Last night we had an awesome time outside after our First Wednesday service and breaking ground on our 20,000 sq ft preschool building.  Hundreds showed up to watch as we took the first scoop of dirt. (special thanks to Travis from Murphy John Deere and father of a 3-yr-old here at NewSpring for running the shovel.)  It was a joyful celebration as we take the next step in our journey to reach more kids in our area.  My wife Debbie and Mark’s wife MaryAlice had delays in their flight back from Atlanta but I called Debbie on the phone so she could speak to the crowd and be a part of it.  Debbie is a big part of what I do at NewSpring and I wanted to have her there in some sort of way.  I asked her to write a letter to put inside the  time caspule that we will bury in the walls of the new building.  Here is what she wrote:

Dear Friends,
On May 6, 2009, the family of NewSpring Church buried this time capsule in celebration of the beginning of a brand new preschool children’s building. God has blessed NewSpring with tremendous growth in our KidzWorld (infant through 5th grade) ministry. We have remodeled every available space into children’s space–from our gymnasium to Senior Pastor Mark Hoover’s office. We have filled every nook and cranny and now God has given us the green light to build additional space. The truly exciting thing about this space is that it is being designed specifically as children’s space. We have taken every consideration in mind to make this space joyful, relevant and irresistible for the kids and their families who will come through our doors.
 
In KidzWorld we believe that since God isn’t boring, learning about Him shouldn’t be boring either. We strive to make KidzWorld the BEST hour of a child’s week. When kids are so excited to come to KidzWorld that they wake their parents up on Sunday morning or invite so many friends to come with them that the family has to bring two cars or cry when they pass the church on a weekday and find out that KidzWorld isn’t open, we know that God is at work.
 
We aren’t taking this step JUST because we are out of space or JUST because we love kids. We are taking this next step in the journey of NewSpring Church because we want to allow more people to hear the life-changing message of God’s love. It’s just who we are!

After I read the letter from Debbie we turned it back over to Mark to lead the crowd in the countdown to digging that first scoop of dirt.  It was electric and emotions were running high and the excitement was over the top!  People started snapping pictures and cheers went up.  What a moment for NewSpring Church and the kids in Southcentral Kansas that will be using this building, along with our first rate volunteers who have the passion to reach more boys and girls.

Coming up on May 16 & 17 will be the kick-off of our UsX2 campaign.  Pray what God will have you do towards this wonderful project.

This Monday the crews will be showing up to starting building this tremendous tool for reaching young families in our community.  Keep praying for the ministry of NewSpring Church.