As the church grew in size we moved to successive larger locations, including the basement cafeteria of Hoover Elementary, the gymnasium of Isaac Newton Christian Academy, the auditorium of Kennedy High School, and the sanctuary of Seventh Day Adventist Church. In a desire to have a more permanent church home, we had virtually settled on purchasing land in Hiawatha to build a ministry center. However, we decided to ask about an existing church property in Marion one more time before signing the Hiawatha land deal.
Because of God’s great love for us, we were offered property and a building twice as big as we were planning, for half the price. Because of our dependence on God we prayed for the desired $300,000 in cash and pledges. Because of the great sacrifice of 37 households, exactly $301,000 was given and pledged on April 10, 2005. Subsequently we were able to purchase the 5.5 acres and 16,000 sq. ft. building that is now our New Life Ministry Center, and held our first service there on December 18, 2005.
