Agnostics, Muslims, Buddhists, and non-church-attending “Christians” are rarely, if ever, motivated to visit a church service or event. In fact, many would try their best to avoid anything church related. As gas prices increase, the likelihood that the unchurched will drive to your church decreases.

The need in our time for new churches has never been at a greater premium!

We need to be about the business of planting churches to reach people who don’t know Jesus!  At Epic Church our plan is become integrated with the community through loving service!  One solution to the rising gas prices is to quit expecting people to come to us, instead we start going to them!  I can’t wait to see what God does through Epic Church in Andover!

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!

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…

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:

Reduction:  I have been fasting in prayer over the location of Epic Church.  I would love to encourage those of you who read this to fast for even one meal in the coming days and pray with Jenni and I about where God is calling us to serve.  We need to have a heart for the community and people that goes beyond any circumstances that we might face!

(Reduction Note: There have been several developments that are kind of out of left field that are helping shape our direction but we really need your prayer - this is the biggest decision Jenni and I have made in our adult lives)

Proflection:  Tonight we are having Teen-a-Palooza for youth group at BCC.  We really have the best group of kids in the world!  It is going to be awesome!  I will let you know more about how it went tomorrow!!!

I’ll tell ya this, Jenni is the best wife - I am a blessed man!  She is so cute as a pregnant lady!

Jenni and I have really been wrestling with where the exact location of Epic Church is going to rest.  We have been looking over demographics and cost of living, where our strategy would fit best, etc.  It really has been a little bit frustrating if I were totally honest.  We are convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has called us into Church Planting, but don’t know where that is going to be lived out.

Yesterday, I was talking about this with Justin from The Heartland Project, and he gave me the whack I needed.  Justin asked me to quit worrying about all of the details and to ask one simple question, this is my paraphrase of the question, “Who are the people that God is burning a whole in your heart to reach?  Where do they live?”  Honestly, I was a little blown away - in a good way.  I needed someone to knock me out of my state of worry and into a state of anticipation.  I am fasting the next couple of days seeking God on this issue.  I need you to be praying with Jenni and I about this.  We honestly have some great opportunities in front of us, each is coupled with it’s own difficulty.  I am confident of this:  I need a fire for a people lit in my bones.  I need to want to serve the community we land in, not as a strategy, but as an overflow of the passion God has placed in my heart for those people.

This is where it all begins…

This is where we hit the ground running…  would you pray over the next couple of days with Jenni and I - would you even consider fasting with me?  This is the biggest decision we have made in our adult lives, everything will be altered by this and there are no guarantees, only faith that God has lit a fire!

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Today we had our second preview service for Aviator Church and I am simply amazed to see how God is moving greatly in our community.  It is hard to believe that Michelle, my wife, and I moved here to start this church in January this year and now we part of a growing church where we get to see God transform lives everyday.  We have been part of several dynamic churches, but I have never seen God do what he has done here.

Here are a couple of examples:

We met a lady yesterday at Old Settler’s Days in Mulvane and she told us she had heard about our church.  When we asked how, she told us that one of our Aviator Church helium balloons landed in her back yard.  She then told us that she lives in Wichita!  She was intregued by the name and checked us out online.  She told us that she was coming to our preview the next day.  She brought a friend today and her friend accepted Christ in our service.  Only God can do that!

We had a couple of parents come up to us at National night out and ask what we did to their son.  I was kind of worried at first and then they told us that since their teenage son has started volunteering at our church, he is more respectful and their life at home is now peaceful.  They told us that this was the first tangible proof that church has value they had ever experienced.

We had a couple visit us at our first service in July, make the decision to trust Jesus as their Savior and immediately jumped into the life of the church.  This weekend, they had several family members visit and the ladies mom made a major decision to recommit her life to Christ!

We have done some newspaper advertising, passed out fliers, and prayed that God would send people to our next service and this weekend we had 248 people at our service and 18 professions of faith.  Only God could do that!

What is happening through Aviator Church is not the result of cool advertising or amazing leadership.  It is truly a God thing.  We hope you will come out to our grand opening month starting September 7th and see what God is doing.

Jesus is so cool!