kingdom builders T H E RA D I A N T C H U R C H G R OW T H IN ITIATIVE FO R R EGIO N AL , N ATIO N AL AN D GLO B AL C HU R C H E X PA N S I O N , E VAN GEL IS M, O UTR EAC H AN D MER CY M IN ISTRY
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“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” M ATTHEW 5:14
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“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” MAT T H E W 28 :18 -2 0
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“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.� I SA I A H 60 : 1
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“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.� MAT T HE W 6 : 9 -1 0
WHAT IS KINGDOM BUILDERS? Kingdom Builders is a Radiant Church strategic initiative focused on the regional, national and global expansion of evangelism, outreach and mercy ministry. Whether it be building future campuses, planting new churches, sending missionaries to the nations, or caring for the poor, we believe that as Christians we are called to participate actively in the Great Commission by impacting the world and building the Kingdom of God in every sphere of society. In order to do that we must believe in a big God and dream big dreams. Each one of us can be used mightily by God to affect change in the world for generations to come if we will strategically unite our hearts around a clear vision. We believe Kingdom Builders is that vision. The biblical purpose of the tithe—the first 10% of our increase (Malachi 3:10)—is to sustain and grow the local church. While we are grateful for the faithfulness of the Radiant family in this arena, our vision for Kingdom Builders reaches far beyond what our community’s 10% tithe is able to build and sustain. Radiant has always been a church filled with world impacting vision and will continue to be so in the future. That’s why we’re looking beyond what our community’s 10% tithe can do, and envisioning Kingdom impact on a much grander scale. We are asking every person that calls Radiant their home church to prayerfully consider and commit financially towards Kingdom Builders beyond their normal 10% tithe. We have two primary strategic mechanisms in place for financially resourcing Kingdom Builders: • As we have done for many years, we will receive our Big Give Offering in November. This special annual offering will serve as the first-fruits of our community’s investment in Kingdom Builders. • We are introducing a new form of financial partnership that will serve as an ongoing resource for Kingdom Builders. By filling out commitment cards, you will have the opportunity to pledge a consistent amount of financial support throughout the year that will be solely used for Kingdom Builders initiatives. We invite you to pray and ask God what He would lead you to sacrificially invest into Kingdom Builders. We have a unique opportunity to reach the world beyond ourselves, and every dollar that you pledge to Kingdom Builders will be used to change lives and transform hearts regionally, nationally and globally. 10
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Woods Lake Elementary $ 1 5 0, 0 0 0
Woods Lake Elementary is a Kalamazoo public school with approximately 600 students enrolled. Of those children, 85% are on a free or reduced lunch program. Simply put, this means that 85% of the school’s students come from families living at or below the poverty line. While the school’s teachers and administrators do as much as they can to alleviate the circumstantial burdens that many of these families face, the reality is that the challenges they face outweigh the resources
they have available for community aid. Some of the most pressing needs these families have are for high-quality winter coats, boots, socks, hats and gloves to help their children get through the harsh Michigan winter. We will be investing $150,000 of this year’s Big Give offering in the students and families from Wood’s Lake Elementary School. With the help of 400 volunteers, Woods Lake will be transformed into a winter wonderland full 12
of food, activities, games, and completed with an unforgettable free shopping experience. Every child in the school will be paired with a personal shopper who will help them pick out their very own, brand new winter gear. For many of these children, this will be the first time they have ever owned new, appropriately-sized, high-quality coats, boots, gloves and hats.
One Hope Founded in 1987, One Hope is a global ministry that reaches thousands of young people around the world with the gospel through film, storytelling, and mobile apps. Partnering with local churches and global organizations, One Hope engages unreached youth with scripture and seeks to produce radiant disciples of Jesus Christ. The Lumière Project is one of the key initiatives that One Hope is engaged in to spread the gospel to unreached
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young people in west Africa. Over the course of the next five years, the Lumière Project will plant over 3,000 churches across 10 French-speaking African countries. By utilizing film, books, and evangelistic efforts, the Lumière Project is building faith-based communities and providing eternal hope to the next generation of children and families in Africa. We want to see every child and family in the French-speaking nations of 13
African encounter the transformative love of Jesus Christ. By donating $100,000 to the Lumière Project, we will be contributing to a world-changing mission that affects thousands of families across the turbulent and conflict-ridden zones of Africa.
Radiant Guadalajara $ 5 0, 0 0 0 Edgar and Erika Gomez have been connected to Radiant Church for over 16 years. In recent years Edgar and Erika have been feeling led by the Holy Spirit to plant a church in Mexico, and after much prayer and planning, that day has finally come.
Guadalajara, Mexico. With a population of 1.5 million, and a growing number of families living in poverty, Guadalajara is a city desperately in need of a powerful move God. We are proud to be standing with Edgar and Erika as they embark on this exciting journey of faith, and we can’t wait to hear the stories of God’s power, grace and transformation at Radiant Guadalajara.
We are excited to announce that Edgar and Erika will be planting the very first international Radiant Church in 14
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Missionary Support $ 3 0 0,0 0 0 IN A DDI T I O N TO SPEC I A L PR OJ EC TS AN D CAMPAIGN S T HROU GH OU T T H E Y E A R, WE A R E A L S O C OM M I TTED TO SUPP ORT IN G MISSION ARIE S AN D MIN ISTRIE S A ROU N D T H E WOR LD ON A MONTHLY BAS IS.
LI F E OUTR EAC H I NTER NAT ION AL
This ministry is distributing desperately needed food throughout regions of Africa that have been ravaged by war, famine, drought and poverty. Food factories in Mozambique and Angola are providing enough food to feed more than 400,000 starving children, mothers, the elderly, and people with disabilities each month. Mission feeding is one of the most effective types of outreach in the world today. Life Outreach International’s commitment to operating in areas of crisis allows them to sustain the lives of poor communities throughout Africa until native crops are re-established. We are honored to support their increible mercy ministry.
LI F E WATER
Lifewater is a Christian clean water organization. For more than 40 years, they’ve been bringing clean water, improved health, and hope to vulnerable women and children living in extreme poverty. Our financial partnership with Lifewater helps build wells, sponsor villages, serve schools and spread the Gospel all over the world.
LOV E BOTSWA NA
Love Botswana Outreach Mission is a pioneering organization, focused on equipping and developing indigenous leaders to effectively reach their communities for Christ. The organisation was founded by Drs. Jerry and Jana Lackey in 1987, and was officially registered as a Trust in the Deeds Office of Botswana in 1995. Our partnership with them helps raise up the next generation of ministry leaders in Africa.
field by helping ASELSI provide Bible training, medical care, and team support to the people of Guatemala.
T H E D OORLAG FAMILY
Joel and Amy Doorlag have been faithful partners with Radiant Church for many years. In October of 2014 they responded to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to move their family to Cap-Hatian, Haiti as missionaries with Children of The Promise. Their Christ-centered mission is to provide excellent physical, spiritual, emotional, educational & economic care for atrisk children and families in Haiti, empowering the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in their communities.
BROT H E R ABRAH AM
Brother Abraham pastors New India Church of God, which was established with a call of God to evangelize the nation of India. Brother Abraham’s ministry began in 1976 in the southernmost tip of India, and has grown to include over 4,000 churches across the nation. In addition to this vast network of local churches, this ministry includes 15 Bible training centers, vocational training schools, orphanages, and refugee homes.
MARRIAGE TODAY
T H E S HEA D FA M I LY
Michael and Chrisi Shead love people, and have both had a lifelong passion for missions work, and the preaching of the gospel. Chrisi is a registered nurse and Michael has served in ministry for eight years. They are serving on the mission 17
Since founding Marriage Today in 1994, Jimmy and Karen Evans have encouraged and coached countless couples in building rewarding marriages and healthy homes. With more than 50% of unions in America ending in divorce, the Evans are committed to sharing proven truths that can make the most troubled marriage good, and any good marriage great. They bring more than 25 years of experience equipping and teaching couples, accomplishing Marriage Today’s mission to restore the dream of marriage in America.
PA R AC L ETE M I NI STR I ES
in America speaking to thousands of pastors, church leaders, government officials and businessmen about successful leadership principles. Lidere partners with leadership expert Dr. John C. Maxwell as the Regional Directors for all of his Latin American initiatives.John is also the Founder and Executive Pastor of Vida Internacional (VidaIn), a church he and Karla started in 2004 in Saltillo, Mexico. VidaIn opened a second campus in Monterrey, Mexico in 2014, and is in the process of opening a third campus in Mexico City, Mexico in 2017. Since 1993, John has worked alongside pastors and leaders on the island of Cuba establishing 50 underground Bible training centers. planting churches and training leaders.
Pastors Wayne and Kathy Benson founded Paraclete Ministries in 2000 with the goal of coming alongside pastors and missionaries in the U.S. and around the world. Their passion is to serve the Kingdom of God through investing their wisdom and experience into the growth and health of local churches and ministers around the world. Paraclete Ministries provides in-depth mentoring, assessments and ongoing strategic coaching for the advancement and development of leaders.
A21
Established in 2008, the A21 Campaign exists to abolish injustice in the 21st century with a focus on slavery, human trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors. This organization assists with the prevention of human trafficking through awareness and education programs. They protect those who have been trafficked by building shelters and transition homes, assist with the prosecution of traffickers and partner with local law enforcement and community members in order to strengthen every aspect of anti-trafficking efforts and to see this injustice abolished.
KALAMAZOO GOSP E L M ISSIO N
The Kalamazoo Gospel Mission has been serving the needy of our city since 1933. They offer support to the poor and needy in the Kalamazoo region by providing meals, clothing, emergency shelter, and most importantly, showing the love of Christ.
CARRIE KE N N E DY
J E W I S H VOI C E M I NI STR I ES
Carrie has been a part of Radiant Church for many years, and now serves in Nicaragua with Young Life, a world-class organization dedicated to reaching young people with the love of Christ. Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, and Jesus is on the move there! Young Life is thriving and hearts are being transformed by the gospel. Carrie reaches out to teenagers in Nicaragua and communicates ministry stories from across the nation to an international audience of supporters.
Established in 1967, Jewish Voice Ministries is dedicated to proclaiming the Gospel to the Jew first and also to the Nations throughout the world, in accordance with Romans 1:16. They share the Gospel through television, monthly webcasts, print and digital media, international festival outreaches, medical clinics and humanitarian aid to the Lost Tribes of Israel, and through speaking engagements to teach local churches about the Jewish roots of our faith.
K A LA MA ZOO DEAC ONS C O N F ER ENC E
T HE BABOR FAMILY
Paul and Marcy work in the Philippines with the Church Multiplication Coalition, a church planting movement with a vision to have a church within walking distance in every village and neighborhood in the nation. The CMC is a collective of Christ followers from numerous church affiliations that supports the pastor networking efforts to plant reproducing churches in several countries, including the Philippines. Paul and Marcy serve as board members and help coordinate evangelistic efforts in the form of evangelistic and healing concerts.
The mission of the Kalamazoo Deacons Conference is to share the love and hope of Jesus Christ by meeting the physical and spiritual needs of people in crisis in the Southwest Michigan community. This organization shares Christ’s love through donations of clothing, furniture, household items, personal care items and emergency financial assistance.
T H E V ER EEC K EN FA M I LY
John & Karla have been missionaries in Mexico since 1985. John is the President of the leadership organization Lidere, a division of Global Outreach Ministries. John travels across Lat18
T H E R E NNER FA M I LY
24/7 personalized care, Julie Forsyth, along with many other volunteers, work every day to change the lives of hurting teenagers.
Rick & Denise Renner are dedicated to preaching the Gospel in nations formerly controlled by the Soviet Union. Their call is to preach truth to the lost and to establish the Church of Jesus Christ. Rick’s ministry includes TV and radio programming that reaches millions of people in the former USSR, including many in countries that are closed to the Gospel. Rick has preached in-person to more than 3,000,000 people since his ministry began. Nations he and Denise have ministered in over the years include Albania, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Canada, Caribbean Islands (various), China, Costa Rica, Denmark, England, France, Germany, India, Israel, Mexico, Moldova, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine — and, of course, the United States and Russia. In his own pulpit in Moscow, where he and Denise reside, Rick preaches more than 200 times in services each year. Despite the enormous amount of ministry activity they are a part of in Russia, they continue to travel for the sake of the ministry, proclaiming the Gospel to win the lost, rescue the hurting, and strengthen believers around the globe.
ACTS & E VE RY H OME FOR CH RIST | JORDAN B ATE S
The Antioch Center for Training and Sending (ACTS) and Every Home for Christ partner together to train, equip and prepare young people for a long-term commitment to frontier missions. Students are trained in prayer, worship, evangelism and leadership as they are sent out to nations around the world for short and long term missions trips.
LIVIN G H OP E MYAN MAR
Living Hope Myanmar believes that every child deserves to know that they are loved uniquely and specifically, just as our Heavenly Father loves each of us. Their mission is to demonstrate the love of Jesus to children in a safe and stable environment, and they are committed to visiting children regularly so that they can build lasting and fruitful relationships with each of them.
IN T E RVARSIT Y | WIN STO N L E W IS
R A D I A N T NETWOR K
The Purpose of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA is to grow a community of disciples in schools. They work to establish and advance communities of students and faculty who follow Jesus. Intervarsity promotes growing in love for God, maturing in God’s Word, serving and loving God’s people of every ethnicity and culture, and pursuing God’s purposes in the world.
The Radiant Network is a growing family of churches who share similar spiritual DNA and have aligned themselves together in a common vision for growing the Kingdom around the world. The Network is designed to be an apostolic covering and relational connection for pastors, a support system and logistical resource center for organizations, a catalyst for relationships, and a strategic developer of both established and future leaders. The Radiant Network spans across many states in the USA, and has begun planting roots internationally as well. We believe in the days to come that there will be Radiant Network churches represented in every nation on earth, and we are continually pursuing this goal.
ASSE MBLIE S OF GOD WORLD MIS SION S
Assemblies of God World Missions exists so that all can hear the hope of the gospel. Their commitment extends to all people in all nations, regardless of remoteness, rejection, or resistance. By reaching the lost, training believers, planting churches, and serving the poor, Assemblies of God spreads the love of Jesus and invites them to become His followers.
A LT E R NATI V ES OF K A LA MAZOO
Alternatives of Kalamazoo is committed to helping families lead healthy lives by focusing holistically on emotional, physical, and spiritual support, and by meeting the needs of men, women, and families through relationship building and promoting foundational Christian values.
ON E FOR IS RAE L
We at One for Israel understand that there are many ways to bless Israel, but we are convinced that the best way to bless Israel is with Yeshua the Messiah ( Jesus Christ).We seek to do this in two ways: Reaching Israelis with the Gospel message. Training up the next generation of leaders.
C R OS SWI NDS | J ULI E F OR SYT H
Crosswinds works with troubled teens in the Dominican Republic. Through counseling and 19
Radiant Church Expansion 20
$ 1 .2 M I L L I O N We are one church in multiple locations, and we feel called to actively pursue the establishment of many more Radiant Church campuses throughout our region in the years to come. We aren’t simply trying to make an impact on our city; we’re praying, believing for, and working towards complete city transformation. We believe that in the years to come, we will see a historical revival in our city, and that 100,000 souls will be saved. And we believe that our next step in pursuing this goal is to establish a Radiant Church campus in the heart of downtown Kalamazoo.
Our expansion to downtown will provide us with facilities for centralized church operations in the region, a fully equipped prayer room, and a gathering space that serves for equipping, training, services and more. This strategic expansion is the next step in the Radiant City Vision, and we can’t wait to partner with God in transforming our city from the inside out.
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map of current and future radiant campuses
C UR R ENT CA MPU S
FU T U RE CAMP U S
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HOW TO GIVE We believe that we are all stewards of what God has entrusted to us, who are called to invest extravagantly in the work of the Kingdom—feeding the poor, sowing into the nations, helping the widows and orphans, serving the needy, reaching the lost and expanding the work of the Church. Scripture teaches that tithing is both a God-ordained physical practice and a powerful spiritual discipline that not only supports the work of the Kingdom, but also causes the giver to reap blessings from God. When we give financially to the work of the Kingdom, we are partnering with God to fulfill His will and desire on earth, of which we will be partakers.
THR EE WAYS TO GI V E + ON LI N E WWW. R A DI A NT. C HURCH /KIN GD OMBU ILD E RS + PU S H PAY DOWNLOA D THE BERAD IAN T AP P OR TEXT R AD I AN T TO 77977 + CHECK MA I L YOUR C HEC K TO: R AD I AN T CH U R CH ATTN : FI N AN CE DEPA RTMENT 8 15 7 E D E AVE R I CHLAN D, MI 4 9083 WR I TE I N C HEC K M E MO: KINGDOM BUILDERS
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WWW.RAD IAN T. C H U RC H