TAKING THE LEAP

P.J. Noland   |  Lead Pastor Collective Church

Four years ago was the very first time I was invited to gather a group of men to attend a 4KK retreat together. As a pastor, I have always had a burden for men to discover their kingdom purpose, and I was immediately interested. However, I confess I had my doubts about the retreat initially. For example, I struggled to wrap my mind around convincing men to attend a four-day retreat if I didn’t know what we were getting into.

But a couple of 4KK men continued to pursue me. In 2021 I finally decided to take the leap and gather seven other men from my church to attend a 4KK retreat with me. Within a few days, I had eight men, including myself committed to attending. At that time God reminded me that it wasn’t my responsibility to convince men to go. Rather it was His Holy Spirit that would draw men to the retreat if I simply presented the opportunity.

In a way that’s exactly what a 4KK retreat is. It is an incredible opportunity to know God intimately in a community with other men seeking to discover their kingdom purpose. After my experience as a participant God showed that he had once again given me an Ephesians 3:20 experience – “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20 NLT)

As I write this testimony it’s August of 2022 and the church I get to pastor, Collective Church, is gearing up for our third 4KK retreat of the year. As a pastor I can say, I am all in. I can say that Collective Church is all in. Not because 4KK is the solution to equipping men for kingdom purposes. But because 4KK so strategically and prayerfully leads men to the One, Jesus Christ that can reveal His kingdom purposes for their lives.

I’m glad I took the leap of faith to attend a 4KK retreat. It has made me a much more aware follower of Jesus. The result of that is I’m a better husband, father, friend, and pastor. “Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:21NLT

A GROWING NETWORK

In the past 12 months, New Life Church of Hot Springs, Collective Church in Saline County, and Men of the Red River located in Wichita Falls, TX have joined the 4KK network and are in the process of preparing and training their leaders and teams!

Grace Church East End and South Baton Rouge Church of Christ have solidified their leadership teams and their 4KK ministry is well established.
Looking forward to 2023, there are three more churches that have engaged in the process of beginning their first retreat: Lake Pointe Church in Hot Springs, and both Temple Baptist and Venture Church in Hattiesburg, MS. We can’t express how encouraging these opportunities are and how excited we are. The executive team has already begun the planning process and would love to invite you to be a part of this growth!

MISSION

For King and Kingdom exists to awaken men by partnering with churches,

helping to create a culture that inspires, unites, and frees men to pursue their Kingdom destiny.

A CLEARER VISION

This past summer, the executive team spent time developing an extended and expanded vision for 4KK and emerged with some clear direction for the future growth of 4KK.

This amazing growth has made one thing clear – This effort is changing lives, families, churches, and communities and it is imperative that we continue to follow God’s lead and share it with more churches.

Our vision is that by 2030, For King and Kingdom will consist of a thriving network of at least 50 churches that share the DNA of 4KK. These churches will continue to expand this MOOvement through relationships and mentorships with new churches. As the number of churches expands, 4KK will create regional hubs that can support the churches through training, resources, financial contributions, and regional leadership.

 

In 2023, 4KK will open its first regional hub located in the Gulf Coast Region headed by Regional Director, Blaine Tucker. This will be the first of what we expect to be a thriving network to reach more churches and more men. The Gulf Coast region will serve both Louisiana and Mississippi as new churches in Hattiesburg join next year. We are so encouraged by this growth opportunity and the impact it will have in God’s kingdom work.

 

 

4KK is primarily funded through generous donations from donors, the 300 effort, church support, and retail revenue from Tucker Lodge. Our Vision is to continue this approach to funding the 4KK MOOvement.

With additional funds 4KK will:
• Make retreats more affordable for churches
• Provide extra funding for churches that need additional help
• Provide funding resources for individuals that need help with the retreat tuition.
• Provide resources for Regional Hubs, such as a  trailer inventoried and supplied with the materials needed to host a retreat.
• Provide printed resources required to host a retreat.
• Provide regional leadership training and support
• Provide ongoing training and materials for current and new churches
• Provide ongoing administrative resources
• Grow the Leadership and Administrative staff

How you can be a part

First and foremost, we ask you to be in continual prayer for the For King and Kingdom expansion. This ministry has had an amazing impact on hundreds of men, and we are confident that there are many more that can be impacted to live more fully and deeply into their Kingdom destiny.

 

We believe that God has anointed this ministry, and we are asking that you pray and consider how you can participate in this MOOvement and Vision by:
1 Becoming an annual or monthly supporter as part of The 300.
2 Contacting friends, family, churches, or businesses to solicit financial support for the 4KK mission.
3 Encouraging other  4KK alumni to become financial supporters.

