Diaphanous

Follow Dr. Earley as he disciples the Grace City Team and seeks the Lord on how to build Grace City Vegas. 

http://dearleys.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/the-coming-invasion-of-las-vegas/

As I am coming to the end of my undergraduate education, I have spent a lot of time seeking opportunities and praying for God’s plan for the next chapter of my life. I wanted to thank you for your involvement in my life, for the time you have spent taking an interest in what I have been up to, and especially for the support and encouragement I have received from you. I wanted to write to you to reconnect with you and share the commitment I have made for the next year, beginning in June.

In the fall, I heard about Dr. Dave Earley’s decision to move to Las Vegas, Nevada and begin a church plant in Paradise, Las Vegas. Dr. Earley came to Liberty to be a professor of Pastoral Ministries and Church Planting after planting New Life Church in Columbus, Ohio. After hearing about his decision to plant Grace City Church in Las Vegas and the team that is going with him and his family I committed to supporting them in prayer. In February I joined their prayer meetings and bible studies and began to consider whether God was providing this opportunity for me to be a part of their team.

I am excited to tell you that I have committed to joining this team, to plant a church in the city of Las Vegas, as God is continuing to confirm this opportunity for me and open doors that only he can.  He has already been providing for this church in amazing ways, including giving us buildings across from the University of Nevada Las Vegas to worship in. This city, and especially the university district, has so many people that don’t know God’s love and salvation for them. In Paradise, where we are moving, there are about 50,000 people and only ONE Protestant Evangelical Church. UNLV has 29,000 students that attend the university, with only one Christian organization that hasn’t had much growth or direction. Vegas is a spiritually dead and dark city, and I know God is going to use us to share His plan of salvation for everyone.

 I am so excited for the next chapter and would love for you to join me in this incredible opportunity to spread the gospel in Las Vegas. As I have been praying for this team, I ask that you would also join us in praying for the right places to meet and evangelize, that we would make meaningful genuine relationships, that the team would be centered on and growing in their relationships with Christ and that God would remove the veil from the city of Vegas and reveal Himself and the truth of salvation to many people. Your prayers will be an incredible support as I depend on God to do His inconceivable work in Las Vegas.

I have been applying to many different job opportunities and internships in Las Vegas, as I plan to be working to support myself during my involvement in the church plant.  If you would pray that job opportunities would continue to open up and that God would provide for me financially through the job he has in store for me, I would really appreciate it.  In order to move in June, I need to have 2 months’ rent and my travelling expenses covered, as well as a confirmed position of work. I have been fundraising through t-shirt sales, bake sales, cook-outs and yard sales for my initial expenses.

If you would like to know more about how we are preparing for the church plant and our plans for reaching the city of Las Vegas you can visit gracecityvegas.com. If you have any questions for me please feel free to email me at lrkeirstead@liberty.edu. I would love to talk to you more about the excitement of the upcoming year. Thank you so much for your support and for the ways you have impacted my life. Thank you for sharing in the joy of furthering the gospel with me as I look forward to this next year.

Sincerely,

Leah Keirstead

Terrifying. Earth-shattering isn’t it? A girl in her twenties is afraid of commitment. Job-searching-uncertainty. Las Vegas-exciting. Irrational? I know I’m not the only one in awe of the outrageous commitment I have made for the next year. For one, my parents are cleaning up my bedroom in Toronto so that I have space to come home. They really are the sweetest people in the world. So what is so terrifying, uncertain and exciting? Next month I’m moving to Las Vegas, Paradise to be more specific. Grace City Vegas is the newest church in the city and the church planting team, including my self, will be arriving June 1st. Yes, I have become a church planter. After four years of training and studying to understand the world of mathematics I realize I have only scratched the surface. With a passion to work in applied mathematics I have been job searching; for actuarial science, operations research and financial analyst internships! Anticipating provision of a job opportunity, excited for the endless possibilities of the year ahead, I have made the commitment to move to Las Vegas. For an organized, planned and calculated person, this endeavor is sure to teach me more than I could expect. 

‎”Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Mark 5:19