Locations
Lifepoint’sBUILD Initiative
LifepointChurch’s BUILD vision is our next step toward multiplying the next generation of disciples. As Jesus’s disciples took the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea andSamaria, and to the ends of the earth, we want to take the Gospel life to future generations found among our neighbors, our state, and the nations.Examples of how we will join Christ in building his kingdom are below.
Our Neighbors
Central Ohio is significantly unchurched, and according to The American Church ResearchInstitute, 85% of people in our geographical area do not regularly attend an evangelical church.
Delaware County is a spiritual example of the Central Ohio norm. When Lifepoint Church began in2004, only 3% of the county’s population attended an evangelical church, the lowest of Ohio’s 88 counties. While the percentage of people attending an evangelical church in Delaware County has more than doubled in the last 15years, there is still much work to do.
From now till 2022, Lifepoint hopes to increase our impact on our communities in a number of ways.
First, we will help our neighbors through serving. One example is happening in September of 2019. We will begin building a house with Habitat for Humanity for a family from our church, who immigrated to the United States from Africa. We are excited to be part of both the financial cost and the human capital of building this family a home in CentralOhio.
Second, we can partner with local entities to do good. In Mount Vernon, Backpacks ofHope provides weekend bags of healthy meals for local elementary children who don’t have access to food on weekends. This ministry has grown from serving 13children in 2016-17 to serving over 80 children for the 2019-20 school year.There are still many children in Central Ohio who don’t have access to healthy food on the weekends. We hope to continue to increase the number of children we serve, because we believe Jesus is glorified in our serving and because it opens up more opportunities for us to share the Gospel locally.
Thirdly,Lifepoint is investing in local ministries. For example, this summer, Lifepoint financially partnered with CAMP UCAN, a camp serving Central Ohio and led by a pastor from the heart of Columbus, Reggie Hayes. Forty-three boys and young men from urban communities in Columbus enjoyed a week-long sports camp in Senecaville, OH free of charge. They spent five days playing sports and interacting with Christ-following men serving as mentors. Many of these adolescents came from difficult family backgrounds, and several have already had run-ins with the law. At the end of the camp, 41 of the 43 individuals professed faith in Christ! We will continue to partner with other local ministries like these in the city. You can see Lifepoint’s 2018 Annual Report on the website for more local partners.
Fourthly,Lifepoint is prayerfully considering launching another campus. While the location is still to be determined, we are confident existing members will be apart of the church plant when the time comes.
The Nations
Through our Wide-OpenWorld offerings, MOVE 3/2/1 initiative in 2016, and our general budget,Lifepoint has given over $2.25 million to world missions. We have sent 720short-term missionaries around the world, and we have sent six long-term missionaries across the globe.
Other things we have done and are doing to build a Christ-centered foundation in other nations include:
· Partnering to plant the Gospel in the darkest places around the world
· Educating international pastors in Africa
· Constructed church multiplication centers in a country where the Church is heavily persecuted
· Investing in safe houses for sex- trafficking victims in East Asia
· Established a community-centered Care Point for orphans and vulnerable children in centralAfrica
· Purchased land for a vocational training school in southern Africa.
· Within our own nation, working with our national network of churches, we are planting churches throughout North America and investing intentionally in Calgary,Denver, and Brooklyn.
In total, we are supporting more than 10,000 missionaries in North America and around the world through our national church network. All this is made possible through God’sSpirit!
Additionally, in the next two years, as part of our partnership with Finish Line Ministries, we hope to see construction on the Vocational Training Center in Malawi begin. Our goal is to fully fund their Carpentry Program, which will put young men and women to work with vocational carpentry skills. These young people entering theCarpentry Program will be first be secondary students within Finish Line’sOrphan and Day School. The Vocational Training Center will later open to minister to others in their community.
Through our partnership with Children’s Hope Chest in Uganda, we want to transition from the Survive Phase to the Thrive Phase in our work with orphans and vulnerable children in Kakira, Uganda. This phase will begin to provide necessary job training skills, such as tailoring and fabric skills to young children and the Care Point guardians. This will allow them to work and create sustainable income for their families, lessening their vulnerability to exploitation.
Lastly, Lifepoint families and lifegroups are increasingly welcoming international college students. Because of schools like Ohio State, MVNU,Kenyon, Ohio Wesleyan, and Otterbein, Central Ohio is a hub for international students, and it is a joy to see the Lifepoint body love international students through mentoring. In the coming years, Lifepoint wants to see more members mobilized to share the Gospel to this people group to even greater degrees.
Next Generations
On most weekends, approximately3,300 people attend Lifepoint. As we think about future generations, our hope is to leave a lasting legacy in our communities. Leaving a legacy involves taking steps toward more permanent facilities in Lewis Center, Mount Vernon,Delaware, and Westerville.
In MountVernon, we are praying about taking a step toward building a permanent facility. Recently, the campus purchased 10.9 acres of land within walking distance of 2,500 middle school and high school students and 1,200 college students. In Delaware, Lifepoint leadership is considering expanding our newly remodeled lease space. InWesterville, we are thinking about taking steps toward either a long-term lease facility or purchasing an existing facility. The Lewis Center campus sent about200 people to the Westerville plant, and God has already filled those empty seats. The Lewis Center campus hopes to break ground on a new facility on the weekend of our 15-year anniversary in October (see rendering).
Total cost for Lifepoint Budget and BUILD Initiatives for the next two years: $13.9 Million
If you would like to make you BUILD commitment for Lifepoint Lewis Center electronically, Click Here
