Eighty students and leaders from across Southeast recently returned from serving on a short-term mission trip, where they shared the one hope that never disappoints—Jesus.

“What a gift it was,” Associate Pastor Matt Reagan said. “Together, we got to love on the community, meet tangible needs, and spend time with the people we met in the area, building relationships that will help sow into the groundwork of the local church across the country.”

For those on the mission trip, it was an opportunity not only to spiritually pour into others, but to be spiritually poured into themselves.

“When you go on a short-term mission trip, you just see the Kingdom of God for all that it is in fresh ways—it’s all new—and that’s why one of our MOVE goals is to see over 4,000 of you, our Southeast community, to experience just that,” Matt said.

Southeast has areas of focus around the world, concentrating efforts in local communities in Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee, as well as Appalachia and the Pacific Northwest, across Eastern Europe, and even into the Arabian Peninsula.

“You’ve heard us say that MOVE is all about being 100% engaged, meaning our prayer really is that you would take just that one more step further into the life of our church and certainly into the heart of Jesus,” Matt said.

Because of the sacrificial generosity and prayers of those at Southeast, more than 400 people from our church family have already been able to say yes to engaging in Kingdom work through a short-term mission trip.

“Church family, I want to ask, when are you going to step in and be sent out? When are you going to raise your hand to engage as part of the ‘Big C’ Church so that your eyes can see the Kingdom more clearly?” Matt asked. “Whether it’s across the city or across the world, just don’t wait.…We can’t wait to see where God sends you.”

You can learn more about short-term mission trip opportunities here.

From students praying together before meeting for High School Ministry each week, to providing care and support to sex trafficking victims in need of help, God continues to move in and through His people at Southeast.

Here are some updates on how we are continuing to move together as one church, forward in our mission, and closer to those who need Jesus through our MOVE vision initiatives.

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MOVE TOGETHER

Build and Deepen Community

• Almost 350 people have found community in a group at our newest campus in Franklin since mid-July

Equip Children and Families

• Making sure that every child who attends SE!KIDS has their own Bible to use at church and to take home

Unleash the Next Generation

• Student-led expressions of worship and prayer continue to spark across campuses as Small Groups have kicked off for the school year, igniting a movement in the next generation

Highlight: Since returning from High School Camp in June, students at the Shelby County Campus have been gathering for a time of prayer before High School Ministry each week.

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MOVE FORWARD

See 10,000 Changed Lives

• 3,881 baptisms, including 1,129 in August

Plant 40 New Churches

• Artisan City Church in St. Petersburg, Florida and Grace Church in New Orleans, Louisiana both launched on September 7
• Four more churches are scheduled to launch in October

Translate the Bible

• Started translating the Bible into three of the remaining 14 language groups in Liberia for those who have never heard the name of Jesus in their native tongues

Changing Lives at Camp

• High School Camp attendance grew 23.5% from 2024, while Middle School Camp grew 14.2% and SE!KIDS Camp Grades 3-5 grew 11%

Send 4,000 on Short-Term Mission Trips

• 428 trip participants
• 35 trips in 19 countries

Reach the World

• Shared a pair of stories about redemption: Tamba’s journey from chasing success and battling addiction to finding true identity in Christ, and Cornell’s surrender from a life of addiction and despair to one of faith, restored marriage, and a new purpose

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MOVE CLOSER

Support Recovery Centers

• 777 baptisms
• Developed recovery-focused discipleship curriculum

Equip 150 New Families to Foster and Adopt

• Celebrated alongside a family who recently welcomed a baby boy into their home through domestic infant adoption

Free 200 Victims of Sex Trafficking

• 150+ new people are attending sex trafficking awareness days across six campuses
• Many sex trafficking survivors are coming alongside our advocate teams and mission partners to care for others in need

Highlight: Southeast’s Anti-Sex Trafficking Ministry is caring for a pair of victims who came directly to us recently. We are walking alongside them, providing the basic needs, safe community, and resources they desperately need.

Expand Shine

• Opened a new sensory room in the Franklin Campus’ kids’ space, allowing children to get away from the crowd and reset so they can fully enjoy the worship experience

God is moving in incredible ways. From a husband and wife—both 88 years old—leading a group for the first time, to the first of 40 planned church plants witnessing 34 baptisms in its first few months, to more than 3,600 baptisms right here at Southeast, He is answering our prayers to move in us and through us in real time.

Here are some updates on how we are continuing to move together as one church, forward in our mission, and closer to those who need Jesus through our MOVE vision initiatives.

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MOVE TOGETHER

Equip Children and Families

• Met with Zondervan publishing regarding two Bibles—The Beginner’s Bible and NIrV Adventure Bible—we want to purchase for each child to use while at church, ensuring they have access to a printed Bible at their developmental level
• Continued resourcing parents via podcast segments on our new YouTube channel and SE!KIDS Ministry social media platforms, which now has 1,000+ followers

Unleash the Next Generation

• Aligned resources and training across all campuses, building common vision, language, and strategy
• Student-led prayer expressions are growing across all campuses as part of our effort to begin reaching 2% of the 143,556 unreached and unconnected students in our communities

Build and Deepen Community

• Launched Fall Groups with the Every Thought Captive sermon series curriculum
• Set a goal for the number of new group leaders at each campus

Highlight: Marvin and Eula Proctor from the Bullitt County Campus are an example of what it looks like to step into what God is calling you, even at a time in life where it might be less than convenient. The couple—both 88 years old—have committed to lead a group, walking alongside others who need care, discipleship, and mentoring.

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MOVE FORWARD

See 10,000 Changed Lives

• 3,683 baptisms, including 839 during Baptism Weekend on August 7/10
• Developing a before-baptism discipling resource guide to be given to persons considering baptism
• Testing an after-baptism next steps assessment and class at the La Grange Campus

Plant 40 New Churches

• Helped launch Iron Coast Church in Brunswick, Maine
• Committed to helping seven more churches launch this Fall

Highlight: Iron Coast Church—the first of the 40 church plants—is led by Justin and Ashley Weese, who were sent out from Southeast. In its first four months, the church has witnessed 34 baptisms and 200+ in its weekly worship gatherings. Be praying for Iron Coast and the seven churches that will launch in the next few months.

Update Our Places and Spaces

• Working through the early phases of modernizing ministry branding to be more welcoming and engaging

Translate the Bible

• Finalizing an agreement with a Bible translator  

Reach the Arabian Peninsula

• Formed an Arabian Peninsula Initiative strategy team that meets bi-weekly
• Hosted an Arabian Peninsula Interest Night with 70+ people in attendance and multiple outreach meetings
• Working with the Beechmont Center team to develop cultural immersion

Changing Lives at Camp

• 6,421 people—5,225 students and 1,196 leaders—attended SE!KIDS Camp, Middle School Camp, and High School Camp
• 554 students were baptized

Send 4,000 on Short-Term Mission Trips

• 409 trip participants
• 435 applicants
• 33 trips in 17 countries
• 51,672 hours served in the field

Reach the World

• Southeast YouTube channel had 6.4 million views and added 2,800 subscribers
• Southeast Instagram account had 4.96 million views and added 6,500 followers
• Pando content—which shares the Gospel with incarcerated persons—has been viewed 2.67 million times and added 22,727 subscribers

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MOVE CLOSER

Equip 150 New Families to Foster and Adopt

• 25 interested families have attended Considering Foster Care & Adoption
• 5 families are licensed and ready to foster

Highlight: A local family has been preparing for months to adopt a baby through domestic adoption. They’ve collaborated with an organization that provides fundraising tools and a platform by gathering a group to care for a local widow’s home. Southeast matched the family with a widow. Their project was successfully completed in July, and they’ve been matched with a baby girl, due in September.

Free 200 Victims of Sex Trafficking

• 33 victims reached and have taken a next step toward physical, emotional, and spiritual freedom
• Southeast representatives attended national anti-trafficking Abolition Summit in Denver, Colorado in August

Support Recovery Centers

• 664 baptisms
• 14,851 people attended weekend worship services
• 4,066 people found support and community in groups

Help the Hurting

• Formed Encounter Council, a committee of staff members and key volunteers to help dream and plan for the future of Encounter at multiple campuses.
• Started a Parkinson’s Caretaker Support Group at the Blankenbaker Campus

Expand Shine

• Started a New Moms group at the La Grange Campus
• Received interest from almost 40 people at the Nelson County Campus about getting involved in the Shine Disabilities Ministry after viewing the Shine MOVE Impact Update video

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As we have walked through our MOVE journey together, we’ve talked about what it means to give sacrificially to seek and save the next two generations. One of the vision initiatives behind MOVE is to enhance the camp experience so students and leaders can encounter God’s purpose and passion like never before.

And this Summer, you made that happen.

More than 7,000 people—the most ever—attended a Southeast Camp. That includes 5,475 elementary, middle, and high school students, as well as our friends with special needs and kids who have been fostered and adopted.

Because of your generosity, more than $270,000 in financial aid was provided, helping many who otherwise couldn’t have come be able to attend. The impact of your sacrifice will be felt for eternity.

“I’ve learned that Jesus wants to have us in His life. He wants us to be a part of our journey,” one camper said. Another added, “I’ve just been moved to fully submit to God!”

Almost 600 campers were baptized this Summer. That’s 600 stories of life, freedom, and hope found only in Christ.

In addition, 180 high school students responded to a call to ministry, saying “yes” to God’s invitation to be the next generation of student leaders, pastors, and missionaries.

But it wasn’t just students who encountered God’s love, grace, and power this Summer. Almost 1,700 people served as leaders, giving of themselves so campers could experience Jesus in a whole new way.

“I have seen so many campers grow in their faith,” one leader said.

“My favorite part of serving at Middle School Camp has been watching the girls grow in their spiritual discipline,” another added. “We’ve been broadening their quiet time and their prayer time.”

When we say that the primary goal of MOVE is 100% engagement, this is what it looks like—each of us taking our next step in discipleship and growing in generosity, not only with our finances but our time and faith.

Thank you, Southeast family, for your generosity. We’re excited to see how God continues to move in the lives of everyone who attended a Southeast Camp this Summer.

Mary Tatum is excited about how God is moving in the hearts of the people at Southeast, helping those with special needs, disabilities, or who are deaf connect with Jesus and one another.

Through its Shine Disabilities Ministry, Southeast helps children, teens, and adults learn about Jesus in their own space and at their own pace. Special classes are available at five campuses, with dedicated classroom space coming soon to the Elizabethtown Campus.

“One of our goals of the MOVE initiative is to expand the Shine Ministry to more campuses,” said Mary, who leads the ministry. “That would allow us to offer intentional programming and classes and fellowship opportunities for people throughout our church.”

One of the students she thinks about when talking about the impact of the Shine Disabilities Ministry is Evan Riggle.

“We would support him so that he could go to our youth programming here at the church, and as it got a little bit harder for him to be involved in that setting, we realized it would be nice for him to have a place of his own,” Mary said.

“Through your generosity, as we’ve been able to build a new space for him or for all of our friends with special needs, we’ve had people like Evan in mind as we’ve created a safe space, a place where he can learn at his own pace, and a place that he can know Jesus in his own way,” she said.

Mary added that when she hears Evan sing worship songs or talk about church or Camp Freedom—where more than 400 campers connected through fun and fellowship while enjoying traditional camp activities this Summer—it is “such a blessing to know that our church family has supported him and his family so that they can attend worship.”

Evan’s father, David, said it is a “tremendous blessing” for him and his wife, Emlyn, to be able to worship knowing that Evan is “in capable hands and he is safe.”

“We just want to thank this church that they had the foresight and the willingness to spend the money, to spend the time, and to put it into Shine Ministry, because it has made a huge difference in our life,” he said.

“I thank you, church family, for your generosity,” Mary added. “Thank you for giving to MOVE so that we can move into more spaces, so that we can move into more communities, and that we could open the doors of Southeast to more families like the Riggles, one at a time.”

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Ninety percent of the people living in the Arabian Peninsula do not personally know a follower of Jesus…and many possibly never will.

“A worker currently living in the AP shared with me that most people there will never meet a follower of Jesus or have a chance to hear the Good News unless someone steps into their country and into their lives,” Bill* said.

Wanting to be that “someone,” Bill and others from Southeast visited the Arabian Peninsula in April to gain firsthand experience and a better understanding of the culture.

“The Great Commission calls us to go and make disciples of all nations. So, we want to reach them,” Bill said. “We want to mobilize 250 people to move to the Arabian Peninsula.”

That includes people in various stages of life, from families to students to professionals.

“We want students from our church to attend school or take internships or study abroad there to live among other young people,” Bill said. “God can use your job and your education to place you among the unreached.”

Diane said she returned home feeling certain that God is calling her to be involved. “At first, I was cautious and I was scared to go and then as I got more information about the trip, I really couldn’t get it off my mind,” she said.

James and his wife also returned with a sense of calm. “We both now feel a deep peace and a gentle but clear invitation from God. There is a great need,” he said.

“As we evaluate the possibility of moving to (the Arabian Peninsula),” Lisa added, “we’re simply asking God to keep confirming that calling.”

Diane called her experience in the Arabian Peninsula “truly life-changing,” explaining it is a place “where you can really see the contrast of light and dark. The spiritual darkness at times is palpable. You can really feel it.”

Bill said it is the church’s responsibility to bring light to spiritually dark places, but that requires “people from our church stepping out in faith.” Here are a few ways we can do that:

• Pray. As we move forward in reaching the lost, we want prayer to be the foundation.
• Take a mission trip. Even if it’s not to the Arabian Peninsula, God can open your heart to the nations when you leave home.
• Be intentional to engage with international people right where you live.
• Move your career overseas to intentionally live and work in an unreached area.

“If you believe God is calling you to move with this initiative, then we want to talk to you and pray with you,” Bill said.

Those interested in learning more about the region or how to get involved are invited to an Arabian Peninsula Interest Night on July 1 at the Blankenbaker Campus. You can learn more and register here.

*All names have been changed to protect identities.

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We’re excited to be partnering with church planters to begin 40 new churches in the next five years…churches like Refuge Church in Ojai, California, who has been sharing the good news of Jesus since launching in 2023 with your help!

“Two years ago, we didn’t have a church, but because of you, because of your generosity, because of your prayers, two years later, God is doing something big,” Lead Pastor Kyle Costello said.

Almost 30 people have stepped into the waters of baptism and out into the life, freedom, and hope found only in Christ, a second service has been added to reach even more people, and stories of life-change are being written daily.

One of those stories belongs to Sean.

“Sean is a guy who’s entering kind of the later stages of life, and he has tried anything and everything to try to get to know God, but he’s never taken Christianity seriously,” Kyle said, adding Sean initially only came to Refuge Church because of his wife.

“Now, he is sold out for Jesus!” he said.

It’s because of stories like Sean’s that Kyle can’t help but think about Southeast every Sunday, praising God for its generosity in helping churches like Refuge share the love of Jesus.

“I just want to say thank you,” he said, “because if it wasn’t for you all, I do not believe we would have a church here today.…Thank you, Southeast Christian Church!”