom City Church. http://www.shalomcity.org/
Pastor Alex Villasana’s desire for Christos Community Church was to have a church that was highly personal and relational. But he also wanted to draw its community from the extremely diverse Latino community and the socio-economically diverse white community in Norcross. How do you do that? Very carefully.
“Building a multicultural church — a church with different languages, economic levels, societal levels — is hard,” said Alex. “But God is at work here. When you see people who don’t speak the language trying very hard to speak the other person’s language because they love God, because they have been changed by God, that tells you that God is at work.”
Christos Community Church just finished a low-cost, volunteer-driven children’s camp called Camp Leonardo after Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci was known as the “renaissance man” — a diverse intellectual community within himself. Therefore, Camp Leonardo sought to draw in children who are rich and poor; black, white, and brown; artists and scientists alike.
“The main idea of Camp Leonardo is to provide a quality learning environment where children, and their parents, could have an opportunity to see and enjoy the beauty of Jesus Christ in a culturally diverse setting, specifically by exploring God's gift of creativity,” said Alex.
Click here for more information on Christos Community Church. http://christoscommunity.org
“Why Lawrenceville?” one might ask New City Church pastor Ryan Johnson. “Because Lawrenceville needs Jesus” is his answer.
Ryan saw the need in Lawrenceville clearly two years ago while driving around Atlanta with his daughter looking at Christmas lights. His daughter commented, “These lights are beautiful, Daddy. But where’s Jesus?”
From the mouths of babes. Ryan sees that comment as a picture of what’s happening in Lawrenceville. “There seems to be confusion in Lawrenceville about Jesus’ Kingdom and who that Kingdom is for,” said Ryan. Lawrenceville is becoming a haven for immigrants from around the world, much like other areas of Gwinnett and DeKalb Counties. But that same new diversity of people and cultures and religion is driving out long-time residents.
“But the Gospel meets both groups of people right where they’re at,” said Ryan. “The light of Jesus will drive out fear and insecurity and will redeem not only individuals and families but the very city you are either coming to with hope or fleeing in fear.”
Ryan sees the people of Lawrenceville as hungry for community and for restoration. Both desires are being met with New City Church’s partnership with Richards Middle School. Although Richards wasn’t the church’s first choice for a meeting space, Ryan now says that God is going to have to kick them out for them to consider moving.
Although it’s in the suburbs, Richards is a Title I school with 85% of its students receiving free or reduced-price lunch and more than 50 students classified as homeless.
“Before our fist service in the school, our team decided that we wanted to contribute to the flourishing of the families and staff that make up Richards, not just consume their resources for our good,” said Ryan. “We wanted to be embedded in the Richards community.”
In the short time that New City Church has called Richards home, that is certainly happening. Relationships with other churches, cultures, and denominations are flourishing because of New City Church’s commitment to the Richards community.
Click here for more information on New City Church. http://newcitychurchatl.org/
Life on Life is providing much-needed leadership and discipleship training in global cities throughout the United States and the world. The vision is to raise up 1,000,000 disciples of Christ.
Life on Life is providing much-needed leadership and discipleship training in global cities on six continents around the world. It is fundamentally changing the way that pastors:
Through Life on Life, we have trained pastors and leaders from more than 200 churches, who have formed more than 1,500 Life-on-Life Missional Discipleship Groups. More than 5,000 key lay leaders have come out of these groups, and they are making our vision of seeing 1,000,000 worldwide disciples a reality.
It could have been just another Sunday. But it wasn’t. God met Alissa Fortune Tertichny right where she was that day — in a seat in the Perimeter Church Sanctuary — and started her on a path that would transform her life.
In a Sunday morning service when Alissa was 15 years old, she heard a story that she’d never heard before. A story that rocked her vision of reality and the world around her. This story was about girls her age being abused. Exploited. Held captive as sex slaves. Right here in Atlanta.
“I couldn’t understand that there were kids like me out there living through this. Not halfway around the world. Right here,” said Alissa. “Knowing about it, I felt like I couldn’t not do something. But my thought was, ‘When I grow up, I’ll do something.’”
But God uses people of all ages. The more Alissa thought about it, the more she realized that she didn’t have to wait. God had lit the fire in her that Sunday morning, and growing up in Perimeter had equipped her spiritually and practically to take that next step. Within months of that Sunday service, Alissa started PAST: People Against Slavery and Trafficking. Their motto was “Putting slavery where it belongs … in the PAST.”
“PAST was an entirely student-led organization that raised funds and awareness. Perimeter took on a huge role supporting this crazy idea,” said Alissa. “They nourished us.”
That nourishment and preparation came in many forms throughout Alissa’s youth. She was involved in just about everything Perimeter offered. And she truly believes that God used each and every activity, discipleship group, and day of service to help grow her and prepare her for taking on such a daunting issue as a teenager.
Perimeter also helped her connect with Mary Frances Bowley, founder of Wellspring Living, when Alissa was starting PAST and Wellspring Living was opening its first residential program for teenage sex trade survivors. Providentially, Perimeter Church was also instrumental in helping Wellspring Living’s residential program get started and has been a consistent prayer, volunteer, and support partner all along the way.
After graduating from high school, she never lost the vision that God gave her that Sunday in her seat in the Perimeter Church Sanctuary. She set aside her plan to study business and interior design and instead majored in Spanish and International Health with minors in Psychology and Sociology at Clemson University. She also received her Master’s in Social Work from Kennesaw State University.
She kept in touch with Mary Frances, whom she sees as a long-term mentor, and completed an internship with her at Wellspring Living during college. That connection has enabled Alissa to work on her passion full-time as the Program Coordinator with Wellspring Living’s Empowered Living Academy (ELA) at the Fowler YMCA in Gwinnett County. The two curent ELA campuses serve survivors and young women who are at risk for commercial sexual exploitation. The program is designed to empower them to move forward and give them the confidence to lead successful, productive lives — the best insurance against being lured into the sex trade or other illicit activities. The 2015 launch of the Fowler ELA Campus was funded in large part by a grant from Kingdom Investments using ALL IN contributions.
Alissa recognizes that Jesus spent his time with sinners and broken people — much like the people that she serves every day.
"My role at the Empowered Living Academy isn't just a career to me, it's a calling.
This work is difficult and one of the neatest things is seeing the way that God uses various challenges to pull me close to Him and remind me that HE is in control and that HE is the greatest advocate for the women we serve. He is, after all, the author of every beautiful and transformative story, including mine!"
- ALISSA