2011 ANNUAL REPORTtraders point christian church

FINANCE REPORT

$3M

$5.5M

$4.5M

$4M

$3.5M

$6M

$5M

20

06

20

07

20

10

20

09

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11

unified fund giving by year

2011 total givingUNIFIED FUND

SHORT-TERM MISSIONS

CHRISTMAS EVE

RESPONSE CAMPUS

JOPLIN DISASTER RELIEF

SAMARITAN’S FEET

ZAMBIA ORPHANAGE

OTHER

TOTAL

$5,946,259.22

$369,280.10

$135,666.55

$105,023.92

$17,827.50

$16,684.57

$15,343.13

$7,968.17

$6,614,053.16

Traders Point is about so much more than Sunday morning worship. Though Sunday services are a key piece of what we do, it’s the people and their stories from each day throughout the year that remind us why we do what we do. Hearing stories of life-change is one of my favorite parts of this job. And I love talking about how our church is reaching out to be a light to this world in so many ways.

As a church, we spent 2011 giving and serving those in need. When the people in my hometown of Joplin found themselves amidst the ruins of a massive tornado, Traders Point responded with immediate truckloads of supplies. When our congregation learned about the children in Haiti and Kenya who have to go barefoot, we raised over $16,000 to provide shoes for more than 1,600 children. A team from our church will hand deliver each pair of shoes in the spring of 2012. Like you, watching our monthly baptism testimonies can bring me to tears. It’s incredible to hear how God has worked day and night to reach each one of His people. I think about our mission partners, all hard at work to follow God and to seek the work He has set before them. I think about the faces and the names of children who we support through child sponsorships, as well as the local families we blessed with Giving Tree gifts at Christmas. I know you’re as excited as I am when people in our community discover us through a friend, online, or just by driving by– then take the step to walk through the doors of our church for the first time. Because of your generous hearts, we are a church focused on helping around the world as well as right here in our own backyard.

The report you’re about to read is just a snapshot of one year in the life of our church– not a comprehensive list, by any means, but a sampling to help you recall what we achieved together in 2011. We have a rich, 178-year church history, and it’s amazing to imagine that each year has generated numerous stories and testimonies of changed lives for God. All it takes is a willing heart. We have things to learn and we recognize our limitations, but God still uses us, His people, to transform the world.

It’s a joy and an honor to serve here as your pastor. Lindsay and I love you guys and we’re so excited about what God is doing at Traders Point. Our family and our lives are deeply committed to God’s heart and vision for this church, and we’re grateful to have the opportunity to work alongside each of you to achieve exactly that.

Aaron Brockett, Lead Pastor

WEB STATSsermon downloads33,756July 18 - December 31, 2011

pageviews 1.2Munique visitors134,004visits to tpcc.org342,988from 2010, increase in visits to tpcc.org224%

ATTENDANCE

CHRISTMAS 2011 5,268

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Visit tpcc.org

EASTER 20115,506

our mission is to

ENGAGE PEOPLEWITH THE LOVE OF GOD

INSPIRETHEM TO FOLLOW JESUS

EQUIPTHEM TO SERVE OUR WORLD

brad and lesley ChenowethLesley considered herself an agnostic. Raised with no spiritual values, as an adult she didn’t know enough about faith or religion to know where to begin. “I did care,” she says, “but I didn’t have a spiritual belief or faith to follow.” What she had instead was an increasingly strong conviction that something was missing; that life was too hard to endure on one’s own. “I tried to find all these answers—trying in my brain to answer all these questions. What about this? What about that? What I didn’t do was open up my heart and just let it all come to me.”

In the meantime, Brad was living what he now describes as “a very self-centered, self-involved life.” He was focused on success and control, finding fulfillment in his ability to provide his family with material things. Those things were of little help, though, when Brad endured a painful experience. “A good friend of mine pulled me close to him and said, ‘Listen, I went through something very similar, and the only thing that pulled me out of the depths of hell was Jesus Christ.’ And I said, ‘I’m so glad that worked for you, but I’m not there.’” That conversation, however, prompted Brad to buy a Bible and read the book of James—words that challenged him. “I realized I needed to be more humble. The arrogance and the thumping your chest and the prideful moments just needed to fade away.”

Both Lesley and Brad eventually understood that an intellectual pursuit of faith in Christ, by itself, would not take them where they wanted to go. “There was a particular moment,” says Lesley, “that my husband and I, who had been enduring these struggles together, decided that this was it. This was what we were going to do. And we didn’t know how to do it. We went to our living room and we sat on the couch and cried. We just let it all come out, as we said, ‘God be in our life and be in our hearts. And we love you and we want to be like Jesus. And just give this to our daughter, and we’ll be the best that we can be.’ It was a life-changing event. It was instant relief for us.”

NATHAN WARD“I kind of lost myself,” Nathan says. “I didn’t really know what would bring me peace. I looked everywhere—women, alcohol, just about anything. I didn’t look to the long term; I just looked to what was going to make me happy right now—which is why I never found it.” In fact, Nathan lost more than himself—his behavior pushed away the young woman he cared for, although her parents, both youth ministers, continued to help guide him toward Jesus.

Nathan explains that in Christ, he has found a lot of things—including his wife, the woman he’d thought was gone for good. He says that although he has made “horrible mistakes,” he knows he is forgiven. “Jesus sacrificed His life so that I don’t have to,” he says, and he stepped forward to be baptized as a public statement of his conviction and gratitude. “I now have a 2 ½-year old son and a one-month old son who bring me just absolute joy,” he says. “God can give me the patience and understanding to be a better father, be a better husband, and be a better person—a better man.”

jodi jilesJodi had long described her life as being everything she needed. “I have an amazing husband, two wonderful boys, and I come from a loving family,” she explains. But while she couldn’t define it, she knew something was missing. Then she hit what she calls “a little bit of a rough time, when I didn’t know, really, what I was going to do.” Her friend Kelly suggested that Jodi start praying. “I told her I didn’t know how, so she told me just to talk and that God would listen and answer my prayers.”

As she followed Kelly’s advice, Jodi became increasingly aware of God’s presence and response. “I started noticing a change in my life—just the way I thought, the way I felt—everything started to change within me,” she says. “I knew in my heart that my life was more complete because of God.” But how, she wondered, could she, knowing little about the Bible, share this with her family and friends? “At first, it scared me to death to make that commitment and to talk about this in front of people,” she says. “But now that’s okay. Because I know in my heart that God is with me. And that’s all I need.”

BAPTISM & LIFE CHANGEbaptisms in 2011

397baptisms since moving to this building

1,000+

CHURCH LIFE

PATHWAY TO MEMBERSHIPFIRST STEP First Step is an informal, 30-minute get-together with Lead Pastor Aaron Brockett. It’s a great way to learn a bit more about TPCC and meet church leaders. Sign up online at tpcc.org.

DISCOVERY CLASS Discovery is a two-hour introduction for those who are new to Traders Point and/or contemplating membership. This class is taught by Lead Pastor Aaron Brockett and Executive Pastor Jim Stanley. Discovery provides an overview of church beliefs, heritage, and operational structure.

DISCOVERYMarcio Almeida and Ana Paula Durighetto were invited to TPCC by a co-worker and quickly fell in love with the church. Ana invited her sister and mother to join as well. They went through a Discovery Group led by Brenda Hessel and it seemed that their relationship with Christ was really taking off!

At the end of the six weeks, there was no one ready to serve as a Pathway Group leader, but the group wanted to stay together. Brenda and Gary Hessel decided to lead for three months, which provided the perfect place for Marcio and Ana to continue to ask questions, to pray about the decision to get baptized, and to continue to learn and grow.

On August 28, Marcio, Ana Paula, and Ana’s sister were baptized by Brenda Hessel. After the baptisms, their mom came to them and asked if they would baptize her, too. So they went back up and baptized their mother!

LIFE GROUPS It had been an extremely rough three-year period for Karen Weber. Her ailing parents had had to move in with her family. Her 18-year marriage ended. Her father passed away, and she lost the job she loved when her company closed its doors. Then her mother died.

Weathering crisis after crisis brought Karen to her knees—and to God. “I kind of feel like that’s when He taps you on the shoulder and says, ‘Hey, I’m here. You need to listen,’” she says. She adds that her life group was there to help with that process. “In one of our small group sessions,” she remembers, “we talked about walking so close with Jesus that you were covered in His dust.”

At her baptism in early 2011, she passed along her group’s input to the congregation, explaining, “I think I’m more secure and more at peace now than I ever have been. My baptism is a statement to the continuing journey of learning more, of growing in faith and trust, and just continuing to be close enough to Jesus to be covered in His dust.”

first step attenders149 discovery class attenders 452new members 337 current LIFE groups168

leave wet SUNDAY

Debbie RobertsonDebbie Robertson was attending worship that morning. “When Aaron said, ‘Let’s do it!’ I just jumped up,” says Debbie. “I was sitting on the second row, so for all I knew I was the only one who would stand up and go. But it was almost as if he was speaking directly to me.”

Debbie had been baptized at the age of 13—something she had wanted to do, but not something she had fully understood. As an adult, though, she’d been thinking she might want to be baptized again. “Also, I had just been reflecting on what an awesome August I’d had. I knew nothing that had happened was due to anything I had done on my own; it was all a gift. So when Aaron said we could be baptized that very day, I knew there was no better time to make it happen. I needed to continue to let God show me where I needed to go.”

Debbie was overcome with emotion as she was immersed—and then filled with gratitude for the response she received after the service. “So many people were supportive,” she says. “They let me know they will be there for me through whatever is ahead, which is just so incredibly awesome.”

Watch Leave Wet

Three hundred and ninety-seven times, in 2011, the Traders Point congregation witnessed the surrender of a human heart to Jesus. We listened, often smiling or brushing back tears, as those being baptized shared their stories. We applauded their candor and commitment as they emerged from the water—then used what we had seen and heard to reflect on our own relationship with Christ.

While each individual baptism gratified and inspired us, “Leave Wet” Sunday on August 28 also amazed us. Following his message, Aaron invited those considering baptism to commit. Now. There were people standing ready to discuss their decision, he said, and the church had stocked up on tee shirts, shorts, and towels. Although no one had arrived at Traders Point thinking they would leave baptized, 240 individuals—from pre-teens to seniors—did exactly that. Then, after the service, with ruined hairdos and ear-to-ear smiles, they accepted high-fives and hugs from friends and strangers, all eager to express their congratulations.

baptisms on leave wet sunday

240

“God is doing amazing things in the body of TPCC. This congregation doesn’t just come to church on Sunday to learn more about the path to salvation. This congregation is not just giving because it’s the right thing to do. This congregation is not just taking the message of Christ to the world because Matthew 28:19 tells us to. We do all those things because we want to.

“Being part of a body like ours is a humbling experience. Step In was an initiative to move the hearts and minds of the TPCC body to act, to think outside of ourselves, and to take a walk in someone else’s shoes. I felt the Barefoot Movement was a huge success, not only for Samaritan’s Feet as an organization and not only because our church gave so generously, but because I can visualize those people in places like Haiti and Africa who will walk to us with dirty, cracked, and calloused bare feet, and walk away from us with shoes that will enable them to run, jump, play, and work.

“Our hands are reaching out, our feet are taking us places that may be outside our comfort zones, and our minds are thinking about what’s happening beyond the walls of our church. Not just around the world but also in our local communities, where the need for mentoring and training up leaders is huge, and where TPCC is committed to Step In to help. I am humbled and blessed to be surrounded by and part of something far greater than ourselves.”

Traders Point Congregation Member

On Sunday, September 25, staff members and ministry leaders came to church barefoot to raise awareness for Samaritan’s Feet, an organization that raises money to put shoes on the feet of children around the world. Our congregation donated more than $16,000 in response, to provide shoes for youngsters in Haiti and Kenya who otherwise would not have them. The shoes TPCC has purchased will be hand delivered by TPCC’s own Short-Term Mission teams during in the spring of 2012—only one example of the many ways our people reached out to children in need, through various Step In opportunities to sponsor, adopt, mentor and donate resources for their care.

Learn more about Step In

every drop mattersEvery week TPCC has over 829 people serving. Each one is a drop that matters and impacts people walking through our church doors. One Sunday in August over 800 people completed an interest card to serve the church. Our staff began calling each one that Sunday afternoon.

Megachurch = lots of people = enough people doing ministry. Right? That’s where my thoughts began when I first started attending TPCC. Having recently moved to the area, a megachurch was new to me. I sensed God drawing me to thoughts of service in the church. After all, what gives me the right to benefit from everyone else’s areas of service and I not contribute? But then I thought, “Me? I would just be a ‘drop in the bucket’”.

Then I heard Aaron remind me that in God’s economy, ‘Every Drop Counts’! That’s what it took for me to step up to be counted! I was a retired teacher who still loved kids, so I signed up for the Preschool Ministry, a ministry that covers the ages of my grandchildren.

What a joy serving in this ministry has been to me! I had plenty of support from staff and other volunteers as I stepped into my role. I have built relationships with both kids and adults, learned and practiced God’s Word, and have made many new friends. I have grown as much as the children!

Seeing and experiencing what God can do with a “drop” like me gives me hope and joy. There’s nothing better!

Pam Friermood, Preschool Ministry Volunteer

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.

Mother Teresa

KIDS BLASTMy son is three years old. He is a different character daily or weekly. Currently he is Peach (the princess from Mario Cart). We have had to have talks about how people outside our castle (home) are going to call him JD rather than Peach. Otherwise he was having meltdowns when people called him by his proper name or did not recognize that he was a princess.

One Sunday morning I reminded JD as we headed to church that his Bible school class teachers and students would call him JD (and that he should just accept that they don’t know his “true” identity as Peach). You should have seen my son’s face light up when he was greeted at the door with “Hi, JD” and then immediately asked, “Who are you today?” Not only did they welcome my child; they knew him.

This may seem like a small act of kindness, but it meant the world to my preschooler and therefore to me. I thank God every week for the servants who love my child and show him Jesus– even by the seemingly irrelevant questions so important to our “little disciples in training.” Truly, these volunteers met JD where he was at, and thereby earned his attention when they taught him about God.

Cassandra Curtis, Parent

PulseAs the church has grown, so has our ministry. We are wall to wall with students at Pulse every Sunday morning. What I love about Pulse is that we are not getting lost in the size of our group. With a plethora of leaders and high school mentors, we are able to make a large group small enough to invest in our students. Students like 8th grader Karina Gutierrez, who is passionate about her walk with God. Who raises her hands in true worship to God. Who on December 4, entered into a lifelong commitment with Jesus Christ through baptism.

Darren Simpson, Middle School Pastor

JELL-O WARS “I asked Earl Thompson, a local fireman and elder of TPCC if he’d consider bringing his fire engine to surprise the kids at Jell-o Wars and sure enough, near the end of the event, a fire engine shows up and makes for an awesome ending– completely soaking the kids. They will never forget that.”

Luke Edgerton, High School Pastor

Agape girls retreat“If many tears, hugging, and worshipping are any indication, God showed up in a BIG way. Many girls were able to be real with God about who they really are, and to feel forgiven and loved, which led them to true authentic worship.”

Adult Agape leader

If it feels like kids are everywhere at Traders Point, that’s because they are. They gather in rooms at the entrances … in the Multi-Purpose Room … in The Block. In 2011, we made some short-term adjustments to alter and expand the space devoted to our next-generation ministries. Why? Because those ministries now serve as many young people as made up our entire church population just four years ago! And there’s more to come in 2012!

In September, Kids Blast (which averages nearly 800 preschoolers through fifth graders each week), outgrew their classroom space. Elementary students moved out of their classrooms into the Multi-Purpose Room, and preschool children took over the space. Volunteers spend hours setting up the temporary space in the gym every week so that they are ready to welcome elementary children on Sunday mornings. And the Kids Blast ministry continues to thrive and burst at the seams, as do our other age level minsitries.

Pulse, made up of middle-school students, occupies The Block on Sunday mornings, while the high school kids in Catalyst take over that space on Sunday evenings. College-aged young adults meet there on Tuesday nights.

And no matter where or when they meet, all of them are full of plans. Like those for the Agape weekend retreat, attended by 103 eighth-through-twelfth grade girls, for instance, and for the Father-Son retreat attended by nearly 30 dads and sons from the Pulse and Catalyst groups. Last spring, just over a 100 high schoolers traveled to Florida to spend a spiritually rich Spring Break together. And did you hear about the Jell-o Wars that attracted 330 kids (170 of them new to Traders Point)?

If it feels like kids are everywhere at Traders Point, that’s because they are. They gather in rooms at the entrances … in the Multi-Purpose Room … in The Block. In 2011, we made some short-term adjustments to alter and expand the space devoted to our next-generation ministries. Why? Because those ministries now serve as many young people as made up our entire church population just four years ago! And there’s more to come in 2012!

In September, Kids Blast (which averages nearly 800 preschoolers through fifth graders each week), outgrew their classroom space. Elementary students moved out of their classrooms into the Multi-Purpose Room, and preschool children took over the space. Volunteers spend hours setting up the temporary space in the gym every week so that they are ready to welcome elementary children on Sunday mornings. And the Kids Blast ministry continues to thrive and burst at the seams, as do our other age level minsitries.

Pulse, made up of middle-school students, occupies The Block on Sunday mornings, while the high school kids in Catalyst take over that space on Sunday evenings. College-aged young adults meet there on Tuesday nights.

And no matter where or when they meet, all of them are full of plans. Like those for the Agape weekend retreat, attended by 103 eighth-through-twelfth grade girls, for instance, and for the Father-Son retreat attended by nearly 30 dads and sons from the Pulse and Catalyst groups. Last spring, just over a 100 high schoolers traveled to Florida to spend a spiritually rich Spring Break together. And did you hear about the Jell-o Wars that attracted 330 kids (170 of them new to Traders Point)?

father/son retreatWhile the boys from Pulse and Catalyst thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated October’s retreat with their dads, it may well have been the men who benefitted most. At the end of the weekend, retreat leaders Neil, Darrin, and Luke, who led the excursion to Brown County State Park, were approached over and over again by these dads—not just to be thanked for their hard work, but to be told about the life-change they had experienced. Their stories all had a thread in common—the importance of time.

“One dad told me the retreat had helped him realize he hadn’t been spending enough time with his son,” says Neil Troyer, Student Worship Pastor. “And he was almost in tears over this.” Another dad admitted that until now, the hours he spent with his son had primarily been spent in front of the TV. The good news is that many dads seemed determined, because of the retreat, to make a change. “One of the fathers told us he’d been inspired to get off the computer and spend more time with his kids,” reports Neil. “And another dad said that although they’d never camped before, he and his son had had such a good time, they were planning more camping trips together.”

IMPACTING FUTUREGENERATIONS

Response campusResponse, located in downtown Indianapolis, is a campus of TPCC. It includes a diverse community of believers who gather to discover what it means to follow Jesus and how to meet the practical needs of those in their midst. “Starting a church in a transitional, low-income neighborhood came with its fair share of financial and relational issues,” explains Jake Nelson, who serves as Response’s pastor. “We discovered quickly that our body had become so economically and socially diverse that it was tough for those attending to find things in common with each other. Over time, though, we’ve grown to love the fact that we are different from one another. And we have discovered that sharing Christ together is sufficient.”

Jake Nelson, Response Campus Pastor

HELPING JOPLINWhen the southwest Missouri community of Joplin was devastated by an EF5 tornado on May 22, TPCC responded by sending two truckloads of supplies to that city’s people. Donations brought immediate relief to those suffering unimaginable loss. In October, a short-term mission team went to help with the rebuilding efforts. TPCC will send two more trips in 2012.

Over a four month period, you gave $15,000 to College Heights Christian Church as well as three box trucks of food and other needed items to Ozark Harvest Food Bank in Springfield, Missouri for Joplin tornado relief.

our love in action • In February, May, and October, 3,000 bags

of donated food was loaded in trucks and delivered by TPCC volunteers to the Fay Biccard Glick Multi-Service Center in Pike Township, Brookside Community Church on the near-eastside, and The Caring Center in Lebanon as part of our Bag Hunger food drive.

• Over 100 survival kits were sold to TPCC members and distributed to the homeless throughout the year.

• In April and October, a dozen or more TPCC members served meals to over 100 people at The Shalom House in Lebanon.

• For the Boone County Summer Lunch Program, we gave enough food for 2,250 sack lunches which were packed and delivered by 95 TPCC volunteers. These lunches provided vital summer nourishment to kids on free/reduced-price lunch who might not otherwise have had a meal.

• In July, we sponsored and filled 400 backpacks, which were distributed to students in the Brookside and Martindale-Brightwood communities on the near-eastside. In addition, 25 TPCC volunteers served at the Back to School Blast event held at Brookside in conjunction with Jireh Sports and Shepherd Community Center.

SPORTS STATS 4,000+ SPORTS PARTICIPANTS 18 SPORTS ministries

response campus volunteers from tpcc60

OUTREACH LOCAL/INDY

HARVEST PARTY ATTENDANCE

TRADERS POINT4,500

RESPONSE CAMPUS 300

GIVING TREEThe annual Giving Tree provided close to 3,000 gifts to families served by local agencies in Marion and Boone County.

I just went and was putting gifts under the tree ... And at the bottom of the bag there is a new Bible! ... I am in tears. I’m so happy and feel so blessed right now! God truly knew what I needed and wanted. And I’m so thankful to have you and this church as part of our family! I couldn’t ask for anything more than I have now!

Gift Recipient

About ten days before Christmas, we had a great time visiting with the family we picked from the Giving Tree. They welcomed us into their home and we instantly made a great connection. On Christmas Day they sent us several pictures via text message of them with the gifts we got them. It was a priceless moment. Thank you for providing this service so that we had an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ. It is always an opportunity that we see as such a blessing and a way to teach our children how to give back. It was a great experience all the way around.

Theresa & Mark Thompson and family, Donor

sports“I am proud to call TPCC my church home and it has restored my faith, which up until I met my wife, had gotten away from me. There was too long of a period in my life where I gave up on church and didn’t make God a priority. Life had gotten hard and looking back, I should have been reaching out to God instead of pushing Him aside and blaming Him for my misfortunes. I was in a self-destructive pattern that left me feeling empty and alone. I credit my wife Kristen and the folks at TPCC for helping bring things back into perspective for me, and I have noticed a serious change in my life and faith over the past year. I started off as a participant in the Men’s Basketball League and now I’m honored to be able to not only participate, but to help lead Open Gym. As Aaron mentioned in one of his sermons a few weeks ago, Kristen and I don’t want to become “seat fillers,” but rather contributors to the church. And to help in any way that we can.”

Charlie Swartzel, Basketball League Leader

OUTREACH ZAMBIA

Alarm clocks went off at 3 a.m. on June 17 for 14 Traders Point men and women heading to Zambia, a land-locked southern African nation of 14 million people. After 28 hours of travel time, they were met at the airport by the pastor with whom they would work for the next ten days on the orphanage, church, and school he oversees near the village of NG’ombe. The group—which blogged that “Our first impression of Africa is one of beauty”—bonded with one another, built relationships with Zambian kids and adults, praised God, ate well, worked hard, and left wishing they could stay longer.

“The thought of an African mission had never crossed our minds,” one team member explained, “but as soon as we first heard about it, we each felt called to respond. And it has been a wonderful, life-changing adventure.

“God put together a team of individuals with very different personalities and skills, and bonded us together in Christian camaraderie—not only to complete the physical tasks set before us, but to draw us closer to Him. Each person on the team has become very special to us, and Pastor Patson Sakala is a godly and humble man with a heart to minister to his community. We are thankful for the continuing opportunity to come alongside him, and participate with him in sharing the Gospel hope to the people of Zambia.”

Jay Schaumberg, Team Member

To read even more stories from TPCC short-term missions trips, visit servingtheworld.org.

OUTREACH NICARAGUAOnly three of the 20 team members traveling to Nicaragua in

November had been on a previous Short-Term Mission trip—and only two were older than 26! Maybe that’s why they visited this Central American nation with such vigor. They played hard, including climbing 125 steps to the brim of a volcano. And they worked harder—painting dorm rooms and laying a concrete floor for a new church, holding outreach events for teens and college students, even manually pulling a tree stump from the ground! Team members grew close—then were amazed by the love directed at them by those they were there to serve.

“We saw shacks, people, dirt, and traffic everywhere. We attended church services, visited an authentic potter, played soccer at a school, took food to families, and played with the children. We watched six young men turn away from the gangs and give their lives to Christ.

We did our best to love on people in need of love, but at the end of the week they poured out their love to us. We became family, one whose foundation is Christ and whose love transcends race, color, language, and economics. We will always remember the flood of tears shed as pieces of our hearts were left with them. Over eight days, we bled, sweated, cried, laughed, shared, served, loved, sang, obeyed, but most of all, received. We learned that the poorest people can be the most generous; we experienced the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Anthony Noles, Team Member

CONTACTPHONE

317.769.5557

CHURCH ADDRESS 6590 South Indianapolis Road

Whitestown, IN 46075

MAILING ADDRESS PO Box 78518

Indianapolis, IN 46278

EMAIL info@tpcc.org

OFFICE HOURS MONDAY - THURSDAY

8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

FRIDAY

8 a.m. to noon

BUILDING HOURS SUNDAY - FRIDAY

8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

SATURDAY

8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

WEBSITE tpcc.org

FACEBOOK fb.me/traderspointchristianchurch

TWITTER twitter.com/TradersPointCC

It’s energizing to see how God is bringing so many new faces into our church every week. I love seeing first hand how God is at work, connecting those who are new to various ministries within our church body.

Toni McEwan, Life Group Leader

It is like God has given us a birthday gift and I just can’t wait to see what’s inside. Some of the gift has been revealed in knowing my hope is God. His will is to find me faithful to love, serve and reflect Jesus in an ever-increasing measure as we move forward. My prayer is that we keep pace with God as He uses TPCC to do His work.

Jay Dziwlik, Elder

I’m prayerful and hopeful that God will continue to bless each individual in this congregation with increased faith and spiritual maturity for the purpose of reaching more of those who don’t know Jesus. I also pray and hope that the Holy Spirit will continue to cause an unquenchable passion to burn in the hearts of each leader and attender to please God.

Doug Felton, Elder

We are seeing explosive growth in the area of women’s Bible studies. It is a thrill and an encouragement for me to see women who want to study and grow in the Word, while they meet and find deeper friendship with other women.

Caroline Gilchrist, Bible Study Leader

I’m excited about the explosive growth. I remember the time when, if we got 150 people for Easter, we were celebrating. One of the things that is so encouraging and exciting is the number of young people, particularly children. If we can keep them on the right track, therein lies the hope of the world. The thing that is exciting to me is the depth of commitment and the willingness to give resources to the work of the Lord.

Nelson Roetter, Started attending TPCC in 1936 (age 90)

I’m excited about God working through us to better serve those in need. The growth we have seen excites me as well, because the more of us there are, the more we can do as a church to help others.

Caroline Jelen, TPCC Member

WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT THE FUTURE?My hope for the community at Traders Point is that it grows so rapidly, loves so graciously, and serves so relentlessly that there is only one plausible explanation.

Gene Harker, Chairman of the Elder Team

OUTREACH KENYA

In the spring, September’s Short-Term Mission trip to Kenya planned to offer Vacation Bible School to schoolchildren in poverty-stricken Bondeni. God, however, had other plans. As team members arrived, the previous Sunday’s “Flip Flops” message still rang in their ears. Each person was quick to quote John the Baptist’s paraphrased statement, “More of Jesus, less of me, until it is Christ alone.” And they were equally quick to dive into their challenging new assignment, partnering with Mission of Hope International to treat 900 patients during a four-day, full-fledged medical clinic at the school—an endeavor saturated in prayer. “We had been told that without participation from experienced leadership in the operation of medical clinics, we would not succeed,” explains a TPCC team leader. “But with a unity seldom seen, the two teams became one team, one focus, and one army of God.”

“The Kenyan trip was defined for me by an eight-year-old boy named Marcus, who arrived at the clinic for a checkup. Several months earlier, Marcus had suffered severe facial burns while playing near a trash fire, and his mother explained that he was not ‘fitting in’ well at school. She said he was very self-conscious about his burns and how the other students looked at him.

“What Marcus doesn’t realize,” she continued, “is that when I look at him, I see the face of God and am reminded how blessed I am that God rescued him from the fire.” Both Marcus and I began to weep, as a nurse who served with me as a translator asked Marcus if he knew how much God loved him, and that God sent his son Jesus to die for Marcus and his sins. Marcus nodded, tears dripping over his scars and onto his torn sweater. He accepted Jesus into his heart at that moment and smiled. I lifted him up on my shoulders so I could parade him around the school to the cheers and applause of hundreds of kids, teachers, and our team. I felt like I was carrying him into heaven. I will never be the same.”

Graham Carlos, Team Member