Esmerelda!

Over 6,000 people came out in the last week to see "Esmerelda". Here is a taste of how God impacted lives:

"My family and I were fortunate enough to see the production on Saturday night. Wow, what a spectacular effort to visually and accoustically inspire us! Miss Grace Scheibe did a wonderful job! Thanks again for the inspiration. My 7 year old son said at the end, "Mommy, can we stay for the next show?!"

"I am a freshman at Iowa State University. I have heard a lot about your church from many classmates, as well as teachers although I have never actually been to any of your services myself. Tonight I attended your "Esmerelda" play and was at a loss for words. It touched me in many ways. Being a freshman this year, I haven't had the experience of college life that I expected as I have had to deal with a few difficult situations with a couple of close friends back home dealing with death. This has made it difficult for me to remember who I am. Being said, I was wondering what I needed to do to possibly become part of "Salt" on Thursday evenings. Again, your play was absolutely amazing."

Pray that the reality of the King who pursues us in love and our simultaneous yearning to "fly free" in Him comes to life in the heart of many who heard the clear message of the gospel through "Esmerelda".

Hope Center in Zambia in the Omaha Herald

We just received this email note from our partners in Zambia at Brookside Church in Omaha:

The Omaha World Herald did a pretty nice spread on the Hope Center today.Thought you might want to see it. It was nearly a full page on the front ofthe LIVING section.You can view it online - see link below.

Here's the online link.http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=3940&u_sid=10506548

Back to the Reservation

Thanksgiving with the Lakota Tribe at Rosebud

• Roger Wheeler, his family, and several others spent Thanksgiving at Rosebud
• A Thanksgiving meal was served for 50 native Americans
• a Bible study was started using "The Trail of Hope"
• plans were made to return over Christmas vacation

Pray that hunger for God and His Word will transform the culture on the reservation.
Pray for the Lord of the Harvest to raise up workers!

Youth Ministry Grows

180 Junior High Ministry Retreat looked like this:

• 2 busloads
• 110 students
• an awesome speaker
• 15 new believers in the Kingdom!

Fall Kicks Off!

God is growing each ministry at Cornerstone...

• D6 began this year with 350 children, up from 260 last year! As a result, we are literally breaking down walls in the children's wing to create enough space for the next one.
• The annual IFC hayride had 500 participants this year!
• 180, our junior high ministry, had 147 students
• Westwind, our Waukee church plant, kicked off their first service with 160 people

What about the individual? Look at this one snapshot to see how God is at work:

Jack Owens related this story, "Ben, a new Chinese believer, met Shay, a Nigerian believer on Cyride. Ben invited Shay to the IFC hayride. Shay shared the gospel with an unbelieving Chinese man named Tim. Tim received Christ at the hayride! When I met Tim on Sunday, he told me of his decision and said he would like an English Bible to study."

Kids Camp Orients Hearts

Last week 93 2nd - 5th graders spent a week at Hidden Acres with Kelly Fischer and a team of counselors...

• walking through Hebrews 11 heroes of faith with Pastor Geoff Safford
• memorizing Scripture each day
• being led in worship by Mark Duvick
• developing a heart for the nations as they considered what persecution means
• began to ask questions about end times
• getting excited about God!

Summer Fruit

Junior High students return from Rosebud Indian Reservation

• 21 students and leaders spent the last week at Rosebud
• each evening they held Kids Camp for 40-50 children and their parents
• Truth was shared, kids were loved, and seeds were planted for future ministry

Cornerstone Kids Camp

• 72 kids in kindergarten through second grade spent the week at Cornerstone
• learning the fruit of the spirit (ask them!)
• having fun, and
• growing to love their Lord and their church.

Windows into Zambia

Picture Pastor Tom teaching 70 Zambians in a cinder block school room with a mud-coated roof. As Pastor Tom teaches, the listeners shout their "amens" with celebratory ululations. And what is the message? The same one Pastor Tom teaches here - the gospel's power to save and free us from bitterness, enabling us to walk before Him in joy.

Picture Pastor Jeff and Teresa, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in Zambia, as they reaffirm their vows in a traditional African wedding ceremony.

Picture African pastors listening to Bible teaching from 8-5 and then saying, "Please don't stop. We are not tired. It is God's truth. How can we be tired of that?"

Summer Ministry Begins!

180 and Escape 22 kicked off their summer meetings with God's "rain plan":

• Unable to meet outside for the activities and games due to the heavy rains, junior and senior highers met inside the auditorium for praise and worship
• they gathered in groups in areas of the auditorium to pray for their schools
• and finished off the evening by splitting into 180 and Escape fellowship groups of 120 each!

Internationals welcomed at the Des Moines airport:

• 16 Americans and 2 new Chinese believers welcomed 19 Chinese students at the Des Moines airport at 1:50a this morning
• the 2 Chinese believers had arrived in last year's visiting group as unbelievers!

Westwind has their first church service

• 105 people participated in the first worship service at Waukee elementary on Sunday
• Pastor Troy attended and rejoiced in the authentic worship and excitement of God at work in their midst

From Beijing to Bangkok to Rosebud

Jack and Connie Owens just returned from China where they reported that

• the teams are unified and love working with one another
• the teams have been instrumental in raising up new house churches
• Jack & Connie sovereignly "bumped into" a young man named John Mark at a law school in Beijing. John Mark had been led to Christ 3 years previously by one of our staff members, Stan Hayek, while Stan was in China for a Cornerstone summer trip. John Mark is one of three believers in the law school, active in a house church, and strong in his faith!

Jah, from Bangkok, visited the Cornerstone staff meeting as a guest of Jen Lee's...

• she had been discipled for 2 years by Jen who was in Thailand in the late 90's as a 2-year journeyman missionary
• Jah was just trained by Youth with a Mission (YWAM) in the states as a missionary and spent two months sharing the gospel in Izmir, Turkey where 2 people received Christ!

Stan Hayek returned from Rosebud Reservation where...

• his goal was to find a couple of strong believers among the Rosebud people that Cornerstone could partner with to reach out more effectively to the native Americans
• God led him to Bob & Teresa Whitehorse-Steed...a couple who met Christ as alcoholics, have since walked with Him consistently and have raised a godly family.
• Pray for much fruit through the power of His Spirit and this team effort at Rosebud!

Moving Forward

At our biannual Family Meeting:

• all the existing elders and the new elder, Jack Owens, were affirmed unanimously
• the financial report indicated that our general fund giving is at 105% of budgeted giving!
• all "Your Move" benchmarks have been met (99.8% of 2006 pledges received, 57% total pledges received, maintain a growth rate of 5%+)
• the cost of the building with some cost cuts (landscaping, office, paving, dam for retention pond, "black box" equipping room) was kept to 13.7 million in order to maintain a maximum debt load of 22%
• steel was ordered last week and should arrive in 14 weeks
• construction begins on Tuesday, May 27th

Thank you for continuing to pray for this process!

Celebrate with Escape 22

Last Sunday Escape 22 held their Senior/Parent banquet...

• 23 seniors and their families - 110 people honored seniors graduating this year
• many came to Christ through Cornerstone having been raised in unbelieving families
• these "spiritual orphans" were prayed for by their parents - perhaps for the first time - as Cody directed parents at each table to stand behind their children, lay their hands on them and pray out loud!

A Band of Brothers

310 men, juniors in high school to grandfathers, attended the men's Band of Brothers retreat this past weekend at Sunstream Retreat Center:

• a freshman from DMACC, an acknowledged alcoholic, heard the gospel for the first time and received Christ as Geoff Safford presented the gospel in his message
• a highschooler brought his unbelieving friend and his girlfriend's father - both came away wanting to know God more fully
• one father explained why he had begun to attend Cornerstone: "If my son is excited about coming to church, I'm coming too!"

Cornerstone Abroad

Moldova and Albania and on to Turkey...

Tim Lubinus was in Moldova and Albania this past week to meet with

• church leaders from a specific people group in Moldova called the Gagauz, who are also Turkish speakers, in order to recruit partners from Europe to reach the Turkish people for Christ
• Ylli Doci and Cornerstone Church of Tirana, Albania. Ylli has already begun to recruit students to reach the Turkish for Christ!

God supplies unexpectedly and abundantly in Zambia!

• Not only did God allow us to get the piece of land adjoining our original property, but we got it free!
• Pastor Navice from Zambia left a voice message for Jeff: "The land is ours! I have the deed right here!"
• How great to serve a God who does far more abundantly than we can ask or think!

Celebrating in Serving

Reaching out with God stories and laying the ground for new ones:

• the Cornerstone West Des Moines/Waukee church plant had an initial gathering for fellowship and vision casting: 70 people were present!
• negotiations are under way in Zambia for an additional 12 acres of property which would allow the Hope Children's Center to feed 150 orphans from the crops grown onsite
• Don Harms, a TSC alum and Pella employee, shared with TSC his vision for reaching out with the stewardship God has given him - capping his family's standard of living at 50% of his current salary, so that everything beyond that can be used for God's kingdom
• TSC held their annual parents' banquet to celebrate with parents and students all that God is doing in their children's lives through the ministry of Salt Company
• at Escape's "open mic" time, several students came before their peers saying "I want God to be first...before sports, before anything!"

God, we are hungry for more!

Heart for the Nations

God is reaching the nations through every yielded vessel...

• A team of TSC and community people spent a week at Rosebud Indian Reservation, painting, cleaning and sharing the gospel. The week culminated in a concert and Easter service.
• Two Chinese students were led to Christ in the last week by international students who were previously led to Christ by Cornerstoners.
• 18 internationals drove 17 hours each way to spend the week together in the Houston area. One of the students, although a non-believer, has enjoyed the IFC family groups so much that he is going to encourage all 200 of his country's fellow students at ISU to participate!
• For the first time, the summer TSC team to reach out to internationals on campus will include internationals. The heart for the nations is coming full circle!

Heart Change

Through the Cornerstone/Salt Company Women's Conference:

• 360 women turned out to hear Becky Tirabassi speak on "Change Your Life"
• several women committed their lives to Christ for the very first time
• scores of women have committed to make a daily appointment with God to meet Him through the Word and prayer - the heart of revival!

Through two third graders sharing with their classmate,

Through a bus load of senior highers having spiritual conversations with strangers at Jordan Creek mall,

Through the team in China,

• 6 new believers in 24 hours
• 10 baptisms
• one Chinese overhearing a conversation, approaching the team with the words "I've been searching for The Father, can you tell me how I can know Him?"

Unexpected Ministry

Pastor Tom met a man...

• who visited Cornerstone once
• who he shared the gospel with
• who received Christ
• who died last week at the hospice house
• for whom he was asked to speak at his funeral
• for which he presented the gospel with a hand-raising altar call
• to which 10 people responded and received Christ!

Intentional Relationships

Time with Junior High students...

• 53 Sixth Grade students spent Friday night at Cornerstone led by Mike Heintz. The goal? To build relationships as a foundation for the gospel and discipleship. It worked!
• 50+ 7th and 8th Graders went to Dallas this last weekend for the "Identity in Christ" conference. As Babatunde, one of the adult sponsors, shared his story on the bus, a junior high gal realized that she could become a child of the King and have her own past redeemed.

Turkish Fulbright scholars...

• were connected with Cornerstoners to experience American culture
• one of these Turkish scholars was sovereignly connected with TSC students when she ended up "lost" in Ames
• These same TSC students attended the party that the Turkish students attended - and rejoiced in their recognition of one another and the number of Americans who love their country!

Reaching out, meeting needs

Reaching out...

• Cody Cline took several Escape 22 leaders and students to Jordan Creek Mall to prayerfully share the gospel with anyone God allowed them to engage in conversation with
• Joel Vint shared a Bible overview with internationals at IFC - internationals who have begun discipling other internationals because they know God is calling them to reach out
• Freshman Group ministry has begun a Theology of the Gospel class comprised only of international students

Meeting needs...

• Jeff Dodge was able to purchase 15+ acres in Zambia with Cornerstone's Global Outreach funds to begin establishing a self-sustaining orphanage
• This land has fertile soil, is bordered by a stream that flows even during the dry season, is near a school for the children, and already has an apple orchard!
• In the future, they are planning to add fish ponds, and plant beans, corn, and melons to feed the children.
• Jeff was also given the opportunity "to weep with those who weep" as he prayed for a pastor's son who was dying of AIDS
• and then, within half an hour, "to rejoice with those who rejoice" as he prayed with another man to receive Christ.

God's Hand at Work

In healing...

• a young college student's ear drum miraculously healed a day prior to surgery. The doctor's first response: "Is this the right ear?" and then "I can't believe this!"
• a returned soldier with severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, receives Christ and his emotional health is immediately restored
• another student, facing reconstructive wrist surgery to correct an improperly set injury, was listening to the teaching of God's Word and found that her wrist had regained full mobility. She returned to her orthopedic surgeon who said to the team of doctors and residents who gathered around, "You are seeing a genuine miracle."

In salvation...

• 3 more Chinese students that have been in the U.S. for only 3 weeks became believers
• a new Connection Group has formed in the dorms consisting only of Chinese Christians!

New Beginnings

Over 400 people turned out for the Cornerstone marriage conference: Enduring Marriage...

• Couples who had been ready to "throw in the towel" are now working purposefully toward healing past hurts, creating an Enduring Marriage.
• Engaged couples came away with a great foundation for the future.
• All of the couples were exhorted to embrace what God hands us and accept it with trust in his neverfailing love.

A new building...

• Favorable letters from the county and D.O.T. were received.
• We are expecting to start construction in the spring.
• God continues to bring more and more to each ministry so we are thankful that increased space is on the way!

Upward Movement

We are on the move...

• Upward Basketball has kicked off with the biggest group yet...over 345 total kids on the court!
• God has met and exceeded the benchmarks to begin construction in the spring. We asked for 50% of total Your Move pledges by the end of 2007 and we received 51%!
• D6 starts this week with a whole new look and lots of new families
• The Salt Company is currently at their winter retreat in Colorado to kick off a new semester of ministry