This week at the One Year Challenge, we check in with a church whose journey has been deeply connected to the One Year Challenge.
The Nittany Church in Pennsylvania began a rebuilding phase in 2013. With just 15 people at the time, growth was slow. The church saw only one conversion in the first year. Some may look at a church-plant or mission team as an opportunity for excitement and fun memories. While those may certainly be included, it is certain that there will be times of challenge and a great need for endurance. Being messengers for Christ is not about our experience, it is about the opportunity to serve God, His church, and to reunite souls with their creator.
With time, faith and momentum grew! The church was multiplied from 15 to 40, all while sending many recent converts who graduated from Penn State out to be pillar members in other churches, or to lead ministries themselves.
For most churches in college towns, this is a familiar story. There just are not enough job opportunities in the community for campus ministry graduates to stay. This phenomenon can lead to a bigger and bigger gap in age and maturity in the ministry. It is not necessarily a bad thing; it simply presents a challenge. This is one way that God has used One Year Challengers to play an important role in the building of the church here.
Nittany has had seven OYC interns over the past seven years and they have all been integral in multiplying the faith of the disciples here, growing the number of disciples, and building a healthy culture within the church. One can never know the ways God can use them or the blessings he has in store for those who are prepared not just in word but in action to step out by faith and be willing to take on a challenge for their Lord.
You can check out more about the Nittany Church OYC site and other locations on the OYC website.
Past and present Nittany Church members and staff share about their ties to the church and testimony to what God has done in the city and through the lives of the disciples here.
Check out more content on the One Year Challenge Blog:
Monday Music This one is in Hebrew! Check out the song “How Great is Our God” in the same language as the Old Testament. Maybe David sang something similar!
What We’re Reading Today From AW Tozer’s book, “The Pursuit of God”. This is an author so concerned with the Holiness and reverence we as people owe our Creator, you can feel it in his pages.
Good Ways to Decide on a One Year Challenge: Here is a simple reason: “because you can.” There are many who would like to go but cannot. If you are able to go, that may be reason enough. Let’s explore that together in this post!
Great Images: Who has Scripture in their Own Language Ever wonder how much of the world is reached through Bible Translation? Or how many languages actually have the full text? Check it out, it matters.
How Churches Can Apply to be a One Year Challenge Site See what makes a church eligible to and also a little bit of background info on the One Year Challenge’s goals!
