In April of 2004 Mission Indy was contacted by Pastor Anthony Fatore of Covenant House / Redeeming Christian Church of God to see if we could help their church. They had purchased an old dry cleaning building and wanted to transform it into a church. In fact, the church of 150 was already meeting in one large room. However there was a lot more unfinished and dirty space, and they needed rest rooms, kitchen etc. What Pastor Anthony had in mind was for Mission Indy crews to build interior walls in a large space. The roof had some serious problems and water was leaking all over.

We could not handle the roof, but during that summer, as we worked inside, crews were up on the roof, tearing off the old, and putting on a brand new flat roof.

As Mission Indy crews labored the summer of 2004, several of the church members stopped by, watching the teens work and thanking God for us. But something else was happening with them. Mission Indy had only begun the process. All along the way, Pastor Anthony had watched and helped, and learned. He was "equipped" himself, and in the months that followed the church became equipped as well. The job was finished as you can see by the photos below. We are blessed to have labored together! Pray for Pastor Anthony and the church!

We are so blessed by and encouraged by the relationships the Lord allows us to build.

Don Moline from Chapel Rock went with Ron to Pittsburgh for this convention October 13-16.

This was our most expensive and expansive effort yet to "get the word out" about Mission Indy. It was an opportunity to be where over 3000 youth workers from around the country had come for training, fellowship and information. It was great to see some fellow ministry people from around the country and we did talk to several people who were glad to hear about Mission Indy. Please pray with us that we will begin to get a broader range of interested church groups, which will then lead to our summer weeks totally filling up.

Several of the Indianapolis area youth pastors got together and created a Jr. Hi conference that was held October 28-30 at the Adam's Mark hotel near the Indianapolis International Airport. Mission Indy was the featured local ministry and what a privilege that was! In addition to setting up our display booth and talking with youth leaders, we also had the privilege of worshipping with nearly 600 Jr. Hi students.

We also were able to lead a workshop for all 600 of the youth & sponsors. They were split into two groups (whew) and we had each group for about an hour. During that time, Niccole, Ron and Bill worked with one student each, randomly selected from the audience. Niccole showed her student how to paint on a mock exterior wall set up on the stage, while Ron "equipped" his student to build a stairway and Bill taught framing. After the short demonstration/equipping sessions, Ron explained to the larger audience what had just taken place. They were examples of some of the things you experience at Mission Indy. We went on to say that many more things happen at a week of Mission Indy. Two (2) high school students from Taylorville, IL (Kendra Manning and Emma Wilson) that had participated in 2005, shared their stories about how God used Mission Indy in their lives.

Lisa Taflinger came from Kokomo to share how God used the Mission Indy Summer Staff program in 2004 to impact her life. Bill Briley told his story of coming to work with Mission Indy this past summer. Then Niccole wrapped it all up by explaining how all the stories were examples of how Mission Indy "equips" Christians to serve. She introduced Chris VandeLinde who had come from St. Louis with his band. Chris explained how he first participated with a youth group at Mission Indy, and then came back twice to lead worship with his band. Even though he has now moved from Tennessee to Missouri, he was happy to come and share with Jr. High Journey because he believes in the work Mission Indy is doing. Thanks to all who traveled and gave of themselves and their time to make this event a success!

On November 19th we had the largest ever Saturday work crew. About 70 people from Meridian Church of God, Purdue Christian Campus House and Zionsville Presbyterian Church joined us for the day. After meeting at Englewood CC for a challenge by Ron and a briefing, we split up into seven (7) work groups. We are thankful for the good weather, because the sun came out and it was not too bad for the outdoor work!

The fall continued to be a busy time, with visits to Anderson College, a job fair at Ivy Tech (for students from Butler, University of Indianapolis, Marian College and others), and a two-day visit to speak in classes and recruit summer staff at Lincoln CC. Mission Indy also displayed at ICYC in November. Marsha & Ron were privileged to work with Charlotte (Summer Staff) to present Mission Indy at her home church, Providence Mennonite Church in Montgomery, IN.

Mission Indy is in need of a dependable car or van. If you know of anyone that could make something available, please contact us at 423-3505 or ron@missionindy.com. Thanks.

Mission Indy has yet to reach the level of income that we need to meet our budget and do the things we need to for the future. The simple chart below will show how our income compares to the budget we set.

Please know that we are grateful to God and to all of you for what has been provided. God has enabled Mission Indy to continue what we do by showing us how to continue to control our expenses. We are not in debt or in financial trouble; however, we have not been able to do some of the things we would like to do as a ministry. Please pray that more churches will come to partner with the work of "Equipping Christians to Serve Others."