We are deeply grateful for our supporters, past and present. God has blessed us in many ways, and many of you are part of His blessing. He has provided what we have needed through generous and faithful giving. We are moving forward in faith that the resources that are needed to pursue the vision and expand our reach will be provided as they have been.

 

4KK, a Beyond Us retreat, took place in November at Tucker Lodge. Men from Little Rock, Texas, and North Carolina dove headlong into their journey of story and God’s love and grace.

Welcome, Grace Church East End to the 4KK family! Plans are underway for their next retreat in April, as well as future training and team development. The MOOvement is coming to Grace Church East End!

“One Block at a Time” was inspired by a mission trip I took to Haiti with Lake Valley Church. This trip was a fact-finding mission that took place soon after the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

‘One Block at a Time” leaped into my head a couple of months ago when I was trying to come up with a way to help Pastor Ben Ouma in Migori, Kenya to get an orphanage started. A memory of seeing a man’s concrete block business in Haiti and how he used a simple mold to make blocks gave us the idea we needed to start the dream of building an orphanage.

In Ephesians, we have learned that relationships are not defined by distance, geography, age, or nationality, but rather by the Spirit of Jesus that unifies us. I believe being His sons and daughters, sinners yet Saints of Christ, He gives us imagination to dream and that His plans are orchestrated in a way that we get to see those dreams become reality. We are blessed by getting to know Him and His ways. 

Witnessing the following results have shown me how He works and allows us to share His work and His love. This has been a blessing to me and a new long-distance relationship has unified two of His believers.

This story started with a trip Mary and I took that left from NY City. I had gone downstairs to check out at the hotel where we were staying.  I met two pastors from Nigeria who were also leaving. They had been to an evangelism conference and were heading home. In the conversation that followed, I offered them a copy of The Jesus Film that I normally travel with. It was in their language and they were excited to have it to take back to their community.

I tried to follow up and was not able to get the email they gave me to work. What transpired was not an accident but a new path God was taking me down. “Not my plan but His.” I got online looking for them and ended up communicating with Pastor Ben Ouma in Migori, Kenya in a whole different part of Africa. After months of talking back and forth, Ben’s needs became obvious. He said he would love to have The Jesus Film and have a way to take the message of the Good News to his whole area.

By God’s grace, he showed me His plan. Pastor Ouma’s church needed Bibles in both English and Swahili. Ben needed a computer for his administration and for his sermons. Most of all he wanted a backpack with a projector, screen, and Jesus movies in their language about the life and Good News of Jesus. Over the last couple of months, I was able to send him these resources for his ministry.

In a matter of six weeks, Pastor Ouma has traveled to other churches, schools and even to the produce market showing the movie and witnessing. There have been over 50 people in his area that have already come to faith in Christ.

Love, blessings, and imagination have united us in this long distance relationship in the Lord.

Blessings are coming down and our praise is going up! 

Rollin Caristianos

Hope is a good thing.

In September, six men with their stories along with a band of brothers experienced hope in a new way at Tucker Lodge. As the weekend came to a close, big smiles could be seen on their faces. They left freer than they came. Yes, Hope is a good thing … Gospel hope!

Men of the Ouachitas (MOO) is a vital ministry to the men of Lake Valley.  Over the past few years we have spread that effort to several other churches who are now hosting and leading their own retreats. Men of the Ouachitas remains the name of our Lake Valley retreat ministry for men. Our effort to reach other men in other churches has transformed into the For King and Kingdom(4KK) ministry, with the hopes of reaching even more men at an accelerated pace.

Here at Lake Valley it became evident that MOO is now much bigger than something that can be managed by two or three people.  With the leaders reaching out to other churches it is time to have local men reaching inward to the men of Lake Valley.

We wanted to establish a council of men that would provide direction and stability to the future MOO efforts within Lake Valley.  With that concept in mind, the Lake Valley MOO Council was formed.  Currently the council consists of 6 men (Donald Westerman, Allen Coker, Chris Menzies, Shane Carson, Steve Freeman and Ron Tucker) with oversight from Bruce Dodson and Lamar Trieschmann. This group is tasked with:

Scheduling and planning retreats for Lake Valley men

Identifying men who have not been able to attend a retreat

Leading those retreats

Maintaining the activities necessary for a retreat to be successful

The MOO Council cannot do this alone. If you would like to help in some way, please let us know. One way all alumni can participate is by helping us recruit future participants for the MOO retreat experience. If you know of someone who has not had the opportunity to attend a retreat, pass us their name and we will contact them.

We are opening a new chapter for MOO at Lake Valley.  Let’s all use our imagination to best further this Kingdom work.

 Ron Tucker