The bad news (as far as Jenni is concerned- if the wife aint happy…): Well, we went to the Doctor again today.  Seems like we are probably going to not have Peter on the outside till the 2nd of Sept.  We go in to the hospital that morning to be induced, unless something drastically changes, that’s the deal-ee-oh lucillee-oh.

The good news:  if you have cox you don’t have to do anything when tv changes over to High Def, they are committed to giving you a less than perfect picture for the same great price!

Ha, at least there’s something to rejoice about!

Today I had the distinct pleasure of visiting Baker Boot Company in Garden City, KS.

As fine an establishment as there ever was.

I inquired of the kindly gentleman behind the counter, “can you give my belt a new hole?”, sure as daylight my belt was taken from my hand and given the ol’ one two look-see.  The kindly gent took that long leather strap in hand and with one swift motion removed a his tool, slid it over the snaking strap and click, clack a new hole in my belt.  He sat it down, said, “there ya go”, and turned to walk away.

I asked, as any good patron would, “how much for the hole?”

He simply replied, “It’s free, last thing in this world that I know of that’s free…”  And then  with a smile he turned and left.  He with his shop and me with a hole that was free…

As most of you know, Jenni and I have been planning on planting Epic Church in the Kansas City area.  We have been pursuing an exact location for a while now, trying to determine where exactly the Lord wants us to serve!  Lately, God has been opening some doors we hadn’t expected to be opened and we have been praying and seeking wisdom and guidance on what to do.  Here is what that door consists of:

This summer I had taken our Bible Christian Church Youth Group on mini missions trips to help my Brother and Sister-in-laws Church Plant in Derby, Aviator Church (You can read about our experience at my blog).  Joe (the Lead Pastor) and I started talking and he told me that Aviator was interested in trying to help a church plant go into the Andover area, basically East Wichita.  He asked if Jenni and I would consider planting in Andover.  I told him we would pray about it and see where God takes us.

All this happened while we had been fervently looking for a place to plant in Kansas City.  It seemed we couldn’t get a break in KC, everywhere we looked WE either didn’t fit the location or the location didn’t fit us.  Jenni and I had both really been struggling with this (we felt called to plant, but the places we were looking at just weren’t right).  It was feeling like God was closing the door to KC but we didn’t see another door opening.  When Joe suggested the idea of planting in Andover, KS we were excited about the possibilities but wanted to make sure we took our time to let God lead (I, Kent, personally fasted for 2 days as we prayed about this decision and asked others to fast as well).

After a week of seeking and praying on top of months of praying and closed doors.  Jenni and I feel like God is opening a wonderful door to serve and minister in Andover, KS (near Wichita)!  I can’t wait to begin to get to know people and share the love of God with this Community that so desperately needs new Churches!  In Andover the statistics break down this way: if you take the population of Andover and divide it into churches, there would be 900 people  to every 1 church in existence.  The average church in America has an attendance of 186 - this number is inflated by really large churches.  If you do the math that means that the churches of Andover and the surrounding area are only reaching 20.6% of their population.  That’s about 2 out of every 10 people.  Consider that Wichita is is expected to envelope Andover in the coming years as it continues to expand East and West (the projection are 20,000 more people on that side of town).  As that expansion happens that percentage is bound to worsen if the church to people ratio stays the same.  I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is leading Jenni and I through this door to Andover!

Thank you so much for your prayers!  It is amazing how Gods timing is absolutely perfect - He opens the doors at just the right time!  What an amazing Savior we serve!!!

Serving Christ,

Kent & Jenni Wagner

Prayer Needs:

Andover:

1. Pray that God will be preparing Andover - causing people to be in the right places and right times for us to meet them and get them involved with what God wants to do in their lives.
2. That the community, churches and officials will react with excitement and positively to a new church in Andover.
3. That God would continue to develop Jenni and I into the people we need to be in order to be the most effective for the Kingdom!

Staffing:

1. Pray that God will direct the right people to get on board with Epic Church and meet our staffing needs

• Children’s Minister - We need someone who can organize and develop volunteer leaders and put on a world class children’s ministry program.
• Worship & Creative Arts Pastor - Someone who can lead and develop musicians as well as oversee graphic and video development
• Director of Operations - This person will be able to develop & coordinate volunteerism and mission projects within the communities of Andover & Wichita as well as inside the church.

Funding:

1. Please be praying specifically that the Churches in the Wichita area will get on board with the idea of planting in Andover and help support this venture.
2. Jenni and I are gearing up to begin a fund-raising campaign, please be praying with us as we seek to raise significant amounts of money to reach those who are disconnected and far from God in Andover.  (Jenni and I are literally stepping out on faith that God is leading and where He leads He will provide)
3. Please be praying about ways that you can be involved in helping Epic Church raise money: Do you know individuals that might consider giving?  Have you gone to a church in the past that you know would be interested in hearing how they can be involved with planting Epic and reaching people who are far from God?  Would you personally consider joining Jenni and I in sacrificing financially to plant Epic Church?

Well, our students from BCC did it again!  They pulled off an amazing event!

Here’s the run down:

• 2 smashed beyond smithereens junker cars (donated from Smith Auto)
• 1 world’s largest slip n’ slide with firefighters spraying the whole thing down and keeping us cool (Thanks GC Fire Department - they’re the best! - if you ever have a fire, call these guys :)  )
• 1 swimming pool on a church lawn
• Wams Snowcones (need I say more…  mmmmm…  Wams)
• Tons of pizza
• Tons of Pop
• Basketball
• Flag football
• Tons of giveaways!

Honestly, it was an absolute blast!  We had over 300 people there.  I’m going to go through the cards and get an exact count tomorrow.  I know I printed 250 cards to have kids sign up with, and we ran out of those and had to use some old ones!

At the end I got a chance to challenge these kids to dive into God and give Him a chance.  I invited them to all come to church and start checking out who Jesus is!  I can’t wait to get to know these kids and introduce them to the Savior!

Anyway, now it’s time to hang with my beautiful wife!  She’s so sweet and I haven’t seen her all day.  Later…

Now a few pictures: