The Bible is full of numbers. There is even a book called the book of Numbers. Numbers aren’t everything, but Jesus said God even knows the number of hairs on your head. In our membership class I like to say, “We count people because people count.”  Those of you who support us with your prayers and donations might be interested to know that in the last two weeks Mission Joplin helped 492 families. Of these, 273 are tornado survivors and 119 are families with other needs. Every one of them is precious to God. Every one of them needs someone to love them like God loves them. Tomorrow we are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. We need sheets…

Our One Church campaign was nothing short of a miracle. In these tough economic times, we collectively pledged more than $2.7 million dollars for projects on all three campuses over the next three years. Already more than $638,000 (23%) of the pledges have been received. We have paid back our reserves which were used (along with gifts to Generations) to purchase the former Barton’s Hardware store in Carthage. Now we are saving for the remodeling of that building which will be the new home for our Carthage Campus.

We are the One Church Follow-Up Team and will be keeping you informed as we make progress toward the One Church objectives. Those objectives include:

• Getting everything ready (remodeling, equipment, etc.) for…

From a mom who lost her son in the May 22 tornado:

Dear Pastor John and Forest Park Family,
On May 22nd, the lives of our family were drastically altered along with many others in Joplin and the surrounding areas. Since that day, an event that the “enemy” sought to destroy us with, and our faith in “our God,” God has used many from Forest Park and others to totally undo that! Our faith is just as strong, if not stronger, since that day! I know that my God loves me and holds me as I cry. I know that my God uses the arms of all of you and even the strangers when I have broken…

On my way out of a store today, a woman read the back of my Mission Joplin hoodie aloud and then gave a one word comment. She said, “‘Hope for Joplin - Glory to God’  AWESOME!”  Only a few minutes later, a women who was sitting on the sidewalk outside the store saw the front of my hoodie and said, “Thanks for everything you all are doing for Joplin.”  It occurred to me that others might be interested in a Mission Joplin hoodie or sweatshirt.  The hoodies at $18 and the sweatshirts are $15. It takes a couple of weeks to get them after we put in an order.  If you’e interested send an email to .(JavaScript must be